The Thirteenth Day of Advent

The Thirteenth Day of Advent

Friday, December 15, 2017

We have such a high priest, 
who is set on the right hand 
of the throne of the 

Majesty in heaven . . . 
this man, after he offered one sacrifice for sin forever, 
sat down at the right hand of God.”

Hebrews 8:1 and 9:12

Did you ever do something to hurt someone’s feelings, or to make them unhappy? When it is over, you wonder what you can do “to make it up to them.” You wonder how you can make amends for whatever wrong you have done. You try to think of something you can do to “help” them forgive you. You want to earn their forgiveness.

We play that game with God, I fear. We know that we have done wrong, and we begin to think about earning “brownie points” to merit a return of his favor. We’ll go see someone who is sick, or work at the church, or put some extra cash in the collection on Sunday. Maybe that will please him. How sad that we don’t realize that is not the way God works! He’s done everything that needs to be done to get us back in his good graces – everything except one, that is!

Hebrews tells us that Christ is our high priest, and a high priest takes care of everything. He gets the altar ready; he prepares whatever sacrifice is necessary; he places everything on the altar according to the instructions God has given. Our high priest is now seated at the right hand of God because he has finished his earthly work, prepared and offered himself as all the sacrifice we’ll ever need, forever! We sing, “Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe,” but we still try to make amends for our sin on our own terms. We never seem to learn!

As Christmas nears, maybe we can remember that the gift God gave that first Christmas, the one that keeps on giving, Jesus Christ our Savior and High Priest, is just waiting there to hear us confess our sin to him so he can intercede for us and grant us the forgiveness God so generously wants to bestow! Jesus is seated because his part of the work is completed! The “asking for forgiveness part” is up to us! And that’s all we have to do if that plea comes from a really repentant heart! 

Father, thank you for our High Priest who was born as a baby, learned to walk and talk, learned obedience to you, and understands all our struggles as we try to do the same. Help us to learn to walk in a way that pleases you, to speak in a way that brings honor to your name, and to honestly admit to you when we do things that are wrong – things that you call sin. Amen.

The Light of the World
prepared for Homosassa United Methodist Church, 2008,
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator.