But if they will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors – their unfaithfulness and their hostility toward me, which made me hostile toward them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies – then when their uncircumcised hearts are humbled and they pay for their sin, I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. (NIV)

In the Townley household I am the ‘finder,’ and my husband is the ‘fixer.’ If something is in need of fixing, the kids walk right past me in search of their dad.  Whether it is a toy requiring Gorilla glue to adhere a missing piece or an electronic device needing a reset, all four of our children recognize who has the knowledge, skills, and resources to repair what is broken. But what he can’t fix are things that are broken and then hidden, things where there has been no acknowledgment of a break or tear. His abilities are useless if the item is not originally surrendered to his capable hands.

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Our Scripture verse for today is from the third Old Testament book of the Bible, Leviticus. It was written as a guidebook of sorts on holy living for the Hebrew people. It describes how they should preform ritual sacrifices, how the priests should be ordained and made holy, guidelines for moral purity, and rules for the Day of Atonement and feasts. All of this instruction was necessary for the Israelites because God is holy, set apart, pure goodness, and righteous. And because of the nature of God, the space surrounding God must also contain things that are pure and holy.  

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Before Adam and Eve were tainted by sin, they enjoyed God’s fellowship and presence. Once sin entered the world, they were forced out of the garden of Eden, sin breaking their fellowship with the holy God. But God does not abandon his people. And along the way, he makes promises or covenants, with his chosen people and the forefathers of our faith, Abraham, Issac and Jacob. Essentially, in these covenants or agreements, God promises his people will have innumerable descendants, they will be blessed, and that he will be with them and give them land where the people will thrive.  

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But being the sinful humans that we are, the Israelites messed up often and needed to right their relationship with God, so he outlined ways for them to atone for their sins. One of the definitions of atonement is “An individual's reconciliation with God by means of repentance and confession of one's transgressions.” In Old Testament times, this reconciliation required a sacrifice.  

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We see this in today’s passage, that God was requiring something of his children, payment for their sins and repentant or “circumcised” hearts. One commentary said, “If what hinders a person from yielding to God is cut away—circumcised—the heart becomes open, pliable, and amenable to the Word of God.” The Israelites needed to come before God with open hearts. God knew they would continue to sin. God also knew the system for atonement would point to their inability to ever fully be made right; more sacrifices would ultimately be needed.

When sin entered the world, it created a chasm between God and humans. “Sin creates a rupture that must be repaired,” one scholar said. John Piper has said it this way: redemption, reconciliation, propitiation, and justification are all different ways of describing how God in Christ overcame the broken relationship between God and man. Another dictionary definition of atonement is clearly reflected in the New Testament: “The reconciliation of God and humans brought about by the redemptive life and death of Jesus.”  

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Jesus is the way to repair what is broken, but we must come with our circumcised hearts. Our Father God needs us to come to Him with what is broken. He does the work, he makes it right again, but our acknowledgment of the broken relationship matters. Our acknowledgment of the brokenness leads to repentance and the practice of repentance leads to wholeness and holiness.

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For those of us who live in the new covenant sealed with blood of Jesus, I think it’s easy to forget we are called to on-going repentance. What sins do you need to confess today to our loving and merciful Father? He is longing for us to come to the metaphorical altar with a circumcised heart, one that is pliable and ready to receive correction and grace.

Our covenant-keeping Father, we praise you for your unending faithfulness! Your loving kindness has been shown from generation to generation. We repent of the patterns of sinfulness of our ancestors, our country, our churches and our own personal sins, committed even today. Humble our hearts, cut away what is hindering our full obedience to you. Help us to be mindful that, for those of us who believe in Christ, our sins have been fully paid for, and you will keep your promises to us. You are the same from the time of Abraham until now, and we stand in awe of the forgiveness and mercy you have shown us. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.