Mothers’ Union Devotion Sunday 7th November 2021 The Second Sunday of The Kingdom

Nor was it to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own; for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself. Hebrews 9. 25-26

Do you ever feel like your chores are never ending? As soon as you have finished them you must start again. You wash the clothes, iron the clothes, put the clothes away, wear the clothes and then guess what you have to wash the clothes, iron the clothes put the clothes away etc, etc. Some tasks quite literally need to be started again as soon as we have finished the last time. They are the proverbial painting of the Forth Bridge.

That is how the temple sacrifices operated at the time of Jesus. Every year, regular as clockwork, on the Day of Atonement the High Priest made an atoning sacrifice for all the sins of the people of Israel. Almost instantly, of course, the people sinned again, and these sins accumulated until the day of atonement came back round. The proverbial painting of the Forth Bridge again.

Since 2011, however, the painting of the Forth Bridge is no longer a never-ending task. They have painted it with a new type of coating which will last for at least 25 years. Just so the annual sacrifice for the atonement for our sins came to an end. Not by some newly developed super technology but by the biggest sacrifice ever offered.

The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross is not like the annual sacrifice of the high priest but it was a one and only time event that will lasts forever. No matter how much we sin, our sins have been forgiven once and for all. This is the perfect freedom we as Christians talk about. The freedom from worry. The freedom from guilt. The freedom from being sentenced to the appropriate punishment for our sins.

So, what do we do once we have experienced the life-giving forgiveness that the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection means for us personally?

We get involved in sharing this good news. Involved in supporting our communities, involved in supporting our Mothers’ Union branches, involved in supporting those who have not yet experienced this never-ending forgiveness of Jesus in their lives.

With all my love and prayers

Revd Sandra