Tyrannical Leadership (Pentecost - Day 2)

(Based on 1 Timothy 1:1-17)

In the letter to Timothy, Paul encourages him to stay where he is because the message of Christ is getting diluted into fantasy stories, or what I like to call pontification. The teachers of the town Timothy is staying in are talking a lot and doing very little. They're giving fanciful stories, but challenging the hearers very little in the way of deepening faith. Paul encourages Tim to stay where he is so he can kind of be a peacekeeper, a buffer, a defender of the message that incorporates words into effective action. 

But Paul also warns Timothy about how to do this. He reminds Tim about the law code (Jewish Law, ten commandments, etc.) He says that the law code is for: the irresponsible, those who defy all authority, and those who are tyrannical about God, life, sex, and truth. He tells Tim that there is a right and a wrong way to go about using the law to counsel and give moral guidance, and that knowing what to say and who to say it to is just as important as saying it. 

I would like to point out Paul's definition for irresponsibility. I think it turns my definition on its heels. The irresponsible, according to him, are those who defy all authority and use the concepts of God, life, sex, and truth to catapult their hidden agendas of tyranny. Another word for this is close-mindedness. It's when a leader becomes so convinced that their ideas are the only right ones and uses them to override any other ideas that threaten theirs. Whether it's religious, political, educational, or historical, we know who these people are. They don't allow anyone else to threaten their "right ideas" with other ideas. 

I would like to argue for a moment that what was happening in the church during the time this letter was written is happening in the church today. Guidelines and counsel are needed in the church, but there is a right way and a wrong way to carry out these guidelines. The word tyranny gives us a visual of how these guidelines were being carried out in the time of the letter, and Paul's talking about tyranny inside the church. What made up this tyrannical defiance of authority? A few leaders controlling the whole ship, and remaining obstinate to the ideas and suggestions of the passengers of the ship. In my opinion, Paul was suggesting here that the law code was actually for the ones who were subliminally trying to gain more and more power in their maneuvering of the ship by presenting hard-lined ideas about God, life, sex, and truth. They created the "law" for the passengers without listening to the input of the passengers. That would probably equate to what was already going on in the Roman government, and it was infiltrating the way the church was functioning.

The difference between tyranny in the church and state is, one can freely remove him/herself from church tyranny. Just leave. It's a little harder to do that when it comes to political tyranny. One would have to remove him/herself from the country. Nevertheless, there are people who know that without the church, they will surely die whether that be emotionally, spiritually, or even physically. The church was created to be a hospital for the sick, not a government for the righteous. So, what can be done to do what Paul is talking about in this passage? What can be done to safeguard against religious tyranny and close-minded contempt against new and "threatening" ideas and suggestions? 

Open the steering of the ship to the passengers. Let the passengers play just as much part in guiding the ship. When a collective voice representing the whole load is invited into decision making and action-based ideas, there is very little chance for tyrannical leadership to occur. When the minds of the laypeople are brought together with the minds of the religiously educated, great things can happen. The whole idea of Church turns into an action-oriented, healing presence in the world. New spaces are opened up. Service and worship are no longer behind closed doors but out in the street, in the neighborhoods, and in the clubs. 

Today's Action: Pay attention to the ways we present our conceptions of God, life, sex, and truth. Are we using these conceptions to aid our own tyranny, or are we open-minded enough to listen to different angles? 

Kill John (Pentecost - Day 1)

(Based on 1 Corinthians 2:1-13)

So, two nights ago I was driving down a sandy, unpaved road in the middle of the night with my girlfriend. We were scoping out a spot to go flounder gigging. I had done some previous research using Google Earth to find some spots as I was unfamiliar with the area. The research led me to Port Bay Road. There were no houses around. There were no street signs, just this sandy road leading to the edge of the water. When we finally got to the end of the road, the headlights exposed hundreds of bait fish jumping out of the water, and we parked the vehicle. I pulled out my spotlight to examine the area, but my girlfriend asked, "Did you see what was written in the sand?" I said, "No. What does it say?"
She grabbed the spotlight from me, walked to the front of the car, and shined the light on the words written in the sand. The car happened to be parked right in front of the phrase, "KILL JOHN." Immediately, she jumped back into the car wondering what in the world could have possibly been meant by these words. I just pushed the thinking aside because I wanted to scope out the area. I wanted to catch some flounder this weekend. 
I started thinking about it when we left. What did it mean? Was it a setup? Was this some evil plot by the creators of Google Earth? 
The truth was that I didn't know why these words were written in the sand, and I didn't know who the John was that they were referring to. My girlfriends was freaked out, and I was catapulted into the mind-numbing daze of theory and belief. There were words, their were emotions, there were responses. The problem was, we were presented with a message that connected us with an unfounded story, and we weren't given a reason why.  
As I thought about this event this morning, I thought about how the message found in the scriptures is often presented in the same way the message "KILL JOHN" was written in the sand. The hearer is left with fear, confusion, and a burden of not knowing why the message was created in the first place. So, it's only reasonable that the hearer of a message that's presented without substance or explanation will experience the byproducts of emotional reaction. For us, it was impossible to find out why the message was written in the sand. 
Part of being a great teacher is presenting a message but not holding a monopoly on the message. A great teacher actually points the audience back to the beginning of the message, leaving it up to them to interpret and come to their own conclusions. When we're left without a trace of where a message comes from, all that's left is emotional reactivity and not tangible depth. 
The author Paul tells us that he's scared most of the time about presenting the Message of Jesus. He feels inadequate, and feels like he's not impressing anyone. But then, he goes on to say that he still believes the message is making it's way into the minds and ears of his audience. Why? He says he teaches nothing but who Jesus is and what he did. Everything else is left up to the interpretation and research of the audience. Through what he calls "God's wisdom and power," the substance of the message trudges its way through. 
My question is, How many times have we been presented with a message that was presumably true, but were left with no way of unpacking it to find out the truth for ourselves? This happens every time we watch a commercial or hear a politician speak. We are given "plain truths" and given manufactured sources for these truths, but we have no way of unpacking them for ourselves. These days, even unpacking the "truth" requires going down a rabbit hole. 
What I take away from Paul's passage today is this: When we finally flush out all the noise of religious leaders, politicians, marketing gimmicks, and pyramid scams, we're left with the pure, simple, message of God's love for us. We find that the only way to grow deeper in that love is to actually pay more attention to our own heartbeats and less attention to all the voices screaming around us with a bullhorn. Sure, it's very enlightening and helpful to hear those messages, but at the end of the day it's us, alone, wondering what actually happens when we turn off the lights and close our eyes.
God's wisdom is found when we spend more time tapping into that thing inside of us that lights up when spend time having coffee with someone we love. It's found when we pay more attention to the spark that turns into a flame when we're at a Dave Matthews concert. God's wisdom is found when we spend more time connecting with what brings us life and energy and zeal. When we rely more on sources that are outside of our own, unique, experiences to define what or who God is, we pay less attention to the whispering spirit within. We let others define the unique, indescribable ambition within, and it gets whittled down to a hesitant, untrustworthy, nuisance. We become less confident in the Sprit residing in, and more confident in the spirits dwelling outside. 
I hope, as well as Paul did, that I am presenting a message that makes sense to my audience. I hope I'm not wrapping it up with polished language and fashionable wisdom, but conveying something that my audience can chew on with me. I hope the message I present doesn't single out anyone, but draws every reader in to examine the voice, the pulling, the divine shaping that is occurring in our own hearts. 

Kim's Thoughts On Where to Serve

This is going to say "Keith" because I am totally untechnical and don't know how to make it say "Kim"...but this is Kim.  I have been thinking and praying about our upcoming discussion about what we will do as our next mission.  I dreamed last night that I was flying (literally - like Peter Pan) over a train at night and there were families jumping onto the train, trying to cross the border between Mexico and the U.S.  They were afraid and desperate.  I thought maybe we could reach out to families here that might be in that situation.

I read an article tonight about Bacliff - about the poverty there, the gangs, the drug problems...maybe we could do something there.

I thought about the way our group has reached out to the homeless...maybe we could do more in that area.

I am reading a book by Richard Stearns, the president of World Vision, and he wrote about Disneyworld and how clean and comfortable and insulated it is from the real world.  He wrote about the Magic Kingdom (where so many if us live in comfort and prosperity), the Tragic Kingdom, where hunger and oppression and extreme poverty are the norm, and God's Kingdom - what God intends....

Whatever we do, I hope we can bring hope and healing and help into the one of the Tragic Kingdoms near us.

Waffles (Easter - Day 48)

(Based on Hebrews 8:1-13)

A few nights ago, I went to Waffle House with a few of my coworkers. We all crammed around a table and started sharing stories over coffee and waffles. I hadn't laughed in a long time as hard as I did that night. After that, I went to my friend Caleb's house in Houston and played video games until about three in the morning. When I woke up, I stumbled outside. It was one o' clock in the afternoon but I felt like it was five in the morning. He has a couch sitting right outside the house, so I plopped down and lit a cigarette. The next door neighbor came outside to shut her gate, and I tried to say Good Morning, but I guess I was still so sleepy that the words didn't actually have the strength to come out. It felt kind of awkward because I probably looked like a bum sitting on that couch outside with my bed hair and no shoes on. 

I've found lately that hanging with my coworkers gives me life that I haven't experienced before. There's always a lot of laughter, the kind that comes from the soul. Although we're a bunch of ragamuffins who are simply trying to figure out how to make sense of this life, we have fun together. I see something in them that I find in myself, and that's what draws me to spending time with them. 

The author of Hebrews contrasts this "old plan" with a "new plan." The old plan looks like offerings, sacrifices, high priests, guilt, asking for forgiveness, and worshiping in temples made with human hands. That is what the old plan looked like for people all the way up until Christ arrived. It was written on paper and chiseled on stone. In order to know what the system was, one would have to read it or be told about it. Then, one would be responsible for living in a way that resembled what that plan said. It was a system based on human effort to please a God who apparently seemed impossible to please. Why? Because people just couldn't get it right. This plan was supposed to be the spearhead of a movement that would bless the nations and transform the world. However, it ended up proving that humans could not avoid their own tendencies to make selfish decisions. The offerings ended up not being enough. The sacrifices were inadequate. The high priests were being bad examples because they too were not keeping the law. The guilt that came from breaking the law was much too heavy of a burden for anybody to carry. Asking for forgiveness was rote and habitual, and it soon lost any meaning at all. Temples became banks instead of spaces to worship. A new plan was mandatory, and God knew. According to the author, he turned a blind eye and let the people do what they wanted. He had enough compassion on them to understand that it wasn't that they didn't want to be a part of transforming the world. The problem was they couldn't get past their own setbacks in order to do so. 

Then came Jesus - the new plan. The old plan was put on a shelf to collect dust. No longer was the plan to be chiseled in stone or written on paper, but it would be written on the lining of the heart. Everyone would be in on this new plan because it would be as obvious as feeling a heartbeat. What was the new plan? Since the old plan of offerings, sacrifices, guilt, asking for forgiveness, and worshiping in temples was not working, it had to be replaced with something extraordinary. Jesus would become the one who gave the offerings. He would give the sacrifice. He would replace guilt with grace. He would forgive once and for all and would make the people His temple. He would move to where the people were instead of waiting for the people to come to him. 

The author of Hebrews says the new plan is written on the linings of our hearts, and it's this: we know God because we've been kindly forgiven. Because the need to offer up wordy prayers and good deeds and perfect belief and perfect church attendance is no longer necessary, we have the freedom to follow our deepest desires - our hearts. We live in a constant state of forgiveness. We have been reconciled with the longings of our hearts, with a God who wants us to pay attention to our desires and passions and to follow their lead. 

No longer is guilt the gauge by which we work and play, but grace. We have become the temple, the sanctuary of God through the new plan. Church attendance doesn't matter anymore because we are the church. Our very livelihoods are full of the new plan weaving its way throughout the people and events around us. From the simplest hello to the most complex struggles of seeing a loved one move on, we are awakening moment by moment to the presence of this plan written on our hearts. We are awakening to a forgiveness that is not ushered in by human language, but has been there before we were born. This forgiveness has been written on our hearts all along, and it was only a matter of time before we woke up to it. The game of who's right and who's wrong between the atheist and the religious is now a game of semantics. 

The belief is simple. God is or isn't. We can acknowledge that there are things inside of us that we didn't put there, or we can conjure up a story of how we created them. Everything we need to know is already within us, and we just have to wake up to it. If someone tells us that we have to do anything to receive forgiveness, then we simply need to take a step back and remember the new plan. Doing things for forgiveness was exactly what the old plan was all about. We are all forgiven and have been given the opportunity to pay attention to the literature of our hearts to move forward, bring life to the world around us, and to receive life even more abundantly.

This is why I go to Waffle House with my coworkers. I see a group of friends who have the new plan written on their hearts. My mind isn't constantly drilling the thought of how I can get them to know God. I'm confident that everyone who has a beating heart and knows how to laugh and follow their passions has already tasted the divine. When I can sit with a group around coffee and food, and laugh until it hurts, I am experiencing the church. I am experiencing what it looks like to be the temple of God. 

Chicken (Easter - Day 47)

(Based on Hebrews 7:18-28)

The author of Hebrews uses the language of high priests, sacrifices, offerings, and authority. For the modern American reader, this language sounds outdated and irrelevant. But, for the audience at the time the language made sense. In America, we don't live in a theocracy. Our lifestyles are not governed by Jewish law or Greek paganism. Although many American citizens claim that this country is based on the principles set forth in scripture by God, I don't hold to this claim. It may have been an early attempt, but it has not worked out very well for those who spend any serious time in the scriptures and keep an eye on current events. For the audience at the time, the language made sense. 

In order for it to make sense to us, we have to imagine that our laws are actually built around religion. When we break the law, it is called sin. In order to fix the problem, we have to obtain whatever prescription is made for the particular trespass. The prescription may be a dove, a lamb, or a bull. Sometimes, the prescription may include offerings of wheat, barley, or other types of grains. Other times, the prescription may include incense. The one who determines what kind of prescription fits what type of law break is the high priest. One would have to visit the high priest, confess what sin was committed, then be told what needed to be done to make up for it. The sinner would then go grab whatever was needed to fix the wrongdoing, and take it back to the high priest.

The priest would then receive the stuff, take it into the most inner part of temple, and carry out a ritualistic offering. The priest would follow strict guidelines, and these guidelines would depend on what kind of sin was committed and what kind of prescriptions were given. The priest may slit the throat of a lamb, letting its blood flow over the altar. The priest may burn a pile of wheat, or light the incense, depending on the situation. In either case, the priest acted as the mediator between the one who sinned and the God who wanted nothing to do with sin. 

The person sinning would give something in order to receive something back: forgiveness. This process would be repeated over and over for a lifetime in the hopes that one could die forgiven, with no stones left unturned. 

In our day, it would be like this: I've stolen cash from work. I know I've done wrong because something inside of me says it's wrong. So, in order to make it right, I need to go to the local pastor to find out what I need to do to make it right. The pastor would give me specific instructions on how to make it right. I would not only have to give the cash back and apologize to my boss, but I would have to follow strict religious guidelines on how to make it right with God. So, the pastor tells me to go purchase a live chicken and bring it back to him. I go outside the city, where the chickens are, and get one. Then, I drive back to the pastor and hand over the unfortunate chicken. The pastor tells me to wait, and goes behind closed doors in a back room and does some sort of ritualistic sacrifice. The chicken is "offered" up to God for my wrongdoing. It isn't until after the process is finished that I am forgiven and made right again. 

The author of Hebrews says this way of doing things never panned out the way it was supposed to. For one, there would not be enough chickens to go around for everyone's wrongdoings. Second, everyone would be full of fear and anxiety because they would constantly live in a state of forgiveness in one moment, and guilt in the next. Their status according to God would revolve around their actions, or lack of action. The other problem was, the high priests were sinners as well. Before the high priest could perform any of the atonements for the people, he or she would have to take care of their own atonements each morning. 

The idea of high priests and atonement sounds very weird and outdated, but the idea of transaction is very real to us. Every day, we go to the store or the bank. We give money in return for something. We sacrifice money for food, or water, or electricity. When we go to church, we sacrifice money to see good happen in the world. When we see a homeless person, we sacrifice money or time to be a part of making their lives a bit better. We live in a world that revolves around financial transaction and sacrifice. But the author makes it clear that there are no more transactions required when it comes to us and God.

Priests are no longer mediators between us and God. The most spiritual people in the world are not set apart as the mouthpieces between man and God. The author claims that Jesus became the high priest once and for all, and that because of him, we have direct access to God at all times. We no longer have to subscribe to the specific rituals to make ourselves right, or to be forgiven and atoned for. It's been taken care of once and for all. 

What this means is that although financial transactions and sacrifices are very much a common thread in our existence, this common thread should not carry over into our conceptions of God. As hard as it is to swallow, we are free to live in the once and for all forgiveness that's been taken care of to the tee. The author is saying that when we pray or go to God in whatever ways we like, we are actually being mediated for without having a human being oversee it. We are being advocated for, mediated for, and fought for. No matter what we're doing, what we've done, or what we're going to do, we have a high priest who is pulling us forward and who's on our side. This high priest demands nothing because he sees us as perfectly forgiven and spotless, and loves through that lens. 

Today's Action: Think about our motives today. As we continue to search for truth and connect with this power that is very hard to understand, what are our motives? Are we trying to earn something that's already been given?

Lawbreakers (Easter - Day 46)

(Based on Hebrews 7:1-17)

There is nothing that brings me closer to the realization that laws and moral codes cannot bring perfection than remembering what it is like to drink. It is morally/spiritually wrong for me because when I consume any amount of alcohol whatsoever, I crave more. I do and say things that are out of my control. In a way, I've let myself be taken over by a power that's trying to kill me and the people around me. It's legally wrong for me because I get behind the wheel of a car and drive a bomb on wheels, putting everything and everyone on the road at risk. Yet, when the powerful obsession comes one, there is no amount of thinking or moral rightness that will change my course of action. I know the law, but it is not enough. What the laws were created to do don't have the power to make me obey them or become a better person. My moral codes and the laws of the land - in the long run - are systems of reactive discipline. Created to be preventive measures for wrongdoing, they ended up being reactive forces of shame and punishment. 

In the Old Testament, the same was true. There were laws handed down to the Levitical line of priests to hand down to the citizens. They were created to enable people to love themselves, other people, and God. However, as people - all suffering from the same human condition - continuously broke these moral/legal statutes, the laws handed down became avenues of punishment rather than catalysts for growth and harmony. Following the law became more about trying not to mess up than trying to be better people. The laws lost their power to perfect, which was what they were created to do. 

The author of Hebrews tells us that somewhere in the past, there was a new kind of priest who arrived on the scene. His name was Melchezedek. Apparently, this man had no family ties, no birth nor death certificate, yet did the same things priests from the royal line did. He collected tithes and gave blessings. Even Abraham, the "father of the nations," gave Mel a tenth of his income and spoils from war. Evidently, there was this thought that maybe if they just find a king who has no ties to the current system of law, things will get better. The law will return to its original intentions. It will make people mature. It will make people better, and the law will be restored back to its original intent - perfection. 

However, this idea didn't work. The author parallels the narrative of this king with the narrative of Jesus. They both had family ties that were not in line with the royal priesthood. They both became high priests even though they didn't inherit their positions out of genealogical ties. They were "new blood" in a time of much needed change. But that's where it stops. With Melchezedek, even the progressive thinking in making him the king wasn't enough. The truth was, there was nothing that could restore the law to its original purpose because human beings were not perfect and never would be. 

So, Jesus comes along according to the author, and ushers in this new, completely radical shift in what the law is and what it's supposed to do. The author says this new system of law is so radical that it can't even be looked at through the lens of "the ten commandments and all of its counterparts." 

What the author is suggesting here is huge. He or she is saying that in order to view what Jesus came to do and what Jesus did, we have to suspend our realities of the ten commandments and all the other laws that came with it. We have to suspend all of our preconceived notions of what is right and wrong. We have to suspend all of the moral traditions that have been handed down to us through our genealogical ties. If we don't, we are mixing oil and water. We are trying to fit something that's so radical and so life changing into a system that doesn't work. 

For example, I am dating a girl who just recently got divorced. The story doesn't start there though. I started dating her over three years ago, while she was still married. Was it chaotic? Absolutely. Did I have the notion that it was against moral and spiritual law? Absolutely. Did I have to face the fact that what I was doing was completely against the tradition of my genealogy? Yes. Did I have all the verses from the Old Testament and the ten commandments floating around in my head all the time? Absolutely.

Here's what happened. Holding on to all my preconceived beliefs and notions about the old law, it was impossible to move forward and see the restoration that was happening right before my eyes. The truth was, her husband was suffering greatly from a traumatic brain injury. She was suffering from the loss of her husband. I was suffering from banging my head against the wall, wondering how in the world I got into the mess in the first place, cursing God for giving me desires that went "against his own laws." It took about a year to finally have a window of sunlight open in my soul, enough to create a pressure crack that would keep growing, and growing, and growing. 

What I began to see was reality. The more I left my preconceived notions of all the laws I was breaking out of my moral and religious beliefs, the more I woke up to the story of redemption and restoration that I was being invited into. And that, my friends, is waking up to the narrative of what Jesus came to do. 

When we suspend our hard-lined notions of what is right and wrong, and enter into stories that would normally be "off limits" or unorthodox, we find that redemption and restoration cannot be created by law and religious ritual. Although they were created for that exact purpose, we are human and not perfect. Perfect laws cannot create perfect human beings. So, the narrative has it that Jesus showed up to completely turn the law on its head. He came so that lawbreakers and moral unrighteous people could enter into the stories of redemption happening all around us. He came so that the unreligious and unspiritual could have the opportunity to live out their God-given drives to make the world a better place. He completely opened up the law to take on a new purpose. 

The authors of the gospels tell us that through his death and resurrection, Jesus did what the law could never do: made all of humanity, past, present, and future, perfect. I don't mean perfect in our way of looking at each other and ourselves, but perfect in the way the Divine looks at human beings and creation. Through the cross and resurrection, the Maker of the universe was able to say once more, "It is good," while the Christ said, "It is Finished." 

The intention of the law became something different. It was and is now a tool to be used in spiritual growth. It is not intended for perfection or judgment, but merely a tool to "get better." We shouldn't use it as a measure of perfection, because the law lost that power shortly after it was created. We should use it as a way to freely explore ways to improve our moral well-beings and the ways we treat ourselves and others. 

Today's Action: Try to go all day without judging others. We all have ideas and engrained concepts of what is right and wrong. We measure ourselves and others up to these conceptions. Today, may we let other people be, without the need to point out their flaws and measure them up against our own notions of morality and conduct. Thank God that He sees us as perfect along the way.

The Curtain (Easter - Day 45)

(Based on Hebrews 6:13-20)

I have this friend who asked me for a ride one night after an A.A. meeting. He was kind of vague about where we were going, but I trust him enough. He said he needed a ride "down the street" but didn't give me any details. As we left the parking lot, he started giving me snippets of what we were doing. I was taking him to his girlfriend's house, but this wasn't just a normal hello. He was going to find out how she was doing. 

My friend had been dating this girl for a while, and had gotten her pregnant. The problem was, as soon as she got pregnant she got scared. She didn't know what to do and pulled back from the relationship. So, I was actually driving him to her house so that he could possibly just get a glimpse of her through the front door. He knew that she probably wouldn't answer, and that he would have to go through her mom. 

When we arrived, I sat in the car in front of the house. I gave him a pep talk, encouraging him and telling him not to do anything dramatic. I don't know if I would have had the courage he showed this night. He missed his lover, and he wanted to help her throughout her pregnancy. He walked up to the front door. No answer. A couple minutes later, the mother pulled up into the driveway. She got out of her car and walked to the front, seeing him standing there. They started talking. From where I was, I could hear him pleading to see his girlfriend. Can I just see her? Please? Can I just hear that she's alright?

I felt horrible for my friend. I couldn't imagine what it'd be like to be in his position. He pleaded with the mother for an hour, trying to get a glimpse or a sound from his girlfriend. Maybe a phone number or an email address - anything to let him know she was okay. He couldn't get past the mother though. He tried everything he could, but could get no access to the one he loved. As we pulled away, his voice was trembling as he had run out of options. He knew he would have to surrender. He knew that he had no control anymore. He had done everything in his power to make things right. 

This story came to mind as I was reading today's passage in Hebrews. The author tells us that just as God had promised Abraham that he would make many nations out of his offspring, and would bless him abundantly, he promises us direct access to himself through Jesus. The problem with my friends' story is, he didn't have unlimited and direct access to his lover. He was blocked by the mother, and couldn't get where he wanted to go. 

During the time of Abraham and the plight of the Israelites, there was only one way to access Jehovah, or what we would call God. There was a temple with an inner room. Supposedly, in the inner room was the presence of God. Anyone who entered into this presence besides a high priest would not survive. So, high priests were appointed to mediate for the Israelites. The law of the land was based around sacrifice. If you broke the law, you would have to offer a prescribed sacrifice to atone for that trespass. One would travel to the temple, give the offering to the priest, and the priest would follow strict guidelines for offering the sacrifice to the God behind the "veil." The veil was a thick curtain that separated the inner recesses - the most sacred spot - from the secular world outside. Only the priest had access to this area, and even he or she was risking their lives going into this area, because if they broke any of the rules regarding offerings, they would die as well. They would have a rope tied around their waste just in case they did anything wrong, so that in the worst case scenario, they could be dragged out by the rope. 

There was no direct access to God, so God was feared as this punishing deity that demanded strict adherence to rules and guidelines. If the rules were broken, death was sure to follow. The whole system of accessibility between God and man was based on fear and sacrifice and atonement. 

The promise that the author of Hebrews says that God gave us was the hope of direct communication. The author says that Jesus became the high priest, the mediator, the offering for us. Through a perfect life requiring no offerings or sacrifices for his own wrongdoings, he scandalously carried out a plan devised by Jehovah to become the eternal sacrifice for the people. He became the high priest, the only one with access inside the curtain. But, he took it further and laid himself on the altar as the sacrifice for the people. What used to be the blood of cattle, oxen, doves, and lambs, was now the blood of a human being in God's image. 

According to the author, Jesus became the atonement for all of mankind for all time. No longer would humankind have to jump through loops to access this God. No longer would human beings have to offer up their sacrifices and subscribe to the hundreds of different rituals to make themselves right. It was finished. The need for humans to atone for their sins was finished. The blood running over the altar covered the ground of the most sacred area of the temple, and the curtain to the inside was torn in half. It was no longer a barrier between man and God. Mankind was saved from any further ritualistic cleansing and sacrifice for its sins.

I don't blame you if this sounds Lord of the Rings-ish. I don't blame you if this is too hard to swallow. It all can get pretty overwhelming and whimsical. I can't prove this, but can only translate in a messy way what has been written. I cannot prove any of this. I can only believe it or not believe it. Even though I believe it, I still can't prove it to anyone else but myself. The principle behind this narrative is this: We have direct access to a God who loves us more than we could ever imagine. We don't even have to make ourselves look good. We've already been made the way God wants us to be. God sees us as perfect, unblemished, and beautiful. Our sins and wrongdoings have been cast as far as the east is from the west, and we no longer have any work to do to atone for that. 

What we do have is the ability to test out this direct access. While I can't prove it, I can test it myself. I challenge anyone reading this to test it as well. See for yourself that the curtain is torn. See for yourself that no matter how messy, dirty, or messed up we humans are, we have direct access to a God who wants the best for us, and who sees us a million times better than we see ourselves. See for yourself that the God we can't see, touch, hear, taste, or smell may be more accessible than we think. 

Today's Action: Think of one thing in our lives that we are struggling with or writing off as impossible. In whatever way that seems right, pray about it. See if this God is really accessible. See if the promise is true that the author of Hebrews talks about.