Along with his fellowship offering of thanksgiving he is to present an offering with cakes of bread made with yeast. - Leviticus 7:13

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 5, 2012): Leviticus 7

I love to read Dean Koontz novels. I also like Stephen King. That surprises some people. But I think what I like about them is that there is a clearly defined sense of good and evil in the books. It is clear delineation that is absent in the real world. But Koontz also has a weird view of Christianity. The phrases that repeat in his writing are phrases that would the lead the reader to believe that Christians are anti-fun.

Admittedly, sometimes it seems that the church has more than its share of people that seem to have the gift of criticism. For these people, nothing is ever seems to be praiseworthy. And sometimes I wonder if deep down they believe that life is not here to be enjoyed. It is the stereotype that people seem to have of the church. We are supposed to be a people who are committed to an existence without fun, walking around life with frowns on our faces. And we are critical because there is nothing in this world that has the capacity for good. This life consists of our race toward destruction. And at the end of it all, it is only our souls that will survive. So we seem to carefully guard our souls by protecting our bodies from anything that might be fun.

  

But it is not a biblical idea. In this passage, the people are instructed to make cakes of bread with yeast for the fellowship offering. The only problem with the command was that yeast was forbidden for any sacrifice destined for the altar. Yeast was not appropriate for anything that was to be burned in sacrifice. But except for certain times of the year, it was appropriate to be eaten.

The offering of cakes of bread with yeast was given to the people for no other reason than to provide for the priests food that was pleasurable to eat. God’s concern for his priests was that there would be enjoyment in their lives. Enjoyment in life has always been part of God’s plan for us.

The most attractive Christians that I know are the ones that are not afraid to enjoy life. They are free with their praise and criticism from them is rare. And in their enjoyment, I think they model what God designed for us as we live. The stereotype of the sad, critical Christian needs to die – it just does not fit who God desires us to be.

  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Leviticus 8

The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings on it. – Leviticus 6:12

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 4, 2012): Leviticus 6

In some ways I think I am a-political. I actually love politics, but part of what I am in love with is the process. However, there are times when the process frustrates me, but maybe the most frustrating part is when the process is perverted. And often it is perverted by – us. We do not often see it that way. The strength of the process is the discussion over whatever the issue is at stake, but anytime we try to shut up the opposition we are perverting the process. And lately, that is exactly what I think we are trying to do. We have taken our discussion over issues and made them about things that really should not matter – things like race and religion. For instance, in the United States, it is quite proper to discuss the merits or failings of the health system, but when those conversations boil over into personal comments about race or religion of the various people involved; then we have crossed a line. We have perverted the process of the system.

Today is July 4. In the United States, it is Independence Day. It is the day that we stand and recognize that we all have a say in what happens in our culture. It was exactly what the framers of the Declaration of Independence complained that the King refused to do – he did not want to hear the people. It is the principal behind the idea of no taxation without representation. Unless we have a say, the government has no right to take our money. But that means that we need to value all people – regardless of religion, creed or race. When these things become the basis of our arguments, we are leaving democracy behind. And when that happens, it does not take long for something else to take its place. But the problem is that I do not think that anything based on race and creed can equal what it is that we already have - democracy.

Israel was designed to be a theocracy – a nation ruled by God. And the fire on the altar reminded the nation that God was on the throne, and because it was always lit, God was seen to be always present. And as long as God was present, there would be no vacuum for any other god to fill. There was no reason to create another golden calf – their God was still there.

As we celebrate Independence day, we need to make sure that the fire of democracy remains lit. And that means that the discussion is important, and the discussion needs to focus around the really issues. Cue the fireworks.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Leviticus 7

When anyone is guilty in any of these ways, he must confess in what way he has sinned … - Leviticus 5:5

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 3, 2012): Leviticus 5

Okay, confession time, I do not sin. I make mistakes. I have never claimed to be perfect, mistakes abound in my life, but it is not sin. And there is always a reason why I make the mistakes, but they are just that – mistakes. Mistakes sound better than sin. Maybe I am alone in this, but I cut myself slack where I would probably not cut you any slack. I make mistakes, but if you do what I do – well, then that is sin.

Okay, I am stretching this a little, but it seems to be the way that we look at things. I have friends (some of who read this blog) who do this. When there is a weakness in their own lives, it is understandable. After all, we all make mistakes. But when the same thing happens in someone else’s life – then it is sin that needs to be confronted. I recently listened to Joel Thomas (North Point Community Church in Atlanta) preach and he made this amazing statement – we have a tendency to turn sin into a value. Specifically, he was speaking about the sin of coveting which is something that we value, often under the term of goal setting, but I think he is on to something. There is a progression that happens in our lives. The sins that we commit over time become mistakes, and then some of those mistakes become things that we chase after – they become values.

God’s plan was that we would confront our sin or wrong doing (note: ours and not our neighbors) immediately. That we would recognize our sin and call it what it is. Because we all really do make mistakes, and we chase after values - so we will never get serious about eradicating either one of those things from our lives. But none of us want sin to reign in our lives.

And the warning sign just might be the sin that we see in our neighbors lives, because the sin that bothers us in others is often a sin that we have hiding in our own hearts. What we are annoyed about in others is often a secret that we are chasing in the core of our own beings. And it needs to be confessed.

We serve a God whose desire is that we would be a people of short lists, and a people who keep those lists confessed – and in that confession, stop the progression of sin into mistakes and finally values.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Leviticus 6

If the whole Israelite community sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the LORD’s commands, even though the community is unaware of the matter, they are guilty. – Leviticus 4:13

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 2, 2012): Leviticus 4

One of our assumptions about the law is that it is absolute. The caricature of the State Trooper hiding behind a bush, with the speed limit sign hiding behind the bush with him, is an example of our idea of the absoluteness of the law. The law is held to be so absolute that our ignorance of it is no excuse. The law is placed above our own knowledge. And yet, our first inclination since our earliest adventures against the law is claim our innocence because we did not know. It is the cry of the preschool child who makes a journey beyond the boundaries that the parents had set out and the protestations of a teen-ager caught out after curfew – but I did not know. And usually the response of the law maker is – well you should have known. It is the first excuse, and the earliest description of an absolute law.

     

The absoluteness of the law has been the subject of a number of fictional stories as authors have enjoyed exploring the relationship between knowledge and the law. Usually the storyline is about a culture with strange regulations that the visitor breaks because they are unaware that such laws could exist. And beyond the pages of our books, it is a very real problem for visitors to certain very real cultures. Absurd laws are still on the books in a number of areas – including in our Western Culture – although in the West the absurd laws are rarely enforced.

God tells Moses that his laws are absolute. Ignorance of the law does not absolve someone from the guilt. But at the same time, the penalty was almost always found in a sacrifice. It is the reason behind Job’s daily sacrifices for his children - because one of his children might have unwittingly broken a law. But ultimately, it is Jesus who sacrificed for us – giving his life for us and all of the wrongs that we commit unintentionally. It is not that we are innocent, just that the penalty has already been paid.

    

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Leviticus 5

This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live: You must not eat any fat or any blood. – Leviticus 3:17

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 1, 2012): Leviticus 3

We seem to live in a compartmentalized world. So much so, that sometimes I wonder if we know who we really are. One complaint that has always been laid at the door of the church is that the church is full of hypocrites – basically people who behave differently when they are at church or with church people than they do in any other situation. The root of the word actually indicates an actor on the stage. But the accusation is more than a little unfair. The truth is that we find ourselves actors on a stage in all of our life situations. We do not act the same way at work as we do when we are with our friends, and we do not act the same way when we are with our friends as we do when we are with our families. All through life we seem to be good at becoming the actors on our own private stage – almost to the point where we lose who it is that we are.

Authentic may be the most overused word in our culture, but that might be because it is one of our greatest needs. We all need to be able to find that place where we can just be. I am not saying that we need to find a place where we can be rude, because that is just who we are. Etiquette is important if we are going live in the midst of a society, but we need to be real. There are some things that continue over all of our realities – everything cannot be defined by the situation that we are facing. There really is an ultimate right and wrong.

God’s message is that there are some things that need to span over all of our lives. In this case, it is simply how the fat and the blood of an animal are treated. These are to be the domain of God, not just for the animals that are brought into the sacrifice, but all of the animals that would be eaten by the family or sold to provide for other needs – all of the fat and the blood belonged to God. No matter what the situation was, this law would remain. And it may have seemed to have been a simple act, but it was a start in trying to break a nation from the practice of being simply actors on a stage. It was a beginning a journey, changing them from being actors that react to the whatever stage they may find themselves on and instead becoming a people who let the God that they were to serve infiltrate every area of their lives.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Leviticus 4

Personal Note: To all of my Canadian Friends - Happy Canada Day!

When someone brings a grain offering to the LORD, his offering is to be of fine flour. He is to pour oil on it, put incense on it … - Leviticus 2:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (June 30, 2012): Leviticus 2

A good friend of mine has started a new ritual just before he begins to study the weeks text for his sermon. The ritual is found in a specifically worded prayer written by someone else – and one that asks the Holy Spirit to give insight into the text. It is not that prayer had been absent previously, but our traditions often frown on the ritualized use of prayers. Prewritten prayers are often seen as lacking intent; the fear is that sooner or later they simply become words without real meaning – they become words that are just spoken like a magic talisman so that we can attain our goal.

But I think that we are a little hard on ritualized prayer. Prewritten prayers are important; not to replace the ones that we speak ‘from the heart,’ but as an additional element to our spiritual lives. Often the ritualized prayers remind us of the important things that we need in our lives – the very things that we are sometimes tempted to overlook. And ritualized prayer is maybe an unexpected component of the sacrificial system.

The instructions for the giving of the sacrifice were specific. In the case of the grain offering it is to be only an offering of fine flour – the best flour available because only the best can be used as a sacrifice. And yet even that is not enough. Even the best needs something more. So the instruction for the grain sacrifice is that it needs to include oil and incense – representing the Holy Spirit and prayer. They served as ritualized reminders of what was really important.

Ritual still does the same for us – even ritualized words help to serve as a reminder of what is really important. And for my friend, the prayer he has begun to pray is more than just about going through the motions – it is the reminder of the essence of the task on which he is about to embark.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Leviticus 3

“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When any of you brings an offering to the LORD, bring as your offering an animal from either the herd or the flock. – Leviticus 1:2

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 29, 2012): Leviticus 1

I have always been uneasy with the idea of selling tickets for things that happen inside the walls of the church. It is not that I have never sold tickets for church events. I admit that I have – for instance, there have been certain youth functions that have happened inside the church that tickets have been a necessary way of covering expenses. But at the same time, I have also endeavored to make sure that it was not a lack of money that caused someone to miss the event. I have always tried to find other ways of covering the cost in extreme cases. But, still, the uneasiness continued.

There is a reason why church’s do not have (or at least should not have) a cover charge.  And it is not because that then no one would come. It is because the idea of taking an offering – of paying the dues or the tithe - has to be voluntary. We are not selling our services to the highest bidder, but rather we are making them accessible to all. God will never force us to be generous; he only promises us that if we are, he will bless us richly in return.

And that was the way it was under the old sacrificial system. The people brought their sacrifices freely - each man according to his wealth, offering the sacrifice at the entrance to the place of worship. There were no provisions for a temple tax collector to go out among the people and make sure that the sacrifice was paid. It was a voluntary act of worship that arose from the heart of the worshiper.

And this voluntary sacrifice would be the hallmark of true religion until the Messiah chose to become substitute sacrifice that would end the need for sacrifices. He laid down his own life, of his own accord (no one forced him to do it) so that we could be truly free.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Leviticus 2