Holy Eats

"The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Say to the Israelites: ‘Of all the animals that live on land, these are the ones you may eat..."  Leviticus 11:1

Holy Eats
By Rev. William Dohle

Smoked ham.  Grilled shrimp scampi.  A bacon lettuce and tomato sandwich.  Pork chops.  Boiled lobster.

What do all of these foods have in common?

They are all forbidden by the Bible!

All these dishes, every single one of them, plus a whole host of other animals are expressly forbidden to eat or touch the carcass of.  Every single one!  In fact, the book of Leviticus spends an entire chapter detailing these forbidden foods, called traefe by Jews today.

There, in Leviticus 10, you will discover it is forbidden to eat...

• Camels and rabbits and hyraxes and pigs
• Insects (except for grasshoppers and locusts)
• Shrimp and scampi and lobster and crab and anything without scales
• Owls, hawks, gulls, storks, and bats 
•  Of all the animals that walk on all fours, those that walk on their paws(like dogs and cats)
•  ...the weasel, the rat, any kind of great lizard, the gecko, the monitor lizard, the wall lizard, the skink and the chameleon.

Now, granted, I do not eat many of those animals.  But I do eat pig and shrimp and scampi and lobster and crab.  In other words... I have disobeyed God's law and eaten traefe!  Just last night in fact!  Not only that, but I have liked it too and would probably not repent of the act anytime soon.

I know as a Christians, we consider ourselves exempt of these laws.  We use the story of Peter from the book of Acts to dismiss them from our radar.  The story goes like this.  Peter, when he was going to be summoned to the home of Cornelius, a centurion, had a vision...

Peter went up on the roof to pray.  He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”
 “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”
 The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
 This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven. (Acts 10:9b-16)

From that vision, we Gentile Christians determined that the dietary laws in the book of Leviticus do NOT apply to us.  We can eat owls and camels and rabbits and pigs and shrimp and all the rest because of Peter's vision.  Because, as the vision said, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean."

This is a very literal reading of this vision.  Even Peter doesn't interpret it the way the church has for centuries.  Peter takes this to mean that the Jewish Christians are now suppose to ASSOCIATE with Gentiles.  As he says later in the passage.

"You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him.  But God has shown me that I should not call any MAN impure or unclean." (Acts 10:28)(Emphasis added)

So... Peter isn't saying I should start eating traffe, forbidden food.  He is saying I shouldn't call anybody unclean.  That what God has made clean...i.e. people in this case...we should not call unclean.

That is a very different reading of this passage and brings a host of questions.  Why don't Christians refrain from eating what the Bible specifically forbids in an entire chapter of Leviticus?  Why have Christians interpreted Peter's vision so literally when Peter does not?  Why have we been more apt to call people unclean while maintaining the idea that all food is clean to us?

Maybe that last question is what we should consider most.  For, as one who does not follow the law outlined in Leviticus 10.  As one who eats traefe and does not keep kosher, I am quick to say that I am permitted to eat anything.  That all things are clean.  But I am often not as quick to suggest what Peter does, that all people are clean.  That what God has made good, no one should name bad.  That's harder to do.  That takes this law out of the belly and into my life.  It's not just about transcending food boundaries and being free, as Paul says.  It's about transcending human boundaries too and realizing that, as Peter says, "I should not call any man impure or unclean."

May God help me, and you, to do just that.  Whether you eat forbidden foods or not.  Whether you keep a kosher kitchen or not.  Whether you are Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female.  May we treat one another with the assumed goodness given by God!

God of Creation, challenge me with your law that I may see the world in new ways.  Teach me your ways that I may follow.  And give me your eyes that I may see others through you.  Amen.