What does it mean to be holy?
Our text for today…
invites us into a conversation about peace.
Peace is something I wish for us all this holiday season. Peace with ourselves – peace with God – peace with our circumstances – whatever those might be.
When our bodies are nourished with peace, a different kind of creativity, playfulness, humor, and authenticity emerges in us. When we’re in a tight spot or a difficult conversation, we’re able to see more clearly a wider range of options for how we might respond.
And I want to propose as we experience embodied peace more often, we will be less likely then to do or say things that sacrifice it.
Sacrifice means taking life from something precious or essential over there, in pursuit of a reward we’re hoping to receive over here. And this can look lots of ways. If you’re like me, I spent a lot of years sacrificing my inner peace, in pursuit of external peace. And it’s taken a long time to realize that sacrificing peace with ourselves and God in a misguided attempt to diffuse conflict with others doesn’t actually resolve the conflict, it simply moves the conflict inside us.
And our text for today uses the word “holy” to describe the process of being led out of the temptation to sacrifice anything. And so I hope to offer us today a helpful way to think about this word holy in the context of the Christmas story.
Where in this story might we find ourselves being led out of unholy sacrifice and into a holy peace? A peace which we feel in our belly, our lungs, and in the micro-muscles around our eyes and lips? An embodied peace which expands our range of options for how we might respond to conflict around us?
That’s the question we’re invited into today as we listen to the words of Jesus quoted here in Hebrews chapter 10.
Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me…” (Heb 10)
So notice with me this human phenomenon, that whenever our bodies feel overly-stressed, we will be tempted to make a sacrifice of something -- either outside or inside us.
But sacrifice by definition always makes a victim of somebody or some part of us which is precious and essential to our wellbeing. And when we are tempted to sacrifice something, we are often listening to the falsehood which says peace must be purchased with violence – violence toward something or someone or some inner part of ourselves.
And consider that Christ came into the world, in a body like ours, to correct that misperception, to say, “No… God does not desire that you sacrifice anything, outside or inside you… and I’m here to show you another way.”
Ancient peoples of all different religious backgrounds practiced animal sacrifice in an attempt to purchase peace with “the gods.”
And for centuries before Jesus arrived, prophets had been trying to help humanity understand, God does not want or need this… God’s peace and forgiveness are always free, they need never be purchased.
But words can only go so far.
So at the right time, Christ entered our story.
Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me…” (Heb 10)
And speaking to God, Christ said, “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire - but a body you prepared for me.”
A human body which, under stress, would have felt tempted just like we are - to sacrifice something in exchange for that little bit of extra currency with God or others.
And yet it appears Jesus never did.
In every scene, Jesus refused to sacrifice anything – nothing outside his own body nor his inner peace. And instead, whenever his bodily stress increased, so did his creativity, playfulness, humor, and authenticity.
So perhaps this Christmas, we might reflect on moments we have felt tempted to sacrifice something precious and essential outside or inside our own bodies, in pursuit of a peace which never came.
Or we might spend time in prayer before going into that family gathering or work event, and notice the sacrifices we may feel tempted to make.
And it’s okay if we still make them, at the same time, perhaps this season we might begin to wonder if those sacrifices are really necessary, or whether Jesus is modeling for us another way.
Alright, so the author of Hebrews then goes on to say this.
First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. (Heb 10)
First Jesus said, “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” So he sets aside the first to establish the second.
He sets aside the first to establish the second.
And we might understand the first as the human temptation toward violence and sacrifice, and the second as the practice of discerning God’s will – a practice which really is capable of flooding us with inner peace.
The root of “discernment” is related to the process bankers go through to learn how to spot counterfeit money. They come to tell the difference by intently studying what’s authentic.
To discern is to distinguish between what’s real and artificial.
That’s how we learn to distinguish between the real and the artificial – by carefully studying the real. So by studying what Jesus said and did with his body, we may be studying the real, learning what God’s will really looks like and how it’s different from robotic sacrifice.
And notice with me, in the short-run, sacrifice is easier.
First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. (Heb 10)
Sacrifice hands us a set of rules we don’t really have to think about; that’s how sacrifice gets coded into law.
When I encounter this, I always do that…
When my boss gives me a task, I always say yes…
When I’m handed a drink, I always drink it.
When my relative makes a comment, I always change the subject…
I sacrifice my inner peace with myself or God, in exchange for external peace with others.
Sacrifice shuts off our brains, bodies, and spirits – it puts us on autopilot which may be okay sometimes.
But, discerning God’s will invites us into a different kind of practice, a different kind of curiosity.
What does this moment really call for?
What creative, playful, humorous, or authentic response would lead to real embodied peace rather than an artificial one?
discernment: 1) scripture
2) listening prayer
3) our own bodies
Ignatius of Loyola spoke about discernment as a three-legged stool, and he taught his students to read scripture, practice listening prayer, and pay attention to our own bodies– our felt sense of inner peace and consolation which can be a clue about God’s will for us.
So what if being led out of sacrifice and into discernment of God’s will is the beginning of what it means to be made holy?
And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Heb 10)
As we look at how our passage wraps up, we read this:
And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Christ once for all.
So if God doesn’t desire sacrifice, how do we imagine the unholy sacrifice of Jesus’ body leads us out of sacrifice and into a process of being made holy?
The word holy is used in scripture in three primary ways. It may refer to being cleansed from impurity, brought near to God, or being purified internally through knowledge of the truth about who God really is.
holy
cleansed from impurity
brought near to God
purified internally through knowledge of the truth
So we might think about impurities as being our mistaken ideas about sacrifice. Temptations which we may find ourselves being purified of, as we reflect on the story of Christ, what he actually said and did with his body, and what that reveals to us about who God is and how God relates to us.
But did Jesus have to die for us to know who God is? Would we not have believed him if he had just come and told us – Hey, I’m God and I’m here now in a body like yours – and you’ve gotten a few things wrong about me…
I’m not convinced we would or could have believed him.
By the time Jesus was born… Samuel, David, Isaiah, Hosea, Jeremiah and a long line of prophets, had repeatedly said, “You’re wrong, you’re wrong, you’re wrong. God doesn’t need you to make these sacrifices, nothing needs to die for you to be forgiven.”
But words can only go so far.
So when the time was right, rather than sending yet another prophet…God showed up in person.
God placed God’s own body in our hands – hands itching to sacrifice something.
Consider that God came in person, not to take our place -- but the place of the animals and people and precious, essential parts of us we are tempted to sacrifice in pursuit of peace.
Scholars tell us by the time Jesus was born, something like two hundred and fifty thousand lambs were needed every year at Passover, and they were to be perfect. And the shepherds in the fields outside Bethlehem were given the special task of raising lambs for this purpose.
We’re told the male newborn lambs were often wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger and the shepherds would inspect them for blemishes and certify whether or not they were acceptable for sacrifice.
These shepherds were in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night, when an angel of the Lord stood before them and they were terrified.
And the angel said, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people. For to you is born this day, a savior.
And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”
And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Heb 10)
And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all – by that birth, God in a body like ours, to help us learn to distinguish the real.
By that gift, God coming to us in person, not merely to tell us but to show us…
You need not sacrifice anything—outside or inside your own body—to purchase My peace.
My peace and forgiveness are already yours.
And if, after I’ve come to you in person, you still believe that a sacrifice is necessary…
Here is My body.
May it be the last sacrifice you ever make.
Please pray with me.
This Christmas, as we reflect on the Christ story
may we find ourselves caught up
in the slow, patient process
of being made holy.
May we sit beside Mary
pondering all of this in our hearts
May we learn to distinguish
between the artificial and the real
And may our growing trust
open up pathways of holy peace
within our own bodies.
In the name of the Father,
the sacrifice of the Son,
and the peace of Holy Spirit,
Amen
Listening with you,
Further reading:
Systematic theology: Theological Anthropology, Hamartiology
The Brain & the Spirit, Chapter 5, A Healing Story, “Saved from What?,” pp. 107–114; “A Transformative Story,” pp. 114–118; “The Story of Salvation,” p. 118.
