Grace, mercy, and peace are yours through the blood of Jesus Christ, the perfect sacrificial lamb who replaced all the blood of bulls and goats. Amen.

Exodus 24:3 When Moses went and told the people all the LORD's words and laws, they responded with one voice, "Everything the LORD has said we will do." ⁴ Moses then wrote down everything the LORD had said. He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel. ⁵ Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the LORD. ⁶ Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he sprinkled on the altar. ⁷ Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, "We will do everything the LORD has said; we will obey." ⁸ Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, "This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words." ⁹ Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up ¹⁰ and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself. ¹¹ But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank.

Shirley Oravetz told me a great story and gave me permission to retell it this morning. When Shirley was 4, at the end of the Depression, she vividly remembers being at a friend’s home whom everyone called "Grandma Miller." Being the Depression, Grandma Miller said to Shirley, "I have a chicken for your family." Shirley remembers thinking, "Why do we need a chicken? We don’t have a pen to keep it in." Just then, Grandma Miller took a knife and slit the chicken’s throat, right in front of 4-year-old Shirley.

Shirley’s mom came by at that moment, saw the limp chicken and the blood in Grandma Miller’s hand and horror registered on her face. She asked, "You didn’t do that in front of Shirley did you?" "Of course," Grandma Miller said. "She didn’t think anything of it." That’s not what Shirley thought.

Shirley’s mom was a city girl, through and through. She took the chicken home, in a bag, walking at arm’s length the whole way home. When they got home she said to Shirley, "We’re going to put this in the cellar and let your dad deal with it when he gets home." When they got to the basement, the bag started moving. Shirley’s mom dropped the bag, it hopped around and still had enough vocal cords to be clucking. The two ladies ran upstairs and locked the cellar door.

Shirley doesn’t recall ever eating that particular chicken. She also recalls that she has never really liked chicken after that.

Almost every time she eats chicken, Shirley remembers the traumatic events of that day with Grandma Miller, the blood, and the undead chicken. That one particular event was so ingrained in her mind.

This morning we are examining one particular event in Israel’s history. The fire on the mountain, the blood of the bulls, and the vows made there that day were to be ingrained on the hearts and minds of God’s people for all time. It was especially the blood. Blood was everywhere – drained out of the young bulls, collected and poured on the altar, and even sprinkled on the people. If you are a city boy or girl, you may quiver at the sight of blood. Now imagine that blood sprinkled on your face and clothing.

Today we see that there is nothing but the blood for creating a covenant with God. And nothing but the blood for enjoying fellowship with God.

After leading the Israelites across the Red Sea and out of slavery in Egypt, Moses guided them to the foot of Mt. Sinai where two million refugees had been camped for three days. We heard last Sunday how God descended onto Mt. Sinai in fire and billowing smoke. The mountain shook. Lightning flashed and thunder boomed while the sound of a trumpet growing louder and louder could be heard. That was in chapter 19. In chapter 20, God gave his people the Ten Commandments, commanding them how they should live as his chosen people. Now in chapter 24, God is making a covenant with his people. It is a promise between God and his people. If the people agreed to his commands, God was agreeing to make them his chosen people. The people responded with one voice, "Everything the LORD has said we will do."

The following morning, Moses built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel. Then young men took several young oxen, slaughtered them for burnt offerings to make peace between God and his people and fellowship offerings expressing thanksgiving and fellowship with God. Moses collected the blood from the bulls. He poured half of the blood on the altar symbolizing God’s portion of the covenant.

The sacrifices and shedding of blood was nothing new to these people. Blood sacrifices were impressed on God’s people beginning with Abel, continuing with Noah, and most recently with the blood of the Passover Lamb painted on the doorframes of the Israelite homes in Goshen. There was nothing odd about all this blood. They would see the blood and say to themselves, "It is my fault that calf was killed. I caused it to die. There was only one reason for its blood to be shed – I sinned." They also knew that all the blood of bulls and lambs and goats were all a shadow of the Savior who would come. As the perfect sacrificial Lamb of God, the Savior would one day come to really take away their sins.

What was different about this day was the blood being sprinkled on the people. Can you imagine how the people must have felt as Moses walked among them? You know it is odd for me to get down from the pulpit and walk among you. I’ve never done it before. There must be something important happening today. There must be an important point I am trying to drive home. And thankfully I don’t have any blood. Moses sprinkling blood on the altar and then on the people was a visible sign of their togetherness. It was a bittersweet feeling. The people were sorry because something had to die for their sins. They were also rejoicing because they knew that their sins were forgiven.

The blood symbolized the covenant between God and his people. The people were serious when they agreed, "Everything the Lord has said we will do." But you know that it didn’t take them long to break their agreement. In the same way, I’m sure you apologize to God every morning or evening in your prayers, and you vow to live a better life the next day, but it just doesn’t turn out that way. We are born in sin. We live in sin. We will die because of our sin. That’s why Jesus had to go to the cross.

It didn’t take the people long to break their covenant with God. On the cross, Jesus shed his blood to make a new covenant. It was if he was saying, "God, these people have broken your commands countless times. Because they can’t and won’t keep the old covenant, I am making a new covenant with you. Not through the blood of bulls, but through the blood of your own Son. My blood of this new covenant will free them from their sins for all eternity." Then he sprinkled that blood on us for cleansing and forgiveness and salvation.

Notice what Jesus said when he instituted the Lord’s Supper: He took the cup and said, "Drink from it all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins." For some of us the sight of blood may be unsettling and kind of morbid. But for Christians, blood is redeeming and forgiving. There is nothing but the blood of Christ that can wash away our sins. Nothing but his blood that can make our scarlet sins as white as snow. Nothing but the body and blood Jesus that we receive for forgiveness and strengthening of faith in the Lord’s Supper. Nothing but the blood of Christ that creates a new covenant between God and you, his chosen people.

Blood may seem unsetting and even a little gross, but as Christians we gladly sing and celebrate Christ’s blood. 92 of our 623 hymns in Christian Worship mention Christ’s blood. It is Christ’s blood sacrificed on the cross that is connected with the waters of baptism to give those cleansing waters their power. It is Christ’s blood that takes away the sin we confessed this morning. It is Christ’s blood that we partake every time we receive the Lord’s Supper. And it is Christ’s blood that will be spoken of at your committal at the cemetery as the pastor makes the sign of the cross on your casket and says: "May God the Son, who by his blood redeemed this body together with the soul … keep these remains to the day of the resurrection of the flesh." It is nothing but the blood for creating a covenant relationship with God.

It is also nothing but the blood for enjoying fellowship with God. After imprinting the importance of this covenant with all this blood, Moses and the leaders of Israel go up to the mountain to fellowship with God and enjoy eating and drinking with him. We read: "Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up ¹⁰ and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself. ¹¹ But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank." Moses, who wrote these words, sounds surprised that God did not destroy these leaders when they sat down next to God. Why didn’t God destroy them? They were sinners, right? Not in God’s eyes. Not anymore. They had been sprinkled with the blood of the sacrifice. Their sins had been washed away with the blood. That was the only way they could have been there in God’s presence.

They didn’t see God in all his glory. Later God told Moses, "You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live." (Ex 33:20) That day on Mt. Sinai, God graciously dimmed his glory so these men could enjoy eating and drinking in their Lord’s presence.

We don’t see God in all his glory. But we do receive a glimpse of him and enjoy his presence in the sacrament of Holy Communion. There at the Lord’s Table, we commune with God. We are brought into a common union with our Lord and Savior. When Christ comes to us in the forgiveness of sins earlier in the service, that is meant for everyone. But when you receive the bread and the wine, the body and the blood, that is one-on-one time with your Savior. That is just you and your Lord.

A seven-year-old boy had badly misbehaved. His dad caught him in the act, yelled at him, spanked him, and then to further underscore the seriousness of the misbehavior, his father sent him to bed with out supper. Later that evening the bedroom door slowly opened. The boy shyly came out into the living room and quietly said, "Daddy, I’ve got to ask you a question." "What is it?" the father replied. "What I’ve got to know," said the boy, "is, Daddy, are we still friends?"

We may ask that same question of God every time we misbehave and sin. After every curse, every angry thought, every word of gossip, every wasted dollar, every missed Sunday, every missed prayer, every missed opportunity for sharing our faith, we may ask God, "Heavenly Father, are we still friends?"

The answer to that question is in the blood – in the blood of God’s Son, the blood of the cross, and the blood in Christ’s Holy Supper. "More than friends," He assures us. "You are sons and daughters of God, forgiven and restored, bought and paid for by my body and blood."

Every time we partake of the Lord’s Supper we are enjoying a blessed foretaste of the marriage feast of the Lamb that we will enjoy for all eternity. Psalm 23 tells us that God will prepare a table before us and we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Revelation 19:9 says: "Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!"

Should it surprise us that heaven is described as a feast that God has prepared for us? Think of some of the feasts that you have enjoyed. Potlucks at church, business dinners at fancy restaurants, or wedding feasts for your children. You eat and drink and enjoy each other’s company. Multiply that by a hundred million times and perhaps you will have an idea of what heaven must be like. We will sit down and see God face to face – in all his glory. We will talk with Jesus and enjoy this heavenly fellowship with God – for all eternity.

Nothing but the blood is the theme for this sermon. It is also the title of a children’s song. The words are beautiful and powerful. "What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. For my pardon, this I see. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. For my cleansing, this my plea. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Nothing can for sin atone. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Naught of good that I have done. Nothing but the blood of Jesus."

Blood. For some of us, it may be gruesome and scary. The walking among God’s people may be different and strange, but it drives home the importance of the blood. For Christians the blood means a covenant and fellowship. There is nothing but the blood of Christ. Amen.