Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 22 July 2012
By Captain Michael Ramsay.[1]
We just came back from furlough (vacation) yesterday afternoon. It was a good time visiting both Susan and my families. Susan’s family lives right on Sproat Lake on Vancouver Island so we were able to spend a lot of time just relaxing there. My folks brought us down to the ocean so that Susan could show our older two girls tidal pools and other Island things that one doesn’t get to see here.
We had a good time but we also acquired a story or two. The thing about stories is that they often are the result of things not going exactly as planned and neither of my stories here went according to plan and both of them resulted in us being a little delayed in our vacation schedule and both of them resulted in us having to pay a little bit more than we had otherwise budgeted. Both incidents also involved our car as well.
On our way to the coast, Susan, the girls and I had just finished our last planned rest stop for the day; we had just all piled in the vehicle to make a run for the evening ferries to the Island; we were just turning onto the Coquihalla Highway just outside of Kelowna when – bam- a blew a tire. I had never done that before. It was a bit scary and more than a bit of a surprise – especially since we just got brand new tires put on the Uplander a few weeks ago. So there we were stranded without air-conditioning in a heat wave on the Coquihalla and the car people, when I call them, tell us that we can’t all fit in the tow truck so they have to send a taxi (with its meter running) for them. This cab ride, the tire and the extra hotel stay added a little bit to our expenses for the trip but we got to meet a lot of nice people, the girls were able to spend the evening swimming in the pool instead of driving in the car, and we were none the worse for wear.
And then there was the trip home. This time we are racing to make it back to Swift Current to unpack, take care of business and get ready for the meeting today. Everything was going well until we get to Banff. I don’t know if you saw the mud-slide on the news that wiped out the Trans-Canada Highway but the mud-slide must of missed us by no more than a minute or two. We were right near where it came sliding down when we came to a sliding stop and along with a lot of other vehicles had to turn around and find another way through the mountains. This cost us another delay and a few more dollars in gas, food, and hotels but God is good and praise the Lord that no one at all was hurt in the slide and we are none the worse for wear.
Now the only reason that I brought up the extra-added expenses in the re-telling of these stories is that it sort of relates to our scripture reading today in Numbers. In this pericope we discover a whole community of people who, even though they didn’t intentionally do anything wrong, they themselves have some consequences and some extra expenses to pay. Our passage today addresses the question: what happens if you sin by accident?
The Pentateuch has a few answers here.
q Numbers 15:22 and 24: “‘Now if you as a community unintentionally fail to keep any of these commands the Lord gave Moses… and if this is done unintentionally without the community being aware of it, then the whole community is to offer a young bull for a burnt offering as an aroma pleasing to the Lord, along with its prescribed grain offering and drink offering, and a male goat for a sin offering.”
q Numbers 15:27: “But if just one person sins unintentionally, that person must bring a year-old female goat for a sin offering.”
q Leviticus 5:14:“If a person sins and does what is forbidden in any of the LORD’s commands, even though he does not know it, he is guilty and will be held responsible.”
At some point everybody has sinned and even if we do not know that we have sinned we are still guilty and responsible - Romans 3:23 reaffirms in the New Testament context, “for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” And whatever the offence and the circumstances surrounding it, when we are wrong, we are obligated to God and society to make it right (cf. Numbers 5:6).[2] We are privileged in that, even though we have sinned, we do have the opportunity to make it right. God loves us so much that He wants us to make it right.[3]
There are couple ways that people could sin unintentionally so that these specific laws in Numbers 15:22-29 about sinning by accident might apply.
- The Israelites might sin unintentionally by being aware that a specific law exists but they might not know that they have broken it. This would be like if you were driving down the highway and you forgot to put on cruise control and accidentally you drift over the speed limit: you are aware of the law, you just aren’t aware that you have broken in (until the red and blue lights come on behind you).
2. And, another way this might apply, another way they might sin accidentally: Since there are so many more than just the 10 Commandments to follow, someone in ancient Israel might not be even aware of a particular law and thus unknowingly break it. In our world today there are many such situations. There are times when we might be driving along again (I did a lot of driving on our recent trip to the Island and back!) and not notice a sign informing us that speed limit has changed until it is mentioned to us by the nice policeman or woman at our driver’s side window. In this case, we didn’t know what the law was but we are still guilty of breaking it.
And just like with us, if we break traffic or any other laws, even if we didn’t know that we have broken them and/or even if we didn’t know it was a law when we broke it and even if we didn’t do it on purpose, we still broke the law and we still have to pay the fine. So it was for the ancient Israelites. For the Hebrews, as it states in Numbers 15:24 and 27, as well as in Leviticus 5:17 (see Leviticus 4 as well), they are guilty and will be held responsible. In the case of ancient Israel, the price is a young bull (Number 5:24), a year-old goat (Numbers 5:27), or a ram without defect (Leviticus 5:17) and one has to pay that fine (or sacrifice). Even though they did not know that they did anything wrong, because God loves the ancient Hebrews and He really wants them to be right with Him; He wants them to make things right with Him so they have to pay.
This makes sense, right? How many of us have forgotten an appointment? We miss it or are late and have to reschedule. Sometimes we have to pay for the missed appointment too: that is a penalty. We, in our world today just like in Bible times, have to pay for our transgressions whether they are intentional or not. Sometimes we miss an appointment that we have been waiting months for, maybe because we were even in the hospital. It doesn’t change the fact that we need to reschedule. That is one penalty that we pay today for unintentional transgressions.
Back in Numbers 15: They have to pay. Sacrifice is required. When they sin, on purpose or not, it gets in the way of their relationship with God. God is gracious though. He’ll let them make it up to Him. If they bring Him a sacrifice (which here is sort of like a cross between a fine you pay the government after receiving a ticket or the flowers you bring your wife after an argument), if they bring a sacrifice, they will be forgiven - but they need to pay.
Now in the Leviticus version of our pericope there is a time when you need to pay even more – that’s when you sin against the Lord’s holy things.[4] The Lord’s holy things points to all that is property of the Lord in a special way;[5] that can be anything: an object, some money, a location... In Leviticus 5:14-16 it address that specifically and the penalty in this case is not just a fine of a ram but it is also restoration plus 20% (a double tithe!). So if the ancient Hebrews mistakenly sin or unknowingly or inadvertently use anything inappropriately that is dedicated to God, there is this extra penalty to pay of restoration plus 20%.
Now Dusty and Laurie are on their Summer Assignment for Training College (CFOT, which is TSA seminary). It doesn’t seem that long ago that Susan, the girls and I were in Training College. We were in the first ever session of the new college in Winnipeg; everything was brand new when we arrived, including the college vans. We were allowed to use the college vans. We were allowed to use them to get back and forth from school. We were allowed to use them for things during the week. We were allowed to use them for personal use occasionally as well. But, we must remember that in reality these vehicles are not ours; they are dedicated to the Lord.
Now I do my best to use other people’s things properly and I do my VERY best not to misuse God’s things. I can remember one day, though, I get a nice little letter for the Attorney General’s office: “You were recorded at travelling at 70 km/hr. in a 50 km/hr. zone.” I had unknowingly misused something dedicated to the Lord and there was a penalty and I had to pay.
And today, this side of the cross, there is more… in Matthew 5:17 Jesus says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” And James 2:10 says, “For whoever keeps the whole Law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” There is an even greater penalty for us to be aware of. We have all committed sins knowingly or not but we also have committed capital offences – crimes worthy of the death penalty. Remember Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death…” If we ever knowingly or not commit adultery even in our thoughts we are guilty of that same sin – and in the Law, the prescribed penalty is death. If we commit murder in our own mind we are guilty – and the penalty in the Law is death. If we blaspheme the Lord, whether we know Him at the time or not and whether we do it on purpose or not, the punishment is death. If we call someone “you fool!”, whether we are aware of it or not, the penalty according to the gospel of Matthew may even be eternal death (Matthew 5:22). And relating back to Adam and Eve, before we were ever born, they on our behalf disobeyed God - the penalty for us is death (cf. TSA doc. 5). We are all guilty (whether we know it or not). We have all sinned (whether we believe it or not). We have all sinned and the wages of our sins – the punishment that we deserve is death. And that is a little more pricey than a sacrifice and restitution plus 20%. This is bad news.
There is good news in our pericope though. After approaching the Lord in their guilt, Numbers 15:25, “The priest is to make atonement for the whole Israelite community, and they will be forgiven…” and, Verse 28: “The priest will make atonement for him...” You know what atonement is, right? It is making things right again so we will be forgiven. Numbers 15:28:“The priest is to make atonement before the Lord for the one who erred by sinning unintentionally, and when atonement has been made, that person will be forgiven.” The priest then will go to God and smooth things over. Even if one has acted out against those holy things of the LORD God himself, he will be forgiven. God will forgive them. It doesn’t matter that they are guilty. Even though they are guilty and do not know it. Even though they thought that they had done nothing wrong and they found out quite differently. Even though they are guilty, God loves them and God has provided a way for them to be restored.
When they go to the priest, they are confessing their sins (saying their sorry and meaning it) and he makes it okay. When they approach the priest they are repenting, turning from their error, and he makes it okay. When they approach the priest he offers their sacrifice this makes them okay with God.
So how much more is that the case for us in our world today, this side of the cross? When we admit our sins and ask forgiveness, Jesus makes us okay. In my life in working for the Lord and the Church, I have not had to give a priest a young bull, a female goat or a ram when I accidentally sinned; I have never had to pay a ticket plus 20% for speeding in a Salvation Army vehicle dedicated to God. And we don’t, none of us, have to pay the penalty in our world today: we don’t have to pay for Adam. Jesus already did (Cf. TSA docs. 5&6). Jesus has made us okay. He already paid our death penalty. He is both the offering and the High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-16). We do not have to eternally pay for accidentally committing sins. Jesus has already paid the eternal price. Jesus has made us okay. We don’t have to pay for those sins we commit by accident or without even noticing it. Because Jesus died on that cross, we don’t have to pay for our sins, no matter how horrible they may be, whatever we have done, Jesus has already paid. Jesus has made us okay and so now we can each of us go through Christ and repent: we can say we’re sorry, mean it, and be transformed. Jesus has made us okay with God.
As we go to Jesus, the High Priest, and confess our sins and repent, we are forgiven. Jesus has already made it right for us. Jesus is the sacrifice. Jesus died so that we do not need to suffer the consequences of our own guilt (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). All we have to do is go to him. So, as Jesus is both the priest and sacrifice in our text (pericope), and it has been made right. It is okay. He died so that we can be forgiven. We can be right with God.
I don’t know what sins you have committed but they have been atoned for. You are forgiven. We have been made right with God – Jesus died and rose again; so, as Jesus told a woman who was actually caught in adultery (John 8:1-11). “Go… [Now that your guilt has been atoned for]…go and sin no more.” Go and sin no more.
In Jesus’ Name, amen.
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[1] This sermon is based on: Captain Michael Ramsay, Leviticus 5:14-19 (Numbers 15:27-31): Go and Sin No More, Presented to Nipawin Corps, 29 March 2009 and in Winnipeg, November 2006. Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2009/03/leviticus-514-19-num-1517-31-go-and-sin.html
[2] John E. Hartley. Leviticus, (WBC 4: Dallas Texas: Word Books, 1992), 76.
[3] Ronald B. Allen, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Numbers/Exposition of Numbers/I. The Experience of the First Generation in the Desert (1:1-25:18)/B. The Rebellion and Judgment of a Fearful People (11:1-25:18)/1. A cycle of rebellion and atonement and the record of death (11:1-20:29)/e. Laws on offerings, the Sabbath, and tassels on garments (15:1-41)/(3) Instructions on offerings for unintentional sins (15:22-29), Book Version: 4.0.2: This section reminds us that God's attitude toward his Torah is complex: (1) he is serious about his commands; they are not trivial nor subject to the trifling attitudes of casual people; (2) but he is also gracious; …God made high demands and expected compliance, but he also provided avenues for redress when one did not comply fully. Therefore we conclude that in the Torah God speaks in grace; in the most exacting law there is mercy, and in all of the Torah the intention is to know him and to relate to him.
[4] Cf. Gordon J. Wenham, Numbers: An Introduction and Commentary, Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1981 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 4), S. 146
[5] Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. Leviticus, (NIB 1: Nashville, Abingdon Press 1994), 1040.
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