Old-School Cookouts

Leviticus 1

So God calls Moses from the tent of meeting and gives him specific instructions for the Israelites regarding burnt offerings. First off they have to come from the herd or the flock. These words seem to be the same to me- get my shoes from the bedroom, or the room that has the bed- but contextually it seems to simply be an indicator of what kind of animal is to be sacrificed: bulls vs. sheep, goats or birds.

This sacrifice involves more than just giving blemish-free animals from your private collection- in fact that seems like the easy part. The slaughter of these animals is to be very a much a hands-on experience.

Aaron's sons are their for assistance, but their capacity seems to be more in the line of being grill-masters- the killin' is up to the former owner of the animal being offered. For bulls, he's to place his hand on the bull's head to atone for his (the man, not the bull's) sin and then slaughter him in front of the priests. Aaron's sons sprinkle the blood on the altar and on all sides of the entrance to the tent of meeting. After killing it, he has to skin it and cut it into pieces. In short, they are to make the tent of meeting resemble the set of a Roger Corman film.

Aaron's sons arrange the meat on the altar after putting wood and fire on it. They even cook the head and the fat. The offerer also has to wash the inner parts and legs with water.

If it's a sheep or goat (from the flock)- they still slaughter it but by the north end of the altar. The sprinkling, meat arranging and washing all still happen.

Finally if it's a bird, it has to be a dove or young pigeon. For some reason, the priest seems to have a much more violent role in these circumstances. The priest brings the bird to the altar, wrings its head off and burns it on the altar. The blood is to be drained beside the altar. He (not sure if this is the offerer or the priest) is to remove the feathers and put them with the ashes on the east side of the altar, rip the bird open by the wings- but not sever it completely- and burn it on the altar.

In all instances, the final product is described this way: "It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD."

What strikes me as important here is the involvement in the process of sacrifice. The Israelites couldn't just write a check and feel absolved- it took getting their hands dirty, in ways that I don't know I could have handled. Obviously there are some pretty serious cultural differencs between then and now, and there and here- but I don't know if I have it in me to do what these folks had to do. I'd have had to find a way, but my strengths and my comfort zones would have been left far behind. For these folks, it took doing things that would have been unpleasant and messy and smelly and expensive. It shows how serious the idea of sin is to God- but it might also show that he expects us to invest ourselves in His service, not just our bankbooks.

That's tough. And often puzzling. I know how to send money to a disaster relief fund- I know how to reach in my wallet to help the guy on the side of the road who's down on his luck. And those things are important- but I don't know how to rebuild the house of the victim of the flood- and I don't know how to help get someone off the street. But perhaps this struggle, if taken seriously- this dirtying of our hands and involvement in our sacrifices makes us people who greater appreciate the grace we've been given and the blessings offered.