Leviticus 17 This is so the Israelites will bring to God the sacrifices that they're in the habit of sacrificing out in the open fields. They must bring them to God and the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and sacrifice them as Peace-Offerings to GOD. (The Message)

I've been reading through all the regulations that God gave the Israelites. I've had the typical response of: booooorrrrrrriiiiiinnnnngggggg! But for some reason this time I'm struck with God's insistence that His people be different. It's so easy to take for granted the thousands of years of Judeo-Christian history which is in my background of obviousness.

These people had none of this. Their background of obviousness seemed to include making sacrifices out in the fields, that was where you did it. Now God is saying, "No more. Do it my way." And the people seemed to have some problem making the shift. I speculate its like when I have to write with my left hand, it just doesn't feel right. I'm not used to it. It's wrong!

God made so many rules, because He wanted to make His people different. In some of them I can see the transcendent truth, or the pragmatic health benefits. But sometimes it just seems arbitrary, like when He killed Aaron's two sons who had the bright idea to grab some incense and bring it before the Lord. I'm not a Bible scholar (and any that are reading, please give me more background to this if you have it), but I speculate that they were thinking, "Hey, I've got a good idea, let's do the incense/censor thing, like we did back in Egypt!" And God killed them! But though I used to think this was pretty harsh, I'm thinking now that He had given a "ground floor opportunity" to be His priests, and if they were going to start adding things because they thought it was a good idea, God wasn't going to be able to create a special people that would bear his name. And for this, the priests couldn't be in charge, He needed to be in charge. I'm guessing that right after God killed them, these guys are in heaven saying, "Doh!"

Jesus warned us to avoid the leaven of the Pharisees. I think part of what Jesus was talking about is this desire on our part to add our own "special sauce" to God's ways. I hear God say, "Wait. Don't go adding your sauce to it. Try it my way first. Taste and see that the Lord is good."

But the "special sauce" isn't obvious. At least, it doesn't seem to me that it is. If I knew it was just my way, and not the Lord's it would be a simple matter. But what do I think is God's way, that is really my way? I guess it becomes the most problematic when I try to put it on someone else. They usually don't like that. So that's where it will become the most observable, in conflicts or misunderstandings with others.

In general, I'm pretty minimalist about what I think of what others do or say. But there are times when my feedback has been a blessing to someone. So now I can't just shut my mouth and stay out of trouble. God wants me to make a contribution to other people. Skill required.

++Lord, point out when I'm lighting "strange fire", and keep me loving.++
- posted by Jor @ 10:53 AM -

 
Acts 16 We knew now for sure that God had called us to preach the good news to the Europeans. (The Message)

Previously, the Jerusalem church had approved preaching to non-Jews and not requiring circumcision for conversion. On Paul's next trip, nearly the first thing he does is have a Greek youth circumsized to avoid trouble with the Jews. God did not require the circumcision, but to the Jews it was such a strong narrative of being a holy nation by obeying the special rules God gave them, that Paul thought it best to have Timothy circumsized to avoid trouble.

Now with the dream of the Macedonian, another barrier is broken: Asiatic vs European. The Gospel had not been preached to Europeans yet, it was still an Asiatic phenomenon. It almost seems like Luke is hinting at some kind of struggle within the missionaries about extending their ministry to Europeans. How easy it is to be influenced by our own discomfort with those different from us. Seems obvious to us now that when God said "the whole earth" He meant "the whole earth". But before God accomplished all that He accomplished in Acts, it was not obvious at all.

Boy we really have boundaries in our common sense that God has to help us with to do things His way. We think "Of course, didn't Jesus say, 'To the ends of the earth'?" But I appreciate Paul's openness to embrace these radical new narratives, peoples, customs. I think it was a paradigm shift to embrace the Europeans as part of the Kingdom of God. We live in a very global culture and I suspect we're more used to these differences than people in the early church. Especially before Paul's missionary journeys.

Are there boundaries that God wants to lead me across that I am balking at because I'm not comfortable crossing them? Are there people He wants me to reach out to that are on the other side of some border that was invisible to me because it was so obvious that I couldn't cross it? Are there ways He wants me to be and do which do not seem part of the Kingdom to me now?

I'm looking for a new job, is there a place God would have me be a marketplace minister that I would never have thought of working?

++Thanks for your grace with my limitations. Lord, open me to Your ways.++

- posted by Jor @ 9:35 AM -