A Kingdom of Priests Who Do Not Worry

The other day two biblical teachings that aren't usually associated together became associated in my mind. I can only assume this was the work of the Good Counselor helping me to further understand the good news. They are Christ's command to not worry and the teaching that the body of Christ is a kingdom of priests.

Currently I am reading my way through the book of Leviticus. Why, you ask? I am seeking Christ in the Law, of course. My Lord said himself "I did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill every letter of it." Therefore I should be able to find him in every chapter of Leviticus. I'm finding him here and there, but that's not my point. While reading through Leviticus I am noticing all the ways that God provided for his priests.

• "When this goat is sacrificed, the priests are to eat the leftovers. It is their share."
• "When grain is offered, bake it into cakes. The leftover cakes are to be eaten by the priests, it is their share."
• "When a wave offering is offered, the priests are to eat the leftovers, it is their share."

The entire life of the priests who were serving involved sacrifices all day long. They didn't have time to go out to Meijer and buy groceries. They didn't have the opportunity to work a part-time job. They were hard and work from sunrise to sunset and sometimes more working for the Lord. And what did God ever do for them? Oh, how about give them food, and drink, and an income (eventually a temple tax was instituted). It was part of the Israelite community life that the priests were taken care of.

Jump to the New Testament where in Hebrews the followers of Christ are called a royal priesthood. Each one of us who follows Christ has the responsibility of being a priest in this world, interceding for the sins of the unbelievers. Working on their behalf to invite the presence of God into their lives so that the Holy Spirit might turn their hearts of stone to hearts of flesh.

And if we are priests, and we are hard at work working for the Lord, who provided for his Old Covenant priests, will he not provide for us, his New Covenant priests. The priests of the Old Covenant had plenty of food. Some of it they had to eat that very day. Sometimes they could save some for the next day, but they had to eat it on the next day or it was bad. The priests did not store away. They had to trust that God would keep them well-fed.

So, too, Jesus said in his Sermon on the Mount, "Do not worry about what you will eat or what you will drink or what you will wear." Did he not take care of his Old Covenant priests? Yes, he did. That's what we have the Old Testament books like Leviticus, to show us the very blessings and provision of God Almighty. So now as his new royal priesthood he will take just as much care of us and so much more.

So do not worry about tomorrow, oh, my sisters and brothers of the royal priesthood. Tomorrow will worry about itself and the Lord has planned for it in advance. Each day has enough worry of its own. My the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face shine upon you and be with you. And may he give you his peace. Amen.

What If Everyone is Right?

"What if everyone is right?" asked my student.

"What do you mean?" I was seeking his definition of "right".

"What if all religious worldviews are right because the people's faith makes it right?" The student had arrived at his conclusion. I could see from his body language that my student had pondered this before and appeared to be working through it still even as he was asking the question. Unfortunately it was not directly tied to the lesson at hand, so I had to give him a short answer:

"Well, if everyone is right, then we have conflicting ideas to deal with, such as what is good and evil, or even if those two concepts exist. How do we reconcile all worldviews when many of them conflict?"

The student was not completely satisfied, but he accepted the answer as something to reconsider. So we moved on.

However, the question stuck with me. "What if their faith made it right?" I assumed the student was ruminating whether the belief held made the religion or the worldview real; whether the belief created the reality.

Forget for a moment that the numerous worldviews conflict (i.e. that the Hindu view of Atman [God] is by and large diametrically opposed to the Muslim view of Allah [God]). Let's say, for the sake of discussion that Buddha's laws of non-contradiction are in agreement with the strict Law of Moses which proposes a distinction between good (the Law) and evil (breaking the Law). If all worldviews suddenly lined up and were in full agreement with each other, let us then talk about the faith held by the religious person.

Could it be that my belief makes my reality? In other words, my belief in something makes it real, and if it is real, it is thus true. I hope you can see the inherent problem with this [particular] worldview: "What is it, then, that I'm having faith in?" That is the question of faith.

If it is my faith that makes something real, do I really have faith? Faith is believing in something I cannot essentially see or experience for certain. It believes that there is more than meets the eye. Therefore, inherent in faith is hope. Faith begets hope. Hope keeps faith alive. The two go hand-in-hand. If I have faith that my wife loves me, I have the hope that she will give me a gift on my birthday.

Eventually the hope is either fulfilled or let down and deceived. Once I receive the gift from my wife, I no longer have hope for the gift. The gift has been made manifest and my hope is fulfilled. Once my hope has been met, it is gone, and thus I no longer have faith that my wife shows me love through that gift. The gift has become tangible. The gift (as it were) has incarnated. I no longer have faith that the gift exists, I know it exists because it is in my hand.

But what if I do not receive the gift? What if I wish for the gift with all that I am and believe that my wife loves me and therefore will get me the gift? And then the gift does not appear. My belief in my wife and in the gift has clearly not made the gift real to me, no matter how much I believed in the gift or my wife's love.

And yet, why would I have hoped for the gift in the first place? Because I know the gift exists somewhere. I wish for the gift because I have seen it and desire it. Or if I have not seen it, I have been told that it exists somewhere. The existence of the object must precede the faith. My faith alone is not enough to make something real and therefore true. The object of my faith must precede my having faith in it, or it is not faith at all but rather foolishness. The man who believes he can fly, who has faith in his own wings, does not make his flight real by jumping off a building and flapping. He creates his own doom by foolishly believing in something which actually cannot be. If my faith is what makes my reality--if my belief is what makes it real--then I am a fool to be pitied among all men. I am hoping for something that does not exist. The reality that I am creating is coming from me, and I am wretched. Woe be upon me!

So it is that not all religious worldviews can be right and true in every aspect simply because individuals or the religious collective believes it. A religious worldview is right only if it has faith in, is believing in, something which actually is. C.S. Lewis puts it this way:

"The Christian and the Materialist hold different beliefs about the universe. They can’t both be right. The one who is wrong will act in a way which simply doesn’t fit the real universe. Consequently, with the best will in the world, he will be helping his fellow creatures to their destruction." ~ God in the Dock.

One could replace "Materialist" with any one of the religious faiths/worldviews on this earth, and the quote still holds true. Therefore, we must assume that some religious worldviews are false in their beliefs. They are believing in something which does not exist. This gives great importance to evangelism. That which is real must be the worldview that is given to all peoples so that they are having faith in something which actually exists. Which is the actually real worldview? That is a discussion for another time.

"As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." ~ Joshua 24:15