This past Sunday the appointed gospel reading was the parable of the pharisee and the tax collector from Luke chapter 18.

During the sermon the pastor asked a brilliant clarifying question.

“What was the purpose of the Church in the Old Testament?  What was the purpose of the tabernacle, then later the temple?”

The answer:  atonement.

The tabernacle and the temple, the Levitical laws and regulations, the sacrifices, all are about providing atonement for sins through the shedding of blood. The basis and means for Israel’s relationship with God was centered on the forgiveness of sins provided through the sacrifices. Leviticus and Deuteronomy hammer this theme over and over, sometimes in mind-numbing detail.

I suppose I knew this on some level for awhile, but hearing it clearly stated brought  this fact into particularly clear focus.

It’s the same in the New Testament- the basis and means of our relationship with God is centered on the forgiveness of sins provided through Christ’s once for all sacrifice on the cross.  It’s about the atonement and the washing away of our sins through Christ’s shed blood.

The tabernacle and temple with all their sacrifices were pictures of God’s own Lamb who would take away the sins of the world.They pointed to a greater offering and sacrifice that would do away with our sins for good.

Why do we forget this?

I have read in certain quarters of the internet arguments over the place of the atonement in theology and the church, with some parties decrying the idea of Christ’s atoning work  and substituting a “Christus Victor” or some other model for what Jesus did. While some of these “theories of the atonement” may highlight facets of Christ’s work that are true, in light of the Scriptures these are secondary or tertiary to the substitutionary  atonement of Christ for us.

To believe differently requires that one deal with the massive amount of scripture devoted to the subject of the Levitical priesthood, the tabernacle, the temple, the required sacrifices, and the passages in the New Testament loaded with allusions to the OT,  not to mention the outright language of sacrifice and atonement concerning Christ. All of this points to atonement for and forgiveness of sins as central to our life and worship.

What does this say about why we come to church?

What does this mean for how we worship?

What would a church service look like that has as it’s focus Christ and His atonement?

In some traditions these matters have been carefully considered, in others,  not nearly as much.  Evangelicals often touch on this subject in sermons or books, but is the contemporary worship style prevalent in these circles capable of doing the heavy theological lifting needed to convey these truths?

I guess my question is even more basic.  If the atonement and forgiveness of sins is central to the church and her worship, why don’t they permeate  the  worship and preaching of  modern evangelicalism, and  some quarters of the LCMS for that matter?  I know that there are exceptions to this, but I am addressing the larger picture.

Though my own tradition (Lutheran) has, until recently, done a fairly decent job with this,  I think it is  something that we should  deeply ponder.

By Pat K

Posted in General