There is an altar that does not find itself in the familiar places of religious activity. It has not been built by human hands and neither can it be destroyed. It is outside the camp of social acceptance and cultural norms. It offends the wise and shames the strong.
“We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat.” (Hebrews 13 v 10)
Not everyone has the right of way to this altar. This altar is totally exclusive and you cannot serve at another altar whilst being at this one. You could try but you have to leave the man-made to come to the divine altar. You cannot be outside the camp and inside the camp, you have to choose.
Once people were barred from the old altar because they were sinners and culturally offensive. But this our altar bars those who don’t think they are sinners and who think they are better than they really are.
Yes, we have an altar, it is outside the camp.
The sacrifice on this altar is the final act whereas on the other altars of this world the acts need to continue.
Our altar isn’t understood by those who have made their own altars. We don’t have to go to a physical place; we don’t have to take anything with us; we don’t have to eat anything or abstain from anything; we don’t have to perform anything religious; in fact we don’t have to do anything at all; because Jesus has done it all for us.
So these Jewish Christians must resist the temptation to go back to activity because it is no longer necessary. And so we also must keep close to our altar of ‘it is finished’ rather than the altar of ‘try harder, do it again and again’. We cannot refashion this altar to make it fit our lives. We submit or we don’t. There is no room for martyrs on this altar, ‘look at what I have brought’ or even ‘look at who I am giving my all’ for Jesus has already laid Himself on it and it was enough. So today we bow down, we fall down, we lay ourselves down at the foot of the altar because of Jesus who laid on it for us.
We are altar people but it has absolutely nothing to do with us and what we have achieved. It is all of Him.
Missions Paul 