Reflections...

A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 15 November 2009 by the Rev. Hans Lutz. The scripture readings that day were Hebrews 10, 11-18.


I
“Sacrifice”, both as a word and a concept has found its way from ancient religion into our language. Originally a sacrifice was an offering to a deity by which the blood of an animal or a human being was shed. The Old Testament knows a long list of different sacrifices to God. The temple in Jerusalem must at times have resembled a slaughterhouse with animals big and small being killed and burned.

Today we use the word sacrifice in a wider sense for anything people give up in pursuit of a cause. There are sacrifices which are forced on a victim. Millions of soldiers have been forced to sacrifice their lives in wars started by their leaders.

However, there are also sacrifices by persons on a voluntary basis. A supreme example is that of Maximilian Kolbe, a Franciscan priest, who volunteered to die in the place of a man and father of a family in the concentration camp of Auschwitz. Because a prisoner had escaped, the commander ordered that ten men be killed by starvation. Maximilian Kolbe volunteered to take the place of one of them and died.

When we look at the sacrifice Jesus Christ has made for us, we can find both aspects. Jesus Christ came to this earth of his own free will. He knew that he was going to suffer and he was prepared for it. Yet from the moment of his arrest until his death on the cross he was in the hands of his tormentors and executioners. He became the lamb which is led to slaughter.

II
The Israelites of the Old Testament brought sacrifices to atone for the sins committed. The blood of the animals was shed on the altar. God himself intervened in the sacrifice to deflect the destructive consequences of evil committed. So the sacrifice had to do with salvation. The forgiveness brought about by the sacrifice was not automatic, but a result of the grace of God.

Jesus Christ understood his death in a similar way as we can see from his words during the last supper when he said, “This is my blood of the new covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Mt. 26,28).
In offering himself once and for all Jesus Christ has abolished the link leading from sin to the offering of blood for the forgiveness of sins. So the temple is no more needed. “Where there is forgiveness of sin, there is no longer any offering for sin” (Hebr. 10,18). God does not require blood any more.

III
On the cross Jesus overcame the forces of sin and evil. Death as the result of sin could not hold him. Christ rose from the dead and sits at the right hand of God until all the forces of evil will be subject to him. The reference to Psalm 110 is the most often quoted passage of the Old Testament in the New Testament. It proclaims the lordship of Christ over everything. The certainty that Christ is in command was a great comfort to Christians in Eastern Europe when they were struggling under socialist governments.

In my country there is an old saying that the country is governed by God’s providence and the confusion of humankind. As Hong Kong is preparing for yet another round of discussion on constitutional development, we may be well advised to remember that the ultimate government is in God’s hands.

IV
By his sacrifice Jesus Christ draws us as his people to himself. He reconciles us with God and makes us to God’s children. The salvation through Christ is at the root of the bitter controversy between Jesus and the Pharisees. For the Pharisees the people are only holy as far as they keep the law. Holiness depends on human effort. For Christians holiness depends on the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ. The power of the Holy Spirit given to us opens the possibility of obedience in joyful communion with God. The Spirit writes God’s will into our hearts and minds.

We will offer ourselves in his service with everything which this entails. We shall be ready for costly sacrifices. I have always been impressed by some of my colleagues in missionary work, who spend a lifetime away from the civilization we are used to in a remote village.

With the Holy Spirit in our hearts and minds we shall also be ready to intervene when we see other people being forced to make sacrifices. Many of us are extremely uneasy with the way our government shirks its responsibility towards asylum seekers and people claiming protection under the Convention Against Torture. Kowloon Union Church has an important ministry to these brothers and sisters. During the recent consultation of the Hong Kong Christian Council on the work of the church in the coming decade new immigrants, the poor, the unemployed and single parent families were mentioned besides asylum seekers as priorities in the work of the church. We must pray that the Christians in Hong Kong will go beyond good intentions and declarations and live out their calling, so that they offer themselves in God’s service.