Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Let Us Leviticus (Lev. 1-4)

Did anybody else's husband greet them at the door with a mortified look, thinking his wife spent the whole day with dirt smudged on her forehead?  No?  Just mine?

Earlier today someone on Facebook asked, "So what is everyone giving up for Lent?"  One person claimed we aren't supposed to tell anyone what we give up, siting Matthew 6:5-6: “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you."  As you can imagine, it started a whole thing on her FB wall. 

With the season of Lent kicking off, and the first few chapters of Leviticus under my belt, I'm thinking a lot about sacrifice.  The word certainly has some negative (bloody!) connotations.  The offerings in Leviticus seem archaic and barbaric, but thousands of years later, many Christians agree sacrifice still has an important place in our faith.  Totally different sacrifices, totally different reasons, but still.  I think there's so much more to Lent than just giving up a vice.  But.  When we fight temptation and win, we become a little more Christlike.  And when we move something out of our lives, there becomes a bit more room for something holy to move in.  Sacrifices might not be as irrelevant as we think in our society.  And happily, they're far less bloody.

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