A Mark of Salvation

Exodus 12:1-14; Romans 8:31-39; Matthew 14:13-21

There is the story of how, one summer, a pastor called on a lady who had a very fine collection of roses. She took him out to see them -- white roses, red roses, yellow roses, climbing roses, and roses in pots. Roses of every type he had ever heard of, and a great many he had never heard of were there in great quantity. To the pastor's amazement, the lady began to pick some roses for him, taking roses from bushes to the right and left, and even from rose bushes with but a single flower on them.

In his amazement the minister admonished the woman, saying, "You are robbing yourself, dear Lady!" But the woman replied, "Ah," she said, "do you not know that the way to make the rosebush better is to pluck its flowers freely? I lose nothing by what I give away." And, certainly, this is a universal law. We never lose anything by what we give away.

The scripture lessons that were chosen for today touch upon the theme of sharing what we have. And I suppose that one of the most common ways that people share is through the eating of meals. Last night I went to the Come-Join-Us pot-luck picnic at the Casler's place and was able to eat the food that many different persons had prepared. And together we sat brought together by this food we shared in common. Somehow, our fellowship was enhanced by the sharing of that meal.

The sharing of food has been an important part of the experience of God's people from the earliest days. Our lesson for today from the Old Testament reminds us of how God told the Hebrew people to share food with each other on the night of the Passover. And the scripture tells us that lamb was among the food which was to be shared. One lamb was to be shared amongst the members of a household. But, if a household was too small to eat a whole lamb, they were to share it with their nearest neighbor, taking into account the number of members in that household. And, then, of course, they were to take some of the blood from that lamb and put it above and along the sides of their doors as a mark that they were among the people of God.

You know, as I look at this story and consider the importance of the mark of lamb's blood on the doors of God's people, I am also faced with the fact that those people were also marked in their hearts as they shared their food with others. Perhaps the mark of lamb's blood on their doors was simply a sign that those who dwelt inside were bearers of an even more significant mark: The mark of sharing with others in the name of God.

And God told the Hebrews on that first passover night that as his angel of death came through Egypt he would pass over those houses marked by the blood of lambs and their first born would be saved from certain death.

For us Christians this language is familiar. For we, too, believe that there is power in the blood of the Lamb. We, like the Hebrews, believe that we are saved by the blood of the Lamb. But, for us, that Lamb is Jesus Christ, who shed his blood for all humanity. And when we put our belief in Jesus Christ we are washed in that blood and given the mark of salvation.

There are some Christians, including more than just a few within our own denomination, who cringe when they hear this talk about the power of the blood of Christ. In fact, back in 1964 when hymns were being selected for the hymnal in our pews today, many of the hymns in the older hymnal which talked about the blood of Jesus were excluded, leaving only a very few. However, in 1988 many of these wonderful old hymns were returned to the new United Methodist hymnal because our denomination has suffered too long for not singing these powerful hymns of faith.

There is the story of how, at a large religious service in San Francisco, an unorthodox minister got up and started to preach with great eloquence against the power of the blood of Christ.

It is related that when his fluent oratory ended a timid, elderly lady stood up in the midst of the crowd and softly began to sing a great hymn by William Cowper as a touching rebuttal to the modernist's remarks. A hush fell over the assembly as they heard those faint but familiar words: "There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Immanuel's veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains."

Before she could begin the second stanza, approximately a hundred people rose to join her. By the time she reached the third verse, nearly a thousand Christians all over the audience were singing that blessed song of faith. The triumphant, thrilling strains rang out loud and clear: "Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood shall never lose its power, till all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more." Many were deeply moved as that humble believer stood up for her Lord with the light of Heaven upon her face.

But, the mark of the blood of the Lamb, is a sign. The mark says that the person who has it is involved in a fellowship of believers. It is a mark of sharing with others. Just as the mark of the blood of the lamb was a sign that the Hebrews were a sharing people, so is the mark of the Lamb of God a sign to the world that Christians are among the Body of Christ.

And, yet, many contemporary people who claim to be Christians contradict this genuinely fundamental principle in the way they live their lives. I am always amazed when, for instance, I am talking with a couple who want to be married and they claim to be Christians but then tell me that they don't go to church and haven't been to church since they went to Vacation Bible School back in 1968. I am amazed when I hear this because being a Christian, being marked with the blood of the Lamb, necessitates being a part of the active and sharing Body of Jesus Christ in this world. And I find it extremely difficult to see how anyone can do this in any other way than to be an active part of a local congregation. For being marked by the blood of the Lamb means an active sharing with the people of God.

Jesus knew how important it for God's people to share with one another. In our gospel lesson for this morning we are presented with the familiar story of Jesus' feeding of the multitudes. Having gotten off of a boat, Jesus was met on the beach by a large crowd of people who wanted to hear his gospel and be healed. And, so Jesus spent the day with them. But, as supper time was coming on, Jesus' disciples told Jesus that they thought it would be a good idea if he dismissed the people so that they could go into the villages in the area and find food to eat. But, Jesus, knowing that being a child of God means sharing with others, told his disciples that the multitude would be fed where they were. But, the disciples were alarmed at hearing this, because (and they even pointed out to Jesus) they only had five loaves and two fish. But, as we all know, Jesus thanked God and broke the bread. The food was passed throughout the crowd and everyone had enough to eat with 12 baskets of food left over. Indeed, there are many devout biblical scholars who say that the miracle performed that day was not simply the miracle of Jesus' multiplying bread and fish, but was, rather, the miracle of God's people sharing with others what they had brought with them.

So, yes, indeed, if we claim to be marked as God's people, God wants us to share with one another. And this is seen in the way we share our time, with the way we share our service, with the way we share ourselves, with the way we share our food, and with the way we share our resources.

Even God's way is to share. For God shared his own Son with the world so that we who believe in him may have salvation. Our epistle lesson for today says it well with the words: He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

Indeed, living the Christian life corresponds to sharing with others. And being marked this way, we are able to stand with the saints, who through countless ages have had the courage and faith to stand together and affirm with conviction: that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.