The eCrozier

We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:10)

Conventional wisdom says: “Don’t let things go to your head.” That usually refers to people who, because of their circumstances, might think of themselves more highly than they ought to think. It’s a way to keep one grounded with one’s ego in check. Yet, we should let some things “go to our heads,” for we remember Jesus, not sentimentally to eulogize the great deeds of his life or gruesomely to have a morbid fascination with the mechanics of crucifixion. Rather, we remember Jesus’ work on the cross. Jesus’ cross reminds us that we’re a “sanctified” people. We have been made holy in God’s eyes. Note this is in the passive mood. We have not made ourselves holy. That’s not our realm of competency or authority. God has done this for us without our permission and foreknowledge.

I imagine we don’t often think of ourselves as especially holy people. If we did it might “go to our heads.” Well, it ought to go to our heads, not so we can feel superior to others, but so we can live into God’s love and desire for us. God has made us a holy people for a reason. Our holiness isn’t a badge of honor we wear in order to exclude others, but rather it’s a way of life we receive and adopt so we can invite others to live into God’s love and desire for them. Being made holy means being so humbled by God’s love on the cross that we humbly invite others to join us in this holy life. We’re merely “beggars showing other beggars where to find food.” We should let that go to our heads.

This is accomplished “through the offering of the body of Christ.” Jesus in his life and death doesn’t offer us mere words of wisdom or secrets for successful living. Jesus offers up his body. In Dickens’ The Tale of Two Cities, Charles Darnay ends up on the gallows saying: “it is a far, far better thing I do now than I have ever done before.” Jesus will have none of that. He’s there to offer up his body as a sacrifice for our sin. Modern people are often put off by the bodily image of Jesus on the cross. But offering his body showed the depth of God’s love for us. Jesus wasn’t concerned about putting his reputation on the line. His concern was for us and he offered his body to prove it. In our discipleship as a people made holy by God, we need to be less concerned with our reputations, less captivated by our words. We should let that go to our heads as well.

And this is “once for all.” As people made holy by Jesus’ cross, we still can find ourselves in despair of our sin. No matter where we are or who we are, sin lies close at hand. We should take that reality seriously, but we shouldn’t take ourselves too seriously in that reality. Jesus died for the sins of the world, “once for all.” He doesn’t need to die again each time we sin. That’s giving sin way too much power in our lives. We must be bold enough to live like our sins have been forgiven, that the death Jesus died, he died, once for all. In the words of that old Gospel hymn “It’s been done.” That’s why our sin should never lead us to despair. And that’s why we’re liberated so we can dare to be holy people. Jesus died for our sins once for all. We should let that go to our heads as well.

+Scott