Leviticus 5:1-19; 6:1-7 NKJV
5 ‘If a person sins in hearing the utterance of an oath, and is a witness, whether he has seen or known of the matter—if he does not tell it, he bears guilt.
2 ‘Or if a person touches any unclean thing, whether it is the carcass of an unclean beast, or the carcass of unclean livestock, or the carcass of unclean creeping things, and he is unaware of it, he also shall be unclean and guilty. 3 Or if he touches human uncleanness—whatever uncleanness with which a man may be defiled, and he is unaware of it—when he realizes it, then he shall be guilty.
4 ‘Or if a person swears, speaking thoughtlessly with his lips to do evil or to do good, whatever it is that a man may pronounce by an oath, and he is unaware of it—when he realizes it, then he shall be guilty in any of these matters.
5 ‘And it shall be, when he is guilty in any of these matters, that he shall confess that he has sinned in that thing; 6 and he shall bring his trespass offering to the Lord for his sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin.
7 ‘If he is not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring to the Lord, for his trespass which he has committed, two turtledoves or two young pigeons: one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. 8 And he shall bring them to the priest, who shall offer that which is for the sin offering first, and wring off its head from its neck, but shall not divide it completely. 9 Then he shall sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar, and the rest of the blood shall be drained out at the base of the altar. It is a sin offering. 10 And he shall offer the second as a burnt offering according to the prescribed manner. So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for his sin which he has committed, and it shall be forgiven him.
11 ‘But if he is not able to bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons, then he who sinned shall bring for his offering one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a sin offering. He shall put no oil on it, nor shall he put frankincense on it, for it is a sin offering. 12 Then he shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it as a memorial portion, and burn it on the altar according to the offerings made by fire to the Lord. It is a sin offering. 13 The priest shall make atonement for him, for his sin that he has committed in any of these matters; and it shall be forgiven him. The rest shall be the priest’s as a grain offering.’ ”
14 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 15 “If a person commits a trespass, and sins unintentionally in regard to the holy things of the Lord, then he shall bring to the Lord as his trespass offering a ram without blemish from the flocks, with your valuation in shekels of silver according to the shekel of the sanctuary, as a trespass offering. 16 And he shall make restitution for the harm that he has done in regard to the holy thing, and shall add one-fifth to it and give it to the priest. So the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and it shall be forgiven him.
17 “If a person sins, and commits any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the Lord, though he does not know it, yet he is guilty and shall bear his iniquity. 18 And he shall bring to the priest a ram without blemish from the flock, with your valuation, as a trespass offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him regarding his ignorance in which he erred and did not know it, and it shall be forgiven him. 19 It is a trespass offering; he has certainly trespassed against the Lord.”
6 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “If a person sins and commits a trespass against the Lord by lying to his neighbor about what was delivered to him for safekeeping, or about a pledge, or about a robbery, or if he has extorted from his neighbor, 3 or if he has found what was lost and lies concerning it, and swears falsely—in any one of these things that a man may do in which he sins: 4 then it shall be, because he has sinned and is guilty, that he shall restore what he has stolen, or the thing which he has extorted, or what was delivered to him for safekeeping, or the lost thing which he found, 5 or all that about which he has sworn falsely. He shall restore its full value, add one-fifth more to it, and give it to whomever it belongs, on the day of his trespass offering. 6 And he shall bring his trespass offering to the Lord, a ram without blemish from the flock, with your valuation, as a trespass offering, to the priest. 7 So the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord, and he shall be forgiven for any one of these things that he may have done in which he trespasses.”
Sin is sin, whether or not you are aware of your wrongdoing. In God’s eyes, ignorance of sin doesn’t get you off the hook, so to speak. In the first part of today’s reading, an interesting phrase is repeated: “when he realizes it.” In these instances, recorded in Lev. 5, one way or another, a person is brought to realize his offense, and he is guilty. However, as mentioned before, a sin is still a sin whether or not you know that it is. The important thing to remember here is that when the person is brought to realize his sin, that also brings the knowledge to that person that he needs to do something about it. In other words, he now realizes his error personally; it was a real sin anyway, but now the person knows it without a doubt and the appropriate restitution was to be made.
In Leviticus 6, it’s important to realize that any sin against your neighbor is a sin also against God. And here restoration to the one sinned against is to be made, and then the appropriate offering and/or sacrifice is to be brought to the temple for the priest to present on the person’s behalf. This teaches us that all sin has an effect on your neighbor and on God.
You, dear saint, are a sinner from conception; you inherited that nature from your parents and they from theirs, all the way back to Adam and Eve. Whether or not you have committed a particular sin or know that you have, your very nature is corrupt. Repent. Repent in faith and run to your pastor for Absolution, remember your baptism, and run to Holy Communion. Believe by faith that Christ is your Great High Priest who’s suffering, death, and resurrection paid for all your sins. He offered His life for you, and His work is accepted by the Father on your behalf.
Christ is the fulfillment of all Old Testament sacrifices and offerings; everything recorded there points forward to Christ. Your faithful pastor delivers Christ to you in the Word and Sacraments rightly preached and delivered. Everything you need is right there in God’s Divine Service.
Let us pray: Thank You, Lord Jesus, for Your work on the cross to pay for my sins. Grant me faith always to believe and never waver. Amen.