Lamb
of God Pure and Holy
1
Peter 1:18-19
February
6th, 2008
We are here on Ash Wednesday to begin our 40 day Journey with Jesus to the
cross and to the tomb. In some ways we gather together at very different
places in our lives. Some this evening are incredibly busy, whether
its kids schedules, work commitments, your to do list is much greater than you
can do. Your like a hamster in his spinning wheel, and your not
sure when you get off. There are who are faced with major unknowns
concerning health, school, family, and job life. There are others
who wouldn’t be here if mom and dad didn’t “make you go” . You know how
it goes, Wednesday church already
(Your thinking, “isn’t Sunday enough”). There are those
who are troubled by their past, maybe even recent past, and struggle with guilt
and maybe even shame. All of things mentioned are reminders, the symptoms
if you will, that something is not right with this world. Yet, knowing
the symptoms doesn’t get to the root of the problem. God says in Isaiah
“That we all like sheep have gone astray each in our own way”. Wait
a second you say, I know about sin, but my issue really is “someone else’s
sin”, things that aren’t my fault, or my situation.
Lent is a reminder that while it is true we live in a world of sin, the
fundamental issue is that we are dying. Dying is the wage, not of someone
elses sin, but our own. While we all arrive here at different
points, we have this in common, in our own unique way we have gone
astray. Whether we like to hear that or not, that simply put is the
truth.
The solution for
this problem cannot be found with a few more hours a day, a higher salary, a
more understanding work environment, or easy classes. No the
solution is found in another sheep. A lamb one who is without blemish or
defect.
Our text says that “It was not with perishable things such as silver or gold
that you were redeemed”. In other words even the best that the
world has to offer cannot and will not do the job when it comes to the right
price. Silver and gold are valuable, in many ways they are very
long lasting. Yet, even they are treasures where moth and rust
destroy.
The best this earth has to offer in terms of stuff, the best we
have to offer in terms of good intention, simply are cannot do the redeeming
work.
Notice that life lived outside of Jesus is simply empty. Sort of like
living on cotton candy, it looks really big, but frankly there isn’t much to
it. People to often try to cover their emptiness, and fill it with things
that make them more empty. How many people think that they will be
filled by becoming famous, only to find out it is not what it is cracked up to
be. How many feel that their emptiness will be filled by earning a
certain amount, by having more time on their hands, by you name it. No, a
thousand times know the empty life, will only be filled by the precious blood.
What we get through this lamb is a sacrifice, one in which his precious blood
of the one who lived the perfect life. The one who lived the life you and
I want to live, but unlike us, it was a life without sin. This lamb is
yours tonight. So go ahead cleanse your souls in him. Go
ahead, deposit your sorrows at his feet. Go ahead set aside your
heartache and your pain. All this and more the pure and holy Lamb of God
has taken with him to the cross, so that he could exchange our empty, straying
lives, with his everlasting righteousness, and blessedness. Thanks be to
God for this other sheep, and his blood which gives us life. Amen.