Exodus 29:1-30:38
Doesn’t this ‘wave offering’ strike you as just a little bit funny? I can’t get an image out of my head of a man tentatively holding up a bloody piece of lamb and gingerly shaking it in the direction of the arc of the covenant, wondering how long he needs to do it before the wave offering is ‘complete’ and he can be spared any further embarrassment. I wonder if they had a certain number of wafts that they felt would be sufficient?
The thing that strikes me most about this section is the systematic and grueling manner in which Israelites set things apart exclusively for worship of the Lord. The tabernacle is the most obvious example but you also have the Aaronites themselves, the incense and the anointing oil, to say nothing of the breath-taking volume of animals and grain that were cast upon the fire of the Lord. Even the people themselves felt it was appropriate to pay a ransom to atone for their lives, probably for them not being given over exclusively to the worship of the Lord (and in this context worship of the Lord meant temple/tabernacle-worship, not life-style worship). Comparing this sense of obligation to the modern laissez-faire approach to church and house-group attendance may not quite be fair but it does leave one feeling a deep sense of embarrassment. The form of this corporate worship (animal sacrifice etc) has certainly been overthrown but I wonder whether the substance of it (absolute priority above all things) is still meant to be in play.
Mark 6:6b-29
Mark’s account of Jesus sending out the 12 could sound over-whelming. Jesus commands the disciples to go on a journey and to take nothing with them, making raspingly clear that nothing means no extra thing. He tells them to give themselves wholly to those who receive them and to swiftly move on in judgement (shaking off the dust is a sign that even the land of that place has been tainted by the sin of the people) from those who don’t. This is challenging but, you know, I think we can manage it - it is essentially deciding to “work where God is working” and to detach from possessions; something we probably agree with, even if it is easier said than done.
We may particularly baulk at the message of the disciples - calling people to repent rather than “sharing the love of Jesus with the world”. I hope you’ll be encouraged by a quick thought on this: repentance, I believe, would have been heard by Israel as much as a positive act as a negative one. It was a word of promise of the coming of the end of exile more than a finger-pointing warning about fire and brimstone. Admittedly, it did require people to acknowledge that their current state was one of exile - of punishment for past trespasses and of separation from the presence of God but I think there are scores of people today who absolutely feel that they are in this position. Some are haunted by their demons, some are wracked by their sicknesses and others are crippled by loneliness and guilt. Many, many people are crying out for some hope to be injected into their lives. We have this hope and we have the means of injecting it; through preaching (talking), through praying (laying on of hands) and through (intentionally giving people our time. As we do this, as we follow the example of the 12, we will see time and again the kingdom of God breaking into the lives of the people around us.
Proverbs 5:15-23
I have it on the good authority of John Mumford that this is about orgasms. Don’t go looking for sexual gratification at work or on the street but seek regular orgasms with your spouse. Not only is it a fulfilling way to do life but it is also an act obedience to the word of the Lord.
