Holiness in the Midst of Messy Motherhood
Holiness and Homework: When Religion Meets Reality • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 12 views(Main point: Heaven and earth have come together and remain united even in the messy work of motherhood.) A Christian woman is a holy priest. When she gives birth to a baby, she is (especially in the ancient world) risking her health and her life for the sake of another. She is coming in close contact with mortality (Leviticus 12), but Jesus has defeated and removed ceremonial impurity. So now, a woman can be in the midst of motherhood, both in giving birth and parenting her children, and remain as pure and holy as she was when she came up out of the water of baptism. She serves as a priest, even in the midst of the mess.
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
Introduction:
I’m so thankful we could do that this morning, because often we don’t allow THAT part of our lives and THIS part of our lives to touch, and that’s a problem.
Come to church…
- Maybe we wear special clothes
- We try to be on our best behavior
Go home…
- Get busy with “real life.”
- We still try to do what’s right
- But we see that as separate and distinct from our church life
Family Life takes a lot of time and energy…
- Marriage (trying to find a spouse)
- Parenting Your Kids
- Helping with your grandkids
- Household chores
- Earning a living
- Being a good neighbor
What if…
What if we learned to see our HOME work as a continuation, not an interruption, of our HOLY work?
What if we learned to see our HOME work as a continuation, not an interruption, of our HOLY work?
You’re doing holy work here…
Singing
Praying
Studying
But you’re also doing holy work at home…
Taking out the trash
Changing a dirty diaper…
Disciplining a child…
Comforting one another after a loss…
The book of Leviticus can help us understand how Jesus makes this possible…
Biblical Text:
Biblical Text:
The tabernacle/temple was a holy place, a place where heaven and earth were reconciled and united.
The tabernacle/temple was a holy place, a place where heaven and earth were reconciled and united.
A place where you could be in close communion with God
A place that mirrored heaven
But the demands of real life forced people to step away from the tabernacle.
Under the Law of Moses, there were two matters that made a person unclean, unfit for the tabernacle…
Under the Law of Moses, there were two matters that made a person unclean, unfit for the tabernacle…
matters of MORALITY
right and wrong
sin and righteousness
matters of MORTALITY (matters of life and death)
bodily fluids
no one had done anything sinful or wrong
One of the clearest examples of this is childbirth
Every birth holds the promise of LIFE, but also the possibility of LOSS, reminding us of how closely life and death are intertwined.
Every birth holds the promise of LIFE, but also the possibility of LOSS, reminding us of how closely life and death are intertwined.
every mother is putting herself in mortal danger to bring new life
maternal mortality rate (mothers who die vs. live)
infant & fetal mortality rate (the infants who die vs. live)
Leviticus 12 - “Purification After Childbirth”
If it was a boy…
the mother was ceremonially unclean for seven days
the boy was circumcised on the 8th day
33 more days of purification (40 days total) - She could touch people and be touched by people, but…
4 Then she shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying. She shall not touch anything holy, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed.
If it was a girl…
unclean for two weeks
66 more days of purification (80 days total)
The text doesn’t say why the difference
a lot of speculation
one guess - because a baby girl also has the potential to bring life into the world
6 “And when the days of her purifying are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb a year old for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering, 7 and he shall offer it before the Lord and make atonement for her. Then she shall be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who bears a child, either male or female.
Again, she hadn’t sinned by giving birth
But there was a separation
She had to be in the tabernacle / place of holiness / close communion with God
OR giving birth to her child
8 And if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.”
Luke 2 - These were the sacrifices Mary offered when Jesus was born
Mary did what every Israelite mother had done
And what every Israelite mother did… pointed to Jesus…
Jesus left the holy place of heaven to touch and take on our mortality.
Jesus left the holy place of heaven to touch and take on our mortality.
The tabernacle was like a bit of heaven on earth.
Just as Israelite mothers left the tabernacle/temple for a period of 40 or 80 days…
Jesus left heaven for 33 years
Childbirth is risking your body, your blood, your life
Jesus not only risked his life
He gave his body and his blood
Just as mothers brought new life
Jesus brings new life
The big difference is this…
Jesus’ holiness is incorruptible, because he is the ultimate reconciliation of heaven and earth, the ultimate temple.
Jesus’ holiness is incorruptible, because he is the ultimate reconciliation of heaven and earth, the ultimate temple.
Jesus is fully God and fully human.
He didn’t become unclean when he took on our mortality
He didn’t become unclean when he touched our mortality
Instead, he brought heaven and earth together within his own body
John 2 - Jesus spoke of his body as the temple
19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
10 His goal was to carry out his plan, when the right time came, that all things in heaven and on earth would be joined together in Christ as the head.
All year we have said, we are “purified for a purpose…” For what purpose…
We never have to leave the presence of God to do good works, because we are the temple of the Holy Spirit and a holy priesthood.
We never have to leave the presence of God to do good works, because we are the temple of the Holy Spirit and a holy priesthood.
No longer does a mother become unclean
when she gives birth
when she cares for her child
Like Jesus, her home work is holy work, there is no separation
The same is true for
all of us
in all the good works we do
NONE of it is secular, all of it is sacred
4 Come to the Lord Jesus, the “stone” that lives. The people of the world did not want this stone, but he was the stone God chose, and he was precious. 5 You also are like living stones, so let yourselves be used to build a spiritual temple—to be holy priests who offer spiritual sacrifices to God. He will accept those sacrifices through Jesus Christ.
and what are those sacrifices?
15 Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. 16 And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.
When we praise God
And do good
We are offering sacrifices to God
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Everything we do should be, can be, a spiritual sacrifice
Application:
Application:
If you are in Christ…
Heaven and earth have been reconciled
There is no sacred / secular divide
If you do it for his glory and in his name…
Your home work is holy work.
Your home work is holy work.
If you’re an aunt, helping to care for nieces and nephews…
If you’re a grandparent, loving and teaching your grandkids…
If you’re a husband…
If you’re a wife…
If you’re a brother, sister, son, or daughter
Do everything in the name of the Lord
Do everything as if you’re offering a living sacrifice to God
Invitation:
Invitation:
You’re not alone in that work.
The church is here to help you.
Whatever you need, however we can help…
Let us help
Baptism, prayers, or encouragement…we are here for you.
