Sealed with Glitter

"Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit..." Ephesians 1:13b

Sealed with Glitter
By Rev. William Dohle

It's Christmas time, that time of year that we celebrate with items made by little hands by little children.  It's a time to celebrate the little letters that spell "I love you"...and it's a time for my least favorite part of Christmas...glitter!

Of all the inventions we have, glitter I think is my least favorite one of them all.  Even how we apply it freaks me out.  First you take some glue and smear it all over your paper.  Then you take the glitter and dump it on the glue.  And then you take the paper and dump the glitter off of it.  If you do this right, the excess glitter will go back in the container while pieces of it remain on your paper.

That's how it's suppose to work in theory.  In practice?  Well, first the glitter gets all over the place right from the start.  Then you dump a little too much on and get it on the table.  Then the excess stuff never magically lands back in its container.  In the end, even the glitter that lands on the glue itself doesn't stay for long and will soon land up somplace in your house where you don't really want it to be.

That's glitter for you.  It's not good sealing material.

And yet... our kids spend their time and energy and, most of all, their love glittering their "I love you's" to us, as if their cards and hearts are bound by glitter.  And we, loving parents that we are, see past the potential mess to see the love they have in their hearts.

Glitter may not be good binding material.  But we have something more binding than anything.  Something that, in the end, binds us to God.  It's not so glittery or even nice to look at, but it does last forever.  In the end, what binds us to God is the blood of Jesus Christ.

Blood has always been used as a sealer of covenants.  We speak of something being "written in blood" or "signed in blood" as somehow being binding regardless of circumstances.  Well... that's the way it's always been!

The first covenant to be bound this way was with Abraham who, in circumcision, wore the mark and scar of the bound covenant on him.  The second covenant to be bound by blood is this one from Exodus.

"Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls , and the other half he sprinkled on the altar.  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."(Ex. 24:6-7)

This is no glittery binding.  By the blood, the people are bound to obey the Lord and the Lord is bound to care for his people.  That's the way covenants work.  Each side promises to fulfill their part of the contract.

In Jesus, we are brought into a new covenant.  By HIS blood, we are sealed to God.  As the writer of Hebrews says:

"The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean.  How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God.  FOR THIS REASON Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance."(Hebrews 9:13-15 emphasis added)

Christ's blood is stronger than glitter.  It's stronger even than the blood of the old covenant, for through him our consciences are cleansed so we can serve the living God.

This is the new covenant we Christians celebrate.  This covenant isn't dependent upon us.  We cannot seal it ourselves.  It is given to us by God.  A gift given in Jesus Christ.  By his blood, the covenant between us and God is sealed and we are God's, able now to "serve the living God" as the writer of Hebrew's declares.

This isn't a covenant that changes or falls away.  It isn't as fragile as glitter which flakes away the moment you touch it.  This covenant, given to us by God in Jesus Christ, lasts forever.

Remember that this Christmas as you open glittery gifts that will fade away.  Glitter may not seal well.  But the blood of Jesus Christ seals us to God forever.

Help me see, Lord, through this transient life, the eternal love and bond you have with us.  Help me see, through Jesus' blood, our relationship is secure.  Amen.