CHURCH
LUTHERAN
Our Savior's of Elderon
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3rd Sunday in Advent (16) INI Hebrews 10:5-10
It’s almost crunch time, isn’t it? You don’t have much time left to finish your Christmas shopping. Maybe some of you have finished your shopping. But, I’m willing to guess that some have names on their list that they don’t have gifts for yet. Perhaps you’ve been to Wal-Mart, the Mall, Best Buy and other places searching for just the right gift. But, you haven’t found it yet and time is getting short.
Well folks, you’ve come to the right place. God has some last minute gift ideas for you. However, you won’t find these gifts in a department store or catalog or on Amazon.com.
THE LORD HAS TWO GIFT IDEAS FOR YOU
1.The Perfect Body, and 2. The Perfect Vacation. You heard me right.
God thinks that a perfect body would be the ideal gift to give at this time of year. No, we’re not talking about membership in a fitness club. We’re not talking about a clinic performing surgery to give you that perfect body. And we’re not talking about changes in your diet or vitamins that will give you a perfect body. None of these things can bring lasting effects, can they? Show me a body that was perfect 50 years ago and I’ll show you a body that’s displaying limitations today.
However, this isn’t God’s fault. In fact, it was the Lord who designed human bodies to be perfect in form and function. Several thousand years ago God designed two different models of human bodies. He called them Adam and Eve. At first these two versions of the human body were perfect. They didn’t need to go to the gym or visit a plastic surgeon.
But they were also perfect in another, more important way. They not only had perfect appearance, they also acted like they were perfect. They always treated each other with kindness. They were never selfish. They loved God, their Maker, more than they loved themselves. Unfortunately, those two really messed things up. They messed things up so badly that there hasn’t been a perfect body since then. Human bodies not only do a lousy job of staying in the prime of life, but they are all tainted by sin.
That’s why God decided to give the human race another chance. He was going to design another model, prepare another perfect body and fill that body with his only Son. Listen to the way our text explains it; “when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me;”
Remember the account of Adam and Eve’s first child, Cain (who was also the first murderer)? How would you sum up Cain’s view of offerings and sacrifices to God? Imagine you are an employee with an unpleasant and demanding boss. You might try to soften your boss up by giving him a Christmas gift. That’s how Cain felt about his offerings. Cain didn’t especially like God. He didn’t think God was fair and so he went through the motions of whatever it would take to get on God’s good side.
But God didn’t want those kinds of offerings. No sacrifice that any person could give God would be enough to take away sins. So why did God command the Israelites to perform animal sacrifices day after day, year after year and century after century? Our text clearly tells us that those offerings couldn’t fix the sin problem of human beings, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them.” But then the reading goes on; “though they were offered in accordance with the law.”
Let’s say, you look in a mirror and see that you have a big strand of hair sticking straight up. Without the mirror, you’d never notice it. It’s the same with the Law of God. These sacrifices showed the people there was something the matter with them, something wrong. Every time they went to the priest with an animal as an offering for their sins, and every time the priest took a knife and cut the throat of that innocent lamb, and every time they got a whiff of a foul odor as the carcass of that lamb was burned on the altar, the average Israelite would understand sin and its penalty.
Those sacrifices couldn’t take sin away, but they were a great illustration of the need for a Savior from sin. The Israelites were left with a clear message; “that should have been me burning in the fires of hell.”
And against the backdrop of these incomplete sacrifices comes the Savior with a permanent solution to the problem of sin; the perfect body of Jesus Christ. That’s what we celebrate on Christmas; God taking on a human body; God becoming a human being.
Who celebrates Christmas? Pretty much everyone today. You don’t have to be a Christian or a member of a Christian congregation to celebrate Christmas. Many people of different beliefs will open gifts on December 24th and 25th. Many celebrate this holiday, but few observe it. Few even realize what Christmas means. Christmas is a lot more than a baby born in a stable and laid in a manger, as his penniless parents looked on.
Christmas is the beginning of the story of a perfect body. God gave that perfect body to the world for one reason; to punish it. You see, God demands that only a perfect body will do as a sacrifice for your sins. The perfect body of Jesus would one day be whipped, spit upon, beaten to a bloody pulp, and hung on a cross to die. And that’s a place where a lot of people who celebrate Christmas won’t go. They want the baby to stay sleeping in the manger. They don’t want to see him on the cross. It causes too much guilt.
Each and every one of us is guilty of sin, selfishness, greed, materialism, impatience and the list goes on. We sin against each other and we sin against God. We sin every day many times a day. All of us deserve the fires of hell.
Yet, God in his love saved us. Jesus came to earth with his perfect body to stand in for us; to take our punishment upon himself. God the Father would rather punish his perfect Son instead of vile sinners like you and me. Looking for a gift idea for someone? Why not tell them about the perfect body that they were given, and what Jesus, that perfect body, did for them.
Now let’s look at the 2nd gift given on Christmas. The perfect body means we get the perfect vacation. If money and time were no object, where would you go on vacation, how long would you stay?
Christ’s perfect body means a perfect (and permanent) vacation for you in the bliss of heaven. The last verse of our text reads; “we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” The perfect body was sacrificed making us what? Holy! Perfect! Righteous in God’s sight. Just what we need to get into heaven. And it’s all ours as a free gift we receive through faith in Christ which is also a free gift that God the Holy Spirit works in our heart.
With faith in Jesus we don’t have to worry about missing that perfect vacation. Look at the tense of the verb in verse 10. “We have been made holy.” It’s a done deal. Christ won holiness, perfection in God’s sight for us and he gives it to us through faith. And no matter what happens Christ’s perfect sacrifice of a perfect body means a perfect time for you in the perfectly heavenly vacation. Can you get or give a Christmas present that will top that?
So whom do you still need to shop for? Or, let me put it this way. Who, on your Christmas list could use a perfect body and a perfect vacation? You have it already. You have faith in Christ, that’s why you’re here. But there are people out there, people you know, who don’t have these gifts. They won’t find them under the Christmas tree, but they will hear about them if they come to a Christmas service with you. It’s soon Christmas, don’t settle for a last-minute gift like a waffle iron. You can find a better gift than that. Take the Lord’s advice on last minute gift ideas. Give the gifts of a perfect body and a perfect vacation Amen.
3rd Sunday in Advent (16) INI Hebrews 10:5-10
It’s almost crunch time, isn’t it? You don’t have much time left to finish your Christmas shopping. Maybe some of you have finished your shopping. But, I’m willing to guess that some have names on their list that they don’t have gifts for yet. Perhaps you’ve been to Wal-Mart, the Mall, Best Buy and other places searching for just the right gift. But, you haven’t found it yet and time is getting short.
Well folks, you’ve come to the right place. God has some last minute gift ideas for you. However, you won’t find these gifts in a department store or catalog or on Amazon.com.
THE LORD HAS TWO GIFT IDEAS FOR YOU
1.The Perfect Body, and 2. The Perfect Vacation. You heard me right.
God thinks that a perfect body would be the ideal gift to give at this time of year. No, we’re not talking about membership in a fitness club. We’re not talking about a clinic performing surgery to give you that perfect body. And we’re not talking about changes in your diet or vitamins that will give you a perfect body. None of these things can bring lasting effects, can they? Show me a body that was perfect 50 years ago and I’ll show you a body that’s displaying limitations today.
However, this isn’t God’s fault. In fact, it was the Lord who designed human bodies to be perfect in form and function. Several thousand years ago God designed two different models of human bodies. He called them Adam and Eve. At first these two versions of the human body were perfect. They didn’t need to go to the gym or visit a plastic surgeon.
But they were also perfect in another, more important way. They not only had perfect appearance, they also acted like they were perfect. They always treated each other with kindness. They were never selfish. They loved God, their Maker, more than they loved themselves. Unfortunately, those two really messed things up. They messed things up so badly that there hasn’t been a perfect body since then. Human bodies not only do a lousy job of staying in the prime of life, but they are all tainted by sin.
That’s why God decided to give the human race another chance. He was going to design another model, prepare another perfect body and fill that body with his only Son. Listen to the way our text explains it; “when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me;”
Remember the account of Adam and Eve’s first child, Cain (who was also the first murderer)? How would you sum up Cain’s view of offerings and sacrifices to God? Imagine you are an employee with an unpleasant and demanding boss. You might try to soften your boss up by giving him a Christmas gift. That’s how Cain felt about his offerings. Cain didn’t especially like God. He didn’t think God was fair and so he went through the motions of whatever it would take to get on God’s good side.
But God didn’t want those kinds of offerings. No sacrifice that any person could give God would be enough to take away sins. So why did God command the Israelites to perform animal sacrifices day after day, year after year and century after century? Our text clearly tells us that those offerings couldn’t fix the sin problem of human beings, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them.” But then the reading goes on; “though they were offered in accordance with the law.”
Let’s say, you look in a mirror and see that you have a big strand of hair sticking straight up. Without the mirror, you’d never notice it. It’s the same with the Law of God. These sacrifices showed the people there was something the matter with them, something wrong. Every time they went to the priest with an animal as an offering for their sins, and every time the priest took a knife and cut the throat of that innocent lamb, and every time they got a whiff of a foul odor as the carcass of that lamb was burned on the altar, the average Israelite would understand sin and its penalty.
Those sacrifices couldn’t take sin away, but they were a great illustration of the need for a Savior from sin. The Israelites were left with a clear message; “that should have been me burning in the fires of hell.”
And against the backdrop of these incomplete sacrifices comes the Savior with a permanent solution to the problem of sin; the perfect body of Jesus Christ. That’s what we celebrate on Christmas; God taking on a human body; God becoming a human being.
Who celebrates Christmas? Pretty much everyone today. You don’t have to be a Christian or a member of a Christian congregation to celebrate Christmas. Many people of different beliefs will open gifts on December 24th and 25th. Many celebrate this holiday, but few observe it. Few even realize what Christmas means. Christmas is a lot more than a baby born in a stable and laid in a manger, as his penniless parents looked on.
Christmas is the beginning of the story of a perfect body. God gave that perfect body to the world for one reason; to punish it. You see, God demands that only a perfect body will do as a sacrifice for your sins. The perfect body of Jesus would one day be whipped, spit upon, beaten to a bloody pulp, and hung on a cross to die. And that’s a place where a lot of people who celebrate Christmas won’t go. They want the baby to stay sleeping in the manger. They don’t want to see him on the cross. It causes too much guilt.
Each and every one of us is guilty of sin, selfishness, greed, materialism, impatience and the list goes on. We sin against each other and we sin against God. We sin every day many times a day. All of us deserve the fires of hell.
Yet, God in his love saved us. Jesus came to earth with his perfect body to stand in for us; to take our punishment upon himself. God the Father would rather punish his perfect Son instead of vile sinners like you and me. Looking for a gift idea for someone? Why not tell them about the perfect body that they were given, and what Jesus, that perfect body, did for them.
Now let’s look at the 2nd gift given on Christmas. The perfect body means we get the perfect vacation. If money and time were no object, where would you go on vacation, how long would you stay?
Christ’s perfect body means a perfect (and permanent) vacation for you in the bliss of heaven. The last verse of our text reads; “we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” The perfect body was sacrificed making us what? Holy! Perfect! Righteous in God’s sight. Just what we need to get into heaven. And it’s all ours as a free gift we receive through faith in Christ which is also a free gift that God the Holy Spirit works in our heart.
With faith in Jesus we don’t have to worry about missing that perfect vacation. Look at the tense of the verb in verse 10. “We have been made holy.” It’s a done deal. Christ won holiness, perfection in God’s sight for us and he gives it to us through faith. And no matter what happens Christ’s perfect sacrifice of a perfect body means a perfect time for you in the perfectly heavenly vacation. Can you get or give a Christmas present that will top that?
So whom do you still need to shop for? Or, let me put it this way. Who, on your Christmas list could use a perfect body and a perfect vacation? You have it already. You have faith in Christ, that’s why you’re here. But there are people out there, people you know, who don’t have these gifts. They won’t find them under the Christmas tree, but they will hear about them if they come to a Christmas service with you. It’s soon Christmas, don’t settle for a last-minute gift like a waffle iron. You can find a better gift than that. Take the Lord’s advice on last minute gift ideas. Give the gifts of a perfect body and a perfect vacation Amen.
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