Homily for
Holy Monday
Monday 10 April 2017
The Episcopal Church of the Holy Cross
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
A Parish of the Diocese of Bethlehem and The Episcopal Church
Readings:
http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearABC_RCL/HolyWk/HolyMon_RCL.html
This Epistle which we
have heard this night helps set the stage for the remainder of Holy Week.
It reminds us why it is that we Christians mark this week as the holiest of all
weeks as we commemorate the passion of Jesus.
In this reading from the
Epistle to the Hebrews, Jesus is shown as both the perfect priest and the
perfect sacrifice. We understand the significance of the first
designation better than the second. It doesn't take much imagination on
our part to consider what an imperfect priest looks like. Every
generation of the people of God has seen them. As a result, Christ stands
apart from all others in a way that is unmistakable, as he should.
Every other priest serves before God seeking blessing upon themselves and upon
others. Every other priest needs forgiveness, as do the people whom the
priest serves. But Christ is free of sin. He has no need to seek
anything for himself. His priesthood is only driven by the desire to seek
divine blessing for those to whom he ministers.
The fact that Christ is
the perfect sacrifice is one that requires more thought of us as
Christians. This refers to the Old Covenant and the Old Testament, which
is not surprising at all given the fact that this epistle is intentionally
written to those who have a knowledge of the Old Covenant that preceded the
Christ. At the heart of that covenant there were many prescribed
sacrifices to be offered to God, each with specific rules on why and how it was
to be offered and what benefit came from it. One of the common rules was
that whatever was being offered in sacrifice to God, it was to be the best, the
healthiest, the most valuable. These things were to be as close to
perfect as possible; nothing better was to be found in the possession of the
one who brought a gift in sacrifice.
As a result, under the
Old Covenant, we have a mixture of imperfect priests and the best possible
sacrifices that also fail the mark of perfection. The effect then was that
day after day, year after year, these sacrifices needed to be continued.
But the author of Hebrews tells us that in the fullness of time, Christ
appeared both as the perfect priest and the perfect sacrifice. The
absence of any blemish in the gift and the giver has made the priestly act and
sacrifice of Jesus a perfect gift that never needs to be repeated.
It is for this reason
that we call the day of the sacrifice made by our Great High Priest "Good
Friday." We benefit daily from this good gift. We look to the
cross and remember him who walks ahead of us and conquers on our behalf, who
has endured death and been raised from the dead, who assures us that we too
shall live with him forever.
Tonight, we gather to
keep the Eucharist, the Sacrament that takes us once more to the foot of the
cross. Here Christ our perfect priest feeds us from the sacrifice he has
made on our behalf. This is food for the journey to the Kingdom of
God. Here we find healing for which there are hardly words to describe
such a grace. Take and eat this grace. Walk with Christ tonight,
and tomorrow, and every day, and be amazed day by day at the love given to us
all in Jesus, who gives of himself freely. For remember it was he who
said: "No one has greater love than this; to lay down one's life for one's
friends. You are my friends."
Father
Timothy
Alleman
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