Holy Neighborhoods

Leviticus 19

About the Sermon

Leviticus 19 includes the most quoted verse in the New Testament: "you shall love your neighbor as yourself" (19:18). It also includes a command not to breed cattle with different kinds of cattle, sow two kinds of seed in a field, and wear garments of cloth made of two kinds of material" (19:19). In fact, these two verses sit right alongside one another. What does Leviticus 19 say and what does it have to do with us exactly?

About the Series

Life. That’s not what typically comes to mind for modern readers of Leviticus. This is that book filled with animal sacrifices. Life with God might sound even more out of touch. The many laws in this book may give us the impression that the Lord intends to keep his distance. Yet Leviticus is not about distance but nearness. The story of Exodus closed out with a problem: the Lord came to his tabernacle but Moses could not enter. How then can any of us get back to Eden? In Leviticus, the Lord answers that question. Yet the tabernacle and its laws are not the end of the story, but a shadow. Together they are a model of the entire cosmos, God’s heavenly dwelling, and the way to fullness of life with God.
Life. That’s not what typically comes to mind for modern readers of Leviticus. This is that book filled with animal sacrifices. Life with God might sound even more out of touch. The many laws in this book may give us the impression that the Lord intends to keep his distance. Yet Leviticus is not about distance but nearness. The story of Exodus closed out with a problem: the Lord came to his tabernacle but Moses could not enter. How then can any of us get back to Eden? In Leviticus, the Lord answers that question. Yet the tabernacle and its laws are not the end of the story, but a shadow. Together they are a model of the entire cosmos, God’s heavenly dwelling, and the way to fullness of life with God.

Sermons in the Series