Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
Hebrews 10:11
If anything can be said about me it’s that I’m a creature of habit. While there are mountains of examples that I could pull from, the one that comes to mind is my commute to Philadelphia for work. What makes this especially memorable is that I took a train.
Every morning, I caught the same train: the 7:15 AM local from Marcus Hook to Suburban Station in Center City Philadelphia. I stood at the same place on the platform so I could get on the third car from the front. This let me get off nearest to the stairs I took into the office building. I sat in the same seat at the back of the car near the door so I could make a quick exit when we arrived.
Going home was the same, but different. I took the 5-oclock express to Chester. After briefly taking on passengers at 30th Street Station, we flew by ten stops and arrived in a flash in Chester, Pennsylvania. We then skipped another stop and arrived in Marcus Hook a full 22 minutes faster than if we took a local train.
Yes, I do like watching the very same episodes of M*A*S*H over and over. When Mary Ann would go to visit her parents, I made my highly doctored version of chicken ramen every night. When it comes to selecting something to wear, I naturally drift to the same outfit each and every day.
While I’m not Jewish, or even a member of the tribe of Aaron, the idea of being a priest sort of sounds like something I could get into. Doing the same thing day after day. Offering the same sacrifices again and again. Performing the same rituals and prayers over and over again.
When it came to the Hebrew priests, they were in a day after day rut. There wasn’t any room for them to go off on their own and make up their own sacrifices. Write their own prayers. Start new rituals.
No matter how humble or good their intentions might be, these priests were in a rut not of their own making. These sacrifices, prayers, and ceremonies were all given by God. He set the rules. He decided what needed to be done. There was no room for creativity.
We might think that this isn’t fair of God. After all, why shouldn’t these men who were set apart by and for God be allowed some flexibility? Some creativity? Wouldn’t they get bored doing the same sacrifices day after day? Following the same script again and again? Talk about being in a rut.
But God is God and he’s in charge. He’s in control. There’s no room for doing things our way. It’s his way or the highway. And if you think God will just let personal choice and creativity slide, just ask Nadab and Abihu. When they offered different fire before the Lord, God sent fire that ate them up. They died right there in front of God[1].
The idea of doing the same thing over and over might sound boring. But imagine being a priest and knowing that what you were doing wasn’t really making any difference. You’d sacrifice an animal for someone’s sin. And then you’d do it again for the same person. And then again. And again.
And while Albert Einstein didn’t say this famous quote, it’s still so very true. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results. If one sacrifice didn’t take care of sin, what makes us think that two will? Or three? Or a hundred? A thousand?
Yes, there are some things that we can do to change the world. To make it a better place for everyone. To produce enough food, clothing, and shelter at an affordable price for all. We can did a tunnel between Great Britin and France. We can send rockets to the moon and planets.
But there is one thing that we cannot do. The short answer is that we cannot fix ourselves. In Law and Order, Judge William Wright says this same truth to Jack McCoy. “Until we cure what ails the human heart[2]” there is really nothing that we can do to change.
That is, until Jesus Christ came along. His one-time sacrifice changed everything. No more day after day sacrifices. No more being on a spiritual merry-go-round that failed to deliver forgiveness. His resurrection proved that God accepted his sacrifice and his Holy Spirit gives us the power to change from the inside.
I came from a similar background. I had to keep coming to God and making “sacrifices” to try and pay for my sins. You might be wondering how I did. Let’s just say that I didn’t fail every once in a while. Oh no, that’s not nearly strong enough. I was a total failure. And there was nothing I could do to change. But when I trusted Jesus to take all my sins, something happened. I was freed from the weight of having to try and impress God with myself. Instead, God’s gift in Jesus more than paid for my debt. If you want to get off the day by day treadmill, look to Jesus for total, once and for all forgiveness. Today.
Noodling Questions
Would you describe yourself as a creature of habit? Why/why not?
Does the definition of insanity sound good? Comforting? Explain.
How does Jesus shatter all the stiff ideas about God?
[1] Leviticus 10:1-3
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