I wanted to stand and applaud when Victor Kamanda completed the reading of the Old Testament lesson from Leviticus 18:1-5 & 19:9-18. I’m afraid that my words will fail to convey with what emphatic certainly he read the word of the Lord. Victor is a native of Africa who recently joined Immanuel Lutheran chapel. He learned his English in Africa and his speech is not unlike South African Bishop Desmond Tutu.
So he read from Leviticus, “You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt. You shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan. You shall not walk in their statutes. You shall follow my rules. (Pause for one beat) I AM THE LORD.
You shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings. You shall not strip your vineyards bare. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner. (Pause) I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD.
Thus the lesson went. You shall not steal. You shall not lie to one another. I AM THE LORD. You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind. I AM THE LORD.
But nobody seems to know much about him. I’m going to have to spend some time with him on the next occasion.
Having people from Africa added a dimension to the children’s message. Becky found a photo of a crocodile with its jaws wide open and a toothpick bird sitting in the crocs mouth picking out leeches etc. The croc and the bird a good neighbors to one another.
In both services most of the children who came up for the message were from Africa. When I asked if they had ever seen a crocodile, they all nodded their heads. I have an idea they had seen the reptiles outside a zoo.
But back to the OT lesson. What kind of mean spirited person would curse the deaf and put a stumbling block before the blind?
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