Jesus Opens
the Way to the Throne
Pentecost + 7 -
July 28, 2019
Jesus the Great High Priest
Let us therefore approach the throne of grace
with boldness… (4:16)
· The Wizard of
Oz
o Dorothy and Scarecrow and TinMan and Cowardly Lion in
the Emerald City, seeking audience w/ the Great and Powerful Oz who has the
power to grant their requests – to go home, to have a brain/heart/nerve
o Scene of them anxiously, nervously walking down the
long hallway, having to comfort and encourage the lion partway down so he’ll
continue
o Passing through the intimidating, immense double doors
(more than twice their height)
o With fear and trembling seeing fire bursting from the
ground, image of a head floating above the fire
o Booming voice speaks: I am Oz, the Great and Powerful.
Who are you?
o Interaction only reinforces their fear that they are
in the presence of mighty wizard who may or may not grant their wishes
§ And sends them off to get the broomstick of the Wicked
Witch of the West…
Sometimes we imagine God in this way
· Something/One to be feared
· Able to grant the desires of our hearts – and yet
maybe not so willing; requiring challenging and dangerous tasks before he’ll
maybe give us what we want
· May make timid requests (I am Dorothy, the small and
meek)
o Don’t want to burden God with our needs
o Think that we’re not worthy to stand in God’s presence
o Or that our needs are not that great in light of
everything else going on in the world
o Or just fearful about being honest and real and
vulnerable about what it is we need and want, whatever those things may be
Experience of God in temple/worship somewhat
reinforced some of these images
· Temple divided – curtain separating the faithful from
the Holy of Holies, where on 1 day a year, the Day of Atonement, the high
priest was allowed to enter, to make sacrifice for the sins of the people and
himself
· Awe/mystery/reverence in the presence and power of God
– and that is a good thing to hold in mind!! (think Raiders of the Lost Ark and what happened to those who dared to
look on the ark of the covenant…)
· This sense of separation of the people from the Holy,
holy, holy Lord God Almighty
· If we physically entered into the presence of God, I
think we would respond this way – with fear and trembling; with the sense of
Isaiah – falling face down, knowing we are people of unclean lips, that we
truly aren’t worthy to stand in the presence of God
Hebrews reminds us that we have a great high priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses – who has been tested as we are
· Who gave up the glory of heaven to experience human
life and death on a cross
· And in that moment of death, the curtain in the temple
was torn in two (Mt 27:51; Mk 16:38; Lk 23:45) – God no longer to be found
hidden in the temple, but available in Jesus, the great high priest
· Access to God no longer limited to 1 person on 1 day
· But through Jesus, the way to the throne of grace is
open
o In him, we are invited to come with boldness, with
confidence to the throne of mercy
o Not hesitating to come
o But trusting the one who is the source of eternal
salvation
o Knowing that we are fully known and understood in our
weaknesses and our sins and our failings
o And that he offers grace and mercy to help us in our
time of need
· In Jesus, we have access to God, who is still great
and powerful and mighty and awe-ful
o But we do not need to be afraid to make our requests
known
o We don’t have to abase ourselves like Dorothy and the
others
o Because we know the one who sits on that throne
o And we know that he was willing to die to destroy all
of the barriers between us and a loving God who desperately longs to draw us
back into a relationship built of trust and thanksgiving and love
· So be bold; ask for what you need, in confidence based
on the love of God in Christ Jesus, so that you may receive mercy and find
grace to help in every time of need.
· Thanks be to God.
· Amen.
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