Readings for today: Leviticus 19-20, Psalm 36
Everyone is a fan of love. We all want love. We all need love. We all crave love. It’s essential for the flourishing of human life. Without love, we fail to thrive. Without love, we struggle to connect. Without love, we become isolated, alone, afraid, and anxious. If we remain without love, our hearts fill up with hate, rage, and potentially, even violence. Violence against others. Violence against ourselves. Communities that lack love are fractured, divided, abusive, and exploitative in all kinds of ways. Nations where love is absent are chaotic, unjust, oppressive, and volatile. The lack of love in our world today creates all kinds of trauma and brokenness in our lives.
This is why God gives us a law. He is not only seeking to restrain our worst impulses as human beings but also seeking to create an environment where love is put into action. Don’t glean to the edges of your fields. Why? Because you are to love the poor. Don’t dishonor your father or mother. Why? Because you love your parents. Do not steal or lie. Why? Because you love your neighbor. Do not have sex with someone other than your spouse. Why? Because you love others and don’t want them to be exploited for your own sexual pleasure. Give the land rest from agriculture. Why? Because you love creation. Offer pure offerings before the Lord. Why? Because you love the Lord. Such boundaries are not arbitrary. They are absolutely necessary to create the conditions for love.
Loving one another is not an abstract idea. It’s not an aspirational idea or wishful thinking. Love takes concrete form in laws and regulations and policies and healthy boundaries that define relationships. The relationships might be familial or collegial or communal or civic. As much as we may resist them at times, they are essential for us to experience love or learn love or show love to those around us. The fact that we don’t often associate laws with love - especially God’s Law with God’s Love - only shows how much we need them. As you read through the laws in Leviticus, I know many of them may seem archaic and strange. It’s because they were designed to some extent for a far different world. Don’t let that throw you. Instead, think about how such laws might promote the experience of love in an ancient near east context. Now think about the laws we live by in our own world. The moral law God has given us through His Word. The civic law we live by in our communities and nation. Prayerfully reflect on how such laws lead you to experience love and share love with others.
Readings for tomorrow: Leviticus 21-23, Psalm 37