Celebrate with Me!

Moses said to the assembly, "This is what the Lord has commanded to be done."  Leviticus 8:5

Celebrate with Me!
By Rev. William Dohle

In my years of ministry I have been privy to lots and lots of talk.  Good talk, bad talk, and even talk about talking.  I don't know how I would organize all the conversations I've had... but I must say that conversations around celebrations ranks high up there.

When a family is gone on a vacation, it's good to talk about their vacation.  When someone has been out celebrating an anniversary or a birthday or maybe just had a party at their house, talk of the celebration and of the details of it are common.

We like to ask: "How was it?"  And we don't mind hearing the details.

We share our celebrations in this way to include others in them.  When I hear about someone's trip to the Holy Land and see the excitement on their face, I can experience it through their eyes.  When I hear how their party was, how many people were there and who was present, I can almost attend through their experience.

In both of these instances... I celebrate...because they are celebrating!  Hearing about the party brings it to life for me.  It makes it real.

So it should be no wonder that the Bible is so full of detail, especially around celebrations!  The ordination of Aaron and his sons take up two chapters!  The service takes up an entire one itself.  Like a doting grandmother with all the details of the party in her head, we hear of every single move Aaron and Moses takes.  Including...

• He put the tunic on Aaron, tied the sash around him, clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod on him...(8:7)
• Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and everything in it and consecrated them...He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head and anointed him to consecrate him.(8:10, 12)
• He ten presented the ram for the burnt offering and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head...He then presented the other ram, the ram for the ordination, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on it's head.(8:18, 22)
• Then Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood from the altar and sprinkled them on Aaron and his garments and on his sons and their garments. (8:30)

Detail after detail of the service are shared, not in the hopes that we would somehow reproduce it or mimic it, but that we might enter into this sacred moment.  We are invited to share in this day, in all the details of it from the beginning of the service to the end!

What a wonderful gift God has given us!  The chance to experience life and enter into the world of our ancestors, seeing ourselves in the crowd watching as this event takes place instead of as 21st Century people three millennium later!

These words make us a part of the story.  Like a tale told by our grandparents, the story of Aaron's ordination is recorded here and passed down to us in order that we too may enter in and experience their world from the inside out.  True, we may not understand everything we read.  We may not be able to fully visualize it, but we are able to read and to see it as clearly as we can.

Not only does it call us back in time, but it also gives us an appreciation for the stories all around us.  The life experiences of our parents, our grandparents, and those who've passed on are stories just like the story of Aaron's ordination.  And just like this text, these stories too remind us of who we are.  They invite us to share in our ancestors' celebrations and victories, and sometimes, in their grief and defeat.  What a marvelous gift they have to give.  Through their words, we are able to experience life through their eyes...and rejoice and mourn with them too.

God experiences life through our stories too.  Through the telling and re-telling of our stories, our experiences are brought to life, not just for our immediate listeners, but also for God.  For God is the silent backstage hand, the hidden person behind the camera, the still small voice, and the constant companion.  For it is "in God that we live, and move, and have our being." (Acts 17:28)

Celebrate with me, God.  Mourn with me, God.  Move in the stories of my life that I may see your presence.  Amen.