There are certain times of the church year when familiar Scriptures become familiar stories that we have heard over the years. We become comfortable with the words and our reactions become almost automatic. These are the stories we expect to hear at this time of year and our complacency leads to a familiarity that regulates the words to just another story told at this time. We all know the story told in Luke 1:26-45, which tells of Mary, her betrothal to Joseph, the pregnancy and her willingness to allow God’s will to be done in her life.

Come with me beyond the words to an amazing fact that is often overlooked because we find ourselves lost in the familiar words and doing the “church thing”. As we read on we come to verses 46-56 and here is an amazing fact about this thing we call Christianity. I share again with you from the commentaries of William Barclay.

HERE we have a passage which has become one of the great hymns of the Church – the Magnificat. It is steeped in the Old Testament; and is closely related to Hannah’s song of praise in I Samuel 2 : 1-10. It has been said that religion is the opiate of the people; but it has also been said that the Magnificat is the most revolutionary document in the world. It speaks of three of the revolutions of God.

(I) He scatters the proud in the plans of their hearts. That is a moral revolution. Christianity is the death of pride. Why? Because if people set their lives beside that of Christ, it tears away the last vestiges of their pride.

(2) He casts down the mighty – he exalts the humble. That is a social revolution. Christianity puts an end to the world’s labels and prestige.

(3) He has filled those who are hungry – those who are rich he has sent empty away. That is an economic revolution. A non-Christian society is an acquisitive society where people are out for as much as they can get. A Christian society is a society where no one dares to have too much while others have too little, where everyone must get only to give away. There is loveliness in the Magnificat but in that loveliness there is dynamite. Christianity brings about a revolution in individuals and revolution in the world.

Moral, Social and Economic…….or “Open Doors, Open Minds, Open Hearts”. Are you prepared to go beyond the words? Have we as the church left the door ajar, not open? Are our minds open only to those things that are comfortable for us? Does “Open Hearts” mean that I have to accept people that are different than me? I thought we were saving people, I had no idea this was a revolution!
Are you ready to go beyond the words?

It seems that in the last few months many of my friends and co-workers have experienced the loss of a loved one. There is always that period of grief that encompasses many different stages as they adjust to their loss. Truth is that the sometimes used “in time it will get better”, never really holds up. For most of us we learn to just “tolerate” the loss, the pain is never very far away. Some time ago during my daily devotion I was directed to 1st Corinthians chapter 15. I refer to it as the resurrection chapter and find it strangely comforting. One of my favorite Bible study commentaries Is William Barclays’ Daily Bible Study , from which I share these points .

The verses I refer to are 35-49. Barclay points out that Paul is talking about things that no one really knows anything about. He is talking not about verifiable matters of fact, but about matters of faith. Trying to express the inexpressible and to describe the indescribable, he is doing the best he can with the human ideas and human words that are all that he has to work with. People are asking him to explain what the resurrected body will be like and Paul’s answer makes three points that in some strange way can give us comfort.

Paul uses the analogy of a seed. A seed is put in the ground and dies, but it soon rises again; but with a very different kind of body from that with which it was sown. The seed dies but when it rises again it is in a very different form.

So, our earthly bodies will dissolve; they will rise again in very different form – but it is the same person who rises.

To me this in some way moves “dust to dust” to a different level, a bit gentler perhaps? Dissolved by death, changed by resurrection, it is still we who exist. His second point is that in the world we know each part of creation has its own body and God gives to each thing a body that serves it best. If that is so, it is only reasonable to expect that he will give us a body fitted for the resurrection life.

For me Barclay brings forth a lovely thought in contrast to the mystery of death and our fear of it. His third point reminds us that through Jesus Christ we shall rise again to a new life in Christ.

Now, under the old way of life, we were one with Adam, sharing his sin, inheriting his death and having his body; but, under the new way of life, we are one with Christ and we shall therefore share his life and his being. It is true that we have a physical body to begin with, but it is also true that one day we shall have a spiritual body.

Our body will be spiritual, it will be such as God knows that we need, and we will be like Christ.

Those words in italics are quoted directly from William Barclay’s DBS

“From the Pew” is my attempt to speak to church stuff from a layman’s view. I know few people read this stuff and I am not a theologian. The only thing I bring to the table is an opinion based on what I hear in the pews, people like me who are at a loss as to the direction our church is going and to be honest, a large dose of my own thoughts. Now the nice thing about this is you can comment or if you are totally ticked off, start your own blog. That being said, now a word about Dino and the rest in the park. One thing that got the attention of a few of the people caught up in this was the fact that somehow the dinosaurs had figured out how to reproduce even though they had been created in a manner that would not allow that. Only the guys in the lab could create life in Jurassic Park. Remember the actor from that other creation attempt gone bad, “The Fly”, well he saw it coming probably from the past movie experience. Point is the only creator of life that has Godly value is God. By now you should be asking what Jurassic Park and Same-Sex have to do which each other. Glad you asked, the answer is nothing!

One has nothing to do with the other but they do allow me to move to this thought. This same-sex debate that my church is caught up in is not about God’s will in my life or these folks judgement of what God intended to be. This is about asking me to put aside a part of my faith belief based on scripture I believe to be the word of God. It is about asking me to defile what I consider to be one of the ways I should live a Holy life that glorifies my God and accept a life style that he has said is wrong. Try asking that of some other faiths and see how far you get. If you have been paying attention up to this point you will notice that I have quoted no Bible verses. That is because I stand on God’s word and that is good enough for me. I will love you, pray for you and even defend your right to believe what you want to believe. Now go away and take this argument into the field of law, man’s law to be decided there. God has already put his law before his people and I am one of them and I approve of this law.

We often hear these days the importance of finding the “middle ground”, a place where our differences can be resolved in a manner that includes people of all thoughts and beliefs. Actually the words thoughts and beliefs mean the same thing. Today in the words of some, these words don’t fully convey the scope of the church’s mission; here then is the new way of expressing the church’s mission. “Inclusive”, which demands a whole new direction for the church; wide-ranging, broad, general and all-encompassing that in many of the issues it faces today leaves the church in a position of compromise and weakens its mission.

You will find none of the above (; wide-ranging, broad, general and all-encompassing) in the Book of Leviticus. I like to say “there is no wiggle room in scripture.” Most often if you mention Leviticus the immediate response is…. oh no, not Leviticus! The content of Leviticus is almost entirely laws from God concerning sacrifices, worship, and holy living. Chapters 17-26 contain laws for holy living. Central to the regulations in this section is the command from God, “Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy” (19:2). Israel is to live according to the revealed character of God (Mt 5:48). I have always heard critics of Christianity say that we as Christians are quick to pull from the Bible those scriptures that work to our advantage in making a point concerning our beliefs. Well…where would you have me go? I do agree that there is some truth to that statement. Most are quick to pull Leviticus Chapter 18 when the discussion or debate is centered on same-sex practices. There are many Laws in this section and Verse 22 has caused more squandering and waste of time and resources on something which God decided long ago. You find this law in section 3.

The regulations in this section forbid the practice of incest. When Leviticus was written, large extended families formed the core of Israelite society. The laws presented here forbid sexual intercourse with any family member except one’s spouse. The chapter is divided into four basic units: (1) admonition to keep Yahweh’s commandments (vv. 1-5), (2) laws forbidding incest (vv. 6-18), (3) laws forbidding defiling sexual practices (vv. 19-23), and (4) exhortation (vv. 24-30).
Today I see this debate in my denomination moving from God’s word to the arena of public opinion. Those who favor such relationships have moved from the religious theater to the civil right theater. To Christians who follow God’s Law and will, this is not an area they can prevail in. Gods’ law was never intended to be debated or modified to fit the morality of the day. Christians miss the point when they allow this to become a social issue. What do we do? We do as Jesus said long ago.

Luke 20:25
“And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s.”

We have been called out, set apart not to condemn others but to live a Holy Life that will reflect the mercy and grace of the God we serve. There are many laws in these chapters of Leviticus and they all serve one purpose; they are God’s commandments and are necessary to live a Holy Life. God’s laws do not belong to the Caesars of today and the Church should not allow its desire to be all-inclusive to make them anything other than that which God has commanded of his people.
“Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy”

*some reference points in this blog are taken from biblegateway.com