Thus you shall keep the people of Israel separate from their uncleanness, so that they do not die in their uncleanness by defiling my tabernacle that is in their midst. (Lev. 15:31)
Six chapters of rules about what to do with different kinds of uncleanness. Six chapters. Of rules. That’s a lot of rules. Not gonna lie–I skimmed.
But this verse, I think, explains what these chapters are about–keeping uncleanness separate from people and not defiling God’s tabernacle (that structure they were told to build within which they encounter the holy God). And I can appreciate the intention. The people have been set apart by God and have built a holy space for worship. Their desire is to protect and preserve that “set-apartness” and that holy space. I can appreciate the intention.
I read this passage sitting in a coffee shop after visiting a church I hadn’t attended before. I went to their “come as you are” service, where the description said, “come as you are, grab a cup of coffee, and join us in the worship space.” The worship was okay, even as the band had to re-start a song and the lead singer admitted he wasn’t feeling very well. The slides didn’t always match the singing, and there was a little bit of confusion about when the reader was supposed to read. And…it was a holy time where people were gathered, the Word of God was proclaimed, the gifts of grace through the body and blood of Christ were shared, and the Holy was tangible.
So do we still try to separate ourselves from our uncleanness? Maybe. But maybe we don’t need to. Maybe that’s part of what Jesus busted apart. I haven’t studied the details to say this with any authority, but my suspicion is that Jesus was born in a way that violated all (if not most) of the Leviticus 10-15 rules. Right in the midst of animals with hooves and bodily fluids, Jesus was born. And Jesus was the presence of God in the world. So in Jesus, we no longer have to keep ourselves separate from our uncleanness–because God came down right into the middle of it and declared, “Do not fear. Emmanuel (God with us).” The tabernacle–that structure within which we anticipate encountering the holy–is not a building we go to once we’ve separated ourselves from our uncleanness. We don’t encounter the holy only after we’ve prepared appropriately and cleansed appropriately and separated ourselves from our uncleanness.
In Jesus, we now encounter the holy in the messiness of flesh and blood and pain and fear and doubt and wonder. And humanity. In Jesus, we now encounter the Holy in humanity.
That’s legit. That helps these chapters in Leviticus take their place.
Questions to ponder:
- Where do I still seek to separate myself from my uncleanness?
- What would it be like to shift to a “come as you are” understanding, and allow for God to be right smack dab in the middle of my uncleanness?