Come and eat with God!

It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.  Leviticus 1:9

Come and eat with God!
By Rev. William Dohle


A year ago or so, a member of my congregation, having gone to France just a month before, invited my wife and I to a grand feast.  Food that she had sampled in France was reproduced before us to eat and share.  A glass of wine began the meal followed by appetizers followed by a meal that still makes my mouth water.  Six of us were invited to such a feast.

It was one of the most intimate and enjoyable experiences I have ever had!

There is something to be said for eating with someone.  Entering into their home.  Sitting down for a meal prepared by them.  Smelling the food.  Tasting the wine.

There is no closer experience.  To this day, I covet such experiences, enjoying the closeness such sharing can bring.

But how would you reproduce these events and invite God?  What would you cook?  How would you fix it?  What would you need to bring and prepare?  And how would you prepare it?

Such questions are at the heart of these first chapters in Leviticus.

Upon first glance, the sacrificial portions of Leviticus seem barbaric.

"You are to cut it into pieces, and the priest shall arrange them, including the head and the fat, on the wood that is burning on the altar. You are to wash the internal organs and the legs with water, and the priest is to bring all of them and burn them on the altar." (Lev. 1:12-13)

Such language often can make us shudder!  Why would God command his people this way?!

We wonder what a barbaric people the ancient Israelites were that such things were commanded by God!  And we thank God that such sacrifices are not done today!

But, before we dismiss this entirely, perhaps we should look at the reason WHY these sacrifices were made.  We are apt to think that ancient Israelites sacrificed animals to APPEASE God.  But that's not the case at all!

Ancient Israelites sacrificed animals to gain intimacy with God.  Literally to eat with God!

If you wanted to prepare a meal for an unseen, almighty deity, what would you make?  What could God possibly want?

Perhaps a bull... but how would you prepare it?
Or a bird...but how would you slice it?
Or perhaps an offering of grain and bread?

And what would be the occasions for such a feast?  When would you be expected to throw a dinner for God?

For an ordinary meal with God... what would you bring?
If you're thankful to God... what should you give?
If you have sinned against God, either intentionally or unintentionally, how do you say "Sorry?"

All these are questions that Leviticus answers in detail.

Do they apply to us??  Well... yes and no.

We do not literally sacrifice anything, bulls or otherwise.  Nor do we need instructions on where to put the fat on the altar and what to do with the carcass.

But...

Leviticus does point to the why of sacrifice and the need to give back to God.

Sacrifice was never done to appease God.  The aroma was said to be pleasing to God, but it was never meant to stop God's wrath or anger.  That was never the purpose of sacrifice in the first place.  The people sacrificed to God to gain intimacy with God and to obey his commandments.

We may crave this too... but we cannot sacrifice or worship God as they did.

Still... we need to give back to God.  We need to celebrate with God.  We need to give of ourselves when times are good, in thanksgiving for what God has done.  We need to give of ourselves when we are sorry, as a way of repenting for what we have done wrong.  We need this give back more than God does.  And the more ways we give back.  The more ways we sacrifice what we have to celebrate with God, the more connected we will feel we are to God.

And the aroma of our sacrifices will be pleasing to God too!

God you give everything to us and hold nothing back.  Give us sacrificial hearts too that we might give back to you what you have first given us.  Amen.