Thursday Vespers
Higher Things: Te Deum Conference
30 July 2015
In the Name of the Father and of
the +Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
There is more than meets the
eye.
And you don't want to see it.
You hide your eyes from the blood and gore, finding the sight of Christ
crucified distasteful,violent, and scary.
"Lord, I love you, but working through blood?! Really?! Yuck!"
There is more than meets the
eye. To the naked eye, the wormhole is confusing,
looking like a dreadfully violent storm, the likes of which you've never
seen. After a while people could
actually see the Chitauri coming out of it, bringing death and destruction to
New York.
The Avengers know what needs to
happen. The people need to be
rescued. They need to be saved. And to top it all, a nuclear missile is
headed for Manhattan, which will bring inescapable death to all.
Tony Stark steps up. He goes beyond what can be seen, and enters
the veiled reality of the wormhole. He
enters, knowing he may very well be sacrificing himself, giving up his
life. He enters the unseen in order to
destroy the forces bringing death and destruction.
There is more than meets the
eye.
To the naked eye, the crucifixion was confusing, looking like a
dreadfully violent execution, the likes of which you've never seen. Onlookers did not comprehend that this was a
result of the crafty Evil one who once overcame by a tree now being overcome on
this tree, even while seeming to bring only death and destruction to Jesus.
Our Lord knew what needed to
happen. The people needed to be
rescued. They needed to be saved. Ever since Satan had deceived Adam and Eve,
their rebellion had brought inescapable death to all.
Our dear Lord Jesus steps up. He goes beyond what can be seen, and enters
the veiled reality of the heavenly temple.
He enters, knowing that He is indeed sacrificing Himself, giving
up His life.
There is more than meets the
eye.
Tony Stark enters the wormhole with an overwhelming task. And while he is in the clutches of certain
death, his friends start giving up. They
wait, but gradually lose hope that he will be successful, and they know they
need to protect others. So in unbelief
that Tony could succeed in getting rid of the missile and returning safely, the
wormhole is closed.
You are like Natasha Romanov and
the other Avengers. You fall into the
same unbelief all the time. You show
disbelief that Jesus could really complete His task, as He hung on the cross
and simultaneously entered the heavenly temple, splashing His blood in the Holy
of holies. You doubt He completed the
task, and like Natasha closing the wormhole, you carry on.
You're not crass enough to say
it, or maybe even to think it through, but you have thoughts and urges
that you need to keep your end of the deal--to be good and please
God, or even crying out "faith alone," but trying to please God by
being sorry enough for your sins and believing sincerely enough,
and so on.
Dear friends, the once-and-for-all
sacrifice is complete! You don't need to
add anything or be anything "enough!"
And "too much blood!"
you say. Can't we talk about Jesus as Teacher. Can't we just focus on Jesus loving
everyone? Can't we just stop and look at
the nice things? Blood?!
Blood is everywhere. It was gruesome enough with over 200,000
lambs every year for Passover and all the sacrifices on the Day of
Atonement. The innocent creatures were
led to the Temple, and had their throats slit, pouring out their blood. It is said that so much blood flowed down the
mountainside from the Temple that the water of the Kidron Brook ran pink. On the Day of Atonement, the high priest was
clothed in his vestments and entered the Holy of holies, splattering blood all
over the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant, with his feet shackled, so that
he could be pulled out of there if the wrath of God struck him and the high
priest died. The lifeblood he splashed
over everything was quenching the wrath of the Father.
You look at this and say, why the
blood? It's so messy. Gross!
The location of God's mercy, covered in blood! Forgiveness, rescue , and salvation, welling
up from His blood that issues from the waters of the font; sprinkling you from
the mouths of His preachers; pouring forth from His chalice.
There is more than meets the
eye.
[pointing to altar] There is where the Lord assembles you to
Himself. There is the perfect and holy
"wormhole," if you will, through which the same Jesus who entered the
Holy of holies and splattered His blood now comes to you, pouring His blood
into your mouth, along with His holy body that He gives you to eat. Behold, the altar of the Lord -- it's more
than meets the eye. It's the location of God's mercy, covered in the blood
of the Lamb. Amen.
In the Name of the Father and of
the +Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
