04-09-25

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS 
April 9, 2025
The closing hymn in Traditional Worship this past Sunday is a beautiful piece, except it is not. OK… I’m going to express some thoughts that some may not like, and I’m okay with that. You are allowed to disagree, and in the end, you might be right. The hymn is, “What Wondrous Love Is This,” and it begins with this amazing declaration about the wondrous love of God, but then it goes on to say, “What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss to bear the dreadful curse for my soul…” Though there is some Pauline theology (the writings of the Apostle Paul) that provide some hint of substitutionary atonement, I believe we have misread it. 

First, Paul was writing during a time when many ancient religions had well-defined cult systems designed to appease the gods. Certain rituals or sacrifices, when performed correctly, could achieve the desired outcome. Of course, when the rain didn’t come as the farmer who sacrificed the goat had hoped for, it was easy for the temple leadership to say, “Well, you must not have done it properly, or maybe you didn’t bring a good enough sacrifice.” There was always a way of returning the blame back on the person who had come seeking something from the gods. And of course, you had to come to the temple and make your offering every month or so. It was an endless cycle. 

In the Book of Hebrews, we find a different take on Jesus—that in fact, he was both the priest and the sacrifice, and it was once and for all. Imagine if that every month for 25 years, you had gone to the temple and purchased an animal for sacrifice to one of the Roman gods or maybe some lesser-known god in that ancient culture, and you rarely got what you had hoped to receive. Yet, you had to return and do it all over again. The money demanded of you every month hit hard, and for what? But fear kept you going. 

Then one day, you hear that the death of Jesus had done away with all of that, and you never had to deal with another sacrifice. Do you understand how revolutionary and transformative that would have been? Game changer! Of course, when you’ve done something for so long, it is hard to change. And even more concerning, what if this Jesus movement is wrong? The Book of Hebrews, along with some of Paul’s writings, play on this notion of Jesus being a sacrifice. Why? Because the writers were good communicators of the Gospel, and they knew their audiences. They used a metaphor that was relevant and met the people where they were. But like any good metaphor, it can spin out of control, eventually turning in on itself, and becoming rather dangerous. The church played around with the metaphor, while trying to understand the problems that come with taking it too far. For instance, who exactly requires a sacrifice? Especially as we learn in Hosea 6:6, “I desire faithful love and not sacrifice; intimacy instead of burned offerings.” Then as some became uncomfortable suggesting it was God who needed a sacrifice, they offered an alternative. It was the devil who required payment as God has promised him all the sinners. Let that soak in for a moment. What kind of nonsense is that? No matter how you understand the devil, what does it say that we become bargaining chips between God and the devil? Even more concerning is that God would “owe” anything to the personification of everything that is not God. 

Sadly, at moments throughout Christian history, including the First Great Awakening, there were some who began to run with the notion of God requiring a sacrifice because of how horrible and painfully repulsive we were to God because of our sin. So detestable are we that God cannot even look upon us, so Jesus allowed himself to be sacrificed for us so that his pure and non-sinful nature is all that God sees. And thus, we get a pass into heaven. But what does that mean in regard to the Trinity, the declaration in Genesis that humanity is good, and even the Old Testament references to God’s everlasting mercy and kindness? Are those true or not? 

Some might say I am rambling, and maybe I am to some degree, but my point is that a really intriguing metaphor intended for a specific audience can run amuck if taken literally in another generation in which the original intent of the metaphor no longer is relevant. Maybe you run in different parts of our community, but I am not spending a lot of time in places that require the sacrifice of innocent animals to placate the gods. Let’s be clear, the metaphor can still have some meaning, especially when we feel as if we have really screwed up and it sure looks as if you are absolutely beyond the reach of God. Of course, I don’t believe that to be true, but we can feel it. And so to have an image of Jesus whose very existence, including the cross, announces to my hurt and remorse that there is nothing in all of creation, not even my worst day, that can separate me from God, is a game changer. Did the cross change God’s opinion of me? Or did it change humanity’s view of God? 

Think about any metaphor that is commonly used today. What does it communicate? What would happen if we began to take it literally? How could it, if we pushed it beyond its original intent, become troubling or even dangerous? I was watching a basketball game the other day, and one of the commentators said of a player, “That guy is like a tree towering over the other players on the court.” He was referencing the player’s size, but if taken literally, what do we do with a tree on the basketball court. It shouldn’t be there. We need to chop it down. From there, we could use it for the court itself when it needs to be replaced. Maybe not the best example, but hopefully you get my point. 

In the end, the language in the hymn of Jesus bearing the dreadful curse upon my soul is based on an ancient metaphor that was later taken literally and then set loose without any constraints. And in that theology, even a newborn baby is a horrible and sinful worm that deserves to be crushed by the wrath of God. But Jesus was willing to take that wrath for the baby and all of us. I don’t know about you, but I don’t find that helpful, compelling, or really anything resembling good news. I need a God who is a bit more gracious, merciful, and kind, especially if Jesus is  the visible expression of God. So what metaphor might work for you today? Whatever it might be, just remember that it should not be chiseled in stone and become the only truth for the remainder of eternity. It might be amazing for this moment of time, but I believe in a God who meets every moment with an expression of the Gospel that is relevant and transformative. 

Lord God, help Bruce when he goes on a rambling path into the weeds, and help the rest of us take something away from his words. Amen.