The Norm

Leviticus 13:46 As long as they have the disease they remain unclean. They must live alone; they must live outside the camp.

Do you remember the “bell curve” from high school? In statistics there is a thing called “the norm.” It forms the basis from which all the variations are measured. Most things that are measured land in the norm or right next to the norm. The norm is that middle section of the bell curve. Ninety-five percent of us land in that middle section!

Just mentioning math has sent a few of you spinning into unpleasant territory! I know this, so let me assure you, we aren’t going to dive into any more math. You most likely land in the middle. You are normal! Well, maybe not a few of you!

I came to conclude that I am average a few years ago. There are some areas where I am outside the norm on the positive side and some where I run a deficit. I am not near the best at anything I do. I am average, and I am OK with that.

Chances are, you are average as well. We as a culture have gotten in the bad habit of telling every kid that they are the best. That just isn’t possible. The reality is that your kid is average! They are not the best T-ball athlete.

As Israel is being established as a nation, the LORD gives them what their new “norm” is to be. They are given rules about their relationships with both the LORD and with each other. Some behaviors are acceptable and some are not, often based on what their neighbors do that is unacceptable in the LORD’s presence. It is the contrast between this new people and the cultures that surround them. They are to be outside the cultural norm, but inside a new norm.

Our text comes at the end of a section dealing with skin diseases. When someone’s skin is breaking out, there is a procedure to evaluate and then treat the disease. And when there was no treatment, that diseases person or thing would need to be separated from the camp. Protection of the rest of the camp took priority over the individual.

Now this might seem harsh, but in an era before ‘modern’ medicine, it provided a way to keep the disease from taking over the community. It gave a clear picture of what the ‘normal’ was, and what abnormal also looked like. Clear guidance with clear actions to follow.

We now have “universal precautions” that get used in a hospital setting. Wash hands, put on gloves, mask and a gown, isolate all infected materials for disposal, wash hands again after contact. We know what to do. When something is outside the ‘healthy’ norm, we have procedures to deal with it.

As we read this ancient text we might be tempted to judge them as primitive people. In some sense that is correct. They didn’t have antibiotics or a microscope.

But during the recent health scare, we put on masks to protect ourselves and others from a disease that could travel around and through the mask. If we could smell anything with the mask on, then the virus could travel through our layer of protection. The virus was smaller than the smell! Our “protection” was primitive!

And yet, we still put on the masks. We did it to provide some sense of normalcy and solidarity with those who were suffering. We did it thinking it would protect the whole. We became part of a community, just what Israel was doing. They were forming a community that obeyed rules.