God of the Itty-bitty Details
By Rev. William Dohle
I like details, especially in school. I like to know what the teacher expects, when they expect it, and how they expect it to be presented to them. I like to know the formatting, how they want things to be cited, and what things should be cited how.
I have learned how important instructions are to me as my children grow into more complicated assignments. It's often they come home to say, "I need a poster board for a project..." but they don't have any details about the project or what is expected of them in completing it.
Details... that's just where it stands.
One of my favorite college teachers was a guy named Dr. Tonsing. Tonsing(or Tonz to the students) was a religion professor at California Lutheran University. Tonz was known to have a very specific way he wanted things presented to him. He wanted them in an outline. Each point in the outline had to have so many sub-points and every sub-point had to be documented in a specific way. Every paper in his class would look exactly alike. That's just how he liked them.
I remember one of my fellow students struggling with that formatting. She would leave his class disappointed in her grade. "Why did he give me this?" she'd say. Looking over her paper, I knew exactly why. She didn't format it right. When the professor says, "Do it this way with these details" you listen to him, especially if you want a good grade out of his class.
Details. That's just where it stands.
God too is notorious for details. Small details. Itty-bitty details even. Scripture is jam packed full of details of how he wants his people, Israel, to live, and what they are to do in every situation, down to the last detail. Here are a few of those detailed passages from the book of Exodus...
If men quarrel and one hits the other with a stone or with his fist and he does not die but is confined to bed, the one who struck the blow will not be held responsible if the other gets up and walks around outside with his staff; however he must pay the injured man for the loss of his time and see that he is completely healed.(Ex. 21:18-19)
If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman's husband demands and the court allows.(Ex. 21:22)
If a bull gores a man or woman to death, the bull must be stoned to deaqth, and its meat must not be eaten.(Ex. 21:28)
If a man grazes his livestock in a field or vineyard and lets his animals stray and they graze in another man's field, he must make restitution from the best of his own field or vineyard.(Ex. 22:5)
There are more. Many more. Check out Exodus 21 and following for many many more detailed instructions.
As Christians, we might feel tempted to skip over these passages. I know I do. I want the "good stuff", the stories and things out of Scripture. As far as these little itty-bitty detailed laws of God...I'll call them artifacts of the past. They have no relevant meaning for me today...right?
But what if they did? What if the Word of God was present just as much in these little itty-bitty details of how to live a good life as the Word is in the Gospels or the Epistles? What if these laws have something to say to us today?
I think they do. I think they tell us a little about God himself. I think they remind us that God is a God of the details, even the itty-bitty ones!
Our God, the King of the Universe, cares about the details of life just as much as he cares about the big picture. Many of us might be "big picture" people or just "detail orientated" people. Our God is both. He cares for the cosmos in the big picture, our galaxy in the big picture, our solar system and even our world in the big picture, but he also cares just as much about the details of our lives. How we live. How we walk through life. What we say or do not say to our neighbor. How we care for the environment. Even what we do in the privacy of our own home. God cares about all of this!
And these laws prove it. God could have left his people with the beginning of the law, the part we call the Ten Commandments, and let THEM sort it out. "There you go! I've said all I need to say. You figure out the rest..." But he didn't. God got involved in the details of law. He jumped into the details of his people's lives. And then he jumped, with both feet, into our flesh in Jesus Christ! That's a God of the itty-bitty, teeny-weeny details for you!
Thank you for caring for how we graze our livestock, how we quarrel, and even how we live our lives in our most private moments. Help me see your hand in all the details of my life. Amen.
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