Today’s Scripture Reading
(September 29, 2018): Leviticus 10
“Every
man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a
man cold when he is only sad.” The words belong to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
and speaks to our private sorrows. With
depression rampant in our society, often we miss the signs of sadness and depression
because we are suffering ourselves. It never ceases to amaze me how often,
because of our private pain, we refuse to acknowledge the pain of others. I
know that I am guilty. Our pain is so real and so vivid that often we cannot
acknowledge that others are suffering too. It is not that we have emotionally
gone cold, but just that we are suffering under the emotional heat of intense
sadness. And yet, our stories have to continue.
The
story of Nadab and Abihu count among maybe one of the saddest encounters in the
scripture. The sons of Arron offered unauthorized fire before God; to this day
we really don’t totally understand what
that might mean. But they put incense in a censer
and offered it to God or used it in a profane or secular manner. It seems
obvious from the discussion that follows that there was confusion here between what was holy and what was common. And in
the presence of God, the two men offered something common rather than sacred.
Also from the discussion that followed, it would seem that the boys may have
been drinking, and therefore their judgment was clouded. But we really don’t know. All we know for sure was
that they offered an unauthorized offering to God
and that they died for their sin.
And
that Aaron, their father and the High Priest of the nation, was not allowed to
mourn their deaths. God had forbidden any outward sign of mourning and sadness.
Maybe such behavior in the sight of the people would have indicated that Aaron
believed the actions of God to be wrong. And maybe Aaron did. I am not sure
that God ever asks us to agree with his actions, only that we follow him. There have been moments in my life when I
have inwardly questioned God. And so, Aaron’s sons died, and Aaron was
commanded not to do any of the normal things that a grieving parent would do.
He was to present himself as the High Priest of the people and do his duty as
he did on any other day. And sometimes,
we have all been in exactly that situation. Our pain and our sadness are all too real, and yet life has to continue,
and we stuff our sadness down into a place where no one can see it.
But
then the time for the sin offering arrived. And the sacrifice was made, and
part of the sacrifice was intended to be consumed by the Priests. But at this moment, Aaron did not partake of the
meal. Moses is upset with his brother and comes to question why. Aaron responds that while he would outwardly
serve in the Temple on this day, inwardly he was consumed by his sorrow. And
so, while he refrained from doing the outward actions of grief, he would
partake of the inward actions. Today, he would fast as he mourned the death of
his sons. And Aaron was confident that God would affirm him in this time of
mourning. In his fasting, Aaron was confiding his secret sorrow into the hands
of his God. And Aaron was confident that God would understand his deep sorrow.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Leviticus 11
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