Yearly Reading: Leviticus 11-13
For I am the Lord your God; sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming creature that moves on the earth. Leviticus 11:45 NRSV
Many Methodists are familiar with the words of their founder, John Wesley, who said that all of us Christians were called to "go on to perfection." Or, in Jesus' words, "be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5: 48).
In Leviticus, God gives a very clear reason for God's people to be perfect or holy. God wants them to be like set apart like God. "Be holy like me!" God instructs.
And the Jewish people took this to heart by following the rules God had given them to the letter. But in all this rule-following, they seemed to lose the intent of the laws: to be like God. Instead, the rules became their gods. It was not about being God-like but about checking off a to-do list.
We should be very careful here that we don't become righteous (after all, with Jesus, we stopped being like that, right?). However, we have come up with our own set of rules in chasing after the holy. We need to always set before us the example of Jesus: breaking Sabbath laws, speaking to the unspeakable, touching the untouchable with compassion, eating with sinners and allowing himself to be hung on a tree (an obvious curse to any good Jew). Who among us can claim to be more holy than him?
God, help us not to just keep a set of rules but to truly be holy like you. In the name of Jesus who set the holiest example we pray. Amen.
Copyright 2010 Amelia G. Sims
Showing posts with label holy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holy. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
The Holy and the Common
Yearly Reading: Leviticus 8-10
"You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean...." Leviticus 10:10 NRSV
God is the God of order, not chaos. When God created the world, God separated the light and the dark, the night and the day, the earth and the water. God sets apart one thing from the other. That is God's way.
For the Israelites as well as Jews today, there are certain foods and bodily functions that are considered clean and unclean. With Jesus and the new Christians, many of those categories either were taken away or changed somewhat. In today's Western-dominated society, even those lines are blurred.
Yet, God is still the God of order. God still wants the holy separated from the common. God still calls the ordinary to be extraordinary. We must remember that God calls us to be holy or set apart. God wants us to be more than common.
This may be difficult for some of us to grasp. What does it mean to be holy in today's world? How can we be living in the world yet somehow different? What marks you as holy rather than common?
God, you call us to be holy rather than common. What does that mean for us in our daily lives, God? How can we be your holy people? Give us discernment and guidance in being your people each day! In Jesus' name. Amen.
Copyright 2010 Amelia G. Sims
"You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean...." Leviticus 10:10 NRSV
God is the God of order, not chaos. When God created the world, God separated the light and the dark, the night and the day, the earth and the water. God sets apart one thing from the other. That is God's way.
For the Israelites as well as Jews today, there are certain foods and bodily functions that are considered clean and unclean. With Jesus and the new Christians, many of those categories either were taken away or changed somewhat. In today's Western-dominated society, even those lines are blurred.
Yet, God is still the God of order. God still wants the holy separated from the common. God still calls the ordinary to be extraordinary. We must remember that God calls us to be holy or set apart. God wants us to be more than common.
This may be difficult for some of us to grasp. What does it mean to be holy in today's world? How can we be living in the world yet somehow different? What marks you as holy rather than common?
God, you call us to be holy rather than common. What does that mean for us in our daily lives, God? How can we be your holy people? Give us discernment and guidance in being your people each day! In Jesus' name. Amen.
Copyright 2010 Amelia G. Sims
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Holy
Year Reading: Exodus 28-30
The sacred vestments of Aaron shall be passed on to his sons after him; they shall be anointed in them and ordained in them. Exodus 29:29 NRSV
Reading the whole of today's scripture, I am reminded how bloody a job it was to be a priest. Not only were the vestments very specific and not what I would consider attractive but they were going to get messy. Animals were going to be sacrificed on the altar. Blood was shed on them and their clothes when they were ordained. They would be sacrificing in those same clothes. The priests were to do this themselves - they couldn't stand around and get a servant to do this for them. To complete the picture, those vestments were to be passed down to the next generation of priests. At that point, I suppose it didn't matter if they vestments actually looked good; they were simply set-apart or holy.
I am not sure how much priests or pastors today in the Christian church appear set apart or holy. There are some churches in which you can identify the minister by their clothes fairly quickly. But in others, it isn't until the sermon begins that the pastor is identified. Certainly none of them are required to make a bloody sacrifice: Jesus Christ did that once and for all.
What makes your priest or pastor set apart of holy? Do they wear special clothes or vestments in worship?
What makes you, a minister of all believers, set apart or holy?
God, you call all of us to be holy and set apart. You have given us your son, Christ Jesus, who has made the ultimate sacrifice for all of us. Thank you for your Son and your calling on our lives. In His name we pray. Amen.
Copyright 2010 Amelia G. Sims
The sacred vestments of Aaron shall be passed on to his sons after him; they shall be anointed in them and ordained in them. Exodus 29:29 NRSV
Reading the whole of today's scripture, I am reminded how bloody a job it was to be a priest. Not only were the vestments very specific and not what I would consider attractive but they were going to get messy. Animals were going to be sacrificed on the altar. Blood was shed on them and their clothes when they were ordained. They would be sacrificing in those same clothes. The priests were to do this themselves - they couldn't stand around and get a servant to do this for them. To complete the picture, those vestments were to be passed down to the next generation of priests. At that point, I suppose it didn't matter if they vestments actually looked good; they were simply set-apart or holy.
I am not sure how much priests or pastors today in the Christian church appear set apart or holy. There are some churches in which you can identify the minister by their clothes fairly quickly. But in others, it isn't until the sermon begins that the pastor is identified. Certainly none of them are required to make a bloody sacrifice: Jesus Christ did that once and for all.
What makes your priest or pastor set apart of holy? Do they wear special clothes or vestments in worship?
What makes you, a minister of all believers, set apart or holy?
God, you call all of us to be holy and set apart. You have given us your son, Christ Jesus, who has made the ultimate sacrifice for all of us. Thank you for your Son and your calling on our lives. In His name we pray. Amen.
Copyright 2010 Amelia G. Sims
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