Leviticus 19:1-18
Various Laws
The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.
Each of you must respect his mother and father, and you must observe my Sabbaths. I am the Lord your God.
Do not turn to idols or make gods of cast metal for yourselves. I am the Lord your God.
When you sacrifice a fellowship offering to the Lord, sacrifice it in such a way that it will be accepted on your behalf. It shall be eaten on the day you sacrifice it or on the next day; anything left over until the third day must be burned up. If any of it is eaten on the third day, it is impure and will not be accepted. Whoever eats it will be held responsible because he has desecrated what is holy to the Lord; that person must be cut off from his people.
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. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the Lord your God.
Do not steal.
Do not lie.
Do not deceive one another.
Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.
Do not defraud your neighbour or rob him.
Do not hold back the wages of a hired man overnight.
Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the Lord.
Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favouritism to the great, but judge your neighbour fairly.
Do not go about spreading slander among your people.
Do not do anything that endangers your neighbour’s life. I am the Lord.
Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbour frankly so you will not share in his guilt.
Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbour as yourself. I am the Lord.
Matthew 22:34–40
The Greatest Commandment
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
We reflect God's character to the world around us, simply because of Jesus Christ
Today we conclude our series of sermons from the Book of Leviticus. And I'm conscious, as we wind it up, that several people have asked me why on earth we are studying this ancient, quirky and baffling book from the beginning of our old testaments. What relevance does it have to our Christian faith in 2026?
To help answer that question, and as we consider today's passage and how it rounds up everything we've considered over the past 4 weeks, I want to ask you another question: have you read Harry Potter? I'm not talking about the films - I mean the books. Have you read the books?
I confess to having read the whole series - all 7 of them. When the first book was released way back in 1997, my children were at primary school and everyone was talking about it. They were both at a great local school that really encouraged children to enjoy reading, so we bowed to the pressure and queued for Book 1, and then for each subsequent book as they were published every few months.
And at the time I recall it causing a bit of a stir in our church - we had Christian friends who were very suspicious of a book about Wizards and witches, feeling that surely it bordered on the occult or even the Satanic. One friend said we wouldn't let his children anywhere near Harry Potter and that the books should be burned. But it was clear our kids loved book 1 so I decided I must read it also.
And what a book. It was one of the best things I had read in a while. And it seems most people agreed. Over the course of the next couple of decades the series sold well over 600 million copies - and it became the most-sold book series in history, worldwide.
Why are these stories so good? Because primarily they're not about witchcraft and spells: rather, they are about relationships. They are about friendship, love, camaraderie, respect, bravery, heroism, right and wrong. They are about the triumph of good over evil, love over hate, loyalty over treachery. That's why they speak so loudly to our hearts.
And maybe that's the secret of all really good-quality literature – that whatever the context, whatever the backdrop to the story, it's the relationships between its characters that carry the story and keep us engaged.
And indeed, far from Harry Potter being a challenge to the Christian Faith, commentators have written books about how these stories even reflect and resonate with our faith.
And just as Harry Potter is first and foremost a brilliant story about relationships, so is the book of Leviticus.
And that's why it's worth studying - because at its core is a relationship between God and his people. Now Leviticus charts that relationship as it unfolded a long time in the past - 3,500 years ago, while the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness after the Exodus from Egypt; but it has value for us in our day too, because it charts the unchanging character of God and how he relates to his people, both then and now. It's all about relationship. And perhaps no more so than in this final study, from Leviticus Ch 19.
So, as we spend time in this final section, let's think what that means for us.
1. The heart of the relationship
The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: 'Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy. Leviticus 19:1-2
Holiness runs through this book of Leviticus. Because that is the character of God: a holy being who binds himself to his people. Notice how he refers to himself: he uses his name, The LORD - in block capitals because it's the way our scriptures choose to present the Holy name of God - Yahweh, I am who I am. God revealed that name to Moses when he asked God for his name. It was the name by which his people were to know him. He revealed his name, and therefore his character, to his people Israel.
But not only do they know God's name, but they hear his reassurance - I, the LORD your God. He's not some random distant deity, but God who uniquely belongs to his people Israel as they wander their way through the desert.
But he has a charge for them: they are to be like him. Why? Because this nation is meant to be a beacon to the world of what God's community, God's kingdom, is like. Thus, they have no human King - for God himself is their King. Their leader is God's prophet Moses; their spiritual mediator is the High Priest Aaron.
And this nation, as they make their way to the land God has promised them, is to stand out from the world as different - distinctive, a people where the God of the Universe dwells in their midst and deals directly with them.
That's why there are so many strange laws in this book - strange to our minds anyway - because God wants there to be no doubt that he is achieving something new and important in this people. They must be distinctive in their lifestyle and behaviour - and at its heart, they must be holy. They must reflect the very character of the God who called them, if they are to exhibit his character to the watching world of their time. So, what does that look like?
2. The expression of that relationship
Each of you must respect his mother and father, and you must observe my Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God. "'Do not turn to idols or make gods of cast metal for yourselves. I am the LORD your God. Leviticus 19:3-4
The long section that follows, some of which we heard read, effectively restates the 10 commandments and amplifies some more specific instructions. Those two verses I've just quoted are merely the beginning, examples of where God is going with this.
And actually, if we were to read on we would find the commands fall broadly into three categories that we find often in the scriptures. We heard Jesus' own summary of those categories as our Gospel reading: the two most important commandments being to Love God, and to love our neighbour as ourselves.
The prophet Micah also summarizes it neatly with one of my favourite verses in the whole of the bible.
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8
That's a verse that many of our world leaders would do well to emulate. And some of our politicians and leaders here at home, too: To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly
And that's another great summary of the Law.
To quote a few examples from today's Leviticus reading, the Israelites are to act justly with their fellows and the aliens among them in their courts and in their trading; they are to be merciful to the poor by leaving the borders of fields unharvested, and not gathering fallen crops, so that the poor can find food to eat; and they are to remain humble before God - not turning to idols, maintaining the proper respect for the Sabbath and sacrifices and offerings, and to revere and respect their parents and elders.
The regulations run on for another three chapters, laying down how this people should live in order to reflect the holiness of God.
But here's the important thing: this is not about earning God's favour. God brought them out of Egypt and parted the Red Sea for them to cross long before any of these regulations had been given through Moses. There was no Law when they left Egypt: simply a people who had been rescued by a God who cared for them.
God told them his name, Yahweh because he loved them and had decided to bind their life as a nation to him. He calls himself 'their God' not because they earned that right of belonging, but because he chose them, way back in the time of Abraham.
So the holiness he requires of them is not the cause of that relationship, but the expression of that relationship.
When I was a young man I wanted to make my parents proud of me. We weren't a wealthy family but they lavished on me love, encouragement, time, and a sense of ambition. I didn't want to make them proud in order that they might love me; I wanted to make them proud because they loved me.
And it was the same for the Israelites: they were to be holy because of their relationship with God. Because he loved them. And to bring all this up to date, it's the same for us as Christians.
3. The Christian in relationship
The Apostle Peter picks up our theme from Leviticus in his first letter:
Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." 1 Peter 1:13-16
You see, even after 3,500 years, God has not changed. He is the same, yesterday, today and forever. And just as the Israelite community was to reflect his character to the world around it, so we too as Christians reflect his character to the world around us.
Not to earn God's love, but because we have God's love.
But our motivation is greater than that of the Israelites. We know they didn't do well; they often messed up and God spent an awful lot of time trying to discipline them to get their relationship with him on the right footing. Because he loved them.
But Peter reminds us how much we have moved on as a people in our relationship with God:
...it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." ... live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. 1 Peter 1:16-21
The Israelites biggest stumbling-block in their relationship with God was their sin and rebellion. And God gave them a programme of animal sacrifices to demonstrate the gravity of their sin and to provide a means of cleansing.
But he always had in mind something more effective, something perfect, something enduring, which those old patterns merely prefigured. For he had always planned, since the foundation of the world, a perfect solution to sin: the death and resurrection of God himself, in the flesh of God-made-Man - Jesus Christ. And we know that in our times.
You and I have been redeemed, bought back, pardoned with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect, chosen before the creation of the world
In the face of such love, how can we not want to live for him? To live lives that are holy and honouring to him? To love the Lord our God with heart soul mind and strength, and to love our neighbour as our self? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God?
So, will we not examine our lives, study the scriptures, ask his guidance as to how our lives might be better, be holier, be more honouring to him? To yearn to live lives that might bring him glory ... and not so that he might love us, but because he already loves us. And gave his son for us.
That is the calling of every baptised Christian. And it's a noble calling. Are you up for it?
O thou who calmest from above
The fire celestial to impart
Kindle a flame of sacred love
on the mean altar of my heart
Jesus, confirm my heart's desire
To work and speak and think for thee;
still let me guard the holy fire
and still stir up the gift in me