An eye for an eye, but what for a parking spot?

by Lisa Brewer

Tonight I stole. I was late for bible study and was driving to church and I really really needed a parking spot. My car has this outdated Beacon Hill parking sticker. I thought, “I know this is wrong, but I’m so late. And it’s just one hour.” I also thought, “I know I’m going to have to pay for this.” I was not referring to the ticket I might (and did) get. I’m referring to atonement.

I’m pretty sure that taking a Beacon Hill resident’s spot even for one hour is theft. And that is definitely a violation of a commandment. So if I’m reading Leviticus correctly I need to confess. I stole. And I need to offer a trespass offering.

Now here’s where I’m stuck. And I guess I just didn’t feel as much guilt about previous sins to have to face this directly yet. What to do about these sacrifices??

I’ve been struggling to figure out how to interpret the sacrifices outlined in Leviticus. The regulations are pretty specific and lengthy. The first seven chapters, in fact, are dedicated to the purpose of ensuring clarity about how to make sacrifices. But I find myself so confused!

In previous readings I just sort of glossed over it. “Yeah, yeah, animal without blemish, sprinkle blood, cut in pieces, burn it, got it.” I think I even skipped some of the sections because they all look the same. Burnt offering, grain offering for peace, for sins, for trespasses, whatever, I couldn’t see how in any way this had meaning for my life. This is the old testament people carrying out ancient practices that new covenant people didn’t need to worry about.

Or do I? Somehow even though I know that Jesus has, by his sacrifice, fulfilled these laws, I feel that there is something in the ceremony, the acknowledgment, paying a price – something I have to explore this month. I just haven’t figured out what that looks like, yet.

But I think I will have to do it soon. Since I did confess to all who will read this. And the $20 ticket is only recognized retribution in the kingdom of the City of Boston. In what way will I atone in God’s kingdom?

To be continued…

I think that "You shall keep your promises." was on that third tablet that Moses dropped in the Monty Python version of the Ten Commandments. I’m going to try to keep them any way.

Rendering to Caesar...

Regress is Progress

by Kristi Vrooman

Last week I was on vacation, so I had TONS of time to think and post thoughts, and read scripture, and dream up grand illusions of what I might do during this month. I even had my friend Anna write the commandments in Leviticus that I wanted to focus on for the week in tiny writing so that they'd fit in the locket I received as a Christmas gift. (Proverbs 6:21-22): "Bind [the commandment of your father and mother] continually on your heart; tie them around your neck. When you walk about, they will guide you; When you sleep, they will watch over you; And when you awake, they will talk to you."

(Notice how the shape just happened to resemble that of the stone tablets upon which the 10 Commandments were inscribed. Coincidence? I think not.)

But this week, well, hasn't been the same. Why? Mostly because I've never been good at living my life in a balanced way. I tend to swing to one side of the pendulum, remain there until my world is about to tip over, then hastily run back. I neglected the "rest of my life" last week because I was engrossed in this experiment.

The "sabbath lite" I took from Saturday to Sunday could barely be called a sabbath, because I just didn't plan well. So my to-do list was hanging over my head much of the day, and this week I've REALLY been feeling it. Not much time to read Leviticus, or build that tabernacle I've been meaning to, or figure those oil lamps out, or learn how to edit those videos I took of my and Kristen's trip to a deli in the South End on our quest to find meat that hadn't been strangled (it cost $9 a pound-more on that later), or...

But here I am with 15 minutes left to go on Wednesday evening, and all I have to say is that although I was irresponsible last week by paying attention only to levitical issues, and although I feel like so much has had to remain undone, (like these poor, neglected oil lamps)

this week has been much better than the many, many weeks prior to the beginning of January 2008.

As opposed to much of last year when I'm ashamed to say I wasn't reading scripture in a systematic way, or praying much, or, or, or, even during this busy week I've been reading Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Proverbs, James and Hebrews. My entire outlook on life has changed since the beginning of last week. It's no longer such a struggle to maintain the speed limit, and my anger level while driving has decreased significantly. :) The way I understand the Bible (especially Hebrews) has changed drastically. I see Jesus in a WHOLE new way. I see other people in a whole new way, I see myself, and the way I relate to G-d and others, in a whole new way. G-d has been revealing Himself to me in such mundane areas as dental hygiene (although I must admit, most of my "aha!" moments seem to happen during tooth brushing or flossing or the like).

It seems that my experience is like that of Brandy's (just read her note from today), in that when I'm reading scripture now, I don't want to stop. While I'm reading, question after question comes up (I'll save them for another day). Maybe this is just me, but I'd say perhaps 90% of the time I hear G-d speaking to me through His written word. Funny that during those times in my life when I'm not reading much scripture, I wonder why I have a hard time hearing Him.
I can't express enough how wonderful it is to open the Bible now, and feel again like I'm part of the story being told. To read Hebrews, and really know what Paul was talking about when he said in 9:13-14: "For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to G-d, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living G-d?"

Many pieces of this gigantic jigsaw puzzle (the Bible) are beginning to come together. So after 9 days of attempting to live levitically, I am still, by any calculation, a terrible, terrible sinner. But progress is progress.

Approaching the Darkness

by Nick Otto

It is interesting. Right after God spoke the Ten Commandments to the Israelites from a dark ominous cloud exploding with thunder and lightning as it engulfed a smoldering mountain, Moses says to the people, "Do not be afraid..." These people were not just a little scared of God. Their bodies turned to Jello. They begged Moses to tell God NOT to talk to them. I can't think of how many times I have pleaded with God to talk directly to me or give me a sign. But that's just me. I'm sure none of you have done that. But these people were absolutely terrified of being anywhere near God.

So Moses tells the Israelites, "Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of the Lord will be with you and keep you from sinning." I love this verse because it summarizes perfectly why I am doing this crazy experiment. As a Christian, I believe that I am free from the Law (meaning all of the ritual stuff or ceremonial law). But trying to keep the Law is very much like a test. And this test in not just any test. It is a horrible, excrutiating, horrifying test that reminds you over and over again what a miserable failure you are. And if you don't feel like a miserable failure, you still are; you're just to proud to realize it.

Keeping the Law will by no means make you righteous. You cannot earn your Salvation. On the other hand, we cannot throw the Law out like it's a piece of trash. We cannot throw it out because Christ did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it. Jesus says, "If you love me, you will obey what I command." Free from the Law? Yes. But I will try to do it anyway because God has given us His law as a gift, just as he has given us His only Son as a gift. And his son said, "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."

Christmas was not too long ago. Has anyone been blessed by the opportunity to watch children open presents? Mom or dad spend months working and saving to get that perfect gift, and within minutes after the wrapping paper is shredded off one of three things usually happens. 1) the toy gets broke, 2) a fight ensues over the toy, or 3), my personal favorite, the child loses interest in the toy and spends countless hours playing with the box the toy came in! The trash is more appealing to these children than gift they longed all year for. Praise God adults are too mature for such childish behavior.

The Israelites were so terrified of God that they would not go near him. Ironically, it was not long before the Israelites (including their priest, Aaron) had formed an idol in the form of a golden calf. It seems that the Israelites were kept their distance from God in more way than one.

But Moses does the most remarkable thing. While the people remain at a distance, "Moses approached the thick darkness where God was." There is a connection between closeness to God's Law, or Christ's Commandments, and closeness to God Himself. I have heard many in our group tell how much they have learned about God, how much more they fear Him, and how much closer they feel to Him. Yet, so many Christians, even pastors, distance themselves from the Law. They throw it out as if it no longer matters at all. As if it were a piece of trash. How often have we, like children, mindlessly broken the precious gifts God has given us? The one thing we long for most, the opportunity to hear God speak and draw near to him, we either break, argue over, or loose interest in.

Living Leviticus is not easy. It is very difficult. It can be downright terrifying at times when you catch yourself falling short. Failing the test. So far, I feel that I've been keeping a distance. I have not been reading Leviticus as much as I probably should. I have not kept track of how many times I've fallen short or what laws I have broken. But from here on out, I plan on approaching the darkness, embracing the gift of God's law, and I hope that by the end of this month, I will know that I am a little bit closer to Jesus Christ.

This Crazy Leviticus Thing

by Ian Frazier

I should have posted this back on New Year's Eve, but didn't yet really have a firm plan in my mind for how I was going to handle this crazy "Living Levitically" experiment. My plan has gelled over the last week, though, so I'll go ahead and post now:

My goal for the month of January is to live according to the book of Leviticus as literally as I can, while taking into account the obvious major changes caused by the work of Jesus and trying to get some sense of how specific prohibitions are understood in traditional Judaism.

A Couple Changes Due to that Jesus Fellow:

• I consider Sunday the Sabbath instead of Saturday, in response to the Resurrection. Apart from the change of day, I treat it Levitically.


• A very large chunk of Leviticus revolves around the details of various sacrifices--although I'm still reading those parts, I'm not performing them, as Christ serves as the sacrifice that covers all sacrifices, so to speak. Even if He didn't, though, I still don't think I'd be doing them--let's face it: I don't own a herd and I think the authorities might be less than thrilled if they caught me throwing nets over pigeons to take them home, domesticate them, and then sacrifice them on an altar.

A Couples Pieces of Rabbinical Interpretation:

• The literal words of Leviticus prohibit the wearing of clothing of "mixed fibers," which would seem to mean that I can't wear a polyester/cotton T-shirt. So for the first day of January, I went with all 100% materials. I was talking with a Jewish friend of mine in the UK, though, and he pointed me to the concept of shatnez, which indicates that in traditional Jewish thought, the prohibition is really specifically referring to mixtures of linen and wool--so I've been only avoiding that particular mix since that time.


• I'm not shaving or cutting my hair at all in the month of Leviticus, taking the very conservative approach, but it seems there have been centuries of debate on this matter.

A Levite Goes to Gotham

by Brian Bassett

Circumstance, chance meetings and my own laziness have all conspired against me. Or maybe more appropriately, I have allowed them to do so.

Over a month ago when I was getting jazzed about the idea of what this experiment would look like for me personally, I didn't see the things coming that would give me any reason to compromise on some of that original vision.

Without boring you with all the details, I'll just give you one example. Over three years ago, I started a blog about the New York Jets ... the Jets are my all-time favorite football team and I have poured my life and (when I get too caught up) soul into this project for over three years. Since things are still under wraps, I can't get into all the details, but sufficed to say that a certain media outlet contacted me about partnering/purchasing my site, and wanted to meet with me on Saturday, Jan 5th out of town.

So not only would I just be breaking sabbath by traveling, shaving so I didn't look like a total slob (first impressions!!), working and doing countless other things you're not supposed to on that most holy of days, but I was meeting my contacts at a barbeque-style restaurant in the one city on the planet that is sometimes referred to as the New Babel ... how utterly fantastic.

I have to say that I lost a lot my orientation this past week. Just like coming out of a New York subway in an unfamiliar location, sure the streets might be easy to navigate, but if you lose your sense of direction, then it doesn't really matter. So in the wake of this meeting I was discouraged about my living of Levitucs ... discouraged with my lack of dedication, discouraged with my progress and mostly discouraged with my communication to you fellow Levites, along with the many folks around the globe checking in on our progress.

Sure, I had been reading Leviticus, avoiding pig-related products (is bison OK?) of any kind ... but where was my heart? Was I just doing this because I had said that I would? Why bother if my heart wasn't in it?

This morning, I sat down and read Chapter 7 again. After Daniel's sermon last night, maybe things are beginning to click ...

"Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'He who offers the sacrifice of his peace offerings to the LORD shall bring his offering to the LORD from the sacrifice of his peace offerings. 'His own hands are to bring offerings by fire to the LORD. He shall bring the fat with the breast, that the breast may be presented as a wave offering before the LORD.

How powerful and moving. By my 'own hands' am I to bring my peace offering before the Lord. Sure there are steps that I need to take to bring me back in alignment with God, and it's just as important to honor those as it is to honor the process of the peace offering, but still I can come and offer peace to the Lord, which he will honor. That this is something for all God's people, which we are encouraged to do regularly and often, is to me a great comfort.

With this now in mind, I think it's helped me to find a better balance between obedience & desire, something that I hope to strive for not just for the rest of the month of January, but for the rest of my life.

First Shabbat

by Sokol Haxhinasto

Shalom everyone!.

Yesterday I joined a friend of mine who was kind enough to share the Shabbat celebration with me and my family. I was to meet him before 4 o'clock at his place, so I left work earlier than usual. Since Shabbat did not start until 4:07, I was able to get a couple pictures of myself with a kipa on.

I was struck by the immense preparation that goes into welcoming Shabbat-making the food (more on that later) but most importantly ensuring that all the lights that need to be on for the next 24hr are on (living room, bathroom) and those that need to be off off (bedroom). I was glad to see that my reading of Talmud-related books came in handy when i reminded them about the refrigerator light that needs to be turned off during Shabbat.
My friend and I left for the synagogue (http://www.yibrookline.org/). We picked up a prayer book on the way into the sanctuary where the majority were men and by the end of the service three females showed up and set in a completely different area. Thankfully the prayer book was both in Hebrew and English, so i could understand and follow somewhat. Mostly it consisted of Psalms (familiar territory) and prayers. By the end of the service we welcomed the Bride-Shabbat, similar to what is done in weddings when the bride comes in. Interesting.
I was reminded of the verses where the church is referred as the bride of Christ-not sure if there is a link...

Afterwards we went home where the rest of the family joined us. We were ready to partake of a feast. After washing our hands three times they said the blessing over the wine and the bread (sweet). My friends wife had cooked from 8:30 pm to 2:30 am the previous night - amazing to think this happens every week. Thanksgiving meal every week-that's a tradition i can embrace. Everything was delicious.
After we got done, my challenge was yet to come-keep the Sabbath for the next 20 or so hours. I started by waking home instead of taking the train (not Levitical, i know)-it gave me more time to think about God and His intent in giving this commandment of rest and reflection. My goal was to refrain from work-no computer and work related things. I also ended up avoiding TV. Naturally this provided more free time which I mostly used to read the Bible and got a few extra chapter for my "read the Bible in one year plan". I was going to avoid other manual work, but my daughter's doll-house arrived in the mail, so i had to put it together. Probably not sth the Talmud would allow, but I felt my daughter's enjoyment and our bonding time was more important. i was tempted to check my email throughout the day and must say kept looking at the time when I could go back to my busy, stress filled life. it is not easy to teach an old dog new tricks, but not impossible.
so overall i feel like it was a success-i did not shop, ride the train, got to the library, work and every time i thought about those things i quickly tried to change my thoughts toward God. I did spend more time with God than most saturdays, so resting from work and substituting that time for Godly and family things is certainly something Jesus would want me to do in the future. This Sabbath shed new light on Jesus's invitation in Mathew 11:28, "come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and i will give you REST".

Impolite Meating

by Thomas Keown

What when this month makes innocent people sad?

He was so disappointed. I hadn't seen him in more than a year and most of the year before he had spent unsuccessfully inviting to stay with he and his new wife in his new home. When this week I was finally able and agreeable to staying for a night with an old university house mate he shopped handsomely the day before in order to please me by purchasing all the breakfast foods I am renowned for loving.

The look of utter dejection when I told him I wouldn't touch nevermind chew any of the mound of pig products in the pantry was pronounced. To be sure it provided a way of introducing the month to the bloke. But it felt jolly rude. Or at least impolite.

Was saying no and making him swallow his disappointment more holy than if I'd made myself appreciatively swallow his caring comestibles? Sacrificing pleasurable flavours for to my own purity and benefit is obviously good but this felt a mite self-indulgent.

And besides, bacon is so good.

A Bad Example

by Mary Frances Giles

So I was a terrible Levite today. I overslept so didn't have time for my Levitical study and time with God before work. I got unnecessarily annoyed at my friend/neighbor who asked for a ride to work (forget that he gives me rides all the time). I spent the day munching on mostly non-Kosher food and completely forgetting about my newly adopted practice of writing down all of my sins during the day (I like to fool myself into thinking that because none were written down that means that none occurred). I breezed right past the group of homeless teenagers outside the Harvard Square T station and threw nothing more than an annoyed glance their way. When I got home I cracked open my new 2008 calendar that Santa gave me for Christmas. And what is the message for January? See for yourself:

So, I'm the bad example today. But there's one thing I can say for sure: I'm thankful that I can get on my knees and ask Jesus for forgiveness for my shortcomings and tacky behavior today. The last thing I want to do right now is trudge out into this single-digit weather to track down an animal to sacrifice. Rams and goats are hard to come by in the Back Bay.

Unclean!

by Brandy Brooks

Ha-ha! Am I the first person who gets to declare herself unclean this month? (I'm looking for small accomplishments.)

This one isn't my fault, unless you call being born a woman a "fault" ... and sometimes it's hard not to get the impression from Leviticus that there's something wrong with being female. We're all around less valuable (see Lev. 27:1-7) and clearly dirtier somehow (see Lev. 12:1-5, where it takes twice as long to purify one's self from a female childbirth than a male one). What's with that?

As a modern woman, I am constantly wrestling with this issue in the Bible; despite occasional instances where the LORD specially favors or honors women, or where we are declared equal in the sight of the LORD, as a rule we're not considered equals - in marriage, in leadership or teaching, in value. This chafes, to put it mildly, especially on the intellectual/leadership level; I'm not being prideful when I assess my abilities in that area as equal to (if not exceeding) most of the men I know at my similar age and experience. So my girl parts make me less than they? Whatever.

I do recognize that there's a difference between men and women, but I don't get why the LORD seems to value one of us over the other. I want to say that this power dynamic is the result of the Fall, when relationships between men and women were damaged so early that we've never been able to figure out what they were supposed to be ... yet the LORD's statements seem to support this dynamic not as sinful, but as the natural order. Maybe I just need to be accepting of my place in this order, and stop feeling insulted by it; maybe the problem is that I keep making the comparison, when that's not the point - in the end, God does value me as one of His children, regardless of my price based on the sanctuary shekel.

I also feel like so much sin and excuse for injustice comes from the interpretation of women as less valuable, but it is hardly the LORD's fault what we humans choose to do with his Word; we have a knack for turning just about anything into an basis for sin.

An Aroma for God

by Simon Chang (with thanks to his wife)

For my grain offering I used fine flour, extra virgin olive oil, and sesame oil because we don't have frankincense to burn and thought that the sesame oil might be an acceptable substitute (there I go, making an imperfect sacrifice). I also have my small pan that I normally use to cook Raman noodles. Since I am not able to duplicate fully the ceremony anyway, I might as well use something convenient.

So I mixed up the ingredients together in the pan and got the electric stove going. Initially the aroma from the sesame oil came off wonderfully and I just stood there sniffing at it while saying "Ahhhhhhhh!". But in a matter of minutes as the mixture browned steadily, the scent changed and smelled like overcooked popcorn and burning old newspaper. The mixture also started to give out A LOT of smoke, so that by the beginning of the fourth video clip Lori had to open the windows so that our smoke detectors won't report me as a closet Jew. By this time there was a growing haze inside our apartment and we decided that we couldn't risk igniting the mass and losing our lease over an experiment involving ancient rituals, so we removed the pan while the charred remnants smoldered. There was smoke everywhere. After over an hour of using ceiling fans and open windows to air out our home, there was still considerable aroma lingering in the air when I left for the airport.

During all this time I had Lori videotape the proceedings and I made an observation that, as imperfect as this experiment was (missing ingredient, un-kosher container, no priestly chants), it nevertheless gave some indications as to what the scene at the temple must have been like back when the LORD ordained Leviticus. Hundreds and thousands of sacrifices took place everyday, the fire going practically non-stop, in order to accommodate the sacrificial system. The smoke and the scent from the burning offerings, together with incense and the smell of blood drained from livestock, must have been overwhelming. There is something very communal about all this, however, in that the system identified everyone who belonged to the LORD.

There was another thing I noticed: On the way to the airport I kept smelling that particular scent. At first I thought that my olfactory bulb was just working overtime, but then it dawned on me that my coat and my hat were near the kitchen during the entire offering, and somehow they picked up the scent. It seems that the mere act of giving this offering has left me smelling a particular way, and I wonder what I would say if someone at the airport (say, a TSA agent) were to ask me, "What is that smell, and why do you smell like that?"

At that point, it would have been entirely fitting for me to smile broadly and say, "God Is Great!!!"

My Plan for Living Leviticus

by Andrew Summey

The entry point on this question (Living Leviticus) for a Gentile Christian I see comes from Acts 15. There was a large meeting by the early Church (the Jerusalem Council) that asked this very question. Should Gentiles be circumcised? I take this to mean more than the physical operation but the act of conversion to be a Jew and the responsibility of the Law. It seems there were some who thought this was the way to go. After all, how can one follow the Messiah of Israel and not be “Israel”. So, some from the “party of the Pharisees” saw that this is how it should go down with all these new “Gentiles” joining the fold. So, after Paul (who was also a Pharisee) told of what was happening among the Goyim (Gentiles – lit. “nations”), then James gave a little speech mentioning requirements and then it was codified in a letter for the Gentiles:

“It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.”

James in his speech made this comment but then mentioned: “For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath."

So, my basic take is that as a Gentile that is saved, I have basic requirements that help me follow God, but that I am to grow and learn. But, it does not seem that I am to learn AS a Jew, but from that heritage. This heritage from the Biblical text (Moses). So, as a Christian I should look at Leviticus as much to learn and to apply even if I do not do so as a Jew.

So, here is my approach: I will seek further definition of the basic requirements in the Leviticus text to make sure (1) my food is not sacrificed to idols (ok, no thai food), (2) abstain from blood (so all food is clean as long as the blood is drained? Pork is ok for me if it is killed in a kosher manner?? Or is this talking more on the line of murder? Shedding blood? This is getting complicated.), (3) no meat from strangled animals (notice how eating is an important aspect for Gentiles too), and (4) sexual immorality (this prohibition seems more familiar).

BUT, I am to seek to learn from the books of Moses.

Now, I know in Rabbinic Judaism they later codified what is known as the “Noahide Laws” taken from the requirements given to Noah after the flood (Gen 9:1-17). Maybe this line of thinking (Acts 15/Noahide) is where we get the whole idea of the separation of “ceremonial” from the other laws. But, Christians have ceremonial as well (communion, etc.). But, this was a “covenant” with all creation.

Anyway, while it could get broader, I will stick to defining the Acts 15 obligations for Gentiles turning to God and seek to familiarize and apply Leviticus as a Gentile. I will also look to define these basic requirements looking at Leviticus.

I am sure that it will get much more dicey than this. My notes will be flowing following some the questions.

What Was God Thinking?

By Kristi Vrooman

Per Daniel and Walter's suggestion, step one in this experiment was to read the book of Leviticus in its entirety. A first for me. I'm just like so many would-be Bible-in-it's-entirety readers who get hung up somewhere in the middle of this book. But I did it. Partly because I had a deadline and knew I'd have face the rest of my tribe (the Kosher breakfast which marked our first meeting as a tribe), and because I'd already agreed to do it. I do have a confession: I read Leviticus in "The Message". I have 5 different Bible translations at home and I chose that one (I know, it's not REALLY a translation... whatever). Part of me wanted to see if Eugene Peterson could work the term "skid-row" into Leviticus as he had in the Psalms. Nope. It seemed pretty straight forward to me. Honestly I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I found myself underlining sections just as often as I would in the New Testament or the Psalms. The marked difference, however, was the sheer number of question marks I felt compelled to draw. A low estimate might be somewhere between 100-125. Really. Many of them were preceeded by these words "What was God THINKING???!!!!" Most of the time they came from a place of confusion, my "working out" the ideas in my head, trying to make sense of them in my 21st Century, North American, Christian context. But I shudder to think how many times those utterances resembled blasphemy. Speaking of blasphemy, in Lev. 24 God says:
"...anyone who blasphemes the Name of GOD must be put to death.
The entire congregation must stone him. It makes no difference whether he is a foreigner or a native, if he blasphemes the Name, he will be put to death."
Uh-oh.
But as Walter keeps reminding us, "It's all part of the process - we want you to struggle through this." That shouldn't be a problem.

Why Are We Doing This?

by Daniel Harrell

So we've had plenty of questions regarding this Living Leviticus experiment, with the biggest question being why? Taking for granted that the whole of God's word is for all God's people, the video below offers a few answers for those who've not yet joined the Facebook page...

Holiness Permeates Everything

by Kristen Filipic (one of the Levites)

So, I hang out with some families on a regular basis and have discovered that with certain kids, asking "Do you want to read a story?" ALWAYS works as a child-wrangling technique. We have gotten to the point where small children will sometimes climb into my lap and wordlessly hand me a book. This is excellent.

One of these small children has recently become interested in Greek mythology and is currently quite enraptured with an "introduction to the Olympians" book. Now, I love Greco-Roman mythology. I got drawn into this when I was a older then he is, but thought this was the most fascinating thing ever and it ended up leading me into taking Latin in high school, occasionally flirting with the thought of a classics major (ended up minoring) and other hopelessly nerdy things. So I particularly enjoyed helping introduce him to these stories, and am not especially concerned that this will lead him to abandon the faith of his family and church and instead worship Zeus and Athena.

It occurred to me that come January I won't be able to read this particular book to the children. It further occurred to me that this truly stinks.

So I was gearing up to write a post about how much this stinks, how there's really no harm in reading these stories at all. And even assuming that we were living in a society that actively worshipped the Olympians, a faith that's shielded from all challenge isn't much of a faith and how am I supposed to interact with the nice pagans enough to tell them about Jesus if I'm so walled off from their way of seeing the world. If I was in a particularly nerdy mood, which let's face it I usually am, I might even cite C.S. Lewis talking about how the similar themes throughout various cultures' mythologies (e.g. a dying and rising god is a very common theme) point to the One True Myth of Jesus.

I was going to say "Well, I can't cite chapter and verse, but I'm sure it's in there ..." and then continue on with my rant. But then I decided that it would be a much better post if I cited the specific law that was getting my goat. So I started paging through. And skimmed and skimmed, and flipped through some more pages. There's something about not worshipping idols, OK of course that's a bad plan. Not planning on doing that. There's something on not creating idols, ok, that's not what we're talking about either. Skim skim skim some more, haven't found it yet ... and now here we are at the end.

Huh.

So apparently as long as we're very clear that we're not worshipping Athena, enjoying Bulfinch's Mythology is just fine.

This is good news. I wonder what other "well of course that's forbidden" assumptions I have will also be groundless.

Did Jesus Eat Pork?

By Daniel Harrell

So if Jesus kept the Old Testament law in order to fulfill it, then he had to have kept kosher, right? And if Christians are supposed to do what Jesus did, shouldn’t we be keeping kosher too? And if not, why not? And why kosher in the first place? What’s wrong with lobster? There is that place in the gospels where Jesus says “Nothing that enters a person from the outside can make him ‘unclean’?” Mark interprets this to mean that Jesus thereby cleansed all foods, though whether this is what Mark meant remains disputed. It’s certainly seems to be the case that Jewish Christians continued to obey the dietary laws. Pork roast didn’t show up at church suppers until the Gentiles fully took over. According to the B-Log, Christians have been warming lately to the Jewish kosher laws governing which foods are proper to eat and how to prepare them. "The Maker's Diet," "What Would Jesus Eat?" and other Christian flirtations with keeping kosher tend to stress the health benefits of the God-given dietary conventions, but other Christians contemplate going kosher as a matter of faith. Rabbi Telushkin is clear that keeping kosher was never part of some ancient Jewish health code. But there has to be some reason that it’s commanded in the Bible. It must have been good for something. Could it not still be good for that same thing? I did manage to ask a few people over Blue Ribbon BBQ, but as you can see, their mouths were fairly full of swine flesh.

Should I Shave?

By Daniel Harrell

OK, so I'm getting ready to embark on this month of living Levitically, along with eighteen friends (read about them here), and already I'm worried about Leviticus 19:27- "Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard." I grew a beard once and hated it. Who knew that small creatures could crawl in there and make a home. Some say that the reason behind this prohibition had to do with shaving being part of a heathen ritual (OK, I do have a fairly complex shaving ritual, but not sure I'd call it heathen). Others argue that hair is part of the natural order, and thus deigned as good by God and not-to-be-messed-with. Still others say that hair symbolized the life force of an individual (which explains the popularity of Hair Club for Men) and thus should be emphasized for whatever reason that it should be emphasized. Was this just an ancient cultural thing? A mark of separation from the pagans? Or is shaving truly immoral? Do I need to grow a beard to be obedient? I'll admit that my biggest concern is that I'm traveling to my parents' home during January and my mother wants a new family portrait. She'd kill me if I showed up with a beard. Of course Levitcus actually says don't trim your beard presuming perhaps that you already have one? Maybe that's my workaround. This stuff is going to drive me crazy.

A Month of Living Levitically

By Daniel Harrell

Whenever I've mentioned to folks my plan to preach the book of Leviticus during the winter, there have been no shortage of puzzled looks. Sure, Leviticus is in the Bible, but didn't Jesus render it dispensable? What relevance could Leviticus possibly have to my life now? We're done with animal sacrifice and the whole cleanliness code, aren't we?

True confession: I've never studied Leviticus. I've only skimmed it as part of those read-through-the-Bible -in-a-year plans (though admittedly it's the place I usually get stuck in my reading through the Bible in a year). I get why Leviticus is part of the Hebrew scriptures, but do Christians need to heed it? What if God does intend us to obey it? He definitely intends that we obey parts of it. After all, Jesus taught the second greatest commandment to be "love your neighbor as yourself." That comes from Leviticus 19:18. What if there are other parts of Leviticus that are just as important?

Inspired by A. J. Jacobs' book The Year of Living Living Biblically, I've decided to find out. I've decided to try a month of living Levitically to coincide with my sermon series. You know, sort of a "living theology," just to see what happens. Walter Kim is going to join me. Are any of you interested in trying it too?

We're looking for ten people to be Levitical guinea pigs with us. We want to not only try to live by Leviticus (albeit interpreted through a 21st century Christian grid), but document it here on this blog too. Check out the Park Street Church website for details and watch this blog for updates on how the whole thing is going.

New Birth

One of the things you're supposed to do when your wife has a baby is buy cigars. Not being much of a cigar guy, though definitely one who appreciates tradition, I pedaled over to Peretti's for a box of his best. Already at 9am there were a number of men in his store puffing away. He asked me how much I wanted to spend. I guessed, "50 bucks?" The gathered aficionados chuckled a collective raspy cackle. He said he could set me up with some Hondurans for $75. Sounded exotic. So I headed back to the church with my cigars in a box, making sure to stop by DD for a box of munchkins in case the cigars weren't much of a hit. And they weren't; at least not until I got to the women on staff. The hipster receptionist was among the first to elija el cigarro, followed shortly by the missions pastor who actually had his own cigar cutter that he'd brought back from a short term missions trip to Honduras. Eventually we had a quorum, enough to ascend to the roof and celebrate Violet's birth in proper form (sans receptionist who promised to join us next time). Admittedly, we all got a little sick (the missions pastor particularly so), a reminder that the fellowship of believers is a fellowship of suffering (Philippians 3:10). But also that we should rejoice with those who rejoice--on earth as it is in heaven (though the smoke in heaven is more likely the incense variety).

Church Shopping

I heard this funny thing: Somebody volunteered to help out here at the church, but by the time we contacted the person about getting them involved (a few days later), they let us know they had already started attending another church. Nice! Not that this is a surprise. There are so many good churches in the Boston area these days---so many more than when I first moved here 25 years ago. And if you're new, it takes a few Sundays to get around and see them all. What makes a good church? I'm guessing the worship experience is important, the music and the preaching needs to connect. And the community aspect matters, as I guess does location and the sorts of values a church espouses. But here's what I've always been curious about: Once someone has shopped and purchased a church (to keep with the consumer analogy), when and why does the buyer's remorse set in? I naively imagine that committing to a church is not unlike committing to a friendship. You make a friend and naturally desire that the relationship will deepen, so much so that you're willing to adjust expectations and behavior to make it happen. Or maybe it's just a big church thing. Once you get to a certain critical mass, the expectation is to be served rather than serve? Be fed rather than feed? Not that these should ever be dichotomous. One makes the other possible. As the body of Christ, we need each other.

The Most Famous Man in America

The title refers to Henry Ward Beecher, famed founder preacher of Brooklyn's Plymouth Church (where former Park Street pastor David Fisher now serves). The son of the illustrious Lyman Beecher (among the last of the genuine New England Puritans) and brother of Edward Beecher (another former pastor of Park Street), Henry Ward Beecher was his day's Billy Graham in terms of preaching renown and name recognition, Bill Clinton in terms of scandal, and basically all over the map theologically. Interestingly, Abraham Lincoln gave Beecher credit for keeping England from siding with the South during the Civil War. Mark Twain and Walt Whitman both counted themselves as admirers. Debby Applegate's Pultizer prize winning biography of Beecher (www.henrywardbeecher.com) surveys his life, successes and failures, and concludes that the gospel of unconditional love that so pervades Christianity (to the exclusion of judgment and sin) is in large part Beecher's legacy---so successful in fact that it eclipses the man himself. He was an orator for the ages, with many of his words still in circulation:

"The power of hiding ourselves from one another is mercifully given, for men are wild beasts, and would devour one another but for this protection."

What struck me about the book was the power that personality has over theology. So much of what has been passed down to us to believe through the ages results from the particular passions of those who fashioned it. This is both good and bad, of course, for reasons that Beecher himself fully recognized even as he was doing it.