On Monday, Chris Stone, our Mix 56 pastor, led our staff prayer time, the theme was celebration. He referenced all of the festivals and celebrations that God established with his people in Leviticus, painting the picture that God is a celebratory God, followed by a simple question: “What should you be celebrating today?” We then broke off and spent time in solitude thinking, praying and journaling about that question. Here is what I discovered: I don’t celebrate well – In fact, I have a hard time living in the moment because I’m constantly thinking about the next event, the next service, our next step as a church, to sum up, I realized I don’t choose to BE in many moments, because I’m thinking about what I have to DO next. My thought is constantly “GO, GO GO”, often not appreciating the moment - the conclusion the Lord revealed to me is that I don’t celebrate with him because I am too busy trying to earn favor by doing THE NEXT THING.

The Grand Canyon is one of the 7 wonders of the world. The Grand Canyon was formed due to erosion by the Colorado River. It is massive, 1904 sq/mi., a mile deep, 18 miles wide, and 277 miles long.  I had the opportunity to hike from the South Rim to the North Rim with 17 guys in October 2020.  I showed up untrained and out of shape, and spent 15 grueling hours staring at me feet, one foot in front of the other, mentally grinding, the goal became survival. I saw pictures that others took afterward, they were BEAUTIFUL, BREATHTAKING, but I missed the beauty of the moment because I showed up unprepared, and settled for the accomplishment over enjoying the experience, and my “celebration” came in the form of collapsing and throwing up several times. My OFFERING to that moment was definitely not my best, and I missed the beauty of a shared experience because I was merely living to fight another day.

In Hebrews 10:1-18, the author uses the words OFFERING or OFFER 9 times, and SACRIFICE 8 times. So, my questions today are, “WHAT am I offering God, and WHY am I offering it?” I have two options: I am either offering God my life FROM a place of overflow, OR I am offering God my acts and works to try to make myself acceptable. This is the ugly part of me: that I could possibly find myself consistently OFFERING things to GOD in order to feel worthy, to feel forgiven, as opposed to OFFERING my life to God because through Jesus I HAVE BEEN MADE WORTHY and I can LIVE FORGIVEN. Hebrews 10:1-18

Verses 1-3 - He’s been saying this for several chapters now – the LAW is simply a copy, picture, or here a SHADOW of the real thing. What does that mean? Matthew 5:17  Jesus is the fulfillment of the LAW, the complete embodiment of what perfection looks like, and do you see the two ideas we have seen mentioned several times over the last few chapters? “year after year, repeated endlessly” vs. “Once and for all.”  Again, the author is saying here that the LAW was given not to keep people in line, but to remind them that they couldn’t live up to it. And, ON REPEAT, the SACRIFICIAL OFFERING was not FROM a place of gratitude, but FROM a place of SHAME. V3, sacrifices are an annual reminder of sin.

How do you feel when you don’t live up to your potential? When you give into temptation, or succumb to peer pressure, or simply do the same things over and over and expect a different result? The cycle of SHAME keeps you in a place of DOING, STRIVING to EARN favor or forgiveness. And, this can be with God and with each other. People pleasing is a form of shame. I don’t feel worthy, so I need to DO more to earn favor with people, whether it be family, friends, co-workers. And again, if I am consumed with people-pleasing, I am only as satisfied as you are in the moment, but even worse, I get stuck in the cycle of looking into the future, thinking about how to keep you happy and satisfied WITH ME.

Bottom line: SHAME causes STRIVING (sacrifice repeated endlessly year after year) while LIVING FORGIVEN causes FREEDOM and REST (receiving once for all sacrifice of Jesus).

Verse 4  Day of atonement, the blood of animals is insufficient blood, only a reminder that you are not forgiven, and simply placeholder for PERFECT blood of Jesus.

Verses 5-10  So, the author quotes Psalm 40:6-8 here, then explains what he means by it – again, as he has done throughout the book, he takes an OT text and reinterprets it to prove his point. He takes a text written by David and attributes it to Jesus – The idea of God not desiring offerings or sacrifices is not new ground here. In fact, a couple weeks ago, we looked at Amos 5:21-23, where God said, “I’m not interested in your offerings or songs, THEY STINK.” In contrast, David in Psalm 51:16-17 mirrors this text,  “You don’t want my offering, you want my heart,” this is the heart of the passage, “I have come to do your will”, which means, “I won’t just offer something from a place of guilt or shame, but I will offer you my life from a place of FREEDOM and FORGIVENESS. Jesus set aside the idea of the endless pursuit of reconciliation through sacrifices by BECOMING OBEDIENT to SACRIFICIAL DEATH. Jesus partnered with God to purchase our FREEDOM, and as a result, the invitation is to FOLLOW suit by stopping the madness of trying to make yourself worthy and JOIN JESUS in something NEW.

So many thoughts here: Phil. 3:10, Paul says he wants to know Christ, and be identified with him in suffering and death. Galatians 2:20, crucified with Christ, no longer I, but Christ in me. Romans 12:1, present you bodies as LIVING SACRIFICES, holy and pleasing to God, this is your spiritual act of worship. All of this to say that until I die to self, stop trying to make myself acceptable, stop managing my shame and unworthiness, I am not fully RECEIVING the life that Jesus died for. NO MORE SHAME, NO MORE STRIVING.

Gavin and I were talking this week, and he said something that really stuck with me: “You can’t become who God wants you to be if you’re constantly trying to make up for who you used to be.”

Verses 11-14 Earthly priest vs. Great high priest, again, “day after day” vs “once for all.” Remember, “sat down at right hand”, he’s already taken care of it, “It is finished.” 2 Corinthians 5:21, he who knew no sin became sin on our behalf, SO THAT WE MIGHT BE CALLED THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD. You are RIGHTEOUS, not because of your own goodness, but because of JESUS, you are made PERFECT/NEW (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Verses 15-17 Revisits Jeremiah 31, the HOLY SPIRIT reminding us of the NEW COVENANT. A NEW HEART, A NEW MIND, COMPLETE FORGIVENESS.  “Their sins I will remember NO MORE.” Notice it is an INTERNAL WORK,  a new way of thinking will equal a new way of living.

Verse 18 And, when you are thinking new, when you are LIVING FORGIVEN, you no longer feel the need to prove yourself or try to make yourself worthy through sacrifice.

Close:
Let me wrap this up by returning to the question: WHAT am I offering God, and WHY am I offering it? – it is possible to offer good things to God with the wrong heart? Jesus would say yes. Matthew 6, Jesus says that there is a wrong way to give, pray and fast. In fact, Jesus says that when you offer anything with the wrong heart, you miss the blessing of partnership with him.

1. You can either live TO BE FORGIVEN or LIVE FORGIVEN. The first is from a place of shame and will cause you to consistently try to earn favor with God and others, while the second is the heart position of freedom, and will cause you to rest and not feel the need to constantly prove yourself. It is a FOR/FROM proposition.

2. Your IDENTITY will either be in your accomplishments or what Jesus has already accomplished. This is the point of the passage. You will either try to build your resume out of a sense of unworthiness, or enjoy the freedom and rest that comes from living in the identity of WHO you are because of what Jesus has done for you (beauty of GC – LOOK UP).