Hebrews 9:24-28
November 11, 2012
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco.
Who likes to watch a tragedy or a comedy? On a long plane ride, I would watch a movie like a romantic comedy and end up sobbing when everything ends well. That’s why I watch science fiction or action movies because they are less sentimental.
Did you know that most people like to watch tragedies? Consider the classic play King Lear, by William Shakespeare. A vain old man loses everything, including his devoted daughter. Audiences love it! Why do you think the Book of Job is in the Bible? It’s a tragic story but at least for Job it all ends well. And don’t forget the tragic Chinese operas that we all had to endure growing up.
How about the blockbuster movie Titanic that ends with the hero slipping sadly into the icy waters of the North Atlantic? It’s the second highest grossing film of all time! Do you know the other two top grossing movies of all time? Gone with the Wind and Dr. Zhivago—all three fall into the tragedy category.
These are all sad stories. They end up with loss or death. But audiences since the time of the ancient Greeks and the ancient Chinese have loved them. Why is this?
Researchers have discovered that watching tragedy inspires self-reflection, which allows us to refocus on the people in our lives we might otherwise take for granted. This melancholy feeling that we have watching these stories ultimately provokes pleasant feelings of gratitude.
Watching a tragedy makes us feel thankful. The sadness we feel during such a story fosters thoughts about one’s close relationships. We naturally contrast our own lives with the miserable fates suffered by tragic characters, and the end result is a feeling of happiness. It’s ironic that sadness causes us to be happy with what we have.
Tragedy can wake us up, remind us of the tragedy of life, and inspire us to count our blessings with regards to close relationships. At the end of the story, we are grateful for what we have. I can remember many times watching a movie on the plane and ending up writing a note to myself about what I need to do when I get home.
That’s the value of tragedy. We gain an attitude of gratitude.
Jesus Christ
The letter to the Hebrews has tragic elements about Jesus Christ. According to Hebrews, Jesus “had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people” (Heb. 2:17). “He entered once for all into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption” (9:12). “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin (9:22). “Therefore Jesus also suffered outside the city gate in order to sanctify the people by his own blood” (13:12).
Here in the letter to the Hebrews, we see “a sacrifice of atonement, with Christ’s own blood.” A shedding of blood that leads to forgiveness. Sacrifice, blood, suffering, death. A sad, sad story. A tragedy. So why does it leave us feeling good instead of bad? Why does it make us feel grateful?
On the cross, Jesus did something for us that we could never do for ourselves as sinners. We are drawn to the story of Jesus on the cross because the death of Jesus changed our relationship with God forever. And when we hear this story, we are grateful. We have an attitude of gratitude.
Past Sacrificial System
In ancient times, there was this sacrificial system. Moses took the blood of calves and goats and sprinkled it on all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God has ordained for you.” In this sacrificial system, almost everything was purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there was no forgiveness (9:19-22). Remember Abraham was about to sacrifice his son, Isaac on the mountaintop?
We don’t live in that world anymore, and we don’t sprinkle blood on people to purify them. Thank God! Aren’t you glad about that? But unfortunately, we still feel that when a person harms us, we want them to pay—maybe even with blood. When we commit a terrible sin, we want to offer whatever we can to make things right.
According to Hebrews, Jesus steps right into the middle of this bloody story and offers a new approach. His death on the cross is a single sacrifice to remove sin (9:26). It is a sacrifice that has been “offered once to bear the sins of many” (v. 28). He does not “offer himself again and again,” as Moses or an ancient high priest would do, “year after year with blood that is not his own” (v. 25). Instead, he now appears “in the presence of God on our behalf” (v. 24), and saves those “who are eagerly waiting for him” (v. 28).
The good news of this tragedy is that Jesus removes sin with a single sacrifice—this means that we do not have to force others to pay, or sacrifice our own blood to make things right. It bears the sins of all of us, and does not have to be offered again and again and again. Best of all, Jesus continues to stand in the presence of God on our behalf, like a top-notch attorney ready to argue our case. He saves all of us who turn to him in faith, eagerly waiting for his help.
This is God’s strategy of tragedy—Jesus removes sin with a single sacrifice.
Gratefulness
All of us here have lost loved ones. Whether the loss comes through a romantic breakup, a separation, a divorce or a death, we go through a long and painful grieving process. Some of you are experiencing the loss of loved ones right now. We know how agonizing it is.
But with God’s strategy of tragedy, the good news is that Jesus has made the ultimate sacrifice already. We need this assistance because we cannot bleed enough of our own blood to fix all of the grief that we have and all the problems we have created.
There’s a story of a man who was successful in his business dealings but spinning out of control in his personal life: heavy drinking, cheating on his wife, staying distant from his children, his marriage heading toward divorce court.
No sacrifices in the temple were going to fix a mess like that.
He never attended church, but his wife and children did. On a Saturday evening his 10-year-old daughter asked him to come to church because her singing group was going to offer music in worship. She wanted him to be there, and with his reactions dulled by a couple of martinis, he reluctantly agreed. When he woke up in the morning with a hangover, he wondered why in the world he had said yes. But he kept his promise and showed up.
In that service, he heard for the first time in his life that he was a guilty sinner who needed salvation, and that Jesus has taken his sin and guilt upon himself on the cross of Calvary. The man wept as he heard the sermon, and he pleaded with God to take away his burden of shame. From that point on, his life took a new direction.
The man heard the tragic story of the cross: sacrifice, blood, suffering, death. He cried, and thought about his own life. But in the end, he was grateful. Grateful for Jesus, and for his gift of forgiveness and new life.
The theologian Harold Kushner wrote, “God does not cause our misfortunes. Some are caused by bad luck, some are caused by bad people, and some are simply an inevitable consequence of our being human and being mortal, living in a world of inflexible natural laws. The painful things that happen to us are not punishments for our misbehavior, nor are they in any way part of some grand design of God’s part. Because the tragedy is not God’s will, we need not feel hurt or betrayed by God when tragedy strikes. We can turn to him for help in overcoming it, precisely because we can tell ourselves that God is as outraged by it as we are.” We can be grateful to God because tragedy is not part of God’s doing.
In this season of harvest abundance, Thanksgiving and the coming of Christmas, what might you be grateful for? Who in your life may have sacrificed in Christ-like fashion for you that you are grateful today? And as we all can testify to those times in our own lives when we have endured loss and tragedy, are we grateful and thankful today for Jesus’ tragedy on the cross that has granted us new life?
Strategy of Tragedy
God’s strategy of tragedy can turn our lives around.
What is the sin and guilt that is dragging you down? It may be personal, professional or relational. It might even be criminal. No high priest is available to enter the temple year after year with the blood of calves and goats to make you clean. Not even the shedding of your own blood can lift the burden of your sin.
What we need is an advocate, ready to appear in the presence of God on our behalf (v. 24).
What we need is a substitute, ready to remove our sins by the sacrifice of himself (v. 26).
What we need is a savior, ready to rescue all of us who are eagerly waiting for him (v. 28).
Advocate, substitute, savior—those are the three sides of Jesus in the tragedy of the cross. He is ready to argue your case and put himself in your place. He is prepared to save you from any sin that rips the fabric of your relationships with God, neighbor and self.
If we were watching this movie about Jesus, Jesus made a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. Atonement means Jesus being at one with us by removing the sins from our lives that separate us from God’s love. Jesus took it all on himself. By this tragic act of love on the cross, we are moved about Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection that we can think more seriously about our own existence. God was working on a strategy of tragedy to save the world.
When horrible things happen, we are awaken and inspired to appreciate what we have.
The cross of Christ does this in us. It wakes us up and redirects our lives. Jesus offers to remove our sins by his own self-sacrifice and all he asks of us is that we follow him in faith.
All you need to do is to put your trust in him. This is God’s strategy of tragedy. At the end of his tragic story, Jesus wants us to be grateful.
Let us pray.
Today, dear God, we are thankful for your love for the world that Jesus Christ went to the cross to atone for our sins in order for us to receive forgiveness and mercy. May this one tragedy of agape love reveal to us how you are always making your way toward us, always reaching out to us, and always welcoming us back to your loving embrace. Thank you, O God for your strategy of tragedy to which we are most grateful. Amen.