March 19, 2015
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

God’s View of Holiness

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Opening Prayer

Gracious God, help me to demonstrate Your love. Strip me clean of hardness of heart, pride, and pretense.

Read Leviticus 19:1-18

[1] The LORD said to Moses, [2] “Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy. [3] “‘Each of you must respect your mother and father, and you must observe my Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God. [4] “‘Do not turn to idols or make metal gods for yourselves. I am the LORD your God. [5] “‘When you sacrifice a fellowship offering to the LORD, sacrifice it in such a way that it will be accepted on your behalf. [6] It shall be eaten on the day you sacrifice it or on the next day; anything left over until the third day must be burned up. [7] If any of it is eaten on the third day, it is impure and will not be accepted. [8] Whoever eats it will be held responsible because they have desecrated what is holy to the LORD; they must be cut off from their people. [9] “‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. [10] Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the LORD your God. [11] “‘Do not steal. “‘Do not lie. “‘Do not deceive one another. [12] “‘Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD. [13] “‘Do not defraud or rob your neighbor. “‘Do not hold back the wages of a hired worker overnight. [14] “‘Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the LORD. [15] “‘Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly. [16] “‘Do not go about spreading slander among your people. “‘Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the LORD. [17] “‘Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt. [18] “‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Reflect

Holiness is wholeness and completeness. Only God’s Spirit can move us along the pathway of sanctification. We must put ourselves at his disposal.

A rabbi once told me you could throw away the whole of Leviticus and its rituals except for chapter 19. By any measure it is one of the great ethical chapters of the Bible. It contains immense wisdom, and obeying it would enhance the quality of any community. Its main purpose, however, is to show God’s children what being holy looks like (2). The chapter may appear to be a random jumble of laws, but it isn’t. Changes in Hebrew terminology give more shape to it than may be apparent to us.

The first section (1-10) lays some fundamental spiritual building blocks. It starts by mentioning three of the Ten Commandments (3,4). Next (5-8), surprisingly, it describes details about the fellowship offering, which is in part a community celebratory meal (Lev. 3:1-17). Then (9,10) it declares the need to leave some produce unreaped so the poor can feed themselves. This chapter weaves together respect for God and for people, worship and welfare, the spiritual and the political; it does not compartmentalize them as we often do. The second section (11-18) also contains some of the Ten Commandments and is about relationships. It calls for integrity (11,12), a refusal to exploit the vulnerable (13,14), and a commitment to uncorrupted justice (15,16)–all contemporary themes–before dealing with motives (17,18). It summarizes everything in “love your neighbor as yourself,” the second great commandment and the basis for Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan (Mark 12:29-31; Luke 10:25-37).

Holiness is about the whole of life. The contemporary church often measures holiness by sexual purity, but pious Christians who neglect the poor, or who have a broken relationship with their parents, or who engage in exploitive business practices, or who lack love for their neighbors are not holy in God’s book.

Apply

Review your ideas about holiness. What really matters to God? How high are those issues on your agenda?

Closing prayer

Lord, I know one day I will be granted completeness in You. In the meantime, I want to grow toward completeness in You. I long to cooperate with Your maturing work in my life.

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