No Public/Private Split!

"Keep my decrees and follow them.  I am the Lord, who makes you holy."  Leviticus 20:8

No Public/Private Split!
By Rev. William Dohle

Most of us live in a divided world. There is the world of the public. The world of "out there", where you dress your best, act your best, and think only state-sanctioned thoughts.

And then there's the world of "in here". The private world. Here, in the company of friends, or even just with your own family in your own home, you can "be yourself". The demands placed upon you by the outside world have no meaning. And much of what we do falls under the "who cares" category.

These two worlds each have their own rules. In the public realm, we live by the rule of work and society. In our private realm, we live by the rule of family and kin. True, many of the rules correspond and the public realm has a stake in what goes on at home. (Otherwise there would be no such thing as domestic violence!)...but there is a sense when, unless you're breaking a public rule, the public has no say in what you do in private.

This division does not exist in Scripture!

In the Bible, there is no division between what you do in private and what you do in public. They are one and the same.

The Bible, particularly the book of Leviticus, has many rules that deal with what we do in private. Sex in particular gets lots of attention.

• If a man sleeps with his father's wife, he has dishonored his father. Both the man and the woman must be put to death...(20:11)
• If a man marries both a woman and her mother, it is wicked. Both he and they must be burned in the fire.(20:12)
• If a man has sexual relations with an animal, he must be put to death...(20:15)
• If a man lies with a woman during her monthly period and has sexual relations with her...Both of them must be cut off from the people. (20:18)

There are, to my counting, twelve different laws and punishments revolving around sex.

But there's more. More intrusions on our private life. Consider these...

• When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest...Leave them for the poor and the alien. (19:9)
• Do not hold back the wages of a hired man overnight.(19:13)
• Do not go about spreading slander among your people.(19:26)
• Do not hate your brother in your heart.(19:17)
• Do not mate different kinds of animals.(19:19)
• Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed.(19:19)
• Do not wear clothing of two kinds of material.(19:19)
• Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edge of your beard. (19:27)
• Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. (19:28)

Notice how many of these have something to do with our private life!? How many of us, if someone came to criticize us about one of these, would tell them: "It's none of your business! I can do what I want to do here!"

But that's the point, I think, about all these laws. All of these things are God's business. Just as all of our lives are God's business. True, he gives us a measure of choices. We can do one thing or another thing. We can follow him here and deny him there. He gives us choices, but God always has a preference for us. And that preference is repeated again and again in this litany of laws.

God says, again and again, this phrase:

"You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own." (20:26)

These laws are given to Israel to separate them from the nations. And they do! If you follow these laws as most Orthodox Jews do, you will be separate from your neighbors. You will organize your lives, eat different things, and even organize your private life differently than your neighbors.

What might we, Christian Gentiles, learn from this litany of laws? Perhaps we might take away a deeper understanding how God works in the world. Perhaps God is not just a God we greet and meet and hear about on Sunday mornings or whenever we decide church is convenient for us to attend. Maybe God has a stake in what we do after church on Sunday mornings and how we rise on Monday morning. And what we buy at the grocery store on Tuesday night and how we party on Friday night. And what we wear to the office that day and how we comb our hair. And what seeds we plant in our field even and who we choose as a spouse. Maybe God has a stake in all of those decisions. Maybe God is interested in what we do privately to love our neighbor as he does about how often we worship.

Or maybe...just maybe...everything we do, in word and deed, we do to the glory of God.  Privately and publically.

That's something to remember...to note.  That's something to take to heart.  In public...or in private!

Forgive me, God, for praising you in public and not in private.  Or privately worshiping  you and publicly denying you.  Unify my heart that whatever I do may be done for you.  Amen.