Laying Down the Law

The relationship between Old Testament and New, between law and grace, between being forgiven and becoming a changed person remains a tense one. The story is told of a seminarian who once threw a theological temper tantrum in regard to all of this. “Sinning and being forgiven, sinning and being forgiven, sinning and being forgiven,” he howled, “does nobody want off this hamster wheel? Ever heard of sanctification? Anybody interested in learning to sin a little less?” So many considered our Levitical exploits as so much waste of time. As one blogger wrote, “The point of Leviticus is to point to Christ. There is a good reason why the apostles didn’t require the Gentiles to keep the law. IT WAS A BURDEN! Why would anyone want to do something that was burdensome and fulfilled in Christ. If anything trying to keep it should cause us to rejoice that in Christ we have freedom!” But freedom for what? Surely God’s grace amounts to more than the perpetual remission of our sins. Leviticus isn’t in the Bible merely to show you your need for grace. It’s in the Bible to show you what grace is for.

After the experiment was over, our group (with one exception) was floored by the experience. To a person, coming face to face with the demands of holiness stretched our faith in powerful ways. For some, the idea of obedience was no longer the idea of capitulating to a set of rules, but rather a pathway of relationship whereby the goodness, holiness and awesomeness of God came clear. For all of us, the emphasis on holiness as day-to-day reality challenged the tendency to compartmentalize our spirituality from the ordinary. Suddenly food and clothing and shelter and every person we met mattered to God in ways we never would have thought. And having it matter made us more aware of God. But then we just stopped. For whatever reason, Levitical obedience was not sustainable as a lifestyle. Why not? The tension between God’s way and our way is an ongoing journey.