Leviticus 10:1-3: Closing the Distance
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
When I read the Book of Leviticus I marvel at how closely these early people monitored their physical, moral and spiritual lives. I try to imagine living at a time when there was no FDA, no FDIC, no AMA, no Magisterium, and I begin to feel the need to formulate rules for everything. Of course, once the rules are set we will want to enforce them. And once we enforce them we will need to judge them. This thinking, in spite of the fact that it seems liberating, has the effect of closing us down. In today’s reading we see what happens when two people get too close to Yahweh in an unauthorized rite. This is not the God of the New Testament who invites us in, who yearns to live in the temple of our souls.
Jesus arrived in the world to set us free. He loosens the bonds of captives. He releases us from addictions, ailments, anxieties and fears. He invites us to open ourselves and to be as vulnerable to the world as he is himself. He invites us to incorporate with him as Light to the world, Hope to the world, Love to the world.
In the chapters following today’s citation we might read about the early Hebrew thinking regarding childbirth, leprosy, personal un-cleanliness, atonement and scapegoating. In the chapters previous we can find all we need to know about what foods to eat and not to eat. Out of necessity for survival, this early Hebrew nation was regulated to the smallest detail – inviting narrowness and judgment. Today, we who live in the Messianic times are free to explore God and to join in the constant renewal of creation. We cannot forget that we have been freed from all that frightens us, and we must act as if we believe the Jesus who stood in Nazareth and read from the scroll of Isaiah saying:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
Because he has anointed me
To bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To let the oppressed go free,
And to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.
As twenty-first century Christians, we might proclaim the same to one another in Christ’s name. Let us bring glad tidings to the poor, including those among us who are poor in spirit. Let us abide with one another as we free those among us who are held captive by our fears. Let us be light so that others who are blinded might have sight. Let us witness to all kinds of oppression, whatever and wherever it may be. And let us proclaim a time acceptable to the Lord. Amen.
Written on October 7, 2008 and posted today as a Favorite.
Image from: http://www.danielharrell.com
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