Reading 25 | The Bible in 100 Passages

Wednesday, October 8, 2025  

Today's Scripture
Leviticus 5:14–19

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: When any of you commit a trespass and sins unintentionally in any of the holy things of the Lord, you shall bring, as your guilt offering to the Lord, a ram without blemish from the flock, convertible into silver by the sanctuary shekel; it is a guilt offering. And you shall make restitution for the holy thing in which you were remiss, and shall add one-fifth to it and give it to the priest. The priest shall make atonement on your behalf with the ram of the guilt offering, and you shall be forgiven. If any of you sin without knowing it, doing any of the things that by the Lord’s commandments ought not to be done, you have incurred guilt, and are subject to punishment. You shall bring to the priest a ram without blemish from the flock, or the equivalent, as a guilt offering; and the priest shall make atonement on your behalf for the error that you committed unintentionally, and you shall be forgiven. It is a guilt offering; you have incurred guilt before the Lord. (NRSV)

Reflection

Unintended consequences with intentional contrition. My mother often reminded me that “I’m sorry” also includes “I’ll change.”

I’ve been teaching for a long time now and I have tried to stay current on my content and relevant to my students. Like most teachers with experience, I have honed presentations on concepts and topics that work over my decades in the profession. How does time impact music? Why is good rhythm a moral imperative to musical structure? How do I ensure that each member of the ensemble understands?

I have learned a lot in the past few years during and just post-pandemic. As groups of people began to stand up and be counted, I discovered that some of those scripts contained unintended slights, microaggressions, or language that excluded someone. I learned that, if I was to remain relevant to my students, it required me to rescript material. I found that, if I didn’t change the words I was using, my students wouldn’t listen to what I had to say. If they aren’t listening, I’m not teaching very well.

I didn’t mean to slight my students but that matters less than the fact that I did slight some of them. I sinned without knowing it for a long time.

Perhaps that is what this passage is getting at. We need to pay attention for unintended transgressions toward others. When they come to our attention, we need to make amends for them.

Prayer

God of grace and forgiveness, help me to continually guard against unintended transgressions that might “other” someone and help me to be intentional about making amends by making changes in my life and my walk of faith. In the name of the Christ. Amen.

Written by Robert Sinclair, Member of Fourth Presbyterian Church

Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

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