Leviticus: rules or heart?

In Leviticus 10, there are two stories about ignoring God’s commands – one results in death and the other is blessed.

Nadab and Abihu took unauthorized incense into the sanctuary. The result was “fire came out from the Lord and consumed them”. The same fire that just consumed sacrifices in approval, consumed priests in disapproval. Then Aaron refused to eat consecrated meat but Moses – and God - accepted his actions.

We don’t know what was in the heart of Nadab and Abihu. Why did they disobey the commands? Was it from neglect, arrogance or something else? We will never know. Yet with Aaron, it was on purpose. He refused to obey the command because of his grief. The sacrificial meat was to be eaten in celebration but his heart could not rejoice after losing his sons. Thus he ignored the commands because his heart could not fulfill the command to rejoice. In these stories I find the balance of law and grace. When God’s law is violated without reason – or for poor reasons – there are consequences. When the spirit of God’s law is honored – even though the superficial action might actually be a violation – there is grace. 

Our God is an eternal Father. He knows his children and takes into account the heart behind the action. The question is do I? Or do I get so caught up in rule keeping that I only judge by actions? Would I have condemned Aaron that day? He disobeyed and he did it on purpose. How would I have responded? More importantly, how will I respond to the next Aaron in my life?

Romans 12:1-2; Courageous Meditation

I continue to be amazed at how there is very little new in the New Testament. Throughout the Torah God called his people to meditate on the law and be different. When he commissioned Joshua he called him to be courageous and hold to the law. Now in Romans 12 Paul says to be different and renew our minds. Nothing new. Yet, nothing easy.

Both actions take effort. Expending effort in order to be different is not what we are continuously told be your society that we should do. We are called to think and act differently from the masses. Constant bombardment from media tells us to look like everyone else, to not be spiritual and to follow the icons of Hollywood.

God knew that only constant bombardment from his word can counter this type of attack on the mind and soul. Yet it will always take courage to step out of the crowd and march to a different drum.

Romans 3:21-31; Faith only

My wife and I had a long conversation yesterday about church attendance. It was the "does this count" conversation. Is it church when you go to a devo, small group, house church, etc? It seems that most of us Christians have exchanged a focus on living out faith in Christi Monday through Saturday with showing up at a location on Sunday. Somehow being in a building on Sunday has become synonymous with being a Christian. In order to embrace that belief we prioritize one hour on Sunday over all other behavior. Perhaps worse we substitute one action over the internal work of the Holy Spirit in a believer's life. I think Paul would argue that we have gone back to observing law over holding to faith. We have reverted to evaluating each other based upon an unwritten rule rather than looking at the heart and soul of a person to see how shaped in the image of God they are.

How hard it is to not only live by faith but to use only the rule of faith to evaluate all of life.

Romans 2:12-16; With or Without

"So what happens to the guy living in the deepest jungle that never hears about Jesus? What happens to him at judgment?"

How many times have I heard that question? How many times have I even asked it myself?

Paul doesn't get too bent out of shape about it. As a Jew converted to Christianity, that question had been discussed thousands of times. The Jews had the law and the Creator would judge them by that revelation. Those who did not have the blessing of the revealed law would be judged by their consciences, hearts and thoughts.

For Paul it was daily reality. He was dealing with the people about whom the question was asked. Yet most of the times that I have heard the question it was not dealing with reality. The poser of the question had no interaction with anyone in a jungle nor any concern about them. It usually is a question posed in order to accomplish the childish goal of screaming "not fair". When caught in the act, my kids always seemed to point at each other and ask "what about him?" It is simply a smokescreen tactic for most of us. It keeps us from feeling as guilty about our own failure to obey.

Yet for me today the question needs not be "what about him" but rather "what about me?" I know plenty. I not only have the revelation to which Paul referred but also the ongoing revelation of God through New Testament men, history and the world around me. So rather than project smokescreens I should ask "what about me? Am I obedient to what I know already?"

Romans 1:8-17; By Faith

Two sections stand out to me. First, Paul calls God himself as a witness to Paul's faithfulness in prayer for the people of Rome that he has not yet met. What a conviction to pray. How often to I tell someone "I'll pray for you" and then forget? How easy it is to not be diligent in praying for even those I love.

Then Paul makes the statement that "in the gospels a righteousness from God is revealed; a righteousness that is by faith from first to last. Just as it is written the righteous will live by faith."

I grew up reading the gospels and hearing the story over and over. Yet somehow I heard it not as the revelation of a life of faith but as how to perfectly live in order to fulfill requirements. I heard it as the new law. It was still a law but it was a better one than the previous Old Testement. Yet Paul refers to it as revelation. The revelation of a new way to live that is totally unrelated to law.

Reading Paul's comment makes me want to repent. It makes me want to start over. To read and re-read the story until it is clearer to me that this in not a "how to" manual for perfect life before a lawmaking God but rather this is the revelation of the righteousness from God to us.