Today’s Lectionary Readings: Psalm 81; Leviticus 23:1-22; Matthew 6:25-34; Galatians 1:1-10; Psalm 147
In this day and age when it is easy to abandon all sense of ritual and tradition in favor of what’s most convenient, today’s reading from Leviticus can be a challenge to engage. That’s because the bulk of the energy in that passage is devoted to spelling out a series of rituals people were called to observe. Lot’s of modern folks read that passage and think of it as extremely dry material. I admit that I wouldn’t exactly refer to the passage as a page-turner. Thankfully, we have Psalm 81 and the text from Matthew to serve as conversation partners with the Leviticus passage. Each of these texts can help us better understand the value of Leviticus. The opening words of Psalm 81 (“Anthems from the choir, music from the band, sweet sounds from lute and harp, trumpets and trombones and horns: it’s festival day, a feast to God!”) remind us that the rituals weren’t simply about going through the motions; the rituals were intended to be a joyous expression of the community’s faith. And Jesus’ challenge in Matthew 6:33 (“Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions”) reveals the value of incorporating regular pieces in our day that slow us down and allow us to do just that. In the modern world that places so many demands in our lives, it’s easy to pay lip service to the notion of praise and/or thanksgiving; but how often do we actually stop and do that? Leviticus reminds us that our spiritual ancestors actually made a point of regularly doing just that. I would invite you to pick up on the spirit of Leviticus and see if there are perhaps times or rituals that you could build into your day that could move you from a place of simply paying lip-service to a spirit of thanksgiving into the actual practice of it. Til next time…
In this day and age when it is easy to abandon all sense of ritual and tradition in favor of what’s most convenient, today’s reading from Leviticus can be a challenge to engage. That’s because the bulk of the energy in that passage is devoted to spelling out a series of rituals people were called to observe. Lot’s of modern folks read that passage and think of it as extremely dry material. I admit that I wouldn’t exactly refer to the passage as a page-turner. Thankfully, we have Psalm 81 and the text from Matthew to serve as conversation partners with the Leviticus passage. Each of these texts can help us better understand the value of Leviticus. The opening words of Psalm 81 (“Anthems from the choir, music from the band, sweet sounds from lute and harp, trumpets and trombones and horns: it’s festival day, a feast to God!”) remind us that the rituals weren’t simply about going through the motions; the rituals were intended to be a joyous expression of the community’s faith. And Jesus’ challenge in Matthew 6:33 (“Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions”) reveals the value of incorporating regular pieces in our day that slow us down and allow us to do just that. In the modern world that places so many demands in our lives, it’s easy to pay lip service to the notion of praise and/or thanksgiving; but how often do we actually stop and do that? Leviticus reminds us that our spiritual ancestors actually made a point of regularly doing just that. I would invite you to pick up on the spirit of Leviticus and see if there are perhaps times or rituals that you could build into your day that could move you from a place of simply paying lip-service to a spirit of thanksgiving into the actual practice of it. Til next time…
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