April 16, 2010

Leviticus 20

Yesterday we looked at reflecting the glory of God in our own lives by being holy because He is holy. That vein of thought continues on in today’s passage. There are a number of associations mentioned here in which God would not allow His people to participate because they would reflect upon His holiness. Included here are: sacrificing children to Molech, turning to mediums and familiar spirits, cursing a parent, adultery, various forms of incest, bestiality and homosexuality. The people of God are not to participate in these activities because they defile His holiness.

Recently I read a book by an accomplished theologian defending the practice of monogamous homosexuality. Certainly he had to explain away passages like this one and a few others found in the Scripture. The gist of his argument in this passage was that the context was reacting to Canaanite worship. These were all practices that the Canaanites had in their worship of their gods. Since God is holy, he argued that the Israelites should not use the heathen practices in their worship of the Lord. He then surmised that unless the practice was forbidden elsewhere in Scripture, then the practices were okay as long as they were not used in worship.

Hmmm. . . I guess that would mean that as long as it was not an act of worship I could sacrifice my children. My children had better look out! I can visit mediums and seek familiar spirits as long as it is not an act of worship. I can curse my parents as long as it is not in a religious ritual. I can go commit adultery as long as it is not a religious ceremony. Incest is fair game, just not in church. Approval of bestiality might open up a whole new market for a dog business. Now in all fairness, I guess I should not have addressed cursing parents and committing adultery for they are forbidden in the ten commandments. Maybe I should put up a palm reading sign on my front door. After all, I wouldn’t use it in a worship service. No! These are not activities that reflect the glory of the Lord in any situation. Is it not better just to say that these are sin? Is it not better to repent if I fall into this sin?

In another light, yesterday we saw the greatest command was to love your neighbor as yourself. What if I have a neighbor who sacrifices his children? The loving thing to do would be to tell the authorities for he must be restrained from sacrificing his children. What if the authorities will not intervene? The loving thing to do would be to love that neighbor and tell him that God does approve of the sacrifice of their child. Would it not be better to help and support that neighbor to make a decision for life? (Do we not have neighbors that practice child sacrifice, abortion?) If we have neighbors who are practicing the dark arts, do we seek to pray for them, love them and share the truth with them? If we have neighbors who are adulterers do we love them and share the truth with them? If we have neighbors who practice incest, should we not tell the authorities? Should we not let them know that this practice is wrong? Would not PETA speak up if I bred dogs for people who practice bestiality? If my neighbor is practicing homosexuality, is it not incumbent upon me to love them and to share with them that this practice is wrong?

Here is the marvelous glory of God. On the one hand, He hates and detests sin. On the other hand, He loves people. He tells us what sin is. He loved us so much that He gave His Only Begotten Son to die for the penalty of our sin. He gives us opportunity to repent and receive forgiveness of sin. How can we do any less? We are to reflect His glory, His holiness. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!

--Pastor john

Luke 13:22-35

I used to live in a relatively small community that experienced horrendous traffic jams. There was one intersection that controlled access between Oak Island, Southport, travel west toward Charlotte and northeast toward Wilmington. If you were on one side of the intersection and needed to get to the other side, there was only one route, through that intersection. DOT had been trying to rebuild the intersection in order to produce better traffic flow. The Construction caused tremendous traffic problems for us. I heard stories of people taking over an hour to get through that one intersection. When I know that a certain direction is going to produce problems, I avoid it. Don’t you?

Jesus was headed for an intersection under construction. Verse 22 says that He was journeying toward Jerusalem. He was going there for one supreme purpose, and He was painfully aware of it. He spoke of it to His disciples as He journeyed. One day some friendly Pharisees came to warn Him of Herod’s intent to kill Him. Their intent was to get Him to take a detour, avoid the intersection. But it was Jesus’ glory that He already knew of the problem and was actually controlling the traffic. He would go there. He would die. He would then defeat death. Purposely He headed there, not because He couldn’t avoid it but because He loved us. In order to bring us into His kingdom, there was only one route, through that intersection. He controlled the construction. He controlled the traffic. He controlled the way.

Along the way He instructed us that if we want to enter the kingdom, its entrance in a narrow gate. He is the gate. Identification often times means heading to a painful intersection. The only route through is death to self. We choose to die with Him that we might be raised with Him. Some seek to enter the kingdom. They see the cost of the entrance at the gate and avoid it. They go a different direction. That is His glory! He chose death and resurrection for us. We have the privilege of identifying with Him. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!

--Pastor John