Sermons

The Old Testament Reading comes from the book of Leviticus this week. Upon noting this selection, preachers may be tempted to skip once again to the Gospel or Epistle Reading without much pause. Most pastors don’t want to deal with the intricacies of law codes and purity laws? How would these “restrictions” and rules ever speak to complex twenty-first century lives? The reason is simple: Jesus, in the Gospel Reading (Matthew 5:38-48) for this week, actually quotes from Leviticus. “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18); Matthew 5:23. But let’s begin with Leviticus 19:1, “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.” What does it mean to be holy? It means to be “dedicated or consecrated to God for a religious purpose; sacred.”