My daughter just rolls her eyes at me and says, “Whatever, dad.”

She knows I don’t really love cleaning the bathroom.  She sees through my shallow ploy to get her motivated to do her chores.  But, she cleans the bathroom.  That look of accomplishment in her eyes when she displays the sparkling results of her hard work is unmistakable: she loves it!

Maybe you were rolling your eyes a little as I introduced our new series on Leviticus last weekend.  I told you how excited I was about diving into Leviticus.  I’ll admit it is not an easy book.  When it says that a priest’s daughter who turns to prostitution should be burned to death, it’s a little hard to swallow!  At times it seems repetitious about trivial details (how many times do we need to know that the offering should have no physical defects), gross (do we really need the details of cleansing from contagious skin diseases, yuk!) and at other times extremely harsh (fire blazes forth from the Lord’s presence and burns up Aarons sons for disobeying God’s instructions).  In spite of all the difficult aspects of Leviticus I really do love uncovering its riches!

When I think about how hard the Israelites worked to remind themselves of God’s presence in their lives it challenges me to think about how meager my spiritual life looks in comparison.  When I think about the role of the priest in Israel and his responsibility to represent the people to God and God to the people I wonder if I am worthy of that same role as 1 Peter 2:9 says all of us are!

Last night I sat in a meeting with community leaders thinking about Leviticus.  Most of them in the room have probably never read Leviticus.  Many of them are probably not aware of the closeness of God.  As a priest I pondered how I was representing God in that meeting.  Did my attitude, my actions, my words give some indication of God’s presence?  Did I represent those people to God?

If Leviticus tells us anything it is that we must design our lives in such a way that we have reminders of God’s presence and power in everything we do.   As we begin a NEW YEAR, I hope you will take some ideas from Leviticus and find some ways you can set up reminders of God in your everyday life.  Maybe it’s post-it notes with verses, prayer time in the morning, a song every night, reading through the Bible in a year, praying for your co-workers during every meeting or tuning your radio to 89.7 or 90.1.  Only your imagination limits the ways you can connect with God every day!

Tribe Levi Series: Kris Vos

January 2/3: Tribe Levi: Sacrifice
Big Idea: OT animal sacrifices help us understand the depth of God’s grace through the atoning sacrifice of Christ.
Thoughts on Sacrifice/Atonement:

• -Ritual is a bridging mechanism that spans a gap between people that could not ordinarily interact.
• -God gives the details for various reasons. (“slit the throat” – less suffering for the animal; kill first then spread the blood – common sense)
• -The goal of the ritual is atonement which is a sweet aroma to God.
• -The hand is laid on the head of the animal to symbolize transferring of guilt to the animal.
• -the sacrificial system was God’s “altar call” to his people.  The brought a tangible sign of their dependence on Him and their desire to be with Him.

Take home:  What does our worship cost us? Celebrate Communion.  Do we desire to connect with God as He requires or do we chafe at his requirements?

Big Idea:  The path to true peace on earth comes through a life dedicated to God’s glory.

• The angels give as a view from heaven.
• The close connection between heaven and earth is revealed in their brief prayer of praise.
• Our desperate search for peace on earth is bound by what we have at our disposal rather than the rich resources of heaven!
• The angels exist to give glory to God…what does a lifelong pursuit of God’s glory look like for us?

Take home:  Let’s learn to live all of life with a view toward heaven.

Mary’s prayer reflects the “great reversal” of the kingdom: the humble being exalted.

• Mary believes though she is an unlikely candidate.
• She is young and a woman yet in short order she accepts whatever God has for her.
• “Who am I” is her humble reflection
• Not so much what Mary does as what is done to her to bring salvation

Take home:  Your so-called small life becomes huge when attached to God.