John Goldingay
Exodus and Leviticus - Improving on Creation
Exodus and Leviticus - Improving on Creation
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Improving on Creation LEVITICUS : 19: 19- 20:27 When a man and his wife are about to go out and the wife asks whether she looks okay, the appropriate answer is “You look lovely” (not “Maybe that dress and those shoes don’t go together”). If she then says, “Is that what you really…
Exodus and Leviticus - Be Holy as I am Holy
Exodus and Leviticus - Be Holy as I am Holy
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Be Holy as I am Holy LEVITICUS : 19: 1- 18 Today’s newspaper reports on the release from a detention center in Iraq of a twenty-seven-year-old man, after eighteen months there. He was given a letter to say that his case had been concluded and the occupation authorities had decide…
Exodus and Leviticus - The Life Is in the Blood
Exodus and Leviticus - The Life Is in the Blood
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Life Is In the Blood LEVITICUS : 17: 1- 18: 30 A month ago a woman came to see me to talk about the general difficulties of her life. Her mother had died some time previously. She was barely on speaking terms with her father. She certainly was not on speaking terms with her m…
Exodus and Leviticus - The Expiation Day
Exodus and Leviticus - The Expiation Day
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Expiation Day LEVITICUS : 16: 1-34 I climbed Mount Sinai in September 1973, near the beginning of the seventh month in the Jewish year as Leviticus computes it (counting from Passover), and thus just after the New Year on the modern Jewish calendar. It was five days before Yo…
Exodus and Leviticus - Sex and Taboos
Exodus and Leviticus - Sex and Taboos
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Sex and Taboos LEVITICUS : 15: 1-33 “Sexual intercourse began / in nineteen sixty-three / (which was rather late for me),” the poet Philip Larkin wrote in his poem “Annus mirabilis.” It was the decade when the pill made it possible to separate sex from procreation. My prospective…
Exodus and Leviticus - Distinguishing Life from Death
Exodus and Leviticus - Distinguishing Life from Death
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Distinguishing Life from Death LEVITICUS : 13 1- 14: 57 The first funeral I did in the United States was for a friend in his thirties whose wedding I had conducted. We buried him within about a year, after he died of a brain tumor. I admire the way U.S. funerals commonly have the…
Exodus and Leviticus - You Are What You Eat
Exodus and Leviticus - You Are What You Eat
by SPCK - John Goldingay
You Are What You Eat LEVITICUS : 11 1- 12: 8 We had squirrels in our garden in England and on our patio in California, and in both places I have threatened to make squirrel casserole. Ann protested because she likes the squirrels; other people protest because they are repelled by…
Exodus and Leviticus - Ordination and Disaster
Exodus and Leviticus - Ordination and Disaster
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Ordination and Disaster LEVITICUS : 8- 1: 10: 20 There’s a joke that describes the pastor as six days invisible and one day incomprehensible. My first sermon after I was ordained had five points all beginning with the letter p. They were long or tricky words too—the only one I ca…
Exodus and Leviticus - Being Grateful, Keeping a Promise
Exodus and Leviticus - Being Grateful, Keeping a Promise
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Being Grateful, Keeping a Promise, Being Generous LEVITICUS 6: 8- 7: 38 When my wife died, I was touched by the way people wanted to give something in thanksgiving for her life. One obvious object for that was the MS Society, because MS was the illness by means of which she had s…
Exodus and Leviticus - Making Reparation
Exodus and Leviticus - Making Reparation
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Making Reparation LEVITICUS 5: 1- 6: 7 When my wife and I knew we were in love and wanted to get married, my wife’s parents opposed the match for various reasons. I was a mere would-be pastor with no career prospects to compare with Ann’s as a physician. I was too informal and no…
Exodus and Leviticus - Enjoying Fellowship and Gaining Cleansing
Exodus and Leviticus - Enjoying Fellowship and Gaining Cleansing
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Enjoying Fellowship and Gaining Cleansing LEVITICUS 3: 1- 4: 35 I just had an invitation to a Thanksgiving dinner and was in a quandary about how to respond. Our first one or two Thanksgivings were very meaningful because we were thankful for God’s goodness in connection with our…
Exodus and Leviticus - Giving to God
Exodus and Leviticus - Giving to God
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Giving to God LEVITICUS 1: 1- 2: 16 In our seminary in England, faculty and students worked as teams in planning and leading worship. While this was a great privilege and I enjoyed it when it was my team’s turn, my heart would also sink somewhat when our period of duty arrived be…
Exodus and Leviticus - The Magnificent Presence
Exodus and Leviticus - The Magnificent Presence
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Magnificent Presence EXODUS 34: 27- 40: 38 When I sit in my ancient recliner aware that God is there with me, in the way I described in connection with Exodus 32:30– 33:11, I do not have experiences that leave my face radiating in such a way that later in the day students are…
Exodus and Leviticus - Now I will Seal a Covenant
Exodus and Leviticus - Now I will Seal a Covenant
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Now I Will Seal a Covenant EXODUS 34: 1-26 Visiting Jerusalem brings many striking experiences for sober-minded Westerners. The celebration of a bar mitzvah or bat mitzvah at the Western Wall is an occasion of enthusiastic rejoicing, dancing, and singing as Torah scrolls are carr…
Exodus and Leviticus - Rock of Ages Cleft For Me
Exodus and Leviticus - Rock of Ages Cleft For Me
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Rock of Ages Cleft for Me EXODUS 33: 12-23 In the County of Somerset in the West of England there is a canyon called Cheddar Gorge (yes, where the cheese comes from). One day in 1763 a young minister was caught in a tumultuous thunderstorm in the cliffs nearby. The minister, Augu…
Exodus and Leviticus - How to Check Things out with God
Exodus and Leviticus - How to Check Things out with God
by SPCK - John Goldingay
How to Check Things Out with God EXODUS 32: 30-33: 11 Throughout most of my life, I have had a particular place where I pray each day. At the moment it is an ancient recliner chair sitting in front of my desk. Next to it is a little table where I keep a Bible and a prayer noteboo…
Exodus and Leviticus - How to Pray for Rebels
Exodus and Leviticus - How to Pray for Rebels
by SPCK - John Goldingay
How to Pray for Rebels EXODUS 32: 1-29 You could say I came to the United States to avoid the responsibility of leadership. I was the head of a seminary and got paid more than my colleagues because it was my job to lie awake worrying about its future. Metaphorically speaking, on …
Exodus and Leviticus - The First Spiritual Gifting