Monday, February 28, 2011

Putting on the Name of the LORD; Num 4:34-6:27

May the mumbling commence!
You may have heard the saying, “putting on the Ritz”.  Well in Numbers chapter six, it’s all about putting on the Name of the Lord.  Verses 24 to 26 are the beautiful Aaronic/Levite words of blessing:
            The Lord bless you and keep you;
            the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
            the Lord turn his face to you and give you peace.
                  
And verse 27: “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”  How about that – putting on the Name of the Lord!  These words follow the Nazirite vow descriptions that take up the majority of chapter six.  Those who take the Nazirite vow cannot eat or drink anything from the fruit of the vine, cannot cut their hair, and cannot go near a dead body.  If they do go near a dead body, they must sacrifice a guilt, a sin, and a burnt offering.  They must shave their head (their hair has become unclean).  And they must start their Nazirite vow all over again.
Here are a couple of well-known Nazirites in the Bible: Samson and John the Baptist.  Both of these men were devoted as Nazirites for life by the visitation of an angel before their birth.  Even their mothers, while pregnant, had to observe the Nazirite vow.  But, Samson did not keep his vow well.  From what we know, John the Baptist was a much better example by being faithful to the Nazirite lifestyle.  Those who took a temporary Nazirite vow must have been wealthy, because the offerings to end the vow were many.  And these offerings represented a minimum.  No alternative sacrifices were made for the poor.
May we rejoice at the opportunity to put on the Name of the Lord.  May we be more faithful than Samson. May we be worthy by our attitudes, thoughts, words, and actions to carry the name of Christ Jesus.
May we avoid the need for jealousy and the bitterness it brings.  What a strange ritual for a husband’s jealousy towards his wife that is found in chapter five!  How about that bitter concoction of holy water, dust from the Tabernacle floor, and ink from the written curses on the parchment!  The curse: to be barren – or worse yet, to be doomed to miscarriage after miscarriage.  This ritual seems strange to my senses because the present day stereotypical adultery comes more often from the husband.  I wonder what the ritual trial might have been for a jealous wife and a suspect husband.  What curse would there be for him?
Yes, these jealousies and their causes are part of what needs to be left behind to put on the Name of our Lord.
And, since this is a reflection on Numbers, I would be remise if I did not comment on the Numbers at the end of chapter four.  The Merarites greatly outnumbered the other two clans.  The Kohathite clans numbered 2,750, and the Gershonite clan numbered 2,630.  As you may remember, the Kohathites were in charge of carrying the articles of the Holy of Holies; and the Gershonites carried the Tabernacles’ curtains and accessories.  The Merarites were to carry the frames, crossbars, posts, bases, and all the stuff related to their use.  What an extra heavy burden!  No wonder the Lord blessed the Merarites with 3,200 men of serviceable age.  That’s 450 more men than the Kohathites and 570 more than the Gershonites.  Our Lord is wise!
So let’s continue to grow in wisdom and give proper thanks for those in the church who do the often thankless tasks – like custodians, like people who wash dishes at potluck, and like people who weed the flower beds around the church building.  We say much about our love for the Lord when we keep a tidy church and beautiful landscaping.  Not enough is said through these means alone, but it does send a positive message to those who live near and travel by the church building.  It is a house of God – let’s take care of it.  Let’s also build our relationship with those around us.  Somewhere in your life is a person who has the potential to become another brick in the true house of God – the people of the church.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out     

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Levites and the Tabernacle; Num 3:1-4:33

May the mumbling commence!
Here, in Numbers chapter four, we have recorded the deconstruction of the Tabernacle.  The first thing to be done is the deconstruction of the Holy of Holies.  Aaron and his sons used the shielding curtain to cover the ark of the Testimony.  The ark was the only thing from the Holy of Holies that did not have as a last layer the hide of sea cows.  They placed a solid blue cloth over it.  All of Israel would be able to see from a distance where the ark was.
The table of the Presence had a distinguishing mark hidden just underneath the sea cow hides.  Upon the table of the presence, they put a scarlet cloth over the blue cloth.  The gold altar (for burning incense) had only a blue cloth as well as the articles for ministry in the sanctuary.  The bronze altar was distinguished by the purple cloth that was hidden under the sea cow hides.  This was the altar for burnt offerings, so it helped establish relationship between the Lord and Israel.  Hmm… A purple cloth symbolized the royal relationship between God and His people.
Of the three clans of Levites, the clans of Kohathites were to carry these most holy items.  Aaron and his sons were to pack them and hide them from view because it would mean the death of the Kohathites if they were to see or touch them.  It must have been a special honor to carry the ark, because the blue cloth set it apart from all the other items.  The Kohathites had the most spiritually heavy task of the three clans.  Eleazar, Aaron’s oldest son, was in charge of overseeing this part of the process.
The Gershonite clans were to pack and carry all the remaining curtains, the coverings of sea cow hides, and all the ropes and equipment used in the service of the entrance to the Tabernacle.  They were under the direction of Ithamar, Aaron’s son.  The Merarites packed and carried the frames, the crossbars, posts, bases, tent pegs, ropes, and all other equipment related to their use.   These two clans had the grunt work.  But all these assignments were holy and needed to maintain relationship with God.  And they continue to be holy – whether one preaches or cleans the sanctuary or cares for the grounds – all assignments are holy.  Oh to be a pawn in the hands of the Lord!  Better is one day lugging the pieces and parts of the Tabernacle than a thousand sitting behind some self-important desk!
These three clans of Levi were taken as a replacement for the firstborn sons of Israel.  The tribe of Levi belong especially and exclusively to the Lord.  It is recorded in Numbers 3:11-13:
 The Lord also said to Moses, "I have taken the Levites from among the Israelites in place of the first male offspring of every Israelite woman. The Levites are mine, for all the firstborn are mine. When I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set apart for myself every firstborn in Israel, whether man or animal. They are to be mine. I am the Lord."    
The Levites are devoted to the Lord, and that means the consecration of the Levites is irrevocable.  There were 22,000 Levite males a month old or more, but there were 22,273 firstborn Israelite males.  That’s a difference of 273.  The rest were redeemed with five shekels of silver (about two ounces – worth today about $62).  The total amount of silver collected for Aaron and his sons was 1,365 shekels (about thirty-five pounds).  Today, silver is worth about $500 a pound, so the total given would be worth today about $17,500.
I give thanks this Lord’s day for the set apart Sabbath.  May I totally devote myself to the work and word of the Lord.  May the people of Community Church encounter God in a new way this morning, as I preach and as we glorify our Lord.
Enough mumbling for today…
Peace Out

Saturday, February 26, 2011

The Levitical Buffer; Num 1-2

May the mumbling commence!
It is time to say goodbye to Leviticus.  Some of those faithful chronological Bible readers will celebrate.  Yes, Leviticus can be difficult to get through; but the laws for the priests have this underlying Spirit: so the God can make us holy.  Where to now?  Welcome to Numbers.  Some of you may groan and think, “Out of the frying pan and into the fire.”  Don’t worry.  There are faith nuggets and rich truths even in Numbers…
That being said, I struggled through the first two chapters of Numbers today.  There is nothing like a bunch of hard to pronounce names and a lot of numbers.  For you math geeks out there, let’s think about the numbers for a while.  According to Genesis 46:26-7, Israel totaled seventy men when they first descended upon Egypt.  Fast forward four-hundred some odd years and Israel totaled 603,550 men capable of serving in the army.  That number does not include women, children, or men too feeble to serve.  That number also does not include any men from the tribe of Levi.  How’s that for a population increase!  I don’t know.  Would that be a normal increase in numbers in a healthy growing community?  Or does that qualify as a population explosion?   Did the Lord work a miracle in this expansion?  I seem to remember Pharaoh worrying about the increase of the Hebrew population…
And, you know me.  I like to look for meaningful patterns.  I see a pattern with great potential at the end of each chapter.  “The Israelites did all this just as the Lord commanded through Moses (Num 1:54).”  And, “So the Israelites did everything the Lord commanded through Moses (Num 2:34a).”  Wouldn’t it be nice if following the Lord was always so easy, so cut and dried?  But, even for Israel, there were struggles.  Unfortunately, they did not always follow the Lord’s commands so well.  So, we can take comfort when we fall short of what the Lord commands of us.  God will not break covenant with us.  Jesus is always waiting for us to return…
If there is a portion of today’s Scripture that I would like to focus on, it would be in chapter one starting with verse 47:
The families of the tribe of Levi, however, were not counted along with the others.  The Lord had said to Moses:  "You must not count the tribe of Levi or include them in the census of the other Israelites. Instead, appoint the Levites to be in charge of the tabernacle of the Testimony – over all its furnishings and everything belonging to it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings; they are to take care of it and encamp around it.  Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall do it. Anyone else who goes near it shall be put to death.  The Israelites are to set up their tents by divisions, each man in his own camp under his own standard.  The Levites, however, are to set up their tents around the tabernacle of the Testimony so that wrath will not fall on the Israelite community. The Levites are to be responsible for the care of the tabernacle of the Testimony."
The Levites were not to go to war.  They were devoted to the service of the Lord.  They cared for and carried the Tabernacle of the Testimony.  No one else could help them in this endeavor.  When the camp of Israel was at rest, the Levites camped between the other people of Israel and the Lord’s Tabernacle so that wrath would not fall on the Israelite community.  Caring for and carrying the Tabernacle would be quite a workload.  I wonder why the others could not pitch in.  What precluded the others from such holy work?  And what would bring the wrath of God?  
Could it be because the Levites did not go to war?  In Chronicles 22:8-9, King David speaks to his people, “But this word of the Lord came to me: ‘You have shed much blood and have fought many wars.  You are not to build a house for my Name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in my sight.  But you will have a son of peace and rest, and I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side.’”  
As a Christian, I feel strongly about Jesus’ call to love my enemies.  Though war and killing seem to be the way of humanity, it is not the way of God.  People of this day also need a group of Levite-like people to provide a buffer from the wrath of God.  May I be a person of peace.  I give thanks for the Word of the Lord today.  
Enough mumbling for today…  
Peace Out

Friday, February 25, 2011

God's Patient Love; Lev 26-27

May the mumbling commence!
There are some things that God cannot do.  God cannot break His covenant with His people.  I give thanks this day for the extremely patient love that God has for His people.  It lasts even today, and God’s patient love will extend to many tomorrows.
This patient love is seen in Leviticus 26.  At the beginning of the chapter, two of the Lord’s commands are repeated, one negative and the other positive.  Both commands center around choosing the Lord.  Do not make idols, and observe the Sabbath.  Both these specific commands will come into play later in the chapter.
In verses three to thirteen, the Lord told Israel the manifold benefits of following all His commands and decrees.  The pinnacle of the benefits is seen in verses nine to thirteen:
"I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you.  You will still be eating last year's harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new.  I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you.  I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people.  I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.”
There are many economic benefits of following the Lord, but these tangible benefits do not compare to being in covenanted relationship with God.  When Israel kept covenant with God, the Lord dwelled among them (literally tabernacled or tented with them).  The Lord walked among them.  Dwelling and walking alongside simply continued Yahweh’s patient love affair with Israel.  For this is the same Lord who brought them out of Egypt and slavery.  The bars of the yoke were broken, and Israel left with heads held up high.  Israel was to remember this continuing relationship.
But, as we have already seen, Israel lapsed into forgetfulness from time to time.  Israel repeatedly broke their end of the covenant agreement not obeying the commands, decrees, and laws of God.  When Israel kept in covenant relationship with the Lord, the rewards were immediate.  Would the punishment be as immediate? 
At first glance, it may seem that the punishment was immediate.  Israel would simply reap what they had sewn.  Then, we look a little deeper, and we see the first of the pattern for the rest of the chapter in the beginning of verse 18, “If after all of this you will not listen to me…”  God is always ready to welcome back the repentant.  In fact, through these punishments, the Lord was speaking loud and clear a wake-up call to return to covenant fellowship. 
The pattern can be seen in verse 21, verse 23, and verse 27.  Each time the affliction placed on the Lord’s people increased seven times over.  If you do the math, you will find that by the end sins are paid for twenty-eight times over.  Sin, left unchecked, will fester and grow worse.  All sins lead to death – the ultimate break of covenant fellowship with the Lord.  The sins touched upon in Leviticus 26 break the commands given at the beginning of the chapter.  In verse 30 the Lord says, “I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars and pile your lifeless bodies on the lifeless forms of your idols.”  Do not make idols.    In verse 35, the Lord says, “All the time that it lies desolate, the land will have the rest it did not have during the Sabbaths that you lived in it.”  Observe my Sabbaths.
But the Lord is always waiting for the repentant, uncircumcised hearts to return to Him.  Israel would come humbled by the payment of their sins.  They would confess their sins and the sins of their fathers, so the Lord remembered his covenant with the people and the land. 
Even greater than this patient love, the Lord will remember the covenant while His people continue in their sinful ways.  God will not totally destroy His people.  God will not forget His covenant with His people.  In fact, God cannot forget His covenant with His people.  God always remembers and keep his end of the covenant relationship with His people (verses 44-5).  What patient love!  For this reason, God’s people respond with the tithe, with vows, with dedications, and with devotions recorded in chapter 27.  May I totally devote myself to service in the Lord – no turning back.
Enough mumbling for now…  
Peace Out     

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Jubilee Economics; Lev 24-25

May the mumbling commence!
The “American Dream” has shown itself to be a nightmare for the vast majority of people.  The gap between the rich and the poor is expanding exponentially, and the black hole that separates these two groups is swallowing the middle class whole.  Some people are owned by the very things that they think they own.  You know the thought, “I owe, I owe, so it’s off to work I go.”  Some people are in a vicious cycle of debt that they will never be able to climb out of in their lifetime.  What does that mean for the children?  Some people habitually declare bankruptcy.  Some people live hand-to-mouth.  For most people, happiness is elusive.  
And debt is not just a problem with individuals and families.  Debt touches Corporate America.  Need I remind you of the collapse on Wall Street and the government bailouts that ensued?  Debt touches governments as well.  You and I experience the fallout when we see vital programs cut – like education and patronage to the arts.  You know the saying that “excretement flows down hill”.  Local governing bodies get the short end of the stick, which means the vulnerable people in our communities suffer the most.  Yes, that multi-trillion dollar national debt flows downhill to you and me…  And eventually will flow downhill to our children and grandchildren.  In this time, the national government continues to militarily and financially support other countries – even as our government receives loans from countries like China.
When we give ourselves time to think about it, this situation makes us sick.  I see the symptoms every time I watch the news.  Have you been following the massive demonstrations at the Wisconsin legislature?  We do not need to watch international news to see unrest.  Yes, I say these are symptoms only.  Our problems run much deeper.  But we are spending too much time haggling over how to alleviate these symptoms that we never dig to find the root cause.  
What would happen if the global community took the biblical concept on Jubilee seriously (Lev 25)?  What if our nation, our communities, our families would take the concept of Jubilee seriously?  What if we would take it seriously?  It would mean leaving behind the capitalism and the assumption of scarcity behind it.  It would mean leaving behind the concept of private ownership.  But, it will also mean leaving behind the problems that threaten to drown the vast majority of people on planet Earth.
Jubilee is built upon the foundation of Sabbath.  (No wonder we have trouble with it!)  When Israel settled into the Promised Land, they were to allow the land a Sabbath every seventh year.  No planting or harvesting were to happen every seventh year.  In Leviticus 25:20, the Lord anticipates the fear of Israel that they would not have enough to eat.  God tells them that the harvest of the sixth year would be so great that they would have food to eat the seventh and eighth years.  Remind you of anything?  It reminds me of the manna that fell for Israel in the wilderness.  Enough manna fell on the sixth day to provide for the seventh day.  The concept is the same.  It boils down to faith in God.  As Israel depended on the Lord on a week-to-week basis, this yearlong Sabbath would be no different.  As we walk with the Lord daily, we build up our spiritual muscles for seemingly bigger tests in the future. 
Well, every seventh Sabbath year (do the math – that’s forty-nine years) would be a Jubilee to the Lord.  That’s about once in a generation.  All land would return to its original owner.  Land was not to be sold permanently, because the land belonged to the Lord (25:23).  We are only aliens in the land and tenants of God.  Say farewell to ever-increasing debt.  Say so long to passing on a mountain of debt to our children and grandchildren.  Say goodbye to the gaping distance between the rich and the poor.  Say hello to a healthy middleclass.  Say hello to caring for the vulnerable people.
Interest on loans would be a thing of the past.  Perpetual slavery would die.  Some people may blanch at the thought of slavery.  Isn’t slavery a skeleton in the closet, a ghost of our past?  Why go back to it?  I am here to tell you slavery is alive and well today.  It hides from us in different forms.  What about the sweat shops around the world that enables fat Americans to save a few bucks on the merchandise they buy?  What about the working poor here in the States who live paycheck to paycheck and need to use the flourishing Pay Day Loan market to get by?  What about the “illegal” immigrant who works hard for well below the minimum wage?  Jubilee would help lift these people, our neighbors, up out of new age slavery.  Just as the land belongs to God, so do all people belong to God (verse 42; 54).  And Jubilee happens because we remember what God has done for us.  (Jesus is our) Jubilee. (Look it up; it’s a wonderful song by Michael Card.  Jubilee, Jubilee; Jesus is our Jubilee; Debts forgiven; Slaves set free; Jesus is our Jubilee.”)   
Enough mumbling for now…  
Peace Out

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

God, Make Us Holy (Part Two); Lev 22-23

May the mumbling commence!
Back by popular demand: more rules for priests!  To be a priest there were a lot of qualifications that needed to be met in order to serve the Lord.  Being an official minister, I look at these qualifications and wonder how many people could meet all them.  I would be unacceptable because I am near-sighted due to astigmatism in both of my eyes (Lev 21:20).  I have been wearing corrective glasses since the eighth grade.  Would that mean, with today’s technology, that I should look into getting corrective surgery done on my eyes?
We could get lost in the details and forbid anybody from being an ordained to licensed minister (I am licensed by the Church of the Brethren).  So, I return to the Spirit of the Law.  That beautiful theme that ran through yesterday’s reading continues through today’s reading.
1.     Leviticus 22:9 “The priests are to keep my requirements so that they do not become guilty and die for treating them with contempt.  I am the Lord, who makes them holy.”
2.     Leviticus 22:16b “I am the Lord, who makes them holy.”
3.     Leviticus 22:31-3 Keep my commands and follow them. I am the Lord.  Do not profane my holy name. I must be acknowledged as holy by the Israelites. I am the Lord, who makes you holy and who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord."
That makes ten times in four chapters.  Repetition equals importance!  Oh, holy Lord, make us holy, set apart from the world and held to a higher standard.  May we, as the prophet Micah implores us, act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.  Make us attentive to the calling of Your Holy Spirit.
And attentiveness sometimes calls us to bend some of the laws for the sake of mercy.  Attentiveness sometimes call us to bend the laws for the sake of love.  One of the laws contained in Leviticus chapter twenty-two (verses 10-16) was broken by the priest Ahimelech when he gave of the Bread of the Presence to David and his men (as recorded in 1 Samuel 21).  It was the only bread that Ahimelech had, so it was used to feed the hungry.  Jesus mentions this story when confronted by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law over Sabbath observance.  These laws were made for the benefit of humanity; so when they are woodenly followed and cause damage to anyone, they are abused without the Spirit of the Law being kept in mind.
Yet, in Leviticus 22:10-16, it is stated clearly that only family members of the priest can eat the holy food.  No unauthorized person may it of it (verse 13b).  Attentiveness to the Spirit of the Law means that sometimes laws need to be bent for the sake of justice, mercy, and love.
In Leviticus 23, the festivals and the seasons of the Hebrew calendar are laid out.  These festivals happen in addition to the Sabbath day observance, just as the sacrifices that are called for are in addition to the regular offerings, the fellowship offerings, freewill offerings, and vows.  In the midst of this list of festivals and offerings, there is a repetition of an earlier command.  It says basically, “Do not reap to the edges of your fields.  Leave them and the gleanings for the poor and the alien.”  These festivals were meant, in part, to redistribute the wealth through the oversight of the priests.  The greater command is given in the middle of the chapter.  Leave the edges of your fields and the gleanings for the poor and the alien.  Leave them for the vulnerable.
Who are the vulnerable people today in the United States?  Here are some:  single mothers, orphaned children, the homeless, the working poor, the unemployed, and the “illegal” immigrant to name a few.  Though we may not observe these Jewish festivals listed in Leviticus 23, we are still called as people of God to look after the vulnerable people in our society.  To look after the vulnerable and to speak for the silenced is the Spirit driving these festivals.  And we look, speak, and act because of what the Lord has done for us.  Remember what God has done: I am the Lord, who makes you holy and who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord.  Now, God has granted us salvation through Jesus.  That is why we look, speak, and act with justice balanced by mercy and love.
Enough mumbling for now…  
Peace Out

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

God, Make Us Holy; Lev 19-21

May the mumbling commence!
According to the subheadings for today’s reading, we will encounter “various laws”, “punishments for sins”, and “rules for priests”.  On the surface, it appeared that today might be a day of slogging through Scripture that would not speak to me. Oh, contraire!  Sometimes those subheadings that we find in our Bibles are misleading.  
There is a beautiful theme that continues in Leviticus 19-21.  At least seven times in these three chapters, there is some variation of the statement that Israel is to be holy as God is holy. 
1.     Leviticus 19:2b – “Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.” 
2.     Leviticus 20:7, 8 – “Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God.  Keep my decrees and follow them.  I am the Lord, who makes you holy.”
3.     Leviticus 20:26 – “You are holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.”  
4.     Leviticus 21:8b – “Consider them holy, because I the Lord am holy – I who make you holy.”
5.     Leviticus 21:15b – “I am the Lord, who makes you holy.”
6.     Leviticus 21:23b – “I am the Lord, who makes them holy.”

These six instances are difficult to miss, but there is another more hidden instance at the end of chapter nineteen.  In this reference, the Lord shows how He is holy – by His administration of justice.

7.     Leviticus 19:33-37 – “When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him.  The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.  Do not use dishonest standards when measuring length, weight or quantity.  Use honest scales and honest weights, an honest ephah and an honest hin. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt.  Keep all my decrees and all my laws and follow them. I am the Lord.”

As the chosen nation of the Lord, Israel’s goal was to be holy as the Lord is holy.  Israel was called to a higher standard, and so are God’s people today.  As the beginning of chapter twenty tells us, we need to be aware of the sin among us.  Silence and inaction are not an option because the holiness of the community is at stake.  To be holy, set apart for God, is the Spirit that drives all these laws.  It is the bottom line.
In these days, many in the church choose to focus on one of these laws in particular.  It was found in Leviticus 18:22 – “Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.”  This act’s punishment is found in Leviticus 20:13, and the punishment is death.  As homosexuality becomes more socially acceptable, the church wonders what to do with people whose sexual orientation deviates from the heterosexual standard that the Lord set in these laws.
I admit: I struggle with this issue for a number of reasons.  I know that I am called to holiness, and I know that the Christian community is called to holiness.  I know that we need to confront and remove sin from our midst.  But I also know that Jesus has fulfilled all the law for us.  I know that Jesus reasserted some of the laws in a new light and even set aside some of the surface, or cultural laws, aside – like clean and unclean foods.  And I know that Jesus calls us to love God and neighbor and ourselves (in that order).  The question is: How do we balance holiness and love?  When they seemingly come into conflict, which one wins out?  
If holiness wins the day, we will find ourselves with churches with one member each.  What about all those other laws in Leviticus that we ignore?  What do we do when we commit adultery and destroy marriages (Lev 20:10)?  What do we do with our possessions?  Do we reap to the edges, hold on tightly, and leave vulnerable people high and dry (Lev 19:9, 10)?  How well do we show patience and deference to the Lord (Lev 19:23-5)?  How well do we avoid slander and gossip (Lev 19:16)?  Look at the quote above from Leviticus 19:33-37.  How well do we treat foreigners in our land?  For we are foreigners in this place as well – looking forward to God’s reign.  How well do we observe the Sabbath and allow others to observe it (Lev 19:30)?  
The list can continue indefinitely.  And it leaves no one untouched.  Perhaps, I should save my greatest vehemence for the sins that I have a very slim possibility to control – my own.  And let love rule everyone else.
Enough mumbling for now…  
Peace Out

Monday, February 21, 2011

Scapegoat; Lev 16-18

May the mumbling commence!
Once a year, it was time for Israel to do its fall cleansing and consecration.  In Hebrew, they called it Yom Kippur, which usually falls somewhere in September on our calendars.  “Yom” means day in Hebrew, and “Kippur” means to hide or to obliterate sin – expiation.  The instructions for this High Holy Day are found in today’s Scripture from Leviticus 16.
In the first couple of verses in chapter sixteen, I found an answer to one of my earlier questions about the deaths of Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu.  The Lord told Aaron, through Moses, that Aaron was not to approach the Lord at just any time.  Though it is not clearly stated, I infer that the sin of Nadab and Abihu was entering the presence of the Lord in the Holy of Holies at an inappropriate time.  Indeed, the only appropriate time was Yom Kippur.  And, then, only the high priest could enter – with fear and trembling.
The entire Israelite community helped to prepare.  The day was set aside for a Sabbath rest, and the people were to fast.  The community also presented two goats to the high priest.  The high priest provided a bull for his family and his own sins and a ram for burnt offering.  Before the ceremony started, the high priest must bathe and put on the vestments of the high priest.  Then, the bull was offered to make atonement for the high priest and his family.  The two goats supplied by the community were presented to the Lord, and the high priest cast lots.  One goat would be sacrificed to the Lord, while the other was to be the scapegoat.  Most people are familiar with the concept of scapegoat, but many do not realize it has Biblical foundations.
After the sacrifice of the bull, the high priest would take up the censer, which was full of burning coals.  It must have been a frightening time for Aaron, after two of his sons died doing the same thing before the Lord.  Two handfuls of fragrant incense were to be thrown into the censer so that the smoke would conceal the atonement cover on the Ark of the Covenant.  This smoke would prevent the priest from dying.
Then, the high priest would sprinkle some of the blood of the bull on the front of the atonement cover and sprinkle some of the blood seven times on the ground before the atonement cover.  The high priest would emerge from the Holy of Holies and sacrifice the goat; and, then, he would reenter the Holy of Holies to do the same with the goat’s blood.  Both the bull and the goat blood were also used to cleanse and consecrate the Tent of Meeting, which was in the midst of their uncleanness.  For this ceremony, no one but the high priest was allowed inside the Tabernacle.  Finally, the altar outside the Tent of Meeting was cleansed and consecrated with the blood.  The live scapegoat was, then, led out into the desert, symbolically carrying the sins of the nation with it.  Though it was not killed directly by human hands, the scapegoat was left to die in the desert.  Then, the high priest was to return inside the Tent of Meeting and remove the high priest’s clothes and bathe and put on his regular garments.
The people of Israel must have breathed a sigh of relief at this point.  The high priest would then offer the burnt offerings upon the altar and the fat from the sin offerings.  The rest of the animals’ bodies from the sin offering would be taken outside of camp and burned.  Just as the scapegoat was removed from the community, so were the carcasses of the bull and goat.  Sin had no place in Israel, the Lord’s nation of priests. 
Neither does sin have a place among God’s people today.  The blood, which contains the life of the animal, is what makes the atonement.  That is why, in Leviticus chapter 17, that the Israelites were commanded not to eat blood or meat with the blood still in it.  However, we no longer need the blood of bulls and goats and lambs because the blood of the perfect Lamb of God has been offered.  It is the blood of Christ that covers and obliterates our sin.  All of the ceremonies and sacrifices of the Hebrew Bible foreshadowed the ultimate sacrifice that God made through Jesus.
But the call is still there to remove sin from our Christian communities.  Though we are all recovering sinners, we should find ways to remind ourselves that sin should have no foothold among us.  For this reason, we must cling to the season of Lent and the practices of confession (in both senses of the word confessing our sins and confessing the power of our God to save us from our sins).  
Enough mumbling for today…  
Peace Out

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Purification and Atonement; Lev 13:47-15:33

May the mumbling commence!
Oh, to be cleansed and atoned for!  As I read chapter fourteen of Leviticus, I was struck by the purification process for those with infectious skin diseases.  The first seven verses of the chapter tell about the initial interaction between the person and the priest.  Since the banished person should not enter the camp (or town), the priest had to go out of the camp (or town) to perform the beginning of the purification process.  I wonder how someone with an infectious skin disease would have got the message to the priests that he was healed.  Were there loved ones of the banished person who might maintain contact with them?  Were there devoted individuals who would put their reputations and lives at risk to leave the camp (or city) with the express purpose of relating to these banished people?
However the communication happened, when the priest came out of the camp, he brought with him two clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop.  These items were supplied by the priest and/or the community.  I can almost smell the aromatic cedar wood.  What a lovely embrace of scent (at least to me)! 
In the ceremony, one of the birds would be killed, and its blood would be collected in a clay pot that already had fresh water in it.  According to the laws governing cleanness, that clay pot would need to be destroyed after this ceremony.  Much better a clay pot than a human life!  The live bird, along with the cedar wood and the hyssop branch, would be dipped into the water and blood in the clay pot.  Most probably the hyssop branch was used to sprinkle the mixture on the person to be purified.  This was repeated seven times, a complete number in the eyes of Hebrews.
Then, a beautiful thing happened.  The priest pronounced the person clean, and the second, live bird was released into the air.  Even as the cleansed person returned to the community, the bird returned to freedom.  What a beautiful symbol!
But that was the only the first part of the reintegration of the person to the fullness of communion with God’s people.  The cleansed person would then have to shave off all their hair, wash their clothes, and bathe.  Then, the person could return to camp, where he or she would have to stay outside of his or her tent for seven days.  There they would have to be, naked of hair and exposed to the eyes of the community.  On the seventh day, they must repeat the process (shave, wash clothes, and bathe).
Then, on the eighth day, the person to be purified would bring to the priest two male lambs, a ewe lamb, six quarts of flour mixed with oil, and about two-thirds a pint of oil.  That’s an expensive offering for someone banished from the community.  While there may be help from family members and friends, there was also an alternative, slightly less expensive offering – one lamb, some oil, and two birds.
Israel was called by God to be a nation of priests.  I find it interesting that this process, in some ways, parallels the process for the consecration of Aaron and his family.  Some of the blood of the offering is placed on the lobe of the right ear, the right thumb, and the right big toe.  The same is to be done with some of the anointing oil.  Sound familiar?  It is familiar because it is exactly what was done to Aaron and his sons during their consecration, which also lasted seven days.  Then, the remainder of the oil was poured over the head of the person being cleansed.  After this process, the person returned to full communion as a member of Israel – once more a part of the nation of priests.
I give thanks this day for avenues for purification and atonement.  God does call us to be holy and perfect, so we need ways of being purified and atoned for.  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!  Jesus is the path for purification and atonement now.
And let’s remember that we need to be open to ways to reintegrate those who have fallen from full communion and to integrate those who seek communion for the first time.  Let’s not close the doors of communication that the Holy Spirit opens in our families, our friends, and our workplaces.  May it be so, because the harvest is still plentiful and the workers are still few.
Enough mumbling for today…
Peace Out

Saturday, February 19, 2011

A Higher Standard; Lev 11:1-13:46

May the mumbling commence!
God’s people are held to a higher standard.   We know that when Jesus pronounced all animals clean many of the regulations concerning clean and unclean animals in Leviticus chapter 11 were rescinded.  At least, they were rescinded at the surface.  When we look a little closer, we will see that the Spirit of the Law is kept.  The bottom line, the Spirit of the Law is contained in Leviticus 11:44-5:
44 I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves about on the ground. 
45 I am the Lord who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.
The bottom line is to be holy as the Great I Am is holy.  Holy means set apart from the world.  It means living by a higher standard.  Living holy means remembering the salvation the Great I Am has created for us.  It means drawing others to the light of truth that the Great I Am provides.  Long before Jesus’ day, these laws were distorted to create barriers for others to become acceptable to even have fellowship with God’s people.
Yes, Israel was called by the Great I Am to bless all peoples and nations.  God calls His church to do the same.  In order to bless, there must be relationship.  Yes, we must go outside the confines of our meeting houses and Christian encampments to develop relationships with people who don’t look like, think like, talk like, or act like we do. 
That’s the reason it’s so important that we remember the salvation of the Great I Am and continually seek to make ourselves holy.  Change is a two-way street, so we must be clear that we are not to change in the essentials, the Spirit, of God’s law.  Most Christian arguments occur over what is the dividing line between the surface laws and the Spirit that is driving them.  I believe that Jesus was clear about the most important law.  We are to love God with all our being and to love our neighbor as ourselves.  All the other commandments, laws, and precepts of the Lord are built upon this foundation. This Spirit of love cannot be contaminated.
For Israel, Aaron and his descendants were to help teach all people the difference between holy and common and the difference between clean and unclean (Lev 10:10-1).  Take one unclean animal for instance – the pig.  Looking back from today’s perspective, we may think that the law protected Israel from the harmful effects to the body from eating pork.  Today, we know that eating pork in excess is detrimental to our heart health.  But the same could be said for the cow, and Israel was not forbidden beef.  Some scholars believe the prohibition on the pig had much to do with the cult that Israel had contact with.  That particular cult revered the pig.  So the love of God would be contaminated by the love for pigs.  That is why the pig is unclean.
Does this mean that Christians in India should not eat cow, for they are sacred to many of the Hindu faith?  I don’t know about this, but I think we should bring it closer to home.  There are many idols in the USA.  For instance, ask yourself this question: How much time do I spend watching TV, watching movies, surfing the Internet, etc. in comparison to how much time I spend in the Word of God.  Yes, fame is one of our many idols – think about the show “American Idol”.  It idolizes fame.  It also idolizes youth.  (Note that the age cut off for participants is below 30.)  The chase to be perceived as young and famous – to be important – will contaminate us from our love for God and people.  And the chase for self worth is unnecessary, for each of us already has the love of our Great Creator.  Beyond that, what else matters?  Perspective, perspective, perspective – that’s what is important!
Before I close, I would like to briefly point out a couple of things from Leviticus 12 and from the beginning of 13.  In chapter 12, we see the law of purification for women after childbirth.  I referenced it a couple of days ago in reference to Jesus’ earthly parents.  (Though I must admit I am puzzled as to why purification took twice as long for daughters than it did for sons.)  At the beginning of chapter 13, priests are to quarantine those with possible infectious skin diseases.  After the quarantine, only the priest risks contamination.  And the risk is taken in hopes that exclusion can be avoided and relationship maintained – for those declared unclean must live alone (13:45-6).   
Enough mumbling for now…  
Peace Out

Friday, February 18, 2011

Fire from the Lord - Blessing or Woe? Lev. 8-10

May the mumbling commence!
Fire from the Lord could either be a sign of blessing or a sign of wrath.  It depends upon where and on whom the fire falls.  In the space of four verses (Leviticus 9:23-10:2), fire from the Lord is shown as approval and as wrathful judgment.  After a week of consecration, Aaron and his sons were beginning their ministry before the Lord.  Moses and Aaron went into the Tent of Meeting, and then returned to bless the people.  The glory of the Lord shown and fire came from the presence of the Lord.  The fire consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar.  It is the same altar that Aaron and his sons were commanded to keep the fire burning constantly, but the Lord provided the fire to consume the offering.  What a sign of the Lord’s blessing!  It reminds me of the descending of the pillar of cloud on the Tabernacle.  It also reminds me about the battle between the prophets of Baal and Ashtoreth and Elijah, the prophet of the Lord, on Mount Carmel.  Fire from above can be a sign of blessing from the Lord – if the fire falls on the sacrifice.
Then, at the beginning of chapter 10, Nadab and Abihu, two of Aaron’s sons, filled their censers with incense and burned them.  We are told that the fire was unauthorized and was contrary to the command of the Lord.  We are not told why.  Was it the wrong recipe for incense?  Was it the wrong time?  One can only guess.  But the result was swift and deadly.  Fire came from the Lord’s presence and consumed them.  Though there is no way to know how much time had passed between the ordination and this episode, it seems harsh directly following the consecration in the Scriptures.  Did Nadab and Abihu have enough time to practice and learn the art of serving the Lord before this death sentence?
As one called into official ministry in the church, I am glad that the Lord and His people have become a little more understanding of new ministers.  While churches can still chew up and spit out new ministers fresh out of seminary, divine (or human made) fire does not consume erring new ministers.  I am grateful for the patience, love, and care that my family and I receive from Community Church.  I appreciate the willingness and effort to grow alongside one another on our path to following Jesus more and more.
And, as if this death sentence wasn’t shocking enough, Aaron and his remaining sons are commanded not to mourn for their fellow priests and family members.  Any mourning they were to do would be vicariously through the house of Israel.  There was no space to mourn because they were anointed with the Lord’s oil.  To mourn for Nadab and Abihu would mean death for them.  Maybe it was because they could not have contact with a dead body, which would make them unclean.  But why would they have to avoid all signs of mourning?  To my ears the punishment seems severe.  It is an example that when one sins, the entire community suffers – and the suffering is exponentially increased when the one who sins is a spiritual leader. 
While the damage may no longer be as immediate and tangible, great spiritual damage occurs when a minister or priest fails to serve in a godly manner.  In these ways, ministers blaspheme.  Though we are not to think about levels of sin, I believe this way of taking the Lord’s name in vain is the worst.  Think about all the damage that has been done to the church with the abuse that has happened in official ministry.  And the damage grew worse when the church ignored it and hid it away.  As a church family, we need to confront these issues so that community can be restored – both for the offender and the victim.
On the other hand, when ministry is done in a godly way, much spiritual good can come from it.  Think about the awe that happened around the world as the Amish community in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, responded to the family of the man who murdered their children.  The forgiveness, grace, and love given to the man’s family captivated the whole world.  It had to have been a hard path for them – as hard as the path recorded in today’s passage.  Even so, it is the way that Christ calls us to go.  Sacrifice will be commanded that will be as difficult as the sacrifice that Aaron and his living sons had to make so long ago.  May the Holy Spirit of the Lord go with us as we seek to serve the Lord (both the official ministers and the laypersons).  May we be sensitive to that still small voice.  And may we be channels of spiritual godliness rather than channels of spiritual destruction.  Then, the fire of the Lord will fuel our ministries rather than consume us.
Enough mumbling for today…  
Peace Out