Sunday Sermon 03.01.09

PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
Let us pray: Holy God, sometimes your Word is not one we want to hear because it challenges us—or makes us uncomfortable. Open our minds and our hearts to truly listen to your Word, to hear how you instruct us with great love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.


INTRODUCTION
Well, here we are. For those of you who are reading the Year of the Bible, you know it’s time to preach on Leviticus. Even those of you who are not reading along, I’m sure you’re dying to see what I come up with from this strange little book.

I will admit I kinda took the easy way out at Bible Study this week and looked at a passage that wasn’t quite typical of Leviticus and we had a great discussion. The chapter we read didn’t even really seem much like Leviticus.

But I decided I’m not gonna chicken out this morning. For our Scripture reading today, I’ve chosen a typical Leviticus passage—the kind of strange and bizarre passage that are fill so many pages of this book. And together, we’ll dig through the weirdness and hopefully find the reason why Leviticus is full of the stuff it’s full of.

If you haven’t read much of Leviticus, just you wait!

I’ll be reading from Leviticus 11:29-47.
29 "'Of the animals that move about on the ground, these are unclean for you: the weasel, the rat, any kind of great lizard, 30 the gecko, the monitor lizard, the wall lizard, the skink and the chameleon. 31 Of all those that move along the ground, these are unclean for you. Whoever touches them when they are dead will be unclean till evening. 32 When one of them dies and falls on something, that article, whatever its use, will be unclean, whether it is made of wood, cloth, hide or sackcloth. Put it in water; it will be unclean till evening, and then it will be clean. 33 If one of them falls into a clay pot, everything in it will be unclean, and you must break the pot. 34 Any food that could be eaten but has water on it from such a pot is unclean, and any liquid that could be drunk from it is unclean. 35 Anything that one of their carcasses falls on becomes unclean; an oven or cooking pot must be broken up. They are unclean, and you are to regard them as unclean. 36 A spring, however, or a cistern for collecting water remains clean, but anyone who touches one of these carcasses is unclean. 37 If a carcass falls on any seeds that are to be planted, they remain clean. 38 But if water has been put on the seed and a carcass falls on it, it is unclean for you. 39 "'If an animal that you are allowed to eat dies, anyone who touches the carcass will be unclean till evening. 40 Anyone who eats some of the carcass must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean till evening. Anyone who picks up the carcass must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean till evening.
41 "'Every creature that moves about on the ground is detestable; it is not to be eaten. 42 You are not to eat any creature that moves about on the ground, whether it moves on its belly or walks on all fours or on many feet; it is detestable. 43 Do not defile yourselves by any of these creatures. Do not make yourselves unclean by means of them or be made unclean by them.

44 I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves about on the ground. 45 I am the LORD who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.

46 "'These are the regulations concerning animals, birds, every living thing that moves in the water and every creature that moves about on the ground. 47 You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between living creatures that may be eaten and those that may not be eaten.'"

The grass withers, and the flower fades, but the Word of the Lord—even Leviticus—endures forever. Amen.

MOVE #1
The writer of Leviticus spends the first seven chapters talking about the different kinds of burnt offerings that the Israelites should give to God at the appointed times—things like cereal offerings, well-being offerings, purification offerings, and reparation offerings. And writer of Leviticus also spends six chapters on purity and impurity—and by that I mean clean and unclean animals, the uncleanness of childbirth and skin disease and, uh, let’s just say certain “bodily fluids.” (That’s chapter 15 if you want to look up what I’m talking about!)

Leviticus has a rule for just about every situation. Every sin you could possibly imagine committing—and a few you never even thought of before—are listed, as well as the appropriate penance if you actually commit the sin.

And you know, they didn’t have all this stuff written down back then. That was part of the job of the Levites—the guys who were picked to take care of the tabernacle and to oversee the religious life of the Israelites. It was quite a system they had going there. And the Levites were the ones who memorized all these rules and supervised the appropriate offerings and rituals.

Now, the big question when you read Leviticus is WHY. Why in the world did they need all these rules? Why all this stuff animals who crawl along the ground and what happens if you touch their dead carcasses? Believe me, what I read today was just a taste of what fills up the 27 chapters of Leviticus. But, what was the point of it all?

MOVE #2
The answer to that question is actually found in our Scripture reading from today. No, it doesn’t have anything to do with rats or weasels or lizards. The answer to the question is tucked in almost at the end of the passage.

Verse 44 says, “I am the LORD your God . . . therefore be holy because I am holy.” That’s the key to unlock the whole book of Leviticus: “I am the Lord your God. . . therefore be holy because I am holy.”

Now when God says, “I am the LORD your God,” what he’s really saying is, “ and you are not.” You know what I mean? He is God; we are not. I know a lot of us have a picture of God in our minds and he’s probably got a long gray beard and long gray hair and he sounds a lot like James Earl Jones. We probably think God looks a whole like us.

But that couldn’t be farther from the truth! God is not human; he is not even “super-human.” God is totally other than us. He is Spirit. God is all-mighty and all-powerful, God is all-knowing and all-seeing. God is “immortal, invisible, God only wise,” as the hymn says. God is the creator of the ends of the earth, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.

“I am the Lord your God” means that he is God is God, and we are not. We are human—we are weak and sinful and clumsy and vengeful and selfish. We are all the things God is not—God is strong and perfect and full of grace and mercy.

This is the God Israel worshiped in the tabernacle, and this is the God that we worship here in this sanctuary. This God—our God—is a holy God. He is separate from us—set apart from us—because of his holiness.

MOVE #3
God calls the Israelites to be his people and he says to them, “therefore be holy because I am holy.” God has given his identity to his children; he calls all of Israel to be a holy nation—consecrated, dedicated, and set apart from their pagan neighbors. And they have a lot to live up to because God is a holy God.

This is why Leviticus has so many rules for the Israelites: God calls them to be holy in each and every aspect of their lives because he is holy. No part of their day is left untouched by God’s standard of holiness. Holiness has to be seen in every aspect of their lives, saying “yes” to what God requires and “no” to what God forbids.

So, to be holy then is to open up each part of their everyday, ordinary lives and to allow God in. To be holy is to try to be more godly in each and every part of their lives, in the routine and common times.

The Israelites have their code of holiness in Leviticus as their example of being holy. But for Christians, “Jesus is the supreme revelation of the Holy: born in a stable, a carpenter’s son; crucified as a criminal.”

“He was born and died not on days which were holy, but on days which were made holy by the way he lived and died on them.

“Jesus did not live in the Holy Land. The land was made holy by the way he spent his day-to-day life there.

“It was from the raw material of the everyday and the ordinary that Jesus fashioned holiness.
“And so, forever after, for the Christian—wherever we are; whoever we are; whatever the time and day—that moment presents us in our decisions and responsibilities with the raw material of holiness—out of which the holy has to be fashioned in response to God. (Eric James, Holy, Holy, Holy, Word Over All: Forty Sermons, 1085-1991 (London: SPCK, 1992), 13.)

CONCLUSION
Today, we have begun the journey to Lent. It is not an easy road to walk; there is darkness and confusion ahead. But we do not walk this road alone. God walks every step of the way with us. And with each step of our journey, he tells us, just like he told the Israelites, “Be holy because I the Lord your God am holy.”

We have all the raw materials we need for holiness. Holiness is at our fingertips. It’s not so much about doing outstanding feats of courage and faith, but more about using opening up each part of our lives to God and trying to be like Jesus in all those parts.

In baptism, a holy God makes his people holy, setting them apart. And that holiness should touch each and every part of our lives. So, let these 40 days of Lent be a training ground for holiness. Use this time as an experiment in holiness—it’s not about wearing a flashy gold cross or lugging around a big Bible with you everywhere you go.

It’s about opening up every part of your life and allowing God to make you holy; you are the raw material God needs to make you holy. May your holiness be a part of your gratitude for God’s great love.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.