Joy in Leviticus (midweek message)

 Simchat Torah 2, Chana Helen Rosenberg, 2015

Fr. Tony’s Mid-week Message

Joy in Leviticus

April 27, 2016

The reading from the Hebrew Scriptures in today’s Daily Office is from Leviticus: 

Yahweh spoke to Moses in these words: Speak to all the people of Israel gathered together and say to them: You shall be holy, for I Yahweh your God am holy.  You shall each revere your mother and father, and you shall keep my sabbaths: I am Yahweh your God. Do not turn to idols or make cast images for yourselves: I am Yahweh your God. When you offer a sacrifice of well-being to Yahweh, offer it in such a way that it is acceptable on your behalf.  It shall be eaten on the same day you offer it, or on the next day; and anything left over until the third day shall be consumed in fire. If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination; it will not be acceptable.  All who eat it shall be subject to punishment, because they have profaned what is holy to Yahweh; and any such person shall be cut off from the people. When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest.  You shall not strip your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien: I am Yahweh your God. You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; and you shall not lie to one another.  And you shall not swear falsely by my name, profaning the name of your God: I am Yahweh. You shall not defraud your neighbor; you shall not steal; and you shall not keep for yourself the wages of a laborer until morning.  You shall not revile the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind; you shall stand in awe of your God: I am Yahweh.  You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor. You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not profit by the blood of your neighbor: I am Yahweh.  You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself.  You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am Yahweh. (Leviticus 19: 1- 18) 

Though reading this at first blush appears legalistic and formal, if you look at what ties these rules together you see an underlying theme.  All these prescriptions argue that we must trust in the abundance and love of God:  I am your God, the God of all being (Yahweh).  I am generous, and you must trust this.  Be holy (or set aside, or sacred) for I am holy.  Let my nature dictate yours.  If you sacrifice an animal and eat it afterwards, participating in a meal with me, you mustn’t be overly stingy and concerned with saving and eating every last bit.  After a day, burn what remains.  Sharing meat about to spoil as a meal with God is an insult.  Let it go.  Revere your parents.  Be grateful for all they’ve done for you, and show your gratitude.    Don’t be part of the industry of producing religious images of gods representing power, wealth, fertility, and pleasure.  Know that I am generous and abundant, and you can’t make a picture of that.  When you harvest, don’t act as if you are desperate in times of shortage: always leave a little for the poor.  Don’t steal, or cheat, or take advantage of others.  Remember that I am abundant and act like you trust in this.  Be decent, fair, and kind in your dealings with others.  Instead of holding resentments in your heart, hating others, give them the dignity and trust of confronting them with problems as they arise.  Don’t take vengeance or hold a grudge.  I am Love.  You too should love.  I am abundance.  Act like you live in abundance, even when you are feeling worry.  Trust me.  Don’t worry.  

People who think that the Old Testament is deficient and the New Testament sufficient, that the Old is bad and the New is good, that the Old Testament’s God is nasty and the New Testament’s God loving and kind, simply have not read either of these texts carefully enough.   There are nasty descriptions of God in the New Testament and descriptions of God as Love in the Old.    The basic idea of God as abundance, love, and kindness lies behind both Testaments, and dictates the moral teaching of both, each in its own ways.  In both, faith means trusting God’s goodness, and showing it in one’s actions toward others.  

Thanks be to God. 

--Tony+