The whole book of Leviticus emphasizes the holiness of God, which calls for us to respond by living in holiness as well; but today’s reading expresses that in serious detail. “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2): all of our lives are to be set apart for holiness, on the basis of God’s own holiness. But what does a holy life really look like?

Today’s chapters prescribe a lot of regulations that address particular aspects of a holy life. Some of these are judicial: “You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor. You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people” (19:15-16). There are social regulations, insisting we must not hate or bear a grudge, but must instead love our neighbor as ourselves, and offer corrective wisdom: “You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord. ” (19:17-18).

There are regulations regarding how we are to treat foreigners: “When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God” (19:33-34). And there are regulations that insist on righteous economic behavior – rather than ‘sharp practice’ on the basis that “it’s just business”: “You shall not cheat in measuring length, weight, or quantity. You shall have honest balances, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt” (19:35-36).

All of these find their meaning in our call to give ourselves wholeheartedly to God’s worship and service: to live in holiness, because our Lord is holy. That’s often hard for us to get. We are better at finding fault with others than we are at dedicating ourselves to wholehearted allegiance to our God, in word and deed.
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We are so quick to use your word as the basis for judging others, O Lord, and so slow to reckon with our own lack of holiness. Teach our hearts to focus on devotion to you, we pray, that we may live before you in glad obedience, this day and always.