June 10, 2012

Background Scripture: Leviticus 19:9-18, 33-37

Devotional Reading: Luke 10:25-37

If, in our personal Bibles the pages of Genesis and Exodus show some signs of usage, when we get to the third book, Leviticus, we are likely to find its pages as fresh and pristine as the day it was printed.

For one thing, we are rarely referred to Leviticus in our private devotions, Sunday school lessons, sermon texts and scripture readings. The chief reason is this book was written to fill a need for the Jews from the time of Solomon until the first century A.D., the time of the Temple; Leviticus is a book of rules and procedures governing worship in the Temple.

As the Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D., that was the end of temple worship and animal sacrifice and the rise of the synagogue and Christian congregations. Leviticus was, if not abandoned, deemed of lesser authority.

Most of it deals with issues largely irrelevant for us today: but that does not mean it should be ignored, because there are some important themes in it that  still speak to us as followers of Christ, who himself was certainly influenced by Leviticus 19:18b: “… you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (see Luke 10:27).

The passages chosen for this week, Leviticus 19:9-18 and 33-37, are particularly relevant for us. In 19:2 is set forth one of the principal themes for not only the Jew but also the Christian: “You shall be holy;  for I the  Lord your God am holy.”

To be different

What does it mean to be “holy?” The usual response is  “the state or condition of being sanctified, saintly or consecrated.” But those are terms not frequently used by most of us.

So, we press on to the root meanings: “separateness” or “apartness” – as God is separate and apart. In other words, to serve God is to be called, not to be like even the best of society, but separate and apart, just as Jesus said his followers shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. Christian living is not to simply live respectably, but to go beyond that as Jesus did. People should be able to tell that we are Christians not because of where we spend our Sunday mornings, but the way we live.

Leviticus 19 also contains some standards that we can discern in the teachings of Jesus. One of the developments taking place in our society today is a growing hostility and distancing of ourselves from those in need. In 19:9, 10 we read: “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field to its very border … And you shall not strip your vineyard bare … you shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner.”

How important is it that we follow that command? Because God says so: “I am the Lord your God!” He calls for more than begrudging aid, because compassion for the poor is not an elective.

In 19:15 Leviticus speaks of “partiality,” and in 17, “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but shall reason with your neighbor … You shall not take vengeance against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself ” (19:17,18). This rule was generally interpreted by the Jewish community as “neighbors” within the Israelite community. But verse 34 broadens it beyond that to “sojourners” (33) and “strangers” (19:34). In Luke 10:25-37, Jesus confirms all are neighbors.

Those ‘aliens!’

The holiness to which we are called by God in Christ should also be apparent in the honesty with which we operate in our society. It is not fulfilled in cheating others, either in personal dealings nor in business and professions (19:35, 36).

Our current economic situation reflects a lot effort by people, who would not cheat their next-door neighbors, to find ways and means of flouting the checks and balances of regulation. One Wall Street insider said as soon as a regulation was found, people were put to work to find some way of getting around it. The lure: More profit.

There was another Leviticus passage that stirred me: “The stranger who sojourns with you shall be to you as the native among you, and shall love him as yourself.” Why? “For you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (19:33,34).

Unless we are in any way descendants of Native Americans, we are all sojourners and strangers. Why should we embody a life of holiness? Because our Father in Heaven still says: “I am the Lord your God!” As that great old hymn puts it, to follow Jesus, we must “Take time to be holy.”

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Rev. Althouse may write to him in care of this publication.