St. Luke Ev. Lutheran Church

Sermon delivered by Pastor Anthony E. Schultz

Ash Wednesday, February 9, 2005

Numbers 19:2-6 9-16,20

This is a requirement of the law that the LORD has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect or blemish and that has never been under a yoke. Give it to Eleazar the priest; it is to be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. Then Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the Tent of Meeting. While he watches, the heifer is to be burned—its hide, flesh, blood and offal. The priest is to take some cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet wool and throw them onto the burning heifer. A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They shall be kept by the Israelites community for use in the water of cleaning; it is for purification from sin. The man who gathers up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he too will be unclean till evening. This will be a lasting ordinance both for the Israelites and for the aliens living among them. Whoever touches the dead body of anyone will be unclean for seven days. He must purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third and seventh days, he will not be clean. Whoever touches the dead body of anyone and fails to purify himself defiles the LORD’s tabernacle. That person must be cut off from Israel. Because the water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on him, he is unclean; his uncleanness remains on him. This is the law that applies when a person dies in a tent: Anyone who enters the tent and anyone who is in it will be unclean for seven days, and every open container without a lid fastened on it will be unclean. Anyone out in the open who touches someone who has been killed with a sword or anyone who has died a natural death, or anyone who touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days. But if a person who is unclean does not purify himself, he must be cut off from the community, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD. The water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on him, and he is unclean.

People of God—rescued from the flaming lake of fire in hell by the innocent blood of the very Lamb of God:

When I was in grade school—I had two best friends—Gary and Gary. My best friend Gary had a grandpa who lived with him. His grandpa had his own room—kind of like Marquardt Manor—a bed and a rocking chair and on his dresser a TV—so he could watch Chicago Cubs games and Chicago Bears games. He had his own radio—so he could listen to old fashioned music. My best friend’s grandpa was very wrinkled. I thought he was about 100 years old. One day my best friend Gary’s grandpa died. I remember they called my house and told my parents. And they said we were going to go to his wake at a funeral home in Chicago—about an hour away in the big city. I had never been to a wake in my life! I remember getting all dressed up like we were going to church. I rode in a little black Volkswagen bug to this funeral home. It was the middle of the day—but in the funeral home everything was very dark—very burgundy. There was organ music—very wobbly. The carpet was very thick. People were crying very quietly. I remember walking up to the casket. I had never been by a real casket before—with that funny white kind of blanket cloth hanging over the sides. There was my best friend’s grandpa—his hands kind of overlapped—his fingernails didn’t look right. His face had this makeup on it—kind of powder all over his nose. His lips didn’t look right and his wrinkles looked all different. I got this kind of metallic taste in my mouth. Did I touch him? Absolutely not! Touch a dead person? I was scared just looking at him! That was the first time I ever saw a real dead person—and I will never forget it! Since that day I have seen over 300 dead people—and I have touched the hands of many of them. It’s not scary at all. It’s like touching a cocoon after the butterfly is gone. It’s only the shell—the soul—the spirit is already safe by Jesus. This Ash Wednesday we rejoice in Jesus’ ultimate triumph over death. Jesus took away all our sins—so we rejoice as:

We See Jesus Made Us Clean

1. Clean from the smell of death

2. Clean because his death counts for me

Last Sunday—Transfiguration Sunday—just a few days ago—we read about Moses being called by the LORD to come to the top of Mt. Sinai—to receive the Law. In a most wondrous way—it’s like the finger of God—engraving on two tablets of stone—God’s will for God’s people. It might have been so much information it took two tablets to hold it all. It might have been that the LORD gave Moses two copies—one to keep and one to share—one to circulate among the people to read and study and learn. The law that Moses received was certainly much more than big Roman numerals—one through three on one tablet and four through ten on the other. The law would be like a tutor—a servant—a slave whose job it was to teach the child—the heir while they were a child. The law was a shadow—for the people to watch—until the body arrived—that would be Jesus of Nazareth—the Son of Man and the Son of God—the fulfillment of all that the Old Testament foreshadowed—pointed to! This Lenten Season—the better we understand the Old Testament Scriptures—the more vivid Jesus’ sacrificial love to forgive us!

God’s Word says, “Whoever touches the dead body of anyone will be unclean for seven days. He must purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day, then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third and seventh day, he will not be clean.” Clean and unclean! Back in the days of the transcontinental railroad—when people thought they were really moving—riding from New York to San Francisco. To ride the train that far took a week. The ads said—ride coast to coast so quickly you won’t even need a bath! There are people in church today who remember the time when you took a bath once a week! It was quite a production pumping water—carrying water—heating water. Sometimes a bunch of children would use the same wash basin of water—one after the other. Today we have whole stores devoted to washing the outside—stores devoted to soaps, cleansers—exfoliants—stuff that washes off a whole layer of dead skin cells—promising to give you a radiant glow! We have soaps with emollients! What are emollients? Do you know? Are they good for you? They must be—otherwise why would they boast about them? We have soaps and conditioners with juice from all kinds of fruits and vegetables—herbals—flowers and more! We have masks and wraps—salts and mud packs and more. We have soft wash cloths—sponges—soft or scratchy—brushes on long handles to scrub where you can’t reach. Soaps with little tiny grits—antibacterial soaps and hand sanitizers that don’t even need any water. We have wipes and moist towel-ettes. We know how to clean the outside. The LORD was teaching his people about the ultimate uncleanness—the uncleanness that came from sin. Sin that brought the wages of sin—death!

It’s like Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Lady Macbeth murders the King. And then is overcome with guilt—with regret and remorse. Night after night she wanders through the castle—washing and washing her hands. She tries to get the blood off of her hands but she can’t. There’s an episode of M*A*S*H where a surgeon has a nervous breakdown. They find his sitting on the floor in the corner of his tent—rubbing and rubbing his hands—trying to get the blood off-but he can’t either! God wanted his people to understand from early on—that sin and death separate people from the LORD. “Whoever touches the dead body of anyone and fails to purify himself defiles the LORD’s tabernacle!” Death is everywhere! Every time I let our puppy Kirby out or in—I see the cemetery just one lawn removed from ours. Every time I mow the grass—back and forth—toward the cemetery—away from the cemetery—toward the cemetery—away from the cemetery. Every little bit there is the noise of the backhoe digging a new grave. Every little bit there is the siren—somebody being brought quickly to the hospital. Again and again there is the sound of the helicopter—the flight for life—because someone is critically hurt! Just past my bank—another cemetery. Drive to Lake Mills—past another cemetery. Beside the road small wooden crosses—covered with plastic flowers—where there was a fatal car accident. Turn on the news and the first thing they report—another suicide bomber—Iraqi police officers, US soldiers, innocent civilians killed in clumps and bunches. Suicide bombers in Israel—the threat of terrorists and dirty bombs at the Super Bowl!

Sin separates people from our Heavenly Father. I heard again and again these past days—about a murderer who took the lives of two fish and wildlife officers. They were murdered—the papers said—execution style. That means with cold calculation. It wasn’t by accident. This man who murdered two officers was sentenced to 30 years in prison. That’s what? 15 years for taking another human life? Then—they said—he was released the other day after only 22 years—8 years early? You know why? Good behavior! Good behavior? Like what? He didn’t do anything really horrible in prison? He ate all his broccoli? He made his bed very neatly? He brushed his teeth and picked up his toys? What? There are people who think that they can make points with their Heavenly Father by being good! That somehow one act of kindness makes up for one act of hurtful evil. That one really powerful act of charity makes up for a whole bunch of incredibly average mistakes. That one act of great personal sacrifice at the end—can redeem you from a lifetime squandered on selfish and gross evil. It can’t! Sin separates us from God—the attitude that says these are my toys and I won’t share. The attitude that says—why do I have to sit here in church on Wednesdays for the next forever weeks? It’s enough I have to do this every Sunday! I could be home watching American Idol! Sin is the attitude that hates what God wants! Sin is why I deserve the fire of hell and so do you!

God’s Word says, “This is a requirement of the law that the LORD has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect or blemish and that has never been under a yoke. Give it to Eleazar the priest; it is to be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. Then Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the Tent of Meeting. While he watches, the heifer is to be burned—its hide, flesh, blood and offal. The priest is to take some cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet wool and throw them onto the burning heifer. A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp…” If you are a city slicker—the word heifer probably isn’t too familiar. A heifer is a cow—a female—a cow that never freshened—that is produce a calf and make milk to nurse that calf. The LORD is talking about a red heifer! Rare or common—this little red cow? Apparently—according to the Talmud—Jewish writings of tradition and authority! According to the Talmud there were 8 times in all of Jewish history that there was a red heifer—between 400 to 700 pounds. She was to be completely burned—not only the flesh—but the hide, the blood, the offal—the really icky insides with the manure in them—the whole heifer. Cedar wood—hyssop—a shrub and wool stained red were burned up, too. How big a heap of ashes would you have? According to the Talmud—when the temple was finally destroyed—in A.D. 70 there were still enough heifer ashes left over to continue to make the water of cleaning for another three hundred years! All this blood and ashes and cleansing—pointed very specifically to Jesus!

It was all very complicated—the whole clean and unclean thing! You could become unclean in a moment—when someone had an accident—when there was injury and bleeding—when there was death. There was uncleanness—on the outside and on the inside when you touched or tasted or handled what you weren’t supposed to taste or touch or handle. Cleansing was a complicated process. Make a mistake and you had to start all over. The law was not forgiving—it was condemning. You could make a horrible mistake no matter how hard you tried! When you were on the brink of despair—there was hope only in the powerful Gospel promises of the LORD—the God of free and faithful grace. There was hope in the Gospel promises of the Lamb of God who would be sacrificed one time and one time only—the ultimate sacrifice for the sins of the world! Jesus is that sacrifice! Jesus is that Hope! Jesus is the one who washes away all our sins!

I was pastor in Loves Park, IL for 4 years. No one who was a member of Peace congregation died in those 4 years except a little grandma. This little grandma had been very sick before I ever met her. We had Adult Instruction Class at her home. The only Sunday she was well enough—she came to church to be confirmed and to receive Lord’s Supper. Not long after that—Jesus sent his holy angels to carry her soul safely home to heaven! All the time that she had been sick—you could see in this little grandma’s face—her skin—her complexion that something was painfully wrong. But when they had the visitation at the funeral home—again in downtown Chicago--this little grandma actually glowed. I know it sounds strange—but the cheeks of this little grandma fairly glowed. You know how they talk about the glow of a peach—the indescribably blush of a peach? This little grandma looked like one of those very glamorous movie stars of the 30s and 40s. In death there was a peace and rest for Jesus’ sake. This Lenten time—we will be reminded again and again—that we have nothing to fear from death. That for children of God—we fall asleep in Jesus and wake up in heaven—because Jesus has washed away all our sins. Amen!

To God alone all glory!

Rev. Anthony E. Schultz