Leviticus 7:11-8:36
It’s encouraging to see that the tabernacle was not just about atoning for sin. Offerings were also made to give special thanks to God (the fellowship offering) and to ordain the priests for service. The fellowship offering feels like a vicar’s tea party with people bringing a selection of cakes for the priests to eat. And I particularly enjoy the fact that the priests had to finish them all off on the day they were given (7:15) - what a life of sacrifice they lived!
The ordination stuff is interesting. First of all the priests have to dress up like Mr Miyagi from Karate Kid then they undertake a drawn out process of purification; putting hands on a bulls head (I assume it was already dead when they did this, otherwise this ceremony seems to take on a whole other angle??) and then on a rams head and then on another rams head before being smeared with a bit of blood on their ear, thumb and toe (I’ve no idea why those bits of the body were chosen). Finally they go through the positive empowering or anointing phase being flicked with oil and having a 7-day-long meat fondue at the entrance of the tent. I don’t suppose any of these practices are crying out to be reinstated today but the priorities they reveal are valuable, especially as we now have the priesthood of all believers; both purity and anointing are absolutely critical, as is obedience to the commands of the Lord.
Mark 11:1-25
I don’t know whether you would have seen the WWJD wrist-bands that were sported by every hip christian dude (including yours truly) during the 1990s. They helped us ask ‘What Would Jesus Do’ which in turn led us to doing the kindest, most loving thing in every situation. So that time that I stole a donkey, well I couldn’t understand what the police’s problem was. And why was my neighbour so angry when I made his apple tree wither? Don’t even get me started on how out of order my vicar was after that church-trashing episode!
I guess my point is that the call to walk like Jesus walked is not as simple as just acting like a hippy. Jesus was such a provocative revolutionary I just don’t know that I could never begin to live up to him. It is a tricky thing to emulate the blazing light of the world! So, I think walking like Jesus is about following him, not copying him. I think the biblical call is more for us to ask him (through faith-filled prayer and repentance) to empower us to do what he wants us to, rather than relying on our own ability to do what we think he would have done. Jesus tore down a kingdom and established a new one of his very own, we are called to join him in his work but we are only ever going to get anywhere through complete and utterly groveling dependance upon him.
Psalm 28:1-9
I love the fact that in every context David always seemed to have the Lord as his primary focus. God was so dominant in David’s thoughts that you sometimes wonder if he ever thought about anyone else.
