The Great Reassessment
Hebrews 7:23-28
Furthermore, the former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office; but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently he is able for all time to save those who approach God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he has no need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for those of the people; this he did once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests those who are subject to weakness, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.
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Last week I was walking through the grocery store and noticed that something was off. The shelves were beginning to look empty again, like they did back in March 2020. In particular, the cleaning supply aisle was looking pretty bare, not to mention goods and produce that was noticeably lacking in quantity. Now, people say this is due to the broader supply chain shortage, to which many people have many theories. Some say people are lazy, cashing in unemployment checks (many of these programs have ended, by the way), concerns over workplace safety, families, you name it. Personally, I think it's part of what one article called the "Great Reassessment."(Washington Post)
After the past year and a half, people have had time to think and discern what priorities are the most important in their lives. As a result, some people have started businesses, others started families or relationships, and some folks started journeys of their own self-discovery or re-discovery while finding ways to earn an income creatively. I get that it's easy to be cynical, and that's not to say there aren’t any "bad eggs'' who take advantage of the system, but for the vast majority of individuals out there, I would say this is a time of Great Reassessment that we need both in our physical and spiritual lives. Things of values that we've been taught might not be so important now, as we continue to see the greater intricacies of life. We continue in the path of prophets, apostles, and priests who wrestled with similar issues that we struggle with today.
The author of Hebrews talks about the significant number of priests who came before Jesus. Each one had a role that evolved, and I'm sure that they never accomplished everything they wanted to do in their lifetime. Now we might not have lifetimes upon lifetimes to make the changes we want to see in the world, let alone the changes we want to complete in our own lives, yet that doesn't keep us from trying. Like the myriad of priests who offered sacrifices and conducted their religious duties, we too offer up in the day-to-day happenings offerings of our time, energy, love, and passion to the overwhelming list of things that vie for our attention. And truth be told, on some days, it might feel like we accomplished a lot, but on other days, it probably feels like a hot mess that we just want to toss out and forget. The process of discernment, assessing, is often complex and overwhelming.
The reassuring message in today's passage is that through our seasons of wins, losses, hot messes, and triumphs, Jesus remains at the helm. Jesus remains as the high priest who sees us through these swirling pools of time and is there to celebrate with us, mourn with us, and act as that reliable marker when we get lost in the storms of life. Jesus can do all of this because he continues to offer himself as a living sacrifice that shows us the way. Jesus is the living sacrifice that illuminates the lifeway of God, the path that leads us to where our hearts will be filled with the overflowing waters of God's mercy, compassion, and love. Through all our times of reassessing, changing, moving, Jesus remains the cornerstone that is always there for us in our time of need, when we need a touchpoint to ground ourselves back onto the lifeway of God.
I'd genuinely like to believe that it is a period, a time, of Great Assessment. And that this time of reshuffling our priorities is the reason why we are not and won't go back to things being "normal" or back to the way things used to be. It might get messy, and we might stumble in this process as individuals, communities, and churches, but we can turn to Jesus, who remains a constant presence. With Jesus filling the role of timeless companion and high priest, we are free to go about and discover ourselves as people created in the image of God. We are free to fail and try to do our best like those who came before us.
Although there are variations, a contemporary parable tells of a pottery teacher who one day split their class into two groups. The teacher tasked the first group to spend thirty days working on one pot that they thought was perfect. For the second group of students, the teacher told them that they had to make one pot a day over the course of thirty days. At the end of the thirty days, the students in both groups presented their work. The students who had thirty days to work on one piece delivered pots that were, well, good, as to be expected. However, the students who made one pot a day every day showed pots that exceeded the quality of the first group. Having learned from their failures, they honed their craft and perfected their technique to create the best pot they could.
Similar to the priests, prophets, women, and men who came before us, we'll go through making a lot of "pots" in our quest to live into the perfect love and life of God, which will require some adding, subtracting, and thought. It's okay if you aren't experiencing your Great Reassessment moment, like everything we take in life differently. But that's not to say we should remain content where we are at for the rest of our days. Jesus as the high priest can stay where he is, yet we are called to evolve continually and discern how the Spirit of God is calling us. In our continuing discernment, let us add to the blessings, successes, and failures of the prophets, priests, and apostles who came before our time. And let the realignment of our priorities and physical and spiritual work turn to the eternal sacrificial love of Christ when we require reassurance and peace. Amen.