The Good Shepherd Sample

As a kid who spent countless Sundays growing up in church, I admit that my least favorite part of service back then was the infamous “Altar call.” Whenever a preacher would invite the room to walk down to the front to confess, pray, or respond to a message, you could cut the tension with a knife. I wonder if many of us who grew up in church might have missed the significance of the altar and its purpose.

What was originally designed as a meeting place for us to bring our gratitude, our thanksgiving, our praise, and to simply enjoy the pleasure of God’s presence and company somehow became a walk of guilt and shame that silently put all of your dysfunctions and hang-ups on display for everyone to see. But one of the many beautiful things about the cross is that Christ our Lord, through His own blood, redeemed us and reconciled the world unto himself and redeemed our meeting place with him as well. Let me explain:

When we look at Genesis 8, Noah steps off the ark and builds an altar to The Lord as a memorial and a designated place to come and meet with God with thanksgiving and praise. I believe it’s safe to say this was the original intent and purpose of the altar itself. Later on in Leviticus, we see a shift. The need for something to be placed in between God’s Holiness and man’s unclean nature is introduced. Insert “The Veil” here. Simultaneously, a system was implemented. Only the Levitical priests were able to enter behind “The Veil,” and they had to go through a very thorough process of purification and live a consecrated lifestyle.

However, I believe that God and man were never meant to be separated. In the texts of Luke 23 and Hebrews 10, we see verses about the tearing of the veil in the temple. This action, which almost seems like a random interruption in the text, is actually another one of God’s symbols to communicate to us that there is no longer a separation between Him and us. We are now and forever joint heirs, daughters, and sons through the finished work of the cross and the spilled blood of Christ our Lord. And now our altars no longer have to be made of stones. Your altar can be the foot of your bed, kitchen sink, living room couch, closet, or even the steering wheel in your car. There, you can meet with The Lord and enjoy His presence and company while also receiving transformation, healing, restoration, reassurance, resurrection, peace, love, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Because the veil being torn is God’s promise that He will be there everywhere you go.