Kedoshim - Wholehearted Living
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
I heard about this Pastor. He was raising money for a new sanctuary. He told his congregation one Sunday morning "If anybody will give a thousand dollars, you can pick out the next three hymns." A little old lady in the back raised up her hand and said "Pastor, I'll do it." He was so excited. He said "Thank you so much. Go ahead and pick out the next three hymns." She looked over the congregation and said "I'll take him and him and him."
Ha-Foke-Bah in Hebrew
Ha-Foke-Bah in English
My intention in this sermon is to start a dance, a dance that is not random, not thrown together, it is a dance that is a response to God’s unconditional love. The love that exchanged the innocent for the guilty, a love that ends the blame game so you don’t remain the same. It is a love that looked past a gold calf, looked past the strange fire, that looked past…you fill in the blank. I want us to learn the dance of the king and it is called “Wholehearted Living.”
What is Wholehearted Living? Dr. Brene Brown in her book Daring Greatly defined Wholehearted Living, “is about engaging in our lives from a place of worthiness. Though imperfect and vulnerable and sometimes afraid that doesn’t change the truth that I am worthy of love and belonging.” (Daring Greatly, p. 10).
Here is what I would like to add to the definition of Wholehearted Living, “Wholehearted living is about engaging our lives from a place of fully knowing I am loved by God and belong in His family. And that other people, though imperfect and different and sometimes offensive are worthy of that same love and belonging.”
Wholehearted living - rightly perceived - compels us to treat other people as worthy of love and belonging because you know you are loved and belong.
It was the wholehearted living of a man named John Reece that challenged me to see myself differently than I ever had before. I was fresh out of the drug world. Just gave my life to Messiah. The smell of drugs, booze and nightclubs was just barely leaving me. John was a corporate executive who smelled of fine leather, scented fragrances and salty meats. We were an odd couple from different sides of the tracks. I met John in my master life group. He was a leader but so much more than that. He befriended me.
He could tell that I was an outsider. I was scared. I was different. I could be offensive. Yet, this corporate executive who lived in a nice condo, drove a fast Audi and wore fine suits treated me like I lived in a nice condo, drove a fast car and wore fine suits. Yet, I had none of those things. He came to my smelly run-down apartment and acted like it was no different than his own, he had me to his and did not grimace or hide nice things when I walked in the door.
I never felt like I had to fit-in, I never felt like a showman trying to get someone to be my friend. Somebody nothing like me, liked me, and that changed me.
We all have a John Reece. That person nothing like me, who like me, and that changed me. Now some of you had the evil twisted John. That person who was nothing like you in the bad way, and they like you, and that changed you in the worst possible way. I have lots of those stories also.
Whether it is the good or bad version of that story here is what shows, “We all crave to feel like we are worthy of love and belonging.” Let me see by show of hands how many of you:
Have you ever lied to keep from looking bad?
Have you ever taken a sissy test?
Have you ever done something because it looked good not because it was good.
Have you ever said “yes” when everything in you screamed “no.”
Have you ever had a family member or friend with self-destructive habits that you never said anything about?
At the same time, I know that we all believe lying is wrong, we all know betraying our conscious is wrong, we all want to be courageous enough to stop people from hurting themselves. We will abandon those core beliefs for love and belonging even if it means getting it by denying what we believe to be fundamentally true or morally right.
Here is what you need to know: You will give up what you should not to gain love and belonging. All of us have done it.
Here is where my twist on Brene Brown’s definition of Wholehearted Living comes in. My version of wholehearted living starts with, “God gave up what he did not have to, Yeshua, so that we would never give up what we should not to gain love and belonging.” He did not have to give up his Son but he so loved the world that he gave his one and only son for me, for you so that I would know for all eternity that I am loved and belong to God’s family. That is what the Day of Atonement was all about. No more scapegoating. No more blaming. There is just the acceptance that the innocent one’s life was exchanged for the guilty so that we could have new life.
The second part of my definition for Wholehearted Living that says “And other people, though imperfect and different and sometimes offensive are worthy of that same love and belonging.”” comes from our Torah Portion this week.
At least 1400 years before Yeshua ever said it, the people of Israel were told in Leviticus 19:18, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
You are not to take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am Adonai.
Now most scholars that I have read on our Torah Portion either say it is about this one phrase that occurs in Lev 19:2 the beginning of the portion and at the second major start of our section in Lev 20:7
“Speak to all the congregation of Bnei-Yisrael and tell them: You shall be kedoshim, for I, Adonai your God, am holy.
“Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” (Leviticus 19:2, ESV)
You are not to take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am Adonai.
Then other scholars say but wait a minute the “love your neighbor as yourself” verse is really the main theme of most of the passages.
The whole of our Torah Portion revolves around laws relating to society, sex and smoothies. Because you are not supposed to be mixing stuff up like seeds, and animals and cloths etc. But for me, the laws about not having smoothies teaches a powerful lesson. It is the lesson that “your good enough.” That seed is good enough and does not need something else to make it better. It is good enough.
These laws in this portion favor women. They are laws that protect women from sexual abusers who may use their status or power as leverage against them. Protect women from men who may want to use sex as a way to gain control over a family or tribe. Or from men who want to use sex as a tool for humiliating people they conquer: like warfare rape.
But are these laws about being holy or are they about loving your neighbor? Are they focused on my personal purity or are they focused on personal morality towards others? The answer is, both!
Holiness without love is just legalism. Love without holiness is just unrestrained passion. Love with holiness is divine.
Wholehearted living is living from a place of full acceptance so that others can feel accepted. “God gave up what he did not have to, His Son, so that I would never give up what I should not to gain love and belonging; and, you are worthy of that same love and belonging from me.”
Remember, we said that Leviticus is about God’s plan to create a good world. The kind of world that is like the garden before the fall, a world characterized by shalom. Could you imagine what it would be like if even 10 out of a 100 people adopted this model of wholehearted living? Could you just imagine how different things could be, should be?
All of our section “Kedoshim” is about Wholehearted living but I want us to look at what I believe to be the centerpiece of this whole section, the glue that binds it all together and the most relevant for us. I hope you understand what I mean when I say the most relevant section. You see there are lots of commands, all very important but not all equally relevant for us.
“You are not to crossbreed different kinds of animals. You are not to sow your field with two kinds of seed…” (Leviticus 19:19, TLV)
We are not agriculturalist, we are suburban dwellers. This is really relevant for farmers but when I look at Leviticus 19 my eyes drawn to:
“Each one of you is to respect his mother and his father, and keep My Shabbatot. I am Adonai your God.” (Leviticus 19:3, TLV)
“Each one of you is to respect his mother and his father, and keep My Shabbatot. I am Adonai your God.
“You are not to curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God. I am Adonai.” (Leviticus 19:14, TLV)
“You are not to curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God. I am Adonai.
“You are not to go up and down as a talebearer among your people. I am Adonai.” (Leviticus 19:16, TLV)
“You are not to go up and down as a talebearer among your people. You are not to endanger the life of your neighbor. I am Adonai.
“You are to rise up in the presence of the gray-haired and honor the presence of the elderly. So you will fear your God. I am Adonai. “If an outsider dwells with you in your land, you shall do him no wrong.” (Leviticus 19:32–33, TLV)
“You are to rise up in the presence of the gray-haired and honor the presence of the elderly. So you will fear your God. I am Adonai.
“If an outsider dwells with you in your land, you shall do him no wrong.
My eye is attracted to these because I see this happening in our society: lack of respect for mothers, for God’s holy day, for the disabled, finger-pointing is now the job description for most politicians and the elders have been told to take a seat while the younger generation takes a stand. More importantly at the end of each of these laws it says, “I am Adonai.”
That statement is there as a “because I told you so.” In other words, like when my children say, “Abba, why do we have to stand here at the table waiting for mom to be seated as an act of respect” and I say to them “because I told you so.” On my authority. When you ask God, “Why do I have to do these things he saying, “because I told you so, trust me, it will make for the best kind of life, wholehearted living.”
My eye is attracted to these because at some point they come back to this command in Leviticus 19:18…
You are not to take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am Adonai.
“…love your neighbor as yourself. I am Adonai.”
I guess I should start with the most obvious question of all, “Who is my neighbor?” The answer is simple but challenging, “The person next to you, beside you, around you, near you, close to you is your neighbor and that includes your actual neighbor, neighbor.”
You are to love that person with the love you have received. A love that says, God gave up what he did not have to, His Son, so that I would never give up what I should not to gain ultimate love and belonging in God’s family. The same love that I seek and get for myself from God is the same love that Adonai says we must give out to others.
But, context is everything. I think I have said that before several times. I want us to look at context because context is everything: Leviticus 19:17–18
“You are not to hate your brother in your heart. Instead, you are to firmly rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. You are not to take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am Adonai.
“You are not to hate your brother in your heart. Instead, you are to firmly rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. You are not to take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am Adonai.”
The context of this great command is a great conflict.
Levi 19:17-18
“You are not to hate your brother in your heart. Instead, you are to firmly rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. You are not to take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am Adonai.
This verse implies a situation where you have been wronged and it has created a very negative emotional reaction at the level of hate. Hate in the heart. An even better word would be resentment. Some expectation has been violated or broken and now you no longer want to show them love or make them feel like they belong.
When you are resentful you have:
Unkind thoughts toward the person.
Frustration at unfairness or a lack of justice.
Fantasizing harm or their downfall.
Moodiness.
Wanting to be alone
Fixating on a person or situation to the detriment of other relationships.
A desire to bring others in and create a mob mentality.
You can always tell when someone is resentful can’t you?
They avoid situations where they may have to encounter that person.
They keep silent when that person’s name is mentioned.
They will change the topic, “lets talk about something else.”
They force an award smile on their face.
And, if it keeps going on and on it will have physical effects: weight gain, high blood pressure, lack of sleep, avoidance.
Our passage tells us that when we are resentful we are sin bearing. This is dangerous. There is only person in all the universe who can bear sin, carry the weight of offense. That is the Lord. He alone can bear offense and not become offended. In every way, bearing sin, being resentful, is dangerous emotionally, mentally and physically. But, it also, is dangerous for the relationships in your life, Hebrews 12:15
See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God; and see to it that no bitter root springs up and causes trouble, and by it many be defiled.
“Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.”
When you bear sin you invite others to form a mob. When we are caught up in resentment, bitterness we never read Leviticus 19:17 correctly here is what we hear:
You are not to hate your brother in your heart. Instead, you are to vaguely post about it on social media.
You are not to hate your brother in your heart. Instead, you are to share it in a small group as a prayer request.
You are not to hate your brother in your heart. Instead, you are to tattle-tale to your Rabbi and get him to rebuke the person.
You are not to hate your brother in your heart. Instead, you are to eat all the ice-cream you can because Ben and Jerry are the only friends you have left.
Leviticus 19:17–18
“You are not to hate your brother in your heart. Instead, you are to firmly rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. You are not to take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am Adonai.
“You are not to hate your brother in your heart. Instead, you are to firmly rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. You are not to take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am Adonai.”
The contrast is: keep short accounts of wrong by keeping it in the open. The Hebrew tikkom derives from the verb n-k-m, “to take vengeance,” and tittor from n-t-r, “to keep, guard, retain.” The sense is that one ought not to keep alive the memory of another’s offense against him. And, the “how, how do I keep short accounts” involves a tough conversation.
I don’t like that the TLV translated the Hebrew here as “firmly rebuke.” The Hebrew ho’kay’ach to’key’ach could be translated like in Isa 1:18 “let us reason together.” It would sound more like this, “You are not to hate your brother in your heart. Instead, you must go and reason with your neighbor about the wrong that was done rather than you becoming resentful. Keep short accounts, love your neighbor as yourself. I am Adonai.”
It is really simple, “Honest, transparent, vulnerable conversations are the path to move you and the person you are mad at down the road of whole hearted living.”
I am going to suggest some ways to have this conversation but before I do I want to answer an important question, “What if they don’t acknowledge my offense against them? What if they just dismiss it all together?”
This is where we have to see how Yeshua upholds this law in Leviticus: He says in Matthew 5:23–24
“Therefore if you are presenting your offering upon the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.
“Therefore if you are presenting your offering upon the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.”
In the context, Yeshua had just warned his disciples about verbal offense: calling someone a fool, or stupid or a moron. He just warned them about “hating your brother in your heart.” And he says here something so incredulous that a 1st century Jewish reader would have gone “yeah right.”
Map Goes Here
Think about this how many times did a Jew living in Rome actually travel to Jerusalem, to the altar? At a minimum he probably went three times a year in response to the command for pilgrimages. If he went by boat, it was more than likely a 5 to 7 day trip and cost a hefty price for the person and his whole family. If he could not afford a boat and traveled by foot it was 47 days walking 12 hours a day. I imagine most people went by boat of some kind.
Matthew 5:23–24
“Therefore if you are presenting your offering upon the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.
Imagine that. Yeshua says to someone who just traveled from Rome to honor God with his sacrifices, with his family, his wife and his kids and he says, “Hey, you know that law in Leviticus 19:18 about not bearing sin, that not having a grudge law, that not hating your brother law.” And he would say, “Yes, I know that law. My rabbi taught that to us. I have not bitter root in me. I had my tough conversations with those I needed to and I am here and have no grudge match with anyone. Now if you will please excuse me.”
Yeshua goes, Yes, but…your neighbor Aquilla back in Rome told you that it really bothered him that you called him a stupid idiot in the market place just because he would not sell you a donkey at the price you wanted. He told you that it hurt his business not just his pride. It was like your words had such influence he went from a 5 star rating on Romazon to a 1 star rating. His family is hurting now because of your words. So, I need you to pack up shop and get back to Rome before you head-on up to the old altar to pray.
At which point I am sure this person would go, “I get it, I will talk to him when I get back. And, Yeshua would say, no, I need you to go now. Just leave your offering here. Go back to Aquilla, he wants to keep a short account with you, wants to reconcile but you need to do your part. Go now, not later.”
Make it modern, Disney World Messianic Vacation…
It’s awkward isn’t it. Then Yeshua makes uncomfortable he gives the consequence side, Matthew 5:25–26 - “Make friends quickly with your opponent while you are with him on the way. Otherwise, your opponent may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the assistant, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I tell you, you will never get out of there until you have paid back the last penny!”
“Make friends quickly with your opponent while you are with him on the way. Otherwise, your opponent may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the assistant, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I tell you, you will never get out of there until you have paid back the last penny!
I don’t imagine for a second I understand what all this means but I know at a minimum it means that you cannot connect with God until you make things right with others and at a maximum it means, if you know of offense, but don’t make things right, God will not let your go of this.
So here is the deal about Wholehearted living and “Loving Your Neighbor.”
Whether you are the one who is offended or you are the offender, there are grave and serious consequences if you don’t go and have a conversation with the person.
Remember we said about wholehearted living starts with, God gave up what he did not have to, His Son, so that I would never give up what I should not to gain ultimate love and belonging in God’s family.
Wholehearted living is about engaging our lives from a place of fully knowing I am loved by God and belong in His family. And that other people, though imperfect and different and sometimes offensive are worthy of that same love and belonging.
God wants us to know we are loved and belong in His family by him and by others. Your willingness to go and talk to someone who has offended you is an act of bravery that should be motivated out of love and belonging. In other words, God has kept short accounts with me because he loves me and wants me to be in his family, I want to keep a short account with you because I love you and want you to know you belong in my life. I can’t just overlook this offense, its not like you accidentally stepped on my toe, what you did hurt me, maybe even harmed me and we need to come and reason together about how to make it right.
And, If you refused to take seriously someone who said to you that they were offended, if you just dismissed it and you remember it right now. You need to stop what you are doing and make it right. Because right now, that person is suffering, they are bearing sin and it is hurting their life and you should care. It can hurt you in the most important relationship in your life, your relationship with God. Remember, God is not like a CPA who settles accounts on the 1st and 15th. He may give you time but don’t take his patience for granted.
The commanded for the offended and the offender is the same: GO! Either make it right by Confronting the Wrong or Confessing the Wrong.
Here is how:
Go immediately.
Keep short accounts.
Go bravely.
Keep it vulnerable and honest.
Go open-mindedly.
Keep in mind you don’t know everything and may not be right.
Go wholeheartedly.
Keep in mind you and them are worthy of love and belonging.
The call to be holy as He is holy is a call to love your neighbor as yourself. I think most people don’t understand that holiness and love are not two separate things, no, they define one another. That real holiness feels like real love and that real love feels like really doing things differently, being holy.
Is any of this natural? No! None of us likes what feels like confrontation. I would rather bury it in a bowl of ben and jerry’s but I know it does not good. None of us likes admitting we were wrong. I would rather just create a version of the story where that person is stupid and I did not no wrong and they just need to get over it.
Our goal is wholehearted living that says, “I am worthy of love and belonging and you are worthy of the same love and belonging.”