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. – Numbers 19:4

Today’s Scripture Reading (August 12, 2012): Numbers 19

I watched a football game (the American or Canadian version – not soccer) the other night. I love football. It was the only sport that I had ever been marginally good at. The team that I was watching had been having problems running the ball. The surprise was that it was something the team was predicted to have been good at before the season had started. But they were struggling. In football, there is an adage – run North and South, not East and West. The meaning of the saying is that the purpose of football is to take the ball down the field, not toward the sideline. And often the saying holds truth. But on this night, something happened that became a key element of the game. The team started to run East and West. And the runs worked. All of the running toward the sidelines opened up room in the middle. And the running game finally started to produce results.

Sports are like that. The center of the field is often the most important part of the game. But the whole playing surface needs to be used for success. There is a reason for the sidelines along with the middle. The team that wins often utilizes the entire playing surface.

For Israel, the center of the camp was the Tent of Meeting or the Tabernacle. It was there that much of the important action took place – and most of the sacrifices were done on the altar that was within the tabernacle. The rest of the tribes of the nation were camped around the Tabernacle. But what was important happened at the center.

But one of the exceptions is here. The red heifer is taken outside of the camp where it is killed. And then the blood is taken on the finger of the priest, who is still outside the camp, and sprinkled in the direction of the tabernacle. It was the ultimate sideline play. And standing between priest and the temple were the people of Israel – the tribes, the ones who needed to be cleansed from sin.

It was not an accident that Jesus was killed just outside of Jerusalem. His blood was also figuratively sprinkled toward the temple. And standing between the blood and the Temple were the people. Today, as we come into the Temple to worship, our High Priest stands just on the outside of the sanctuary, cleansing us from our sin so that we can be ready for what he has for us in our worship. The time has come. Come, now is the time to worship!   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Numbers 20

Note:  The VantagePoint Community Church sermon - Sweat the Small Stuff - is now available on the Vantagepoint Website - you will find it here http://www.vantagepointcc.org/The_Essential_James_Part_II___Sweat_the_Small_Stuff.htm