Making sense of Leviticus

We've now almost finished our series on Leviticus, just a couple more Sundays to go - and I think most people have found it surprisingly interesting and relevant. I guess for a lot of Christians our only experience of Leviticus is the book we get to when our 'I'm going to read the Bible in a year - this year - yes, I really am, honest' intention comes unstuck. That will be a mix of initial enthusiasm wearing off combined with some accounts that seem to be neither inspiring or relevant.

I also guess that a lot of Christians approach the Bible with the attitude that it is the word of God, that it is inspired by God, and that it should be teaching me something - it should be making a difference. The trouble is: how do you make sense of a passage on what to do when you find mildew in your house - it doesn't seem to teach us very much at all. If you go and tell the local vicar that you have mildew she probably won't be that interested - and no one is going to knock your house down because of mildew. Also there are large sections that relate directly to the sacrificial system that is no longer a part of our lives as Christians in 2012.

So how do you make sense of Leviticus?

I guess the first thing to remember is that none of the Bible was specifically written with you in mind - and therefore we should never simply read something and think that it automatically applies to us. The trouble is that that is often how we treat large parts of it - and then we come unstuck when we come across a part that clearly doesn't apply.

We'll have a look at this over the next couple of weeks - but basically we read the Bible and ask what the text actually says; then we ask what the text meant - to it's first hearers or readers; and then we ask that if that's what it meant then - what does it mean for us today.

Take it out

We're now into our third week of processing shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child and have sent off around 2,700 shoe boxes so far. Part of the reason the boxes need checking is to make sure that people have followed the rules on what is and isn't allowed in a box. Certain things, such as food items, are not allowed in because of import/export rules. Some things are not allowed in because they would be dangerous - such as marbles in a box for 2-4 year olds. Some things are taken out because they have the potential to spoil a whole box, or a whole carton if they were to leak - such as a large bottle of shampoo.

So what do we do with all the things that we take out? If something is broken or in a poor condition it will get thrown away. If there are cuddly toys that are just a bit grubby then they will go through the washing machine and get cleaned up before heading off to Swaziland. Most other things will be sold and we use the money from these sales to purchase new items to use as 'fillers'. Fillers are used to top up boxes that are not full.

Chocolate, shampoo, toy guns and novels - some of the items taken out of shoe boxes this year

Crates of fillers ready to top up boxes as needed

Blood on the door frames

Every now and again something happens in our lives that can be described as a 'defining moment'. Something that happens that changes everything. An event that changes how we see ourselves; changes how others view us. Changes how we view the world. Maybe a series illness or accident leaves us unable to do some of the things we once took for granted. Maybe after years of being told we're no good we gain a diploma or a degree - and we start to believe in ourselves for the first time. Maybe we get married or have our first child. 

For the people of Israel in the Old Testament a key defining moment in their history was the Exodus - the day that God brought them out of Egypt, out of slavery. God and Pharaoh had been in a battle over these people, and finally God had won, and Pharaoh let the people go, in order that they might go into the desert to worship God.

The story of the rescue is told in Exodus 12, and the people are instructed in Leviticus 23:4-8 to remember the story every year. The Israelites were to kill a lamb at twilight on a specific day, and paint the blood on the door frame of their houses. Then when God passed through the land he would pass-over any house where the blood was on the door post - but any house where there was no blood the first born in that house would die - people and animals. This final act of judgement was too much for Pharaoh and he allowed the people to leave.

In the previous nine plagues God had no trouble distinguishing between Israelite and Egyptian - so why the need for the blood on the door frames now?

In 1 Corinthians 5:7 Paul refers to Jesus as our Passover lamb who has been sacrificed. Only the blood of this sacrifice is able to save us from the judgement of God. Nothing else will do it.

But the Passover and the Exodus was not simply about being saved from something - it was about being saved from slavery in order to worship God. And for the Christian we are saved to worship God. To do what God wants us to be doing. To be serving God.

Just as Israel looked back to the Passover every year, to remember where they'd come from and who had rescued them; so as Christians we look back to the cross where Jesus died and we understand ourselves, we define ourselves in the light of the events of the cross. Everything changes when a person decides to follow Jesus.

Blowing your own Trumpet

There is one remaining festival that we have not looked at over the last few weeks. If you read back you'll see that at church we're currently looking at the Old Testament book of Leviticus and a few weeks ago we looked at the Feasts of Israel listed in Leviticus 23.

The Feast of Trumpets takes place on the first day of the seventh month with the Day of Atonement occurring on the tenth day. This ten day period is a time of preparation and repentance and may involve fasting and study of the Torah. This year Rosh Hashanah was celebrated on 17 September and Yom Kippur on 26 September.

If you read this blog on a regular basis you might have picked up that I occasionally run. On one of my September runs, back from a local park, I noticed a group of people gathered beside a lake reading from a book. Given their location and their dress it was obvious that they were Jewish.

It was not until a few weeks later when I was preparing for Leviticus that I came across a paragraph that explained that on or around Rosh Hashanah it is customary to visit a body of water containing fish and recite a specific prayer - in which the people symbolically cast away their sins in order to start the new year anew (Rosh Hashanah is Jewish New Year). This recalls God's promise in Micah 7:9 that God will cast all our sins into the depth of the sea.

In preparing for this talk I began to think about Lent - which is for Christians traditionally a time of reflection and preparation in the run up to Good Friday and Easter Sunday - remembering the death of Jesus and celebrating the resurrection. But it is a tradition that is more evident in some parts of the church. The Bible does not talk about Lent and therefore it has no place in some church traditions. But in doing away with Lent I wonder if we've not thrown the baby out with the bath water. Anyway - that's something I'm thinking about at the moment. What do you do for Lent?