Links for today’s readings:
Read: Leviticus 19 Listen: (4:39) Read: Acts 15 Listen: 5:43)
Scripture Focus: Leviticus 19.1, 9-15
1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.
9 “ ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God. 11 “ ‘Do not steal. “ ‘Do not lie. “ ‘Do not deceive one another. 12 “ ‘Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord. 13 “ ‘Do not defraud or rob your neighbor. “ ‘Do not hold back the wages of a hired worker overnight. 14 “ ‘Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the Lord. 15 “ ‘Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.
Reflection: Being Holy Includes Being Just
By John Tillman
God’s holiness is the motivating factor in every command. “I am holy, therefore, be holy.”
Leviticus 19 echoes the Ten Commandments, with some commands centering on the Israelites’ relationship to and treatment of God, such as not building idols and having proper respect for worship practices. However, the majority of the commands to “be holy,” involve others.
Godly holiness means being loving and just.
Do not harvest everything. Leave enough margin for the poor and the foreigner. Do not cheat one another or your workers. Do not curse or harm the disabled. Enforce the law impartially. Do not endanger others.
Leviticus defines God-commanded holiness as loving like God by establishing justice, doing good, being selfless, and helping the unfortunate. Being holy is not some esoteric, difficult-to-define, spiritual-emotional state. Holiness includes practical demonstrations of God’s love and justice.
Pray for this kind of holiness in our lives, communities, and nations.
Being Holy Includes Being Just
God who gives harvests, teach us to leave margins for the marginalized.
Let us not be so efficient that we spend every cent in our own interest. (Leviticus 19.9)
For when we collect all the profit to ourselves we steal by keeping what you instructed us to leave for the poor. (Leviticus 19.9-10)
When we say, “We can’t afford to help” we are often deceptive—the truth is we have spent the portion you intended us to use to aid others. (Leviticus 19.10-13)
Teach us to honor workers, for you ask us to pray for workers in the vineyard and not to spare expense in paying them. Let us not be stingy, but generous that all will go well with our nation. (Leviticus 19.13)
Teach us to help those in need without partiality or favoritism. Teach us to remove barriers to success and allow all to be treated equitably. (Leviticus 19.14-15)
Teach us not to value our own freedoms over our neighbor’s life and to treat foreigners with the same love we treat our own family. (Leviticus 19.33)
Teach us to root out corruption and dishonesty.
Let not the poor be defrauded by corrupt business…
Let not the minority be dominated by the majority…
Let not the weak be preyed upon by the powerful…
Help us make the scales of commerce, scales of political representation, and scales of justice fair. (Leviticus 19.36)
In all these things, may we be holy as you are holy by being just as you are just and loving as you are loving.
Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
May God be merciful to us and bless us, show us the light of his countenance and come to us.
Let your ways be known upon earth, your saving health among all nations. — Psalm 67.1-2
– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.
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