The drinking blood is a ritual of pagan worship. It has been a part of cultures all around the world. And you know what? It is still occurs in these modern times. A story from October 2015 entitled ‘The people who drink human blood’ open’s with the following sentence: “In most major cities around the world, communities of ordinary people – nurses, bar staff, secretaries – are drinking human blood on a regular basis.” In another article from January 2020 is headlined, “Goat blood-drinking white nationalist who ran for Senate arrested in Melbourne, Florida” and again in June 10, 2020 a story out of the UK, a satanic cult leader abused kids and forced them to drink blood. This apparently has been an issue down through the ages. Surely God did not want his people participating in anything that looked like pagan worship. But what about in our days? Does this prohibition against eating blood still apply to us? Do we need to put down that medium rare steak? And is our worship still regulated or is it in danger of looking more and more like what the world has to offer?
Today we will consider the laws regarding the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism. What made this day so significant? Why was it so restrictive? What preparations had to be made in order for this day to be properly observed? And do the Jews still offer the animal sacrifices on this day? Interestingly, I found an article in 2017 which reported that there are still orthodox Jews who attempt to bring goats for sacrifice to the Temple Mount on Jerusalem. While animal sacrifices were largely discontinued after the Temple destruction in 70 AD, Yom Kippur is still celebrated but instead of sacrifices, prayers are offered. The article cited the example of the Federman family who for the prior 10 years would load up a male goat in their car and make their way to the Temple mount. “But each year, police prevent the Federmans and others from slaughtering goats on Jerusalem's Temple Mount. They fear such an act on this site, sacred to Jews for once housing the ancient Jewish temples but also home to Islam's third holiest site, could ignite tensions between Israel and the Palestinians.” So beyond this small group, most other Jews celebrate the Day of Atonement, even nominal Jews. Which is like those nominal Christians who show up for Christmas or Easter services. So is the Day of Atonement still relevant for Christians today? Is this something we, the church, ought to observe as well? Let’s find out.
People make mistakes. It’s part of what it means to be human. We have been moving into the age of artificial intelligence. Super computers, smart phones, smart homes, and smart cars. They are working on cars that drive themselves! Why? Because human drivers make mistakes. We make bad choices. People drive under the influence, drive too fast, drive too aggressive, drive too sleepy. You get the idea. Peple make mistakes and so if we can make computers that remember everything, can evaluate and make the best decision, well then the thinking goes that we can save humanity from ourselves. And yet for all the promise of technology, we still figure out a way to make a mess of our lives with technology too. Why? Because we are human, and we are fallen, and we live in a fallen world. Now I’m not anti-technology, I like my iPhone thank you very much. But we can’t put our hope, our faith in technology. Well if we did, we’d be making another mistake. When we make mistakes, something has to be done about it. There is someone we can turn to. And that is what we will find in our text this morning.
When I mention the word offerings, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind? Maybe you get a mental picture of your billfold, your purse, or checkbook. Maybe the image of an offering plate circulating around comes to mind. But I wonder if a different image comes to mind when I add the word “sacrifice.” A sacrificial offering. Maybe now the idea of animal sacrifice surfaces. We are, after all, undertaking the study of the Old Testament, and much is said on the topic of sacrifice. As we think about sacrificial offering the concepts of value and cost begin to emerge. There is a cost associated with offering and sacrifice. Ultimately sacrificial offering finds its fulfillment in the greatest and most perfect offering and sacrifice of the Lamb of God, the life of Jesus Christ. And as glorious as his sacrifice is, are we done with topics of offerings and sacrifice? Is there anything more for us to think about for the New Testament church, living under the New Covenant? When we take the Lord’s Supper together we are proclaiming the death of the Lord Jesus and He has charged us to do it in remembrance of Him. So I think the biblical understanding of sacrifice and offerings continue to be important. It is relevant for our lives today, and it is especially relevant for our worship. We do not want to worship in ignorance. As Jesus explained to the woman at the well. “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:22–24) It is absolutely necessary that we get both aspects of this right for us to worship God. And recall that it didn’t take the new nation of Israel very long to mess up in worshiping a false god, going so far in fact to create the golden calf. Someone might think, “Yeah that was a pretty stupid idea.” But yet, how easily do we become distracted, giving other things in our lives more priority in our hearts, essentially worshiping some other thing, or idol, in our lives? We were created to worship. More accurately, we were created to worship our Creator! We will worship someone or something. We will adore the world, ourselves, or we can worship God and do so rightly, as He has prescribed. God chose the Levites to help his people worship properly. God created us, and He created us to worship him. He gets to say how that worship is to be conducted. And the key we must remember, is that worship does not begin with us. It is not about our felt needs, or otherwise. Worship begins with God. Once we understand our place, (He is God, we are not, He is the Creator, we are the creatures) then we will understand that we are fallen creatures and we are of unclean lips as Isaiah said. He is Holy, Holy, Holy and we are not. Worship is to be focused on God, not on man. If you come away from worship thinking what a great time you had, how funny the sermon was, how entertaining it was, then you’ve got it wrong. If you come away from worship service, with a greater appreciation for how glorious, how magnificent, how wonderful our God is, how Holy He is, then your worship has its proper focus. And if you are a child of God, then you need to pay attention to lest you worship in ignorance, and not in spirit and truth.