I don't think this makes much sense as a sermon, but it is the notes I put in my pocket for a sermon that, like the rest of the family service at St. John's, requires full participation from everyone in order to make happen. There is something beyond satisfying to share the scriptures with people who have not already made up their minds about what it says and how they feel about it, and who want to have a conversation.
What are Rules?
ordering for life
how to live
best practices
Example – Rules for crossing the street
under 10?
10-20?
over 20?
Rules get more nuanced as we get older. We can make more decisions based on our experience once we have some experience, but when we don’t have a lot of experience, we have something like this service – we help each other with what comes next.
God has rules for us too.
Jesus – 2 rules (love God, love our neighbors as ourselves)
Moses-10 rules (love God, no false idols, honor mother and father, don’t covet what our neighbors has, etc)
Leviticus – book in the Hebrew Testament, the Older Books in the bible. It is full of rules, and like the crossing the street rules that we make for kids under 10, they can seem excessive or so particular that we can’t see how they actual relate to either Moses’ rules or Jesus’ rules. The section from Leviticus that is in our lectionary today is about lies and stealing.
“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You shall not strip your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien: I am the LORD your God.”
I admit, I am not a farmer, so really, to explain don’t lie or steal in this way doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. So, there’s more…
“You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; and you shall not lie to one another. And you shall not swear falsely by my name, profaning the name of your God: I am the LORD.
“You shall not defraud your neighbor; you shall not steal; and you shall not keep for yourself the wages of a laborer until morning. You shall not revile the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind; you shall fear your God: I am the LORD.
“You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor. You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not profit by the blood of your neighbor: I am the LORD.
“You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.”
Leviticus 19:1-2,9-18
God gives something that my mom didn’t when she gave me all those specific rules about crossing the street – God tells us why.
“The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.”
We are holy. Just like God is holy. Like Jane says in Godly Play about holy people. They come close to God and God comes close to them. Holy is what we are because we are God’s people. We don’t ever have to wonder about that. God does love us. And in some sense, we have God right inside us, just like the whole world has something of God in it. But, we aren’t God, and we don’t always know what the right thing to do is. So, just like our 9am service, we tell each other what comes next, and we help each other do the things God asks so that we can act in holy ways, as God made us. Sometimes, we need really really specific directions, like Leviticus, and sometimes we can carry a shorthand list, and sometimes, when we get some experience, we can just carry around Jesus’ two rules, and we are able to be holy and act holy more often than not. But until then, it is good that we have each other and we have the rules, the best practices of holy people who have come before, to help us along the way.
