Sermons

Open Handed, Holy Living

During a meeting of the parish stewardship committee, members viewed a thirty-second video clip taken in the primate house of a local zoo. The zookeeper placed some “monkey delicacies” (banana bits, lettuce, and others) into a plastic container with a very tiny opening. Then she put the bottle on a table and left the room. Soon, one of the monkeys slowly approached the container, reached carefully inside, and grasped a large handful of treats.

Unfortunately, with its fist full of food, the monkey was unable to remove its hand from the container. The monkey would first shake the container; then vigorously pound it on the table. This happened time after time, monkey after monkey. After a training session, the monkeys learned that the only way they could get their hands free was to let go of the food. The only way they could receive any food was to dump the contents of the bottle on the table, in the middle of the other hungry monkeys who were observing. The only way for a monkey to taste the gourmet food was to share it with others.

There’s a lesson here for all of us; a lesson that is clearly demonstrated in today’s reading from Leviticus. God tells the people. “… You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2).

The gathered congregation of Israel can do holy things – sharing with the poor and weak, loving their neighbor, living at peace within their families – because God is holy and they are already God’s holy people.

Because God has made us his holy people through our baptism into Christ Jesus, therefore, we can also do holy things. Holy, ethical behavior is an authentic demonstration of God’s love for us and for all creation.

One Thanksgiving day, six-year-old Felicia was helping a large group of church folks who were serving dinner at a local shelter for homeless families. When Felicia placed a still-steaming dinner roll on his plate, one of the men asked why she was there and not at home on Thanksgiving.

Little Felicia declared, “My granddaddy says that Thanksgiving Day should be a holy day for everybody, and we should make sure to show it! Now keep moving. Somebody else needs a roll!”

Now, that’s what holiness looks like. Holy deeds might actually speak at least as loudly as holy words. Keep moving, someone else needs a roll. That almost sounds like a mission statement, doesn’t it?

God made us holy in order that God’s holy love can be made visible to others.

The writer of 1 Peter states it like this: “… you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).

You see, it’s not about what we do, or even fail to do; it’s about what God has done, is doing, and has promised to continue to do. God declared that the congregation of Israel shall be holy because God is holy. God had declared his people to be a holy nation because God made them holy through the gift of his own Son.

When we look at our reading from Leviticus, it’s important to remember a lesson from cultural anthropologists, those people who study ancient civilizations. These folks examine what the laws and teachings of a society prohibit in order to develop a picture of what people were actually doing. In other words, they first examine the “don’ts” before they describe a reason for the “do’s.”

Think about the “don’ts’ in our society, our schools, our workplace, our families, or even our congregations. Don’t break the speed limit. Don’t talk in class. Don’t play computer games during business hours. Don’t throw your dirty clothes on the floor. Don’t park your car in the Rector’s space. Each “don’t” describes actual behavior or it would not be prohibited. You can think of many more examples.

As you read our lesson from Leviticus, watch for what behaviors were actually happening among God’s people. Owners of farms and vineyards were harvesting all of their crops, reaping to the very edges of [their] field (Leviticus 19:9). They would strip [their] vineyards bare, gathering even the fallen grapes for themselves (Leviticus 19:10).

Others were guilty of stealing, dealing falsely, speaking lies, and using God’s name to justify phony promises in order to defraud others (Leviticus 19:11-12). Some were holding back wages from laborers who had expected to be paid at the end of each day’s work. Still others took advantage of the deaf and blind (Leviticus 19:13-14). Injustice, slander, family grudges, and favoritism were commonplace (Leviticus 19:15-18).

Doesn’t this sound a lot like the monkeys with their fists filled with food and trapped inside the plastic container? Doesn’t this also reflect what we see in our society, even among Christians today? What does our own plastic container look like? What do we grasp so tightly in our clenched fists that prevents us from holy living?

Here are some examples of open handed, holy living from today’s Lesson:

Sharing your food supply with the poor and the alien (Leviticus 19:10).

Speaking the truth and dealing fairly with all persons regardless of their social status (Leviticus 19:11-16).

Making peace with friends and family members with whom you hold a grudge (Leviticus
19:17-18).

In Leviticus, the neighbor is not simply a peer, or one who shares our lifestyle and value system. The neighbor includes those who are shunned by society – those on the margins – those whom we are likely to forget.

When we show partiality to certain groups, when we carry longstanding grudges and prejudice, we not only wound others, we also wound our own souls. When we keep our fists tightly clenched around God’s gifts, no one, not even ourselves, can share God’s blessings. How we relate to all God’s children does reveal a measure of faithfulness to God.

Yes, holy living is really tough! Loving our neighbor as ourselves is next to impossible! That is, if we think we can do this alone. Look at the text again. God says that indeed holy lives are possible. “… For I the Lord your God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2). It’s not about our actions. It’s about God’s promised love.

Note well that in each section where God describes the “don’ts” and prescribes the “do’s” God declares “I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19:10, 12, 14, 16, 18). Five times we read God’s saving declaration. Five times, God proclaims that because God is the Lord (and we are not), therefore, God’s chosen children are able to live holy lives.

Because God has made us his children through baptism into Christ, we are able to unclench our fists and release God’s gifts to others. Because God’s own Son died for us and for all people, we are able to see others who also “need a roll.”

D. T. Niles, a Methodist pastor from Sri Lanka, once defined evangelism as “one beggar showing another beggar where the bread is.” My friends, the bread is here in our midst, on the altar. The bread is the body of Christ, “given for you,” and for all God’s people. Here God nourishes his children and opens our hands to release this bread for the entire world.

Let’s keep moving. Somebody else needs a roll.