Proper 28B’24 “Full Access to the Divine”
17 November 2024
Hebrews 10.11-25
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
North Little Rock, Arkansas
The Rev. Carey Stone <+>

In the Name of God; X Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Throughout my ministry as a priest in the Church, I have had the same conversation with many different people. The conversation tends to center around whether they were worthy enough for God, and I quote “I’m trying to make it into heaven.” Now the method of getting into heaven almost always has to do with something the person is trying to do or trying hard not to do. Some of these methods involve money. Folks who are in that place might say: “I know I’m not giving enough money to the church; I’ll try to give more!” “I know I should be in church more; I’ll try to do better!” “I have a sin that I just can’t seem to quit, and I know God will probably send me to hell one day because of it!” “I’m not very spiritual or close to God, I can only hope that when I get up there St. Peter will let me in, and that my good deeds will out weigh my bad deeds.” These statements reveal a belief that if heaven is to be our home it’s going to mostly be all up to us – up to us to quit the bad things we are doing, and up to us to do more good things so that the ‘heavenly scale’ will tip in our favor.
Sadly, this kind of religion has made God a bore and the church a chore, but what we really all long for is peace in our core.

The writer of Hebrews tells us the good news that God knows that no external laws can ever bring us perfection or lasting peace – it requires an inside job. The writer tells us in Hebrews:
“This is the covenant I will make with them after those days says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”

This being and doing can get confusing and the last time I checked we are all human beings not human doings. Stewardship Sunday might seem an odd time to say this but what if I told you, that God is already happy, from the moments of creation God made everything, us included, and said it/us were all good. But God knew there was something about us and the burden of this thing called SIN that would keep us separated from God, and the only way through this was what was accomplished through his Son, on Good Friday, God is happy with us, we are already loved just as we are, and that is something we have either never fully known or we have a tendency to forget.

The writer of Hebrews seeks to help us understand the backstory behind Good Friday: The High Priest once per year would enter the holiest part of the temple in Jerusalem to offer a blood sacrifice on behalf of the people and to wash them clean from their sins. A rope was tied around the ankle of the High Priest in case he had a heart attack or in case of death, they could pull him out under the curtain back into the regular part of the temple. The image in your bulletin depicts Jesus on Good Friday on the cross outside the city walls while a startled priest who had been offering a sacrifice for sins sees the veil being ripped from top to bottom by the power of God. This veil of separation opened the way for all to come into the holy of holies the people could see what prior to that moment had only been seen by the High Priest. Through the one sacrifice through the breaking of Christ’s body and the offering of his blood we are cleared from anything that could separate us from the loving presence of God. All you have to do is believe it, and when we experience true belief our lives are united with the Divine and we follow Christ in his mission of love to the world.

I have told some of you about my life of crime during my high school years. That’s right, me and several other friends committed the crime of Grand Theft! One fateful Friday night during football season and after a game we went into action. We called ourselves “the Commandos” and our objective was to steal as many real estate signs as possible and fit them into the back of a pickup truck. Once we had a good load, we would decide who the unfortunate recipient would be. Then we drove to their house, and when the coast was clear, we unloaded and planted the signs all over their front yard. Well, we picked the wrong person to offend. The home owner happened to recognize one of the “Commandos” and called their father, who just happened to be the high school band director.

On the following Monday, came our day of reckoning. We were all called into the band directors office, and he started describing what could happen to us if charges were pressed. He said he would let us know at a later time what would happen to us. We were all sick to our stomachs.

The next day I was called back into the band directors office by myself. ‘Oh, no, why am I being singled out, am I going to be the first to hear I’m going to jail?’ He asked me to take a seat and he proceeded to ask me about my college plans and if I was planning on majoring in music. Shocked, and surprised, I told him that I was, he gave me the name and phone number of a woman who was a member of Junior Auxiliary and to ask about a scholarship. Thanks to his recommendation I got the Junior Auxiliary scholarship for all four years of college! At the moment I expected to incur the wrath, I was given a great blessing, totally unearned and undeserved. Somehow ‘my sins’ had been atoned for and I was getting a full ride scholarship to college!

Today on this Stewardship Sunday, we ask why should we give if we can’t buy our way into heaven, and if we can’t stop sinning by trying harder why should I come to church?

The truth is because of our receiving the gift of God’s grace and salvation We should give even more out of a heart filled with gratitude! We should provoke one another to good deeds. We don’t give to gain heaven we give to show our love and gratitude to God.

So, as you fill out and turn in your pledge card for 2025 I pray you will reach deep and give more than last year. But with the motivation that doesn’t come from our fear but out of love. Amen!