Today's Scripture Reading (December 18, 2024): Leviticus 7
In the episode "Who Watches the Watchers," (Star Trek: The Next Generation) crew of the Enterprise is called in to assist a three-person anthropological research team on the planet Mintaka III. The inhabitants of Mintaka III have not progressed beyond the bronze age. They are a logical people who have begun to doubt some of their supernatural beliefs. But some continue to blame the storms and drought on a God who is angry with his people.
The episode explores the problem believers have with trying to ascertain what God wants. It is the ship's counselor, Deanna Troi, who sums up the issue. "Are you sure you know what he wants? That's the problem with believing in a supernatural being - trying to determine what he wants." It is a concept that is explored in the biblical book of Job. In the story of Job, the protagonist's friends are sure that the disasters that have been visited on the House of Job are a direct result of God's anger at the sin in Job's life. But the reader knows the truth. The disasters are not artifacts of God's wrath. Job's trials are disconnected from God's anger and actually result from God's faith in Job.
Job seems especially confused. After all, he has made the appropriate sacrifices for both himself and his family. He has lived in a way that he thought would bring honor to his God. So, how could God be angry with him? Initially, Job seems content to receive the disasters falling on him with character and strength. But finally, he gives in to the argument his friends are making and begins to protest God's treatment of him.
On Mintaka III, the pre-industrial people begin to wonder if what God wants is a human sacrifice. Despite voices begging him to choose a different path, one man has taken it upon himself to kill those who he believes the God of Mintaka III wants dead.
It is still a problem, even for us. It is the reason why we need to cling to the book that has been handed down to us that sets out what it is that we believe. As Christians, I believe Jesus taught us to follow the way of love because that is what God wants of his people. If we follow the way of love, we don't have to worry that our actions might offend God or our neighbor.
Yet, we bring our sacrifices to our God anyway. In ancient times, these sacrifices were made in the form of animals, and they were given following the instructions laid out in the Torah. Some sacrifices were given in an attempt to apologize for our sins. But other sacrifices were given with no real reason attached. They are not given as an admission of sin, or because a feast day has arrived that requires a sacrifice. They are sacrifices given out of the fullness of our lives. And Leviticus calls these sacrifices fellowship or peace offerings. They are gifts a worshipper gives from a thankful heart rather than a life full of sin.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Leviticus 8
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