" ...then the priest shall make an examination, and if the disease has covered all his body, he shall pronounce him clean of the disease; since it has all turned white, he is clean. (Leviticus 13:13) 

Huh?  When a known disease has covered the whole body, that makes for the end of 'unclean?'  What?  I'll return to this question shortly.  Hang in there with me.

 I am up to date with my reading, but also playing catch-up with posts.  Right now we are well into the book of Numbers.  For those reading along, take courage.  Numbers will not last forever.  Picture someone writing down lists that had been memorized for generations and passed down orally.  It may be as interesting as reading the phone book, but in this book we have evidence of a living culture- people making an effort to keep family trees organized.

The brain teaser alluded to in the title of this post comes from about two weeks ago.  There is a long section of Leviticus devoted to the classification of diseases, and what must be done about them.  You can see the nexus between health and spirituality in the fact that it was the priests who examined individual Israelites to pronounce them clean or unclean. 

Clean and unclean.  The categories surely I hope to shed some light on this, and light sometimes comes in strange places.  Read the verse again:  "...then the priest shall make an examination, and if the disease has covered all his body, he shall pronounce him clean of the disease; since it has all turned white, he is clean." (Leviticus 13:13) 

Once the illness has completely covered the body the patient is 'clean?'  What on earth?

This is a clue to what is meant by clean and unclean.  Ancient Israel was fanatical about separateness.  Think about what we have read together with an eye on the need to keep certain things separate.  There was a rule against mixed fiber garments.  (Did you know your cotton/polyester T-shirts are not kosher?)  There was a rule against women dressing like men, and viceversa.  Only priests could handle the sacred furnishings of the Tabernacle.  Non-priests were under severe penalty for touching the holy things.  Separation.

When a leper had disease on only part of the body, that meant uncleanness- not so much the disease itself, but the evidence that some flesh was one type and some was another.  If the disease covered the whole body, there was no 'mixing' so the person was no longer unclean.  The sense of 'unclean' was very different than the ordinary meaning we might assume.  They equated holiness with being set apart.  One 'kind' touching another 'kind' meant a mixture that spoiled holiness.  The foundation of this idea is the first commandment- "You shall have no other gods."  No mixing with other deities. 

Kiekegaard said "Purity of heart is to will one thing."  No mixed loyalty.  Easy to say, not easy to do.  Good thing our holiness rests on the mercy of Jesus, who stepped across the threshold that separated God from humanity.  He took on the risk of mixing in with humans.  Paul wrote,  "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."   (2nd  Corinthians 5:21)

On January 26th, the daily reading was Exodus 35:1 – 40:38.  This is a detailed description of the furnishings for the Tabernacle, and the process of making them.  Think of the costly preparations. 

Lots of gold, silver, and bronze went into the furnishings.  There was hammered gold overlay for the altar, the Ark of the Covenant, the Mercy Seat, and other items.  They needed lots of silver for the footings for the posts that held up the many curtains that formed the walls and dividers of the Tabernacle.  The plans called for precious stones, metals, and for the many curtains, the choicest fibers.  It was a huge undertaking, and in a word, expensive.

The text comments twice on the generosity of the people.  First, in Exodus 35:5; “Take from among you an offering to the LORD; let whoever is of a generous heart bring the LORD's offering: gold, silver, and bronze;”  

This is followed by a long list of the varied precious materials brought as offerings by those of a ‘generous heart.’  Later on this same notion is amplified in 36:5-7 where we find literary bookends about generosity.  “…The people are bringing much more than enough… …So the people were restrained from bringing; for what they had already brought was more than enough to do all the work.”

Our congregation is in the quiet phase of a capital campaign, with the more vocal, public phase coming this spring.  The witness of this text is that God moves people to be generous when it comes to providing for worship needs.  I believe this has always been true.  But the work of the Holy Spirit may not be as mysterious as we sometimes want to believe.  Moses' pepole had to ask themselves if they could part with their own gold earrings, silver serving vessels, necklaces, and other well-wrought household ornaments.  There were no banks, so precious stones and jewelry were one way of storing wealth.  Would they part with some of it for the sake of worship?

They had to decide to let go of something of value, giving it over to God’s use.  The account says Moses received more than enough for the tasks. 

This blog entry may seem like a blatant play for cash in the upcoming campaign.  I hope you see it as I intend it.  There always exists a biblical challenge to respond to a call, a challenge that brings each of us face to face with a question; what value we place on keeping and providing for today’s ‘Tabernacle’ our church.  Will you make sure the needs are well supplied?  Will you leave it to others?  Will you discover you have a generous heart?

Jesus famously said “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  It means the money decision comes first and the heart follows.  It is a weirdly liberating Word that says we have a choice, and in choosing, can shape our own hearts; point them toward what is eternally important. 

Some assembly is required. 

(For a note on what this last phrase might mean, look in the “about” section, reached via the link above.)

I am using the resource pictured here for reading the Bible in a year.  It numbers the days 1 through 365 rather than listing calendar dates.  You can start any time, but I started with January 1st of 2014. 

This Bible is available from online retailers and through brick-and-mortar bookstores.  I don't get any sales commission!  There is also an e-version which costs less than the actual book.

Read along with me.

As of today, January 28th 2014, I have read all of Genesis and Exodus and the first seven chapters of Leviticus.  That's a lot of territory, and far too much to cover in a single blog at the tail end of January.  I do want to make a few comments.  Genesis begins with the ringing declaration of God's intention.  The world came into being out of purpose, not accident.  I don't spend much time thinking about the arguments over whether it was six twenty four hour days, or if the days represent eons of geological time.  I doubt God is much interested in that debate either,   "For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past, or like a watch in the night." (Psalm 90:4)  The creation account is about intention, planning, and love.  It is a way of knowing that our own existence is not mere accident, but exists in a wide matrix of God's unfolding will.

Passing over the wonderfully rich stories of  Adam and Eve, Cain and Able, Noah, Babel and Abraham, I want to settle briefly on the long saga of Joseph.  He was born into a large family, and taunted his older brothers to the point that they sold him to slavers.  He went through harrowing experiences of trickery and prison, finally to arrive as Pharaoh's right hand man.  Reunited with his brothers because of famine, he showed them mercy and love.  The overall conclusion Genesis draws is spoken by Joseph to his brothers.    In Genesis 50:20, very near to the end of the whole book, Joseph says this: "Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today."

In a way that summarizes the whole of Genesis, not just the Joseph story.  The world is full of evil intentions and dirty dealing, and arrogance and desire.  God can re-make goodness out of the messes we humans make.  This does not excuse Joseph's young arrogance, nor his brothers' spite.  Through it all, the God who once created is still creating. 

Exodus is a compelling saga, but I won't stretch one blog entry to cover so much ground.

For Leviticus, I recommend patience, and the companion question, "How seriously do I take the reality of God's holiness?"  Animal sacrifice combined a notion of religious offering still operative for us, (it costs you something) and the ancient belief that blood- the life force, always belonged to God.  We no longer dash animal blood on our altars, but the Lord's Supper reminds us that sacrifice is costly.   

Reading through the Bible in a year.


I am reading through the Bible from front to back, during 2014.  That means I started with Genesis 1:1 on January 1st 2014 and will read Revelation 22:21 on December 31st 2014.  Each day’s reading covers several chapters, so things move along quickly.  I won’t write every day, but will comment from time to time.

The resource I am using is the NRSV Daily Bible from Harper Bibles.  It divides the Bible into 365 units.  It does not skip around as some Bible-in-a-year schemes do.  The days are numbered, rather than organized by calendar date.  That means you can start any time, but it also means keeping track (Quick, which day is number 175?) can be tricky.  I started with January 1st, and then pencil in the dates as I go along. 

Feel free to join me.  More people than I expected have said they'll read along.