Jubilate Tuesday - Devotion in Exile

Lection for Jubilate Tuesday 
Leviticus 10:1-20     Luke 9:37-62  

It has been my practice in this space, to concentrate our meditation upon some part of the New Testament lesson which is given as the day’s lectionary. Today it is good that we consider the Old Testament lesson. I know some like to think that the Old Testament is “done” and we are now “New Testament Christians.” Well, it is important to remember what Jesus declared, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.” (Matt. 5:17)

So, today’s Old Testament lesson gives us a clearer understanding of what God thinks concerning His house of prayer, and how He wants it to be treated. With that in mind, it is important to read again a portion of that lesson from Leviticus.

10:1 Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. 2 And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. 3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “It is what the Lord spoke, saying,

‘By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy,

And before all the people I will be honored.’”

So Aaron, therefore, kept silent.

4 Moses called also to Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Aaron’s uncle Uzziel, and said to them, “Come forward, carry your relatives away from the front of the sanctuary to the outside of the camp.” 5 So they came forward and carried them still in their tunics to the outside of the camp, as Moses had said. 6 Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, so that you will not die and that He will not become wrathful against all the congregation. But your kinsmen, the whole house of Israel, shall bewail the burning which the Lord has brought about. 7 You shall not even go out from the doorway of the tent of meeting, or you will die; for the Lord’s anointing oil is upon you.” So they did according to the word of Moses.

8 The Lord then spoke to Aaron, saying, 9 “Do not drink wine or strong drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the tent of meeting, so that you will not die—it is a perpetual statute throughout your generations— 10 and so as to make a distinction between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean, 11 and so as to teach the sons of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them through Moses.” (vv. 1-10)

Having read this, do you understand what God is saying and doing? Do you recognize God’s attitude toward His house of worship?

It is His house! It is holy! There are things that are not acceptable there, things which should not be! Why? Because they are coming into God’s presence.

So you remember Moses going up on the mountain to see the burning bush, and God being in that fire and speaking to him? What was it God first says to Moses after calling him by name? God says, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” (Exodus 3:5) Holy ground deserves reverence and holiness, uncleanness is unacceptable.

While God is with us wherever we may be, when we come into God’s house, we are coming into a different manner of God’s presence! This is where God is present to give us His gifts, to speak to us, to grant to us His mercy and grace – IT  IS  HOLY  GROUND! And it should be treated as such!

In our text, Nadab and Abihu decided they were going to “tweak” what God had commanded them to do in regard to bringing in the incense. How much of a problem would it be to change the incense recipe, or do it in a different manner? All that really matter should be the attitude of the heart, right?

God’s response was to consume them with fire!

With what reverence do we come into God’s house? With what reverence is the worship in God’s house conducted? Is it done out of reverence for the holiness of God? Is it done with the expectation that God is present, that He has demands for His house, that it is He that gather us together to bless us with His presence and make us holy?

As we gather in God’s house, coming together to be the Body of Christ, united to Christ through Baptism. Clothed with Christ’s righteousness, we gather to have faith fed and nourished, and to have our garments of salvation laundered in the blood of the Lamb. We come into His presence with thanksgiving, that we might be strengthened to go out into the world as living testimony to the love God which dwells in us.

Yes, I am on vacation, so for the next few days I will be posting things having to do with the Divine Service. It is good for us to examine what we do together in worship, and why. So, I will be taking this daily devotional space to post up things about the Divine Service. Tomorrow’s will be an explanation of worship from the introduction for they hymnal, Lutheran Worship, the following three days I will post the three sermons that I have preached in the past – one on each part of the Divine Service.

God’s blessings on your day, and your week – in the name of Christ.