“These were the instructions that the Holy One gave through Moses to the Children of Israel at Mount Sinai” (Leviticus 27.34).
All the words in this dense and bewildering book of instructions were spoken at the foot of Mount Sinai. After a brief journey following the crossing of the Red Sea, the Children of Israel came to this place to seal the covenant between themselves and their God. It’s the place of their great failure in the crafting and worshipping of the Golden Calf, and of their greatest moment, when they receive the Commandments given by God through Moses.
In the early chapters of this book, there’s the ordination ceremony for Aaron and his children. They spend seven days inside the borders of the Tent of Meeting preparing for the journey ahead. And, if we pull back just a bit, this book could be said to record the same—a community’s period of formation and preparation.
Unlike Aaron and his family, daily life does not stop for the people. The instructions on sacrifices imply that herds and crops are still tended. Humans continue to make love to one another, why else would there be these careful rituals of washing and cleaning afterward? And someone’s got to be cooking and cleaning while all this happens. Seems strange to think of this as a period like that of Aaron’s ordination, seeing that the daily routine of life never stopped.
Yet, behind all the detailed rules, I think this may be the thing Leviticus is trying to convey: that the deep cultivation of our life and relationship with Christ doesn’t happen in moments away from the bustle of the everyday, but within it. That just like the Children of Israel learned how to be in relationship with the One at the foot of Sinai while going about their lives, we are being reminded that this is where we will cultivate our own relationship. Here in the midst of work deadlines, dirty dishes, and unfolded laundry is where we will find ourselves invited into something new.
None of this is to say that there’s no value or anything wrong with retreating from the chores and routines of the everyday sometimes. Many, wiser people than I take weeks or weekends to go away and spend time with the One as you would go on vacation with family or friends. I think those are good and healthy. But it’s important to remember that our relationship with the Divine is cultivated right here, in the shadow of the mountain where we once encountered God face-to-face. Here, amidst the routine that fills our days.
Because, despite their complexity and rigidity, Leviticus’ verses are reminders that the lives we live are ones of sacred movements. The acts of cleaning and lovemaking, the experience of getting sick and getting well are motions in the liturgy of the everyday, which bring us into step with the Holy. That remind us that God has drawn near, and all this is part of making the world new.
Preparing us, as it did the Children of Israel, for the journey ahead.
Cloud by day and fire by night, you are your guide on this journey through the wild place of life. Help us to listen, to learn, and to sense your Presence in the midst of our everyday.