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Sermon Ideas For Hebrews 10:11-18 Part 2

Hebrews 10 is a keystone in the bridge between our sin and Christ's atonement. We cross the gulf upon doctrines that move through confession of sin, experience of forgiveness, sense of justification by God's grace, reconciliation with God and others, hope and joy in the stability of a sanctified life. These are spiritual operations of the soul that are empowered by one great act of Christ, the atonement. It is unmistakable evidence of a life lived for others. From it we draw the central criteria for the process that moves from confession to sanctification: How completely is our life lived for others by the model and power of Jesus' life before his disciples?

How can we present the atonement to our people with an awareness that some are at one stage of spiritual journey and others at another? Perhaps by asking some questions that help them see their own circumstances and grace in the bridging of the gulf between God's design and our disorder.

First, is a person thinking of outrage or atonement? God's outrage at our sin, or our indignation about the sins of others may have stopped a person at the "victim" byway to eternal life. The individual is preoccupied with injustice and a feeling that nothing can be done. In contrast, the atonement is an active doctrine, a strength to get going in spite of our error or that of others. God does not block our way by unforgiveness--as we do. God moves for us against sin through Christ. Will we move with him, or remain in our byway of resentment and self-perception of condemnation (either of ourselves or others)?

Second, is a person inclined toward godly or worldly sorrow (2 Cor 7:8-10)? The latter is a concentration upon the self and its protection against that which may increase woundedness and weakness. Kierkegaard defined it as "morbid remorse." There is no place for change. Only regret fascinates the resentful person. It is a never-ending spiral of defeat.

In contrast, godly sorrow begins with honest admission of hurt and eagerly receives the healing power of the atonement. This medicine of the soul not only restores us with the forgiveness of God, it also energizes us to forgive those who have hurt us. Our sins and those of others against us are not forgotten, they are forgiven. The events that caused wounding are not changed, but our perspective toward them is given new meaning by our submission to Christ as the one who has accepted all our injuries and triumphed over them through the dedication of his sacrifice for all of us.

Third, how deep is the sense of judgment--ours and God's? The depth of judgment determines the height of acceptance. We know that our depth is shallow if the guilt is chronic and the relief is temporary. In fact, they reinforce each other. A little guilt tomorrow will be payment for a lot of selfishness today, and so long as the selfishness is defined as thoughtless self-interest, we don't have to judge ourselves very harshly and suffer much repentance. Actually, it isn't repentance, it is remorse. We want to escape punishment and keep on doing the same things, which we constantly define as problems that we can't do anything to change.

Depth of judgment would be redemptive, and releasing if we would accept the implications of atonement. Our lack of love is so outrageous that only the death of the sinless Savior can bring us to our senses. The way he loved us is the way we learn to see beneath our excuses to the basic diagnosis of sin in ourselves--an unwillingness to love others as he loved us. This is the precondition of a repentance that produces newness of life.

Third, does a person go through forgiveness to reconciliation? Some do not. Individuals may rush to heal a ruptured relationship without considering the hurt. The underlying resentment is repressed and the causes are smoothed over. Why? To avoid pain and prevent the anxiety of being alone. In contrast, the biblical teaching on atonement looks directly at the pain, both that of humans who sin and God who suffers with us for our salvation. Vulnerability precedes

repentance and allows acknowledged pain to be addressed with specific remedies.

Finally, how close is atonement to self-acceptance? An open discussion of the previous questions may lead an individual to despair. Who has the natural ability to see the difference between our indignation (based on our self-righteousness) and God's outrage when love wounds another? Self-protective defenses are strong because of human models of adequacy. Again, who is not seduced by opportunity for self-imposed sorrow that follow wounds to our self-righteousness? We want the world to be a certain way--which is good. But we are so frustrated by our inability to change it by ourselves! Also, why should we admit vulnerability? It's too great a chance in our competitive economy. Let the other person be weak; we can't afford to.

When these questions crowd upon us, we can only cry out for a divine Savior who will do for us what we cannot do for ourselves--see how judgment and mercy, justice and grace are combined in the sacrificial death of our Lord on our behalf. Samuel Southard

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