Writing this blog at this season of the year, my attention is captured by Leviticus 8:7. What is spiritually resounding about the procedure here, about putting on garment on a person, in this case for liturgical purposes?
Certainly, the context is important. The sequence cannot be done in any other way. The final piece is a culmination of that has gone before and in that order. The necessary attention in the putting on of the garment is that it necessitates utmost attention. Getting out of step or sequence is one thing, doing the actions without due care and attention is really the test of one’s integrity, or both, the one helping to put on, and the one receiving the garment.
The learning point was the garment itself; however, there is importance of context. There was purpose in the garment, and the nature of the garment in the days of Leviticus.
Not an exact comparison, the use of face mask during the pandemic is not the putting on of the mask, or the mask, that is the object of the practice. The purpose here is to reduce chances of receiving and passing on the virus.
Today, the learning point about the garment was probably both a great sense of awe, as well as a great sense of “irrelevance”. For a start, the sense of “majesty”, “glory” and “holiness” might not come close to the beauty of the garment, and in any case, this Leviticus garment might mislead how we perceive the person of God and his attributes, his relationship to us.
Another learning point is hinted above, and that is our inner purpose of an action or will. In the context of worship, we might not be comfortable with leading a liturgy that has not changed for years or decades, others might find it bewildering having to lead a worship service which could be very different styles and structure from week to week.
