As we continue to move our way through the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, this week we land on a book that has some seriously strange stuff in it — rules on top of rules.
There are rules about stuff that I can’t imagine ever needing rules for, like eating any animal which walks on all fours and has paws — Scout approves of this one, though.
That said, if we look at the bigger picture, Leviticus is ultimately about God’s grace and his desire to have a relationship with us — to give us a way to be in his presence.
In so doing, Leviticus sets out the moral standards of the covenant relationship between God and the Israelites. As we discussed last time we were together, the Israelites had allowed sin to alter their relationship with God and thus needed, whether they knew it or not, a chance at reconciliation.
To be in the presence of God, so it is written, is to be in a holy place. The Israelites were standing on holy ground, and thus their sin had to be dealt with in order for the relationship to be restored.
Growing up in church, I knew all the rules. There’s a code of conduct that kids who grew up like me knew inside and out. The church was understood to be the house of God, and thus a holy place. Because of this, you never uttered an unkind word while in church; you certainly didn’t gossip while in church; you absolutely never wore a hat in the sanctuary.
There was no bingo or playing cards (too close to gambling) at church; there was absolutely no alcohol (we had Welch’s grape juice at communion) and never any music that was not strictly Christian.
And don’t even think about wearing shorts inside the tabernacle at church camp, and I don’t care how hot it is outside.
Mind you, I hated all these rules — even the ones I didn’t understand.
Obviously there are rules in churches, written and unwritten, that aren’t strictly Biblical in nature. Further, I think we all understand that we do not have to be in church to be in the presence of God. And no matter how many rules we have broken, we are never exempt from his grace.
So what’s with all these rules?
Well, a strange thing happened when I got older: I started to understand.
I’m not going to pretend like I strictly follow these rules or others like them (Angie is a much more prolific rule-follower), but I have an appreciation for why rules, rites and rituals have an important place in our lives as Christians. Even on our worst days, they can be reminders of the holiness of our God and his desire for us to be free from the entanglement of sin.
First Prez is a come as you are church, but we still recognize the fact that it is a holy place. It is a place where we gather to be in community with each other and in the presence of God.
I don’t think anyone was enforcing rules in my church just to cramp my style. Embedded in those simple rules (and in the not-nearly-as-simple ones in this book), is a fundamental truth: Our God is holy, set apart from sin.
His desire is that we are spared from the consequences of a sinful life.
Peace and love! See you Sunday!
The Pipe 