Mustard, Coffee, Blood.  No matter where I am, this pernicious triumvirate seeks and finds me.  I try.  I really try to avoid them.  Copious napkins, the best of allegedly spill-proof mug-tech, and fastidious caution around anything sharp.  Yet, inevitably, they appear in some conspicuous spot on a favorite, and usually new, shirt.  Oh, the shame of it.  Stains make us self-conscious. And bring permanent ruin to what formerly brought joy. 

Our grandmothers had sovereign remedies.  Baking soda and Dow Scrubbing Bubbles were touted to take out any stain.  Now we have high-tech oxi-products which promise to “make stains invisible.”   Yet those tough stains often remain, oxidized, set in, made indelible by time and heat.  And what was briefly a favorite shirt is now consigned to yard work or the resale shop. 

Stain removal is hard.  Some stains are stubborn.  Others resist the fuller’s craft.  And some stains are beyond the reach of our grandmother’s sovereign remedies or modern treatments.  Guilt is a stain that sets in quickly and binds tightly to the fabric of our heart, mind, and soul.  It cannot be washed away or covered up.  Though perhaps unseen by others, it never feels that way.  The much-heralded urge to confess reminds us that as David once said, “my sin is ever before me.”

We try all sorts of sovereign remedies.  We ignore it.  We distract ourselves from it.  We try to numb it.  We work to make up for it.  We bargain with it.  And try to buy it off.  We try to excuse it.  We seek others who tell us not to feel guilty.   And yet there it is, the stain that resists the fuller’s craft.  Hymnwriter, Horatius Bonar expressed it well.

Not what my hands have done can save my guilty soul;
Not what my toiling flesh has borne can make my spirit whole.
Not what I feel or do can give me peace with God;
Not all my prayers and sighs and tears can bear my awful load

Guilt is metastatic.  It poisons every area of our being.  It is a crushing load.  We are desperate to unburden. But there seems to be no way to remove guilt’s stain.  To be made clean again.  We feel the weight of Paul’s plaintive cry, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”  Is there no way forward?  No way to wash out sin’s guilty stain?

Tucked neatly in the rules and regulations of the last of Israel’s five sacrifices, the Lord graciously appoints the sovereign remedy for the stain of guilt.  In Leviticus 5 we learn of the guilt offering, sometimes called the reparation offering.   While at first glance it appears indistinguishable from the sin/purification offering that precedes it, there are important distinctions.   And in this reparation offering the Lord gives his people a gracious remedy for sin’s shame and sets before them the path to move forward from crippling guilt. 

The guilt offering, like all the other sacrifices, teaches us about the nature of sin.  And what is required for sin’s curse to be lifted.   This offering, like the others, also points us to the One whose sacrifice gives efficacy to the blood of every ram offered for Israel’s guilt.  In Isaiah 53 we encounter a reference to this sacrifice.   The prophet writes.

Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

Isaiah 53:10

In the subsequent verse of Horatius Bonar’s hymn quoted above, the author answers the tension his first verse creates.

Thy work alone, O Christ, can ease this weight of sin;
Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God, can give me peace within.
Thy love to me, O God, not mine, O Lord, to Thee,
Can rid me of the dark unrest, and set my spirit free.

Has the indelible stain of guilt created dark unrest for you?  Is your sin ever before you?  Has no work of your hands been able to remove guilt’s stain?  You need to know there is hope.   There is a sovereign remedy.  Paul’s plaintive cry is followed by gracious praise.  “But thanks be to God through our Lord Jesus Christ…  For there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Join us as we examine Leviticus 5:14-6:7 and consider the guilt offering, what it teaches us about our sin and how it provides a way to put guilt behind us and move forward.  We meet each Lord’s Day on the square in Pottsville, right next to historic Potts’ Inn at 10:30 am for worship. Get directions here or contact us for more info. Or join us on Facebook Live @PottsvilleARP or YouTube. 

“Confession is good for the soul.”  But not for our brand.  Confession is hard on our pride. And our reputation.  Confession literally means “to agree.”  And when it comes to sin, the Bible points out that confession is agreeing with God about our sin.  Our preference, however, is for God to agree with us about our sin.  That it was not so bad.  That it turned out ok.  That we had good intentions.  That we did not mean to.   That we did not know it was sin.  And the coup de grace, that we had a good excuse.  Sin always has a reason.  But never an excuse. 

Reasons and excuses are not the same.  Reasons accept guilt or responsibility.  Excuses demands to be excused from both.  If, as Calvin noted, our hearts are ‘idol factories’ then our minds are ‘excuse-mills.’  And the perennial top ten excuses are:

• I forgot.
• I was busy.
• It’s not my job.
• I intended to….
• I didn’t mean to.
• I didn’t know how to.
• You didn’t tell me to ….
• I tried and it didn’t work.
• They didn’t do their part so I couldn’t do mine.
• I was waiting.

To which we could add any number of embellishments.  All of which shift blame from what I failed do onto what someone else caused me to do.  The dog ate my homework.  You did not give me enough time.  You did not explain your expectations well.  Or train me properly.  You don’t do it, so why should I?  Your expectations were unrealistic.  On and on it goes.  Our minds are never more imaginative than when excusing sin.  

But ignorance is no excuse. This is foundational to every legal code.  Guilt is not reduced by good intentions or bad intelligence.  Posted in the Roman Forum was the brocard, ignorantia juris non excusat or “ignorance of the law excuses not.” Lawbreaking is lawbreaking.   Guilt is guilt. And ignorance never excuses sin.

Before Romulus and Remus were nursed by a wolf, Israel received instruction from the Lord about how to handle the guilt and responsibility of unintentional sin.   Atonement, not excuse, was to be offered.   Confession, not concession, was required.  God never overlooks sin. Or leaves it unpunished.  He cannot and will not simply dismiss it.  Blood is required.  A life is required. For there is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood. 

No excuses for sin.  But God is gracious. He gives us a path to confession, forgiveness, and reconciliation.  Leviticus 4 outlines a series of sacrifices identified as ‘the sin offering.’  These sacrifices are designed to provide atonement.  They point us to Jesus’ once-for-all, sacrifice of himself for sin. But they also reveal that “some sins in themselves, and by reason of several aggravations, are more heinous in the sight of God than others.”

And they emphasize that no excuses are accepted for sin.  Its guilt and responsibility must always be atoned.  Confession, repentance, and faith, not excuses, are required.  Satan is subtle and he is ever ready to suggest an excuse. And encourage us seek God’s agreement with us about our sin.  No wonder the Psalmist cries out.

Who can discern his errors?
    Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;
    let them not have dominion over me!

Psalm 19:12-13

Do you pray like this? Praying that God will make you more aware, more cautious, more averse to sin?  Praying for more understanding and obedience?  Praying for the work of God’s free grace in sanctification?  Or are you sheltering under excuses? Claiming that ‘ignorance is bliss?’  

Join us as we examine Leviticus 4 and consider what God has to say about unintentional sin and the danger of making excuses. We meet each Lord’s Day on the square in Pottsville, right next to historic Potts’ Inn at 10:30 am for worship. Get directions here or contact us for more info. Or join us on Facebook Live @PottsvilleARP or YouTube. 

Garmin won’t find it. Life360 can’t identify it. And Google will certainly never get you there. But it is there. It exists. Even if we have not yet found it. A quiet place. A place of respite and reprieve. A place where the noise of anxiety is canceled by overriding peace, assurance, transcendent joy. The peace chamber. That restful, therapeutic, comforting place where our cares are admitted, but told to sit down and be quiet. A place where the myopia of worry, grief, weariness, disappointment are corrected by the lenses of grace, thanksgiving and peace. A little glimpse of heaven.

Have you found it?  For some it may be the forest.  Or maybe the barn.  A well-worn chair.  Or even a closet.  Especially a prayer closet. Perhaps it is in music or reading.  Or with a beloved one who always seems to right the listing ship.  For the introvert it is a day alone. And for the extrovert a day with others.   Where do you go when the world is upside down and inside out?  Where will you be found when “the earth gives way, the mountains are moved into the heart of the sea, its waters roar and foam, and the mountains tremble at its swelling?”

Life in a fallen world is not peaceful.  Anything but.  It is not our home.  But it is our dwelling.  The beloved Psalmist describes it as a Valley of the Shadow of Death.  Yet even there, the Good Shepherd provides a place of safety, of peace.   Where is your peace chamber?  Where is your respite?  Your place of resting?  The place where faith replaces fear?

At first glance, Leviticus may not seem peaceful.  So filled with law, duty, and sacrifice.  Filled with divine particulars and divine justice.  To the sin weary soul, a Christless look at Leviticus feels like more guilt, more condemnation, one more bar set too high.  Seen through Christ, however, it reveals a glorious place of respite, relief, forgiveness, grace, and yes, peace.

Like Isaac, we often look at Leviticus and ask, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” And God says, “I have provided for myself the lamb for a burnt offering, my child.”  Leviticus dives immediately into instructions for the burnt offering pointing worshippers, ancient and modern, to Christ’s full and finished redeeming sacrifice.  The grain offerings that follow reflect the grateful response of redeemed people to a gracious God who,

Ransomed [us] from the futile ways inherited from [out] forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

1 Peter 1:18-19

Then in Leviticus 3, the Lord introduces the peace offering, a meal in which redeemed people joyfully gather to feast with their God.  The name of this sacrifice is literally “the slaughter of wholeness.”  And in this shared sacrificial meal, God’s people find a place of peace and wholeness.  A peace chamber that silences the accusations of the enemy of our souls.  And corrects our vision to see the loving-kindness of our sovereign, mighty, gracious, loving God so often obscured by the cataracts of sin.

Where is your peace chamber?  The woods?  The barn?  The well-worn chair?  The day alone? The day with others?  Or is it in gathering for worship?  In the Word? In prayer?  In the “diligent use of all the outward means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption.”

Leviticus 3 unpacks for us God’s call to draw near and cry out with the Psalmist.

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
    will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
    my God, in whom I trust.”

Psalm 91:1-2

Hymnwriter, Henry Lyte expressed it well.

Abide with me: fast falls the eventide;
   the darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
   Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

Abide With Me, Henry Lyte

Where is your peace chamber? Join us as we examine Leviticus 3 and consider the instructions for the peace offerings and how we find peace in God’s promises and presence. We meet each Lord’s Day on the square in Pottsville, right next to historic Potts’ Inn at 10:30 am for worship. Get directions here or contact us for more info. Or join us on Facebook Live @PottsvilleARP or YouTube. 

An unmitigated disaster.  Far from a shining moment for the capital of the New South, the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics proved disastrous.   Even battle tested Atlantans, were shocked by the gridlocked traffic.  The logistical disorganization and remoteness of some venues elicited universal criticism.  And the bombing at Centennial Olympic Park confirmed the opinions of many that the American south was still a hotbed of racism, violence, and extremism.  In the closing ceremony, the IOC chairman slighted the city and the games calling the Games only “most exceptional.” Breaking his precedent of describing every other  Olympics as “the best Olympics ever” at the closing ceremony.

But perhaps the greatest embarrassment was the mascot.  Intended to brand the Atlanta Games “Izzy,” short for “Whatizit,” was an amorphous blue blob wearing training shoes and variously draped in the five Olympic rings. Izzy was so poorly received when introduced at the end of the Barcelona games that it was redesigned and renamed by the children of Atlanta. Over time, a mouth appeared where there had first been only lips; stars appeared in his eyes; and his initially skinny legs became more muscled. Finally, a nose grew in the middle of his face. 

Despite the overhaul, Izzy never overcame the fact that it was unintelligible.  Or what it miscommunicated about Atlanta.  A mascot, logo, or icon must clearly express the core values of the person, place, or thing it represents.   If Izzy represented Atlanta, just what were her core values or virtues?  No one knew. And no one could know from Izzy.  Worse than failing to communicate values, Izzy communicated a vacuum.  Perhaps Atlanta had no core values or virtues.  Maybe this is what Izzy intended to convey. To say Izzy was a public relations failure would be a stunning understatement.

When something is ill-defined, it ultimately communicates whatever the receiver imputes.   Words or pictures without context or explanation will always take on a life of their own.   As communications guru, Marshall McLuhan quipped, “A word is worth a thousand pictures.” Or to quote the Proverb, “where there is no prophetic vision, the people cast off restraint.”  A brief trip to an art gallery quickly reveals that beauty, concept, value and virtue is, in the absence of explanation, in the eye and mind of the beholder. Only revealed truth keeps us from descending into paganism and superstition.  A point demonstrated by our divergent views about the reasons, ways, and effects of living sacrificially.

Sacrifices were known in every ancient culture.   The first sacrifice is only alluded to in Genesis 3 as God provides a covering for Adam and Eve from the skin of an animal.  And the first murder arose over sin regarding a sacrifice.   The patriarchs sacrificed.  And pagans sacrificed.  But their goal was to feed their gods, believing that the way to a god’s favor was through his stomach. Sacrifice was everywhere practiced yet nowhere clearly explained.   Yet its meaning is not to be subjectively determined by the feelings or intent of the offeror.  

The meaning of sacrifice is rooted in what C. S. Lewis called ‘the deep magic.’   The Bible tells us that Jesus is the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.  The deep magic of sacrifice stands outside of time.  Sacrifice means something.  It communicates something.  It affects something.  It points to something.  Something objective.  Something specific.  Something revealed not discovered. 

When the Galatians began to slip from grace to legalism, Paul reminded them that the law was not the way.  But rather the law pointed them to the One who was the way.  He wrote, “So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.” (Galatians 3:24)  The word ‘guardian’ is often translated ‘schoolmaster.’  The law teaches us about Christ and about sacrifice.

We would not understand John’s cry, “Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” without first understanding Leviticus with all its meticulum for the reasons, ways, and effects of sacrifice.   The first seven chapters of Leviticus are the priest’s handbook to sacrifices.  What to sacrifice, how to sacrifice, why to sacrifice.  And in these remarkably mundane pages we see the beauty of Christ.

Leviticus 1 details the first and most often used sacrifice, the whole burnt offering.  Sometimes called ‘the holocaust.’  And here our schoolmaster, the law, teaches us about the deep love of Christ for sinners.   As Andrew Bonar noted.

All is ashes.  So complete is the doom of the sinner – as testified on this altar, and fulfilled by Jesus when He took the sinner’s place.  That smoke attests that God’s righteousness is fully satisfied in the suffering victim.  His blood, “His soul,” is poured out! And the flame of the Divine wrath burns up the suffering one! 

Leviticus, Andrew Bonar

Join us as we examine Leviticus 1:3-17 and consider the reason, ways, and effects of whole burnt offerings and how they speak of Christ.  We meet each Lord’s Day on the square in Pottsville, right next to historic Potts’ Inn at 10:30 am for worship.  Get directions here or contact us for more info.  Or join us on Facebook Live @PottsvilleARP or YouTube.