… and take it to Aaron’s sons the priests. The priest shall take a handful of the flour and oil, together with all the incense, and burn this as a memorial portion on the altar, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the LORD. - Leviticus 2:2

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 21, 2018): Leviticus 2

German theologian Eckhart von Hochheim (c. 1260 – c. 1328 C.E.), maybe better known as Meister Eckhart, commented that “if the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.” While I think maybe Eckhart might be practicing a little hyperbole with the statement, I do agree that we underestimate the importance of saying thanks.

I was in a local mall recently when I ran across a young boy attempting to get on an escalator. He just couldn’t get himself to make that first step. Mom, accompanying an even younger sibling, was already half-way up the escalator, calling back encouragement to what I think must be her eldest child. But the boy couldn’t make that first step.

Unsure how I was going to be received by the child, most children seem to see me as big and intimidating, I walked up behind the boy and said “We can to do it, One, two three, step.” The boy grabbed my hand and stepped with me onto the escalator. He did not let go of my hand as we road up the movable stairway and we celebrated his accomplishment. As we neared the top, I said, to him “Are you ready to step off?” and he smiled and said “Yep.” I repeated the one, two three, step one more time and we stepped off of the escalator together. “I said we did it!” The boy echoed the sentiment back to me “We did it! We did it!” and then left to join mom who was already heading off to do her shopping. What was absent in the whole experience was any kind of recognition from mom about what had just happened. No thank you, maybe a hint of smile as her child raced over to her, but that was it.

I know, I didn’t change the world by helping one little boy ride an escalator, but the thought that crossed my mind was that in offering a simple “thank you” even over the most modest things in life is to acknowledge that we are all on this journey together. Even strangers, at times, stand in need of each other. Saying thank you acknowledges that connection.

There were so many sacrifices in early Israel that we can be forgiven for getting confused. But each sacrifice had a purpose. For the redemption of sin, a blood sacrifice was necessary. An animal would be brought into the tabernacle and killed, the blood made atonement for the sin. In practice, it was confirmation of the words of Paul in Romans 6; “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Something always dies because of our actions and inability to do what was right in the eyes of God. 

A grain offering does not provide blood. Therefore, it cannot be used as a sacrifice for sin. What a grain offering does is say thank you. It is an offering to God that recognizes his connection with all of life. The grain offering says thanks for the seed, for the rain and the sun that makes the seed grow, and for the health and the strength to work the land and bring a harvest. A grain offering offered thanks for that harvest that provides food for now and seed for the next year.

The grain harvest is nothing more than a prayer of thankfulness. But the world works a lot better with a little thanksgiving to share around.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Leviticus 3