Today’s Scripture Reading
(October 12, 2018): Leviticus 23
Sometimes we need to sit back
and take time to evaluate ourselves. Our culture seems to want to keep us busy;
too busy. We rush through life without taking the time to acknowledge how we
might improve ourselves, what changes are needed to reach future goals, or how
our behavior is damaging to us and others. But it seems that we seldom have the
time to make those kinds of evaluations.
For me, this kind of
self-assessment happens once a year on the beach. It takes some planning and
hard work, but I get ahead of myself so that I can take some time and relax and
rest from the year that has gone by, prepare myself for the year to come, and
evaluate my behavior and what needs to change in me. It is essential to the
betterment of me that I stop and consider the things that I have done.
One day a year, Israel is told
to do just that. The day was the Day of Atonement
or Yom Kippur. (Just as a side note, Yom Kippur for this year, 2018, just
passed last month. It was celebrated from
Sunset September 18 until Sunset September 19.) This day, no matter on what day
of the week it might fall was treated as a Sabbath Day.
The Law makes an additional expectation that it was a
day of self-sacrifice. On this day, the priests would make atonement for the
sins of the nation. And so, on this day, each person was expected to examine
what part they might have played in that collective sin. Every person was
expected to evaluate their own behavior,
and try to understand how their behavior was injuring themselves and others.
Because of the evaluation, community sacrifice, and self-denial performed on
this day, the expectation was that the community would take a step closer to
God.
The problem with Yom Kippur
then, and now, is that that kind of self-examination rarely happens. We are
happy with the day off from our other responsibilities. Self-examination and
denial are hard work, definitely not something we want to do on our day away
from the routine, even if it is just once a year. And, yet, without it, we will never improve our standing with
God. I think that maybe one day might not be enough. If we never ask the hard
questions about our own lives, we will never improve our behavior. Instead,
without self-examination, we condemn
ourselves to the same sins over and over again.
We need Yom Kippur, no matter
what day you might choose to celebrate it. A day of rest and self-examination
that prepares us for all that God has for us. A day of denial so that we can
become the people that God intended us to be.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Leviticus 24
Personal Note: Happy Birthday, Mom.
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