By Rev. Michael Mwangi
Senior Pastor, Fedha Church KAG
The burnt offering – everything consumed. The grain offering – no blood.
The peace offering also has a distinction. The peace offering was also called ‘The Fellowship Offering.’ This offering was actually shared between three parties. It was a tri-party fellowship, a nyama choma fellowship.
A portion of the offering was put on the altar and given to the Lord.
Part of it was given to the priest, who would that part home for his meal. And then part of it was enjoyed by the person bringing the animal.
This is a great picture of our fellowship with one another and God in his presence. Our communal fellowship in worship.
1 John 1: “3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.”
So here we have fellowship with God through the cross of His Son Jesus Christ. We are brought into fellowship with God. But we also have fellowship with each other because of the cross of Jesus Christ. We are part of the Body of Christ.
Matthew 18:20 where two or three are gathered in my name there I am in their midst.
You can never gather alone and you can never be two or three to rally God’s presence.
God’s presence dwells in the body of Christ and no single [organ] can form the body. You need at least another brother to partake of this.
No one can give himself fellowship, it must be extended by another believer.
1 Corinthians 12: “12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.”
we are in this thing together. If you’re a Christian, we’re in it together. Because the body of Jesus was broken, you and I can be brought together. The body of Jesus broken is the very thing that brings us together. You can never stand outside the body of Christ or separate yourself from the other believers
There are some people with bitterness with the church. They are always complaining. “The church is so messed up.” And I would agree with that. It is messed up –because I’m in it, and because you’re in it. Who is perfect in our midst? all of us are work in progress and everyone has his or her mess some says the world outside the church is better sorry the world out there is just crazy and absurdly dysfunctional. The church might be a dysfunctional family, But it’s the best dysfunctional family going.
This is so relevant to the idea of the peace offering is a picture of our fellowship. In Leviticus 7:13 we read concerning the peace offering – and this is striking :
Leviticus 7: “13 With the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving he shall bring his offering with loaves of leavened bread.”
Throughout the bible, leaven is a picture of sin. Leaven, yeast causes bread to rise. It actually causes the bread to rot. And as the bread is rotting, gasses are released, and it puffs up the bread. It causes the bread to rise. Because leaven is a picture of sin, it wasn’t allowed in any of the offerings except this one. This offering is symbolic of this three-way fellowship – me and God, me and you – that offering has leaven because in this three-way fellowship this man, me and you, has leaven{sin}; we have leaven.
We are redeemed sinners. And we praise the Lord for our redemption and for our growth in the grace and in the knowledge of Jesus, our growth in holiness. But with all of that, we have faults that we bring into our fellowship with one another. And never forget this is who I’m fellowshipping with, people who have leaven in their lives. It’s pictured so clearly here for us. Let's not be so self-righteous and judgmental. The church is like a hospital with all manner of people suffering all manner of sicknesses and diseases in various conditions. This is why we are in the church in the first place so that we can be cured by the word of God and his spirit in his presence.
The word for “peace” in Hebrew? – “shalom”. Has the idea of well-being, wholeness. Shalom is all about the way things are supposed to be, but because of sin, we live in a world in which shalom is wrecked. Nothing is the way it’s supposed to be. Everything’s broken. But when we’re redeemed from sin by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross –we have shalom, we have peace with God; we’re made whole in relationship with God; that’s why you come to service when you are low, discouraged, heartbroken and disturbed but as we fellowship in his presence you are made whole.
The day you and I find ourselves dissatisfied with God’s people – there’s something wrong - shalom is broken in our lives and there’s something distorted about peace in our lives.
Psalms 122:1,6-9 -people who don’t normally like to attend church and fellowship gives no peace offering because they have issues with the fellowship but most often you find they don’t have peace also and that’s why they are not at peace.
God invites us into this shalom. He invites us into this fellowship.
Remember Jesus said in - Revelation 3: “20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice He says, “I’m going to come in; and we’re going to dine together.” That’s the picture in Leviticus, the picture of this offering. We’re sitting at the table with God. A sense of fellowship and satisfaction, a sense of shalom, a sense of peace.
That’s what the Lord wants to do in you. That’s what the Lord wants to do for you as we gather. And that’s pictured so beautifully in that offering.
And that’s why we should not fail to meet physically like those who are social media believers, or those who don’t attend services.
Hebrews 10:25- Let's not forsake the gathering of saints as it is the habit of some advises against failing to offer this offering.
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