The Parish Magazine April 2022

the parish noticeboard — 5
On reflection . . .
Leviticus: Being holy
By Elizabeth Spiers
Romolo Tavani, dreamstime.com
Have you tried to read from Genesis to Revelation?
If you have, I can imagine that when you arrived at
Leviticus, you found it dry and boring. What can this
book possibly have to say to us? It was written to
another culture thousands of years ago and focuses on
animal sacrifice. So why would God put it in the Bible?
You’ve heard the saying 'you can take the girl out of Liverpool
(or wherever) but you can’t take Liverpool out of the girl'. That’s a
picture of how it was for the Israelites. They had been slaves
in Egypt for so long that their Jewish heritage and their
understanding of God was highly compromised. God wanted
to remind them of who he was and more than that, of how
holy he is. He wanted them to know how to worship him.
Some of the laws given in Leviticus may have been for
health to protect the people but most were so that they
would be reminded of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
And of his faithfulness, holiness and power. God had made
an everlasting covenant, with Abraham and the Jewish
nation. As with any contract, there were benefits if you kept
to the agreement and sanctions if you didn’t. As humans
they were unable to keep their part of the agreement. They
kept sinning, just as we do. They needed a Saviour, as we do.
RELATIONSHIP
It wasn’t time for Jesus to come, so God introduced
animal sacrifice. This was his way for the people to repent of
their sins and appease his wrath. It may seem horrific to us
in our age of animal rights, but think of Jesus’ death.
That too was horrific. He was bloodied, broken, thorns
in his head, nails in his hands and feet, open back from the
lashes and he was naked as he hung on the cross. But he gave
his life to buy us back from a sinful world. Until then, God’s
wrath was appeased by the shedding of an innocent animal’s
blood.
In Leviticus 10, two of Aaron’s sons, who had been
ordained as priests, went to minister and got it wrong. Verse
2 tells us they offered profane or ‘unholy’ fire to God and as a
result they lost their lives.
God is holiness. It’s not an attribute, it is who he is. Sin
comes between us and God. And yet, he wants a relationship
with each of us.
That’s why we have Leviticus. It teaches us the lengths
God will go to be able to live with his chosen people and why
at the right time, he sent his Son so that the need for animal
sacrifice would be over.
We are precious, blood-bought children of God. Let us try,
as God asks us in Leviticus 11:44 to 'be holy, as he is holy'.
From the desk
of the editor
editor@theparishmagazine.co.uk
Sharing burdens is
good for you . . .
The Parish Magazine - April 2022 13
Sitting on my desk — or rather, there would be if
there was room! — is a pile of parish magazines from
churches around the UK. When I have sent this issue to
the printers my next job will be to read all the waiting
magazines and score them according to agreed criteria. I
will also be making suggestions about how each magazine
could be improved.
One of my roles outside St Andrew's Church is with the
Association for Church Editors (ACE). We have about 850
members, all of whom, edit their church magazine.
I joined ACE 5 years ago and, after winning its annual
award for the best church magazine in 2018, I was invited
to join its management committee, which currently has six
members. Each committee member will be reading the same
magazines in order to choose a winner.
Like me, the other committee members have experience
of the commercial world of publishing which is unlike the
majority of ACE members who previously had very little
editing or writing experience before taking the role of editor
of their church magazine. Thus, much of the committee's
time is taken up with encouraging members to develop and
improve their publications. Running an annual competition
is one way we try to do this.
Each month I also write a newsletter for the ACE
members which includes stories, and ideas for stories, that
the members can include in their own magazines., and it
offers tips on how to edit and design magazines.
FUNDAMENTAL
Through the newsletter, we also encourage members to
share their editing and production problems with each other.
Knowing that someone else has been in a similar situation
and having someone to share experiences and solutions can
also reduce the stress — meeting deadlines, and finding
and writing stories can be stressful for all church editors.
Having a channel to share problems also helps to relieve the
loneliness that many editors experience.
Whether sharing our problems or helping others it
is, of course, not unique to church magazine editors, it is
something that can help us in all walks of life.
Sharing our burdens is a fundamental Christian
characteristic. When Paul wrote to the Galatians he said:
'Carry each other's burdens and so you will fulfil the law of Christ.'
The good news here is that no one need do anything alone.
You can help friends and family get through life's big and
small obstacles, and they can do the same for you.
There is great deal of wisdom in the proverbial saying: 'A
problem shared is a problem halved.'
If you have a problem, and no-one to share it with,
contact a member of the St Andrew's ministry team (details
on page 42) and if we can't help we will help you find someone
who can. It's good to share your burdens!