August 8, 2004 * Windows to the Word: Atonement Window * Vicar Caauwe

We are redeemed. We are saved. We are justified. Our sins are forgiven; they are washed away; they are atoned for. These are all different ways of expressing the basic message of the gospel. And even though they are all referring to the same basic truth, each of these expressions bring to mind different pictures. For example, the term “justification” is a courtroom, or a legal term. We are declared not guilty before God. “Redemption” is a term that has to do more with commerce; it means “to buy back.” With Christ’s precious blood God bought us back from slavery to sin, death, and the devil.

I suppose that if a person were to design windows in a church, he could design a separate window for each of these phrases. Each of the windows would then show the distinctive beauty of all the different terms for what God has done for us in the gospel. Those who designed the windows of St. John’s did not do that. Instead, there is a window for each of the gospel writers, for the two main teachings of the Bible, for the two Sacraments, and one depicting the Ascension of our Lord. In a very simple way these windows are windows to the Word. They summarize. They put into order what the Bible says.

But one window is a little different. It picks out one of these pictures of the gospel and focuses on just that one. And yet it doesn’t say anything different than the gospel window we heard about last Sunday. It simply says the same thing in a different way.

This window is called...

THE ATONEMENT WINDOW

It pictures what Jesus did to make us “at one” with God.

I. It reminds us WHY we needed atonement.

II. It reminds us HOW Jesus made atonement.

III. It reminds us of the blessings of the atonement.

The picture in the left pane of this window is an altar. Coming from the altar are flames of fire which would be burning some type of sacrifice. It could be a sacrifice of thanks, like the sacrifice Noah made on the altar he built after God had rescued them from the great flood. It could be a sacrifice that was a demonstration of faith and trust in God, like on the altars built by the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. Perhaps it represents the altar Elijah built on Mount Carmel, to show that the LORD (and not Baal) was the only true God.

We heard about a sacrifice in the first lesson. Even though the sacrifices on the great Day of Atonement would have been carried out on an altar that looked differently than this one, the sacrifices of the Day of Atonement clearly demonstrated the need for atonement.

In the opening verses of Leviticus chapter 16, verses which were not read as part of the lesson, God said to Moses, “Tell your brother Aaron not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud over the atonement cover.”(Lev 16:2,3)

Before Aaron the priest could even enter the sanctuary of the tabernacle, a bull and a ram had to die. If they didn’t, Aaron would. Aaron would die because he was a sinner and sinners cannot be in the presence of a holy God and live.

So Aaron first had to offer a sacrifice for his own sins, then for the sins of the people. He had to slaughter the bull, the ram, and a goat. He had to do all of this “because of the uncleanness and rebellion of the Israelites, whatever their sins have been” (16).

Next, Aaron had to take a second goat, place his hands on the goat, and “confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat’s head” (21). And as that goat was driven into the wilderness, the people’s sins went with it. They were gone forever.

I can’t imagine that any one of us would be very comfortable with this kind of worship. I can’t imagine that it would be very easy for us to come to church, even once a year, and see before our very eyes such a visual reminder of the consequences of our sins.

It certainly would make me uneasy to see blood being shed because I couldn’t keep my tongue from lying. It would make me uneasy to watch an animal die simply because my heart was filled with greed or anger.

Whatever your sins have been, what would it be like to constantly be reminded of their serious consequences every time you came to worship? If the altar or a picture of one doesn’t do that, perhaps the picture on the right side will.

Here is a cross that is firmly planted on a rock, or a hill. It reminds us of the place to which our Savior was led after being mocked and beaten—Calvary, Golgotha, the Place of the Skull. It reminds us of pain and suffering. It reminds us of a sacrifice just as bloody and gory as the slaughter of bulls and goats.

It was hard to watch Jesus’ passion pictured in Mel Gibson’s film this past spring. It was hard because all along you know the reason that it happened. You know Jesus died because of your uncleanness and your rebellion, whatever your sins have been. It’s particularly hard because you know what your sins have been.

Because of this, it can even be hard at times to come to worship and see a simple cross, a visible reminder of the consequences of our sin. It can be hard, especially when those sins are ones we know we should stop, and even want to stop, but yet continue to give in. It can be hard when the sins are ones that we are deeply ashamed of or when we are terrified of what would happen if someone found out.

Let us come to worship and look at the altar; let us come and look at the cross. Let us look at the symbols of our atonement and say in the words of our second lesson, “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone” (Heb 2:9).

When we see the altar, whether it is stone, metal, or wooden, we see Jesus, who tasted death for everyone. When we see the cross, we see Jesus, who tasted death for everyone. When we see these things, we are reminded that Jesus suffered death in our place. We are reminded that Jesus made “atonement for the sins of the people” (Heb 2:17), “whatever their sins have been” (Lev. 16:16).

The sins you struggle with—atoned for. The ones you are ashamed of—atoned for. Whatever your sins have been, Jesus’ blood has atoned for them all. They are all gone, gone forever.

So we turn to the cross in the center of our window and see some thing very different. Here we see a crown encircling the cross, a crown much different than the one Jesus wore before his death. This crown is a symbol of royalty and victory.

“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone” (Heb 2:9).

Jesus’ atonement on the cross brings a crown. Jesus is crowned with glory and honor because of the cross—”because he suffered death.” Because he completed the task of making atonement for the sin of all people, Jesus was exalted to the right hand of God. Now Jesus rules all things.

Jesus did not make atonement for our sins merely for his own glory and honor, but for us. In the same way he now rules all things for us as well. And the crown that is his, he shares with those who believe in him.

In the last book of the Bible, Jesus says to those who are suffering persecution, “Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev. 2:10).

The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, “If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him” (2 Tim 2:11,12). In the same letter, just two chapters later, Paul wrote, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing” ( 2 Tim 4:7,8).

Jesus’ atonement on the cross brings a crown. Jesus promises the crown of life to those who hold firm in the faith until the end. Jesus promises a crown, not to those who have earned it by their works, but to those who live their lives trusting in the the gospel, trusting in Jesus’ atonement for their sins.

The apostle Paul recorded the words I just read near the end of his life. When he wrote, he had fought the fight and finished the race. His life was nearly over and he was close to receiving the crown. Some of us might be able to talk that way. We can see a image such as this and know pretty well that it won’t be long before we will reign with Jesus.

But for many of us, that could be a long ways off. It could be many years before the fight is over and the race complete. And we might wonder, will I make it? Will I be faithful? Will I (in the words of the hymn) “Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old And win with them the victor’s crown of gold?” What temptations will come our way? What kind of struggles, battles, or even persecutions might come our way in the future?

But then we remember that Jesus has made atonement for the sins of all, whatever our sins have been. He made atonement by his sacrifice on the cross. And by that sacrifice, he has won the crown. And he rules all things to bring the crown to you and to me.

So the important question is not what I will be or what I will do, but about what Jesus has done and what Jesus will do. Jesus’ atonement is the basis, the object of our faith. The atonement will carry us to the crown.

Each week that we consider one of the windows in this building, I feel like saying “This one is my favorite. This one portrays the truth of God’s Word most beautifully.” This week is no exception. But I also know that even though each of these windows is very different, the truth is the same. Even though other windows may say it differently, this is the truth: Jesus Christ has made atonement for sinners. Jesus Christ has won the crown of life for you and for me. Amen.