Who is our Priest? – Hebrews 7:23-28

This coming Thursday will once again be a day for children to dress up in various costumes and visit homes and businesses in our communities to gather candies and treats.  The evening is usually passed in relative quiet and peace except for the boisterous shouts of those seeking treats. And while we have become accustomed to celebrating the eve of All Saints in the more traditional way for our culture, many within the Christian church universal will mark the time with prayers for the departed and to celebrate the lives of those they know and those they do not know whose lives were lived in faithfulness to God.

Martin Luther – in the 16^th century – was keenly aware of All Hallows Eve and that it was the start of a major feast day in the life of the church in his time.  Luther saw it as the perfect time to challenge what he viewed as errors and misinterpretations of the Bible and the faith.  He had begun to question the validity of the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church – as had many others.  On October 31,1517, as the church universal prepared to celebrate once again the festival of All Saints, Luther posted his theses, challenging practices condoned by and encouraged by the leadership of the church that he believed went against the truth of the Gospel as revealed by Jesus Christ.

Luther was convinced that forgiveness of sins could not be paid for with money or goods and he was also convinced that no one human being could be given the power to forgive sins and ultimately stop anyone from experiencing the grace and mercy of God.

True, Jesus had said to Peter - who was called the rock upon which the new church was to be established – that he had the right to forgive sins and the right to not forgive sins, but that right was not meant to be used in a frivolous way as a means of judging or condemning a person for any misstep they might make.  Withholding forgiveness was reserved for those times when a person could not be convinced to repent and where their unwillingness to do so would have a negative effect on the life of others of the faith.  Unfortunately, those in leadership came to believe that they held the fate of the people in their hands and came to exercise that power in a way that not only denied people the opportunity to repent, but effectively blocked them from the opportunity to even know forgiveness.  However, the leadership found a way to profit from sin and offered – for a price – the chance to receive forgiveness by the buying of indulgences.  Those who could afford to could receive not only forgiveness but absolution for their sins and those who could not lost their connection to the community and ultimately – in the eyes of the leadership – their connection to God.

As much as Luther wanted to believe that the leadership was acting faithfully according to the will of God, he began to doubt the path they were taking.  He became convinced that it was not in the power of any one individual to deny anyone access to the forgiveness, grace and mercy of God.  In his mind it was the responsibility of those in leadership to encourage confession of sins, encourage repentance for those sins and seek to restore the faithful to a wholeness of mind, body and spirit.

The Old Testament tells us of the role of the priest in the Hebrew community.  It was to receive the offerings of the people and to pray to God for the absolution of the sins of the people.  Over time this evolved to a practice not far from what Luther experienced in his time as offerings could be made and absolution granted based on what a person was able to give.  There was a disconnect between the gift and the ultimate reason for why that gift was being made.  No one except the High Priest could approach the inner sanctum or come close to the presence of God.  The veil, the curtain in the Temple protected the ark of the covenant and still protected the space even when the ark was no longer there.

But Jesus changed all that. At his death it was recorded that the curtain protecting the Holy of Holies, the Inner chamber of the Temple, that curtain was torn in two.  Now everyone could see into the Holy of Holies and the presence of God was no longer hidden.  Jesus opened the way to the presence of God and bridged the gap between God and the people that had been closed for so many generations.

Luther saw that no human priest could have the power to forgive sin nor should they have the power to forgive sin.  The only priest who had the power to forgive sin both now and into eternity was Jesus the Christ.

The author of the Hebrews declares that the priesthood of Jesus is a perpetual priesthood.  No human can claim to be a perpetual priest – a priest for ever and ever. For Luther, to put faith in the ability or willingness of an earthly priest to forgive sins was to deny the sacrifice that Christ made for the forgiveness of sin, a sacrifice that revealed the true nature of God’s love and mercy.

Luther believed that it certainly was the responsibility of priests within the church to encourage people to turn away from sin and to seek to reform their lives to bring their lives in line with the will of God, but he did not believe that they had the right to deny people access to God nor to allow people to believe that God’s forgiveness and salvation could be bought for a price.  If God himself paid the ultimate price on the cross – a holy, innocent and undefiled person – how could anything we offer come close to covering the price of sin.

Remember how upset Jesus was when he saw that sacrificial offerings in the temple were being sold to people based on the sin they had committed.  There was no sense that forgiveness for sins was a spiritual blessing intended to bring wholeness and restoration to people but rather it was a commodity intended less to trigger a change in behaviour and attitude but more to bring momentary peace and a sense that God was more interested in the scent of money and goods than the people themselves.

Blind Bartimaeus asked Jesus to heal his blindness and Jesus did so because he saw a person whose life was less than what it could be. Jesus lifted the burden from Bartimaeus and gave him hope in his life.

As we approach All Hallows Eve and All Saints Day, let us remember that the church needs leaders who will encourage believers to be conscious of how they live their lives and encourage believers to seek forgiveness of their sins from God and to offer forgiveness to one another. We are all answerable to one God who sent His only begotten Son into the world to offer the ultimate sacrifice for each and every one of us. However we choose to address those who lead communities of faith, there is only one Priest who can truly grant the forgiveness that brings healing and wholeness.

May each of us be encouraged to ever call upon our true Priest, our Lord Jesus Christ, seek forgiveness for our sins and a willing spirit within us to repent and make amends when we go astray.

AMEN