January 24

Day 316: Empty Handed-

I'll be preaching on the first parts of Samson's story this morning. He was ordained by God to be a Nazirite from birth. Anyone taking the Nazirite vow was going above and beyond. A vow to separate oneself from normal, mundane religious live.

Any man or woman could undertake a Nazirite vow. Few did. It was for a specific time period of that persons own choosing. (Samson, on the other hand, was a lifetime Nazirite, and not by his own choice.)

Anyone under a Nazirite vow was marked by three abstinences: no wine drinking (not even eating grapes or raisons.) Another was no touching a dead body. If one did come in contact with a dead body, the Nazirite vow had to start over again.

The third abstinence was no haircuts. The hair was to grow until the very day the Nazirite vow was to end. What the one under the vow did during the time period of his/her vow is anyone's guess.

But it was the end of the time period of the Nazirite vow I find interesting. The Nazirite went to the priest, with at least 3 sacrificial animals. And a grain offering. And wafers. He/she would offer all three to the priest to be sacrificed on the altar. Ending a Nazirite vow was public and expensive.

And, the hair of that person's head would be shaved off, and also placed on the altar to be burned. There was no way the Nazirite vow could be completed and accounted for, if the Nazirite came empty handed. Or left with any need for hair products.

We often think we come to Jesus with our arms full. We are apt to bring our personality, our education, our position, our successes, and the acceptance from humans we've acquired.

But in God's eyes, we're showing up empty handed. Because those things we value are not proper or worthy for sacrifice. Instead, our Lord requires this from us: words.

Words. In Hosea chapter 14 we read "Return, Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall! Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to Him: Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer you the fruit of our lips."

God doesn't require bulls and rams and goats and lambs. That requirement has been satisfied by the blood of the Lamb He provided Himself. The remaining sacrifice for us to bring is words.

Words of humility, of honesty, of confession, words free from negotiation or excuse. Words of praise and adoration. Words that could only be spoken by those resting in the grace of Jesus Christ.

The sacrifices to end a Nazirite's vow, or any sacrifice for that matter, is what opens again the door to access and relationship with our forgiving God and Father.

So the question I ask myself this Sunday morning is, "Will I attempt to come to the Lord today empty handed?

-Mike Rydman, Lead Pastor, Radiant Church Juneau