Today’s Scripture Reading
(September 25, 2018): Leviticus 6
“Boxing was not something I truly enjoyed. Like a lot of things
in life, when you put the gloves on, it's better to give than to receive.”
The words belong to “Sugar” Ray Leonard. It is interesting that one of the best
boxers, pound for pound, of all time never really enjoyed the sport for which
he is remembered. But most of us who have
at least watched a fight would agree with Leonard’s quote of the apostle Paul.
It is much better to give than to
receive.
As we move
through the various sacrifices that were
commanded of Israel, we find that there were various reasons and ways of
bringing an offering into the Tabernacle, and later the Temple. Some sacrifices
were offerings for sin and would be completely
burned. Others were fellowship offerings or grain offerings, and of these, a portion of these was to be burned, while another part was to be
either shared with the priest or given to the priest and his family to eat. And
in this process, it is easy to see the people giving, and the priests receiving
the offering of the people. Sometimes, the sin offering was offered to God for all of the people, which presumably would
include the priests who offered the sacrifice to God. But what about other
sacrifices.
A grain
offering was essentially an offering of thanksgiving. It was not an offering to
cover sin because there was no blood being
offered. The people brought their offerings, expressing their
thankfulness to the priests. And the priest, in turn, burned a portion of the
offering, and then accepted the rest and consumed it, without yeast, right in
the temple.
But this changed
when it was a priest bringing his offering of thanksgiving. If the offering was brought by a priest, then it
was burned in totality, and none of it
was to be given to the priests in the
temple.
Admittedly, I
struggle a bit with a parallel for the present day church. As a pastor, I bring
my offering into the church the same as any other worshipper. Everything goes
into the same pot, and out of that pot,
we pay for the expenses and ministries of the church. But my offering is used in
the same manner as anyone else’s offering. And maybe that isn’t quite right.
Maybe my offering should be separated and used specifically for ministries
outside of the church walls. Maybe my gifts of thanksgiving should be treated
differently. I am not quite sure logistically how that might work, but it might
be food for thought for those of us who spend our time within the walls of the
contemporary church. After all, our offerings are a chance for us to give, and
not just receive.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Leviticus 7
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