As so often happens, the picture appeared on my phone before the text explaining it.
The picture was of the inside of our church – specifically, the altar area at the front. Everything looked normal except for a small pile of dust and debris in the middle of the floor.
The picture was sent by the young lady cleaning the church that day. Her accompanying text explained everything: “The perfect metaphor.”
Many Christian churches today have altars.
An altar is where a sacrifice is offered. In biblical times, a large altar stood in front of the temple. It was there that lambs, goats, calves, and doves were burned as sacrifices to God.
The sacrifices were offered for multiple reasons – to show thanks to God, to share fellowship with him, but especially to atone for sin.
The God of the Old Testament, the God of the New Testament, the God of all people of all time – the only true God – hates sin. The punishment for sin is death. There can be no forgiveness without the shedding of blood.
But the holy God who hates sin is also the loving God who forgives. Instead of demanding the death of his people, he allowed a substitute – a lamb, a goat, a calf – to die in their place.
Yet as the writer to the Hebrews wrote, “It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin” (Hebrews 10:4). The sacrifices offered on the altar of the temple were pictures of the substitute who was to come. They were a picture of the sacrifice that Jesus, the Lamb of God, would offer on the altar of the cross.
It was there that Jesus suffered the punishment of all our dirty thoughts and filthy deeds. His death atoned for us. His blood washed us clean. No more sacrifices for sin would ever need to be made. Jesus offered himself once for all (Hebrews 10:10).
That’s why the altars in our churches today don’t serve the same purpose as the altar in the temple. We don’t offer sacrifices on our altars. Rather, they hold God’s sacrifice for us. On the altar sit the bread and wine of Holy Communion – the body and blood that were sacrificed for us once and for all 2,000 years ago.
When we walk up to the altar to receive the Sacrament, we don’t do so in fear and trembling, but with confidence, “with the full assurance that faith brings” (Hebrews 10:22), because we know that no more sacrifices need to be made there.
We approach the Lord’s altar carrying our piles of filth and dirt, knowing that we can leave them there. The pile is left behind; the sinner walks away, washed clean in the blood of the Lamb.
The perfect metaphor. Pastor Andrew Schroer has been a pastor for over 25 years and is currently serving at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Edna, Texas. You can find his latest books, “364 Days of Thanksgiving” and “364 Days of Devotion,” on Amazon.com.
