"It is Life acknowledging life" - Lent 2#
It seems, whatever the religion, there is some kind of ‘getting clean’ ritual.
Have you noticed how important a part water plays in most religions? Muslims wash themselves before they pray. Hindus bathe in the Ganges. AND, Christians get baptised as a sign of the washing away of sins.
This is because, when it comes to God, we innately feel dirty.
Psalm 24:3 poses the question:
‘Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in His holy place?’
The answer is found in verse 4: ‘The one who has clean hands and a pure heart.’
The book of Leviticus really posts the same question: how do a sinful people live side by side with a holy God? One way God made this possible was through an elaborate system of purification rites like sacrifices and washings to deal with sin and uncleanness.
Leviticus 4 describes one of these rituals. It deals with the issue of unintentional sin. You buy a coffee and walk away, forgetting to pay. You inadvertently plagiarise in your essay. You make a promise you don’t keep. In Leviticus 4 the guilty party is the high priest, and so guilt falls upon the whole people (v 3).
It continues describing how a community defiled by sin can become clean again.
First, the offender brings a bull without defect as a sin or purification offering. He brings the bull to the entrance of the tent of meeting, symbolically God’s dwelling place among his people. The sinner identifies with the animal by placing his hands upon it, and it is killed. The priest then performs ‘the blood rites’ to cleanse the tent. In this case, since it is the ‘anointed’ or high priest who has sinned, the whole tent, even the holy place, must be cleansed. He sprinkles the blood seven times denoting the thoroughness of the cleansing. Normally a priest could eat the remainder of the sacrifice, but in this case it’s the High Priest himself who’s the offending party, he can’t benefit personally from the punishment of his own sin. So the rest of the animal is destroyed. ‘In this way the priest will make atonement for the sin they have committed, and they will be forgiven’ (Leviticus 4:35).
I read some time ago the story of a young woman. She fell pregnant to her boyfriend, and was coerced into an abortion. Afterwards she was weighed down with guilt. She then described her journey to ‘self- forgiveness’. She lit a fire in the back garden and stood in the smoke because she had read that in many cultures smoke is used as a cleansing substance.
Then she planted a young eucalypt tree and in a simple ceremony proclaimed, ‘Life to acknowledge life’.
What a tragic story. A woman knows she’s committed a dreadful sin and in her desperation and folly stands in some dirty smoke to cleanse herself when, in fact, it’s her heart that needs cleansing.
The gospel tells us that only Jesus can cleanse the human heart. We read, ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness’ (1 John 1:9).
We should be so thankful for Jesus; that the day of these endless sacrifices for purification are passed.
We should be thankful that the floors of our churches aren’t stained by the blood of bulls and goats that are slaughtered there every morning.
We should be thankful Jesus’ death for us on the cross means that everything we read about in these chapters of Leviticus have been fulfilled'
And we, His people, SHOULD BE MOST THANKFUL, are we not NOW washed, cleansed and undefiled?
Lent leads to living forever under Divine counsel. It is Life ackknowledging life.
#Today's SoulSnack of Lenten Devotions is published by YOUTHWORKS and written by Rev. Mike Raiter, of The Gospel Coalition. Each one these new devotions also contain SoulSupply editing.
#Today's SoulSnack of Lenten Devotions was originally published by Youthworks Media and written by Rev Mike Raiter of The Centre for Biblical Preaching
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