The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.
Hebrews 13:11-14
It’s been more years than I care to admit, but these two words still ring in my ears. They were the desperate plea of my mom. And while these words knew no boundaries, they were especially used in the summer. Or at least they came out more frequently and with greater emotional frustration when school wasn’t in session.
Her words of “Go outside” started nice enough. And as I kept ignoring her gentle encouragement to go and enjoy the great outdoors, the volume and emotion kept going up and up. And up. And up.
It isn’t like it was so much cooler inside. The idea of having air conditioning in the house or car was something way outside our league. That was for rich people. People that had lots of money to waste on higher electricity bills and pumping more gas into their cars. We, on the other hand, were happy to suffer through the stifling summer heat.
And finally, there was that yell, that screech that told me it was time to get a move on. I had sat around for long enough and it was time to leave because the next step in the process was to see her chasing me with her wooden spoon. Yes, you heard me correctly. Her wooden spoon was the weapon of choice when it came to discipline.
Now I didn’t have anything against going outside. After all, that’s where we had to go to get anywhere. We couldn’t go bowling, fishing, or on vacation without first going outside. But that kind of going outside always had a purpose. A goal. A destination.
Mom’s “Go outside” didn’t have a place to go with it. There wasn’t a fun thing to do attached to it. She wasn’t taking me someplace exciting. It was more of a desperate cry to “please get out from under my feet and just get away from me” cry for help and relief. After all, anyplace was better than my continually bugging her with my questions and need for attention.
When the writer tells the Hebrews to go outside, he’s not telling them to do something alone. His instruction to go outside isn’t just for someone else. It includes him too. They’re all to go outside. And why?
Because Jesus started the whole “Go outside” thing. When he was crucified, he was taken outside the city of Jerusalem[1]. His death on the cross not only paid for all sin once-and-for-all, but it also changed everything.
No more having to go into the city for holidays and celebrations. No more going into the Temple to offer sacrifices. Jesus has freed them and us from all the rules and regulations that we tried to follow.
You know exactly what I mean. Now, our lists of things are going to be different, but we all have that list. The list starts with things that we do to make God happy with us. And that list also had things on it that we wouldn’t do because they would make God angry with us.
Some of our lists are short and some are long. Others are really, really, really, long. But we all have a list. And the list hangs guilt over us. Out list brings shame that condemns us. The list proves that we’re all frauds. That no matter who we are or what’s on our list, we can’t keep it. That we’re always going to disappoint God and ourselves.
Now, because Jesus went outside for us, we can now come back inside. In Jesus, the door to God that was locked for so long has been opened wide. It’s no longer about a list but a loving relationship that God opens up to us. That he reached out to us with.
During that powerful scene in The Chosen, Jesus explains to the woman at the well[2] that he’s come to take away our lists. That instead of places to go and things to do, he’s changing it back into worshiping God in spirit and truth[3]. That we can come to God anytime. Anywhere. No matter what we’ve done.
As someone who’s had a really long and heavy list for a very long time, I can’t begin to tell you how great this is. All my life I’ve felt like an outsider. Outside of friendships with people. Outside of acceptance and love from God. Does this sound at all familiar to you? Do you feel like an outsider when it comes to God too?
If the answer is yes, then this is really good news. Why? Because Jesus went outside so that we could invite us to come back inside. He did what we couldn’t do. He paid the price to bring us back as God’s children. And with Jesus, there’s no threat that he’ll ever turn his back on us. He’ll never abandon us. He’ll never tell us to go outside[4].
Noodling Questions
Why would God want us to go outside? What’s the reason and purpose?
How do things get put on our list of right and wrong?
What’s the best way to shorten your lists in life?
[1] John 19:20
[3] John 4:24
[4] Deuteronomy 31:6
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