sacrificial offerings

Wash and Be Clean

Posted on by Betsy

Parents of young children often experience frustration about having to repeat things over and over. It can be hard to teach kids about right and wrong when they are distracted and simply not paying attention. I remember this being an issue again when my kids hit middle school. Thoughts of boys, outfits, mean girls, academic pressure, etc. seemed to fill their heads and pushed out through their ears, preventing my sage and wise words to filter in. Any parent will tell you that one of the hardest parts of disciplining your children is when you know you’ve warned them a thousand times not to do something and suddenly you find yourself reprimanding them for the very thing you said not to do. It is heartbreaking when “Daddy said so!” no longer works.

This idea of fruitless repetition, endless warnings, constant cajoling, and then watching the children completely ignore every effort is not lost on God. Nobody can match God’s persistence, and nobody can match God’s love. But even God had a breaking point, and that is where we find ourselves in our passage from Isaiah today. God’s anger and frustration are so great that the leadership of Judah is referred to as “leaders of Sodom and people of Gomorrah.” Every listener would remember the story from Genesis when God rained down fire and sulfur to destroy these two cities due to their immorality, injustice, egregious rebellion of God’s word, and their refusal to give aid to the poor and needy, despite God’s many and continuous warnings. Judah had so far been saved from such extinction, but it is only a remnant of what it once was.

Isaiah 1:10-18

Hear the Lord’s word, you leaders of Sodom.
    Listen to our God’s teaching,
        people of Gomorrah!
11 What should I think about all your sacrifices?
    says the Lord.
I’m fed up with entirely burned offerings of rams
    and the fat of well-fed beasts.
    I don’t want the blood of bulls, lambs, and goats.
12 When you come to appear before me,
    who asked this from you,
    this trampling of my temple’s courts?

The issue in Isaiah’s day was Israel’s apostasy and desire for the false idols of their neighbors. Prophets had been sent one after another to warn them but were ignored. Isaiah is called to proclaim harsh words of judgement and condemnation to them in hopes that they will change their ways.

What made things worse was their ability to do evil in God’s sight and then come to the altar with a meaningless offering. God clearly detested their false worship and empty ritual, even to the point of saying that such worthless gestures were repulsive, hateful, and a burden. God is tired of bearing them any longer.

13 Stop bringing worthless offerings.
    Your incense repulses me.
New moon, sabbath, and the calling of an assembly—
    I can’t stand wickedness with celebration!
14 I hate your new moons and your festivals.
    They’ve become a burden that I’m tired of bearing.
15 When you extend your hands,
    I’ll hide my eyes from you.
Even when you pray for a long time,
    I won’t listen.
Your hands are stained with blood.

The solution is given, but like our own children, is not entirely received. God invited them to wash and become clean by ending their wicked deeds and making a new life. This new life would be marked by learning to do good, helping the oppressed, advocating for the widow and orphan, and seeking justice. This is God’s way of giving them yet another chance to turn their blood stained sins into washed-white hearts.

16     Wash! Be clean!
Remove your ugly deeds from my sight.
    Put an end to such evil;
17     learn to do good.
Seek justice:
    help the oppressed;
    defend the orphan;
    plead for the widow.

What do you bring to God’s altar today? Is it just a show of piety with darkness in your heart, or are you willing to be subjected to the rigorous cleansing that only God can give? Only when we are honest and humble in our intentions will be heard in our petitions. Your Father is calling. Are you listening?

18 Come now, and let’s settle this,
    says the Lord.
Though your sins are like scarlet,
    they will be white as snow.
If they are red as crimson,
    they will become like wool.

Daddy said so.

SnOBX

The Best Smell

Posted on by Betsy

“Things that smell” and I are not good friends. I have an allergic reaction to many things that smell, so I tend to pull back if a heavily perfumed or overly after-shaved person tries to come in for a hug. Many a Sunday I have gone home with a headache because I am wearing someone’s perfume on my cheek and neck after a vigorous embrace. Mind you, I love a good hug, just not the after-effects.

I discovered many years ago that I can wear scented lotions (never perfume) if they smell like food products. True story! I have a healthy investment in vanilla, coconut, and lemony lotions from Bath and Body Works. They even have me on speed dial for when these products go on sale. Last week my youngest daughter told me that her son smelled a coconut scent in a store and asked if Nana was there. I love that he associated that smell with me.

You may remember several Old Testament allusions to making a “fragrant offering” to the Lord. I’m sure you also recall the story about Mary breaking the neck of the perfume jar to anoint Jesus’s feet. The smell of the fragrance filled the room (John 12:1-8). Notice what Paul does in today’s passage as he thanks the Philippians for their generous offerings:

Philippians 4 (Common English Bible)

10 I was very glad in the Lord because now at last you have shown concern for me again. (Of course you were always concerned but had no way to show it.) 11 I’m not saying this because I need anything, for I have learned how to be content in any circumstance.12 I know the experience of being in need and of having more than enough; I have learned the secret to being content in any and every circumstance, whether full or hungry or whether having plenty or being poor. 13 I can endure all these things through the power of the one who gives me strength. 14 Still, you have done well to share my distress.

Paul’s bold assertion in verse 4 that he can “do all things through Christ, who strengthens me” is one to print on your heart and sear into your mind. How often we forget that the source of our strength and the renewal of our courage are within him when we are without! Christ helped Paul to be content in every circumstance. Are you content in every circumstance? If not, what’s missing?

15 You Philippians know from the time of my first mission work in Macedonia how no church shared in supporting my ministry except you. 16 You sent contributions repeatedly to take care of my needs even while I was in Thessalonica. 17 I’m not hoping for a gift, but I am hoping for a profit that accumulates in your account. 18 I now have plenty and it is more than enough. I am full to overflowing because I received the gifts that you sent from Epaphroditus. Those gifts give off a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice that pleases God.

Isn’t’ that a lovely thank-you note? To tell the Philippians that their generosity gives off a fragrant aroma is a beautiful word-picture and a reminder of what happens when we offer a sacrificial gift at the altar. Truly it pleases the Lord.

Where is God inviting you to present a sacrifice of yourself that would be pleasing? Is there something you could do today to be the sweet smell of generosity for someone in need? When we give in this way, our gifts release fragrant aromas that fill the room with hope, love, and faith.

Sweet Smell by Michelle Robertson

Job Satisfaction

Posted on by Betsy

I truly dislike doing the laundry. I am that person who waits until the hamper is full, and then I finally and begrudgingly haul it down two flights of stairs to process it through the washer and dryer. Too often it ends up in the dryer for a day, requiring it to have to be fluffed again to de-wrinkle the load. Then I fold it all and haul it back upstairs, where it sits neatly folded in the laundry basket for several more days. When I need the laundry basket again, I finally put the last of the clean clothes away and start the process all over again. Like I said, I dislike doing the laundry! Why? BECAUSE IT IS NEVER REALLY FINISHED. It just goes on, and on, and on … wash, rinse, repeat. The same goes for housework, grocery shopping, cooking … there is no such thing as job satisfaction with any of that nonsense!

Before Jesus came, the people of Israel had the same problem with all of their ritual sacrifices and offerings. Just as they would complete one, it needed to be repeated. Remember the time when Jesus turned over the money lenders’ tables at the Temple in Jerusalem? They had set up shop to provide animals for the yearly altar sacrifices that were part of the annual pilgrimage to the Temple. Making these offerings was something that was never really finished … wash, rinse, repeat every year.

Jesus did more than turn over the tables … he turned over the world. He replaced the priests and their offering systems. He replaced the offering. He became the once and for all sacrifice that never needs repeating, because he is the holy, incorrupt, innocent, and ultimate sacrifice for our sins:

Hebrews 7 (Common English Bible)

23 The others who became priests are numerous because death prevented them from continuing to serve. 24 In contrast, he holds the office of priest permanently because he continues to serve forever. 25 This is why he can completely save those who are approaching God through him, because he always lives to speak with God for them.

The supremacy of Christ as the mediator for our sins is cleanly laid out in this chapter. What a marvelous gift! He is the only one who can save us, and he lives to speak with God for us. What do you wish he would say about you right now? What intercession do you need Jesus to make on your behalf as he and his father are chatting today?

26 It’s appropriate for us to have this kind of high priest: holy, innocent, incorrupt, separate from sinners, and raised high above the heavens. 27 He doesn’t need to offer sacrifices every day like the other high priests, first for their own sins and then for the sins of the people. He did this once for all when he offered himself. 28 The Law appoints people who are prone to weakness as high priests, but the content of the solemn pledge, which came after the Law, appointed a Son who has been made perfect forever.

Jesus is the one and done, the end all, the be all, and the real deal. When he sacrificed himself for the sins of the world, the need for us to keep repeating the same useless burnt offerings to cleanse our sins ended forever. The only offering we need to make now is our repentance.

Need to get something off your chest today? Go to Jesus. He and his father are listening.

Burnt Offering by Michelle Robertson