Two neighbor boys were the best of friends on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. On Sunday, however, they didn’t talk to each other, because one was a Catholic and the other was a Baptist.
Their parents were concerned, so they agreed to let their sons visit each other’s church services, so that a mutual understanding might lead to a little more tolerance.
On the first Sunday, the Baptist boy visited the Catholic church. Just before they sat down, the Catholic boy genuflected. “What's that mean?” the Baptist asked. All through the mass, the Baptist boy wanted to know what this and that meant, and the little Catholic boy explained everything very nicely.
The next Sunday it was the Catholic boy's turn to visit the Baptist church. When they walked in the building, an usher handed them a printed bulletin. The little Catholic boy had never seen anything like that before in his whole life. "What's that mean?" he asked. His Baptist friend carefully explained. When the preacher stepped into the pulpit, he carefully opened his Bible, and conspicuously took off his watch and laid it on the pulpit. “What's that mean?” the Catholic boy asked.
The Baptist boy replied, “Not a darn thing!” (Justin Wilson and Howard Jacobs, Cajun Humor, Pelican Press, 1984; www. PreachingToday.com)
Every religion has its rituals, but all too often those rituals have lost their meaning. In fact, if you approach God based on religious ritual, it can be downright restrictive. If you look for freedom from guilt in the performance of sacred ceremonies, life can become very constricting.
But that’s not the way God intended for you to relate to Him. God desires a real, genuine relationship with you, the kind of relationship that sets you free. Restrictive religion, on the other hand, just puts you in bondage. If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Hebrews 9, Hebrews 9, where God’s Word shows us the difference between a restrictive religion and a redemptive relationship with God.
Hebrews 9:1 Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness. (ESV)
The “first covenant” is the Old Testament Law, which is the basis for the Jewish religion. It has strict regulations as to how and where a person could worship God. Among the many rituals, the “first covenant” describes five (5) different sacrifices a worshipper should bring to God, and the worshipper had to prepare each one in a specific way. The worshipper offered each sacrifice in accordance with its own precise regulations and only in one place – an “earthly” sanctuary.
It was very restrictive, and this is not only true of the Jewish religion, but also of all earthly religions. So if you want to be free from sin and a guilty conscience, don’t depend on any restrictive, earthly religion.
DON’T DEPEND ON RELIGION, WHICH LIMITS YOU BY ITS PROCEDURES.
Don’t rely on rules and rituals, which restrict you by their regulations.
Just a few years ago (June 2011), the city of Alemeda, California, immediately changed its policies after first responders stood by and watched a man drown in San Francisco Bay. The first responders didn't venture into the muddy waters of the bay, even as the suicidal man started treading water and then eventually went under.
According to Michael D'Orazi, the Interim Fire Chief for Alemeda at the time, two things prevented authorities from taking action: First, because it was a crime scene, the police “felt that going into the water initially might not be the best idea because they were unsure if this individual was armed.” Secondly, D'Orazi also said, “There was a policy in place that pretty much precluded our people from entering the water.” The firefighters “were incredibly frustrated by this whole situation [because] they wanted to get in; they wanted to take action.”
Local officials also noted that due to a lack of funding, firefighters had no one properly trained to go into the water. The Alemeda Interim Police Chief was also quoted to say, “It's muddy out there. We don't want [the police officers] sinking. We don't want them in distress.”
Fortunately, the policies were changed only a few days after this incident. (“Authorities make changes after first responders watch man drown,” CNN.com, 6-1-11; www.PreachingToday. com)
When the rules you follow keep you from loving God and from loving others, its time to change the rules. Often, religion just gets in the way of your relationship with God and people, so don’t relate to God in that way. If you want to be free from a guilty conscience, don’t depend on religion, which limits you by its procedures. Furthermore…
DON’T DEPEND ON RELIGION, WHICH LIMITS YOU BY ITS PLACE.
Don’t rely on rules and rituals, which are tied to this world. Don’t count on sacred ceremonies, which are restricted to temporary, earthly sanctuaries.
Verse 1 speaks of “an earthly place of worship”, and verses 2-5 go on to describe that “earthly place,” a tent, which was the first place of worship for the Jewish people.
Hebrews 9:2-5 For a tent was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence. It is called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain was a second section called the Most Holy Place, having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail. (ESV)
I don’t want to go in detail about these things either, except to say that this was an “earthly place” filled with earthly items. Everything was man-made from material which came from this world and is temporary. 500 years later, this beautiful tent was replaced with an even more beautiful temple, but that temple lasted only for about 500 years. It was later rebuilt, and at the time of this writing was a very impressive structure. However, less than five years later, not one stone was left standing upon another. The book of Hebrews was written somewhere between A.D. 65 and 68, and the Roman army came into Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple in A.D. 70.
The Jewish people counted on their earthly temple to free them from guilt and sin, but it didn’t last very long. And that’s the way it is with any earthly sanctuary or place of worship. They’re temporary and will soon come to an end, so don’t rely on religion with its earthly sanctuaries. It’s like building your life on a sandcastle.
Calvin Seibert, a 59-year-old New York artist makes some of the most amazing sandcastles that I have ever seen! They’re grand, majestically intricate castles, but they’re made from sand! “It could collapse right now,” Seibert told journalists. He has been crafting his sandcastle masterpieces since he was a child, but for some reason he doesn’t seem to mind their short lifespans. “You gotta be [okay with it],” he said. He doesn't even do anything to try to make money from them. He told reporters, “I want to do something all the time and be creative. And if nobody ever knew about it, I'd still be building a sandcastle.” (CBS News, “’It Could Collapse Now’: Artist Embraces ‘Impermanent’ Art Form,” CBS News, 7-24-17; www.PreachingToday.com)
Now, that’s okay for an artist; but for somebody looking for a permanent fix to their sin problem, it will never work! The waves of adversity will quickly demolish any reliance on the sandcastles of religious sanctuaries, no matter how beautiful they are!
Some people think that if they occasionally enter a church building, it will absolve them of guilt. But entering a church building no more fixes you than driving your car through a garage fixes your car. You need a good mechanic to fix your car. Now, he can do it in a garage, or he can do it in his back yard under a shade tree. In the same way, you need Jesus to fix your life. Now, He can do it right here in this church building, or He can do it anywhere! Just don’t limit yourself by relying on an earthly sanctuary, which will soon be gone!
Richard Halverson, former pastor of Fourth Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, Maryland, and also the former chaplain of the United States Senate, used a benediction at the end of each service for many years in his ministry. It reflects his deep conviction that God was not only in the place where his congregation met on Sundays, but at each place where they lived and worked through the week. The benediction went like this:
Wherever you go, God is sending you.
Wherever you are, God has put you there.
God has a purpose in your being right where you are.
Christ, who indwells you by the power of his Spirit, wants to do something in and through you.
Believe this and go in his grace, his love, his power.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Why limit God to a church facility on a Sunday Morning? He wants to work in you and through you wherever you go every day of the week!
If you want to be free from a guilty conscience, don’t depend on religion, which limits you by its procedures and by its place. Furthermore…
DON’T DEPEND ON RELIGION, WHICH IS LIMITED TO CERTAIN PEOPLE.
Don’t rely on rules and rituals, which exclude those deemed “unworthy.” Don’t count on sacred ceremonies, which are reserved only for those who measure up.
In the Jewish religion, only the High Priest could meet with God and only once a year!
Hebrews 9:6-9a These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing (which is symbolic for the present age). –ESV
You had to be a priest to go into the first part of the temple, and you had to be the HIGH priest to go into the second part of the temple, the inner sanctuary, where God chose to reveal Himself. Furthermore, the high priest had to bring a blood sacrifice to cover for his unintentional sins lest he die, and he could only do it once a year!
The Jewish religion was very restrictive as to who could participate in the temple services; and as long as the temple stood with its two compartments, access to God was denied, because it was blocked by a thick veil.
Then Jesus died on a cross, and HALLELUIA! that veil was torn in two from top to bottom (Matthew 27:50; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45) – not from bottom to top, but from top to bottom. God Himself tore that veil in two as He accepted the sacrifice of His Son on our behalf. Now, anyone who depends on Christ can come into the very presence of God Himself at any time or any place.
Religion cannot give you that kind of access to God. You have to follow the rules to be accepted. You have to be righteous. You have to measure up.
Lee Eclov, a pastor in the Chicago area, talks about visiting a young friend, who had admitted herself to a psychiatric hospital. One of his visits was scheduled on a Good Friday, so he asked her if she'd like for him to bring Communion to her. She said she would and asked if some of the other patients could join them.
On that spring afternoon, five or six of people gathered in her room and shared the sacred meal. Pastor Lee says, “I think it was the most meaningful Communion service I ever shared – half a dozen strangers, each scarred by heartache, sitting helpless in a locked ward.
“Yet Jesus was there,” he said, “because we were there as his beloved. He was not only among us, but he was there within us. Even as broken people, we were one with each other. We were strengthened by his presence; we were healed, in a way. We were nourished, washed, and rejuvenated all because we had Communion.” (Lee Eclov, Vernon Hills, Illinois, www.PreachingToday.com)
That’s what a relationship with Christ is all about! He doesn’t exclude anyone who comes to Him by faith. In fact, He pursues broken people and sinners and invites them to follow Him.
The rabbi’s in Jesus’ day accepted only the best students as their disciples and followers. Jesus invited rough, Galilean fisherman, tax collectors, and notorious sinners to follow Him. The Bible says, Jesus “ate with sinners and tax collectors”, and the religious leaders in His day condemned Him for it. But Jesus told them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17).
As I said a couple of weeks ago: Religious leaders refuse to touch anything unclean. Jesus, on the other hand, aims to make the unclean holy! (Mark Galli, Jesus Mean and Wild: The Unexpected Love of an Untamable God, Baker, 2006, p. 44; www.Preaching Today.com)
So, if you want to be free from a guilty conscience, don’t depend on a restrictive religion, which is limited in its procedures, its place, and only to certain people. Furthermore, if you want to be free from sin…
DON’T DEPEND ON RELIGION, WHICH IS LIMITED IN ITS PURIFYING POWER.
Don’t rely on rules and rituals, which cannot wash your conscience clean. Don’t count on sacred ceremonies, which cannot wipe you clean on the inside.
Hebrews 9:9b-10 According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation. (ESV)
Religious ceremonies cannot clean you up on the inside. They can only make you look clean on the outside.
In fact, the Jewish religion had no sacrifice, at all, for willful sin. Did you notice in verse 7 that the sacrifices were for “the unintentional sins of the people”? These were sins committed accidentally or out of ignorance.
Numbers 15 says, “If one person sins unintentionally, he shall offer a female goat a year old for a sin offering… But the person who does anything with a high hand (i.e., defiantly or willfully)… that person shall be cut off from among his people” (Numbers 15:27, 30)
Then the chapter goes on to tell the story of a man who gathered wood on the Sabbath day in deliberate defiance of the 4th Commandment, which says, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy… On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates” (Exodus 20:8, 10).
This man, with full knowledge of the law, deliberately disobeyed the law; and for that, there was no sacrifice. Instead, “The LORD said to Moses, ‘The man shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.’ And all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, as the LORD commanded Moses” (Numbers 15:35-36).
You see, there was no sacrifice a willful sinner could bring to cover his sin. There was only a stoning.
Now, there WAS a sacrifice an accidental sinner could bring, but that could only provide a ritual cleaning on the outside. It could not provide a real cleaning on the inside. It could not “perfect his conscience” verse 9 says. And that’s the way it is with any religious ritual. It cannot make you clean on the inside. No!
If you want to be free from a guilty conscience, don’t depend on any restrictive religion. Instead, depend on a redemptive relationship with Jesus Christ. Trust Him with your life and be truly set free!
Pastor and author J.R. Vassar talks about traveling to Myanmar (Burma) in southeast Asia and walking through a large Buddhist temple. There, he witnessed a large number of people, very poor and desperate, bowing down to a large golden Buddha. They were stuffing what seemed to be the last of their money into the treasury box and kneeling in prayer, hoping to secure a blessing from the Buddha.
On the other side of the large golden idol, scaffolding had been built. The Buddha had begun to deteriorate, and a group of workers were diligently laboring to repair the broken Buddha. It was heartbreaking for him to see broken people bowing down to a broken Buddha asking the broken Buddha to fix their broken lives while someone else fixed the broken Buddha. (J.R. Vassar, Glory Hunger: God, the Gospel, and Our Quest for Something More, Crossway, 2014, pp. 35-36; www.PreachingToday.com)
That’s the way it is with all religions! They’re broken and powerless to fix broken people. So, if you’re a broken person, don’t look to a broken religion to fix your broken life. Look to Jesus Christ, who alone can make you whole.
