Reflection #3: Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18

A reading from the 19th chapter of Leviticus:

1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 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.

15 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. 16 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. 17 You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself. 18 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.

***

You shall love your neighbor, which is the second greatest commandment. Right after loving your God. So often we find ourselves asking the big question, "HOW?"

How do I love God?

How do I love my neighbor?

How do I determine the rate of acceleration of a falling object tossed off the Empire State Building?

How do I know who my neighbor is?

How?

How?

How?

Unfortunately, the book of Leviticus is full of things that we are not supposed to do, which often times gets thrown at people with condemnation and persecution. I have personally experienced this many times, when people like to pick out 19:28, which says do not cut yourself for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. To this I often want to retort: do you wear poly-cotton blends, eat shellfish of any kind, or shave the hair at the side of your head (men)? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you suck too!

However, we are not called to do this. If anything we have fallen into the trap of using the law to prosper ourselves. It is to our personal benefit to highlight the shortcomings of others so that we might be elevated. This is what bullying is, and us Christians are really good at it!

However, if we are to cherry pick any pieces of the law, why not pick the parts that answer some of our "How" questions. For instance, the passage found at the beginning of this post would be a good one for "How do I love my neighbor?" Let's take a quick look at what it offers.

1. Judge appropriately, especially the poor and mighty (Keep an appropriate perspective)
2. Speak the truth in love about others (Keep a civil tongue, and see #1)
3. Love your neighbors, offering them assistance and guidance when necessary (see #1)
4. Let things go, do not hold on to the past as it impedes the future
5. Love your neighbor as yourself!

This is not a very extensive list of things, but in the process of unpacking these "shall dos" from the re-imagination of the Leviticus text, there is a lot going on there. However, what it all really boils down to is we have to take care of other people, regardless of where they are, who they are, or what they may have done to us in the past. Life is about so much more than the squabbles over the snow being thrown over your fence (or sand or poop or insert throwable material here). It matters, but it should not be the climax of our relationship with our neighbor. It's bigger than that. They are blessed children of God just like you are, so act like it!

This is personally convicting to me, and if you would like to hear more about it reach out--let's talk.

Let us pray:

Most loving and merciful God, you provide us with the tools of interaction so that we might love our neighbors as ourselves. We fall short, constantly, of this command and more often than not come up with excuses as to why we have failed. We come to you this day for the strength, knowledge and compassion to carry out your call to love our neighbor, regardless of what that might look like. We need you, we long for your presence, and we know that you're ever present. Soften our hardened hearts so that we may see your presence in the world and follow your example. In the name of Jesus we come to you in prayer.

Amen.