Scripture: Matthew 5:38-48; Leviticus 19:1-2; 9-18; Psalm 119:33-40
Theme: Holiness Today?
The LORD welcomes us to live a life of holiness. 1. The Call to Holiness Is Universal 2. The Call to Holiness is Practical and Relational 3. The Call to Holiness is Transparent
INTRO:
Grace and peace from God our Father and from His Son Jesus Christ who came to take away the sin of the world.
Our passages this morning deal with a singular them; the theme of holiness. But exactly what is holiness and what does it look like in our world today?
+Is it the holy person or holiness the mystic that resides on the mountainside?
+ Is it the monk that is hidden away in some desolate desert monastery?
+Is it the lady who has surrounded herself with a collection of spiritual crystals?
+ Is it the person who is sitting in a lotus position doing their best to capture "nothingness"?
Holiness and the idea of being holy are by many considered to be antiquated thoughts and concepts. Concepts left better for those who lived during the 18th or 19th century. Ideas better left for those living alone and away from the hustle and bustle of the 21st century. Many believe that a life of holiness is neither attainable and/or necessary. Some have even concluded that such notions as living a life of holiness has no place in the modern day Body of Christ. And yet, the Bible deals with the subjects of holy or holiness over 500 times.
This morning, I would like for us to spend a few moments looking at the experience of holiness. Holiness as it is seen in both our Gospel passage and in the passage we read from the book of Leviticus (19:1-2; 9-18).
Our passage in Leviticus is a part of what our Jewish friends call Par shah of Kedoshim; which means that is part of a section of the Torah reading that deals specifically with the idea and life of Holiness. The Par shah of Kedoshim includes all of Leviticus chapters nineteen and twenty. It is in this section that we find Moses sharing with the people a number of ways in which they can express their holiness. Moses provides dozens of mitzvoth's (divine commandments) that are to help them learn how to live a holy lifestyle.
What can we take from this passage and other similar to it concerning holy and holiness?
I. We quickly understand that The Call to Holiness is a Universal Call
One of the things our Jewish friends point out to us very quickly here in the beginning verses of Leviticus 19 is the universal call of Holiness. The LORD GOD ALMIGHTY did not instruct Moses to limit this call to either the 120 spiritual leaders or even to the 12 Tribal leaders. Instead, Moses was called to speak to the whole congregation of Israel. That means to everyone.
This is one of the few places in the Torah that we see that the LORD made a universal call. The LORD wanted everyone to understand that He was inviting them to experience a life of holiness. This call included both Jew and non-Jew. It included all those who had joined the Children of Israel when they were redeemed from Egypt. It included all those that joined them along their journey. The Lord's Call of Holiness is Universal and it is both a promise and a commandment.
We see that this call to Holiness is further echo by our Lord Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. One of the things that Matthew shares with us over and over again is that the Messiah came not only for the Jew but for all mankind. Matthew gives us hints of that universal call with his inclusion of the Wise Men and this inclusion of the prophesy of the Prophet Isaiah:
"The land of Zebulun and the land Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of he Gentiles - the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned."
Therefore, we are to understand the universal nature of the Call to Holiness. Holiness is not for one people group. Holiness is for Jews. Holiness is for Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic and all Protestants. Holiness is for every man, woman, boy and girl on our planet.
We are also to understand from these first two verses that our God is holy. Everything God says and does is Holy. Everything God made was/is holy. That is the beauty of all of creation. In Genesis the LORD called everything he made "good". We could also call it holy. It was made to be a visible sign of our God's love and Holiness. Everything was made to exist according to the Lord's Will and for the Lord's Purpose to come to completion.
Therefore, the very first thing that this passage reveals to us is the Universal Nature of Holiness. Our God who is Holy wants us to be Holy. That means, you, me, the neighbor down the street, the homeless in Nashville, the actor in Hollywood, the cook in New York - we all have been called, promised and commanded to be His Holy People.
II. Secondly, we are to understand that the Call to Holiness is Practical and Relational
One of the things that the Bible is clear about is that Holiness is a two way street. God is Holy. That is His Identity. God is Perfect Holiness and our of His love wants to share the experience of Holiness with us. Even as He is Holy, His ultimate desire, plan and promise is that we are to be Holy. And the only way to experience holiness is through an intimate relationship with the LORD. Holiness is biological and organic. Holiness is alive and involves living. Holiness grows, expands, deepens and transforms.
Holiness is not only relational and experiential; it is practical. Holiness is not something that we gain one day after we die. Holiness is not some heaven based living. Holiness is earth living. The road to holiness is one we find on this earth. In fact, as the Bible points out over and over again the only way for us to be holy is to live a holy life here on our earth. The only holiness for us to experience is everyday holiness. It is through living that we are able to experience and express Holiness.
This practicality of holiness is why immediately following verses 1 - 2 we have this litany of guidelines or laws concerning interpersonal relationships between
+Us and the LORD +Ourselves
+Ourselves and others +Ourselves and creation
As I pointed to earlier, we find dozens of divine guidelines and commandments that apply to everyday living. Each one is designed to show God's People how to live a holy life in the here and now. Each one is designed as a means to help us grow in holiness. Each one is designed to help us become a holy people.
There are no short-cuts to holiness. Godly habits require repetition, firmness, discipline and self-control. We see this not only in this passage but again in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. There is no way to read that sermon and then decide that since you read it you can therefore just put everything into immediate action.
Living out the Sermon on the Mount is dependent upon a ever growing relationship with the LORD. It is the only way that we will be able to live out the Sermon on the Mount. It is only through a deepening relationship with Christ and through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit leading us, guiding us, convicting us and sanctifying us that we will experience the life of Holiness that the Lord desires for everyone of us.
One way to look at both sections - this section that we find in Leviticus 19 - 20 and the one that we find in Matthew 5-7 is to see them as beginning guidelines. They help us as we begin our walk with the LORD to understand what it means to live a life of holiness.
To use a clumsy illustration it is like the times that we began to learn how to read or do simple math. No one handed us a copy of Shakespeare to suddenly read or gave us some algebraic calculations to solve. Instead, they started us off with something simple. We learned how to read two word sentences and then three and before we knew it we were reading paragraphs, pages and then whole books. We first learned how to count, then we learn how to add and subtract, multiply and divide and before we knew it we were doing all kinds of higher math - algebra, geometry and calculus.
When the LORD first gave these words to His people in the desert and even on the mountain they didn't know exactly what it meant to be holy or to live holy in this life. They didn't know how to have a deep experience with the LORD. They didn't know how to live holiness out in everyday life. So, the LORD began to explain it to them in practical terms.
Later on in both sections and throughout the New Testament we see where the foundation under all those guidelines is a rather simple but profound commandment. If you want to know what it means to live a holy life - to be a person of holiness all you have to do is two things - Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. Therefore we can say that all Holiness begins and ends with the LORD. Therefore we can say all Holiness includes our relationship with Him and our relationship with others.
Again, let us make this one thing clear - Holiness is not a thing. It is not something that we can simply grab a hold of and taste or acquire. It is not something that has to be added on to our lives. It's not some optional equipment that certain people decide to have in their spiritual lives.
Holiness is something God graciously give us and grows within us. The more we become like God the more we experience Holiness for He is Holy. Holiness becomes a part of our identity, a part of our everyday living through a deepening relationship with the LORD that leads us to have a deepening relationship with all those around us.
Holiness is an experience that we have with the LORD that transforms us from the inside out. Holiness includes experiences that we know as the New Birth, regeneration, justification and sanctification. To be holy means that we have been born from above through Christ. To be live a life of holiness means that we have been infilled with the Holy Spirit and that we are living our lives through the Holy Spirit.
III. Finally, we see that the Call to Holiness is a Call to Live Transparently.
Now, it didn't take us very long to get through those first two points
+The Call to Holiness is Universal - it is for everyone!
+The Call to Holiness is both Relational and Practical in Nature
It is this third section that I would like us to spend the rest of our time examining and fleshing out in some detail.
The Call to Holiness is a call to be Transparent; to live a life of transparency. Now, what do I mean by that? I am so glad you asked.
Let's look at how Holiness is seen throughout both the Old and New Testament and I think by looking at those examples we can understand this idea of transparency more clearly.
One could say that the Bible is a collection of holiness story after holiness story. It is a collection of stories of how the LORD leads and guides us to experience His holiness in our lives. One could also say that the Bible is a collection of stories about God revealing Himself to us and being Transparent. The Bible is a collection of stories of God opening us His Holiness and allowing us to see Him, experience Him and be One with Him.
We see God's holiness and transparency in the beginning chapters of the Book of Genesis. God's whole creative acts are acts of transparency. It is in these chapters on creation that we see God's nature of love and holiness. It is in these chapters that we get the first hints of the Divine Trinity. It is in these chapters that god reveals to us His Identity, His Purpose and Plan and His Abounding Love.
In Genesis we read how on the 7th day the LORD reveals Himself in the creation of the Sabbath. He calls the Sabbath day - holy and set apart. The Sabbath is to be a day designed wholly for creation and Himself to enjoy one another. It is to be a scheduled time out so that our LORD can spend quality time with us and we with one another.
That is what makes the Sabbath holy. The holiness comes in when it provides for us this time to allow the Lord to be visible to us and all those around us. The holiness comes in when the Sabbath allows us this time to meditate on God's purpose and will. The holiness comes when the Sabbath allows us better understand how that purpose and will is to be realized in our world. Therefore the Sabbath is not some duty but just the opposite. It is sacred time, this time of holiness that God set aside for us to deepen our relationship with Him and with one another. It is that time that we are allowed to be transparent with one another.
Part of our difficulty is we see Sabbath as merely a 1 hour or 2 hour event in which we gather with a few souls, sing a few song, present our gifts to the LORD and hear a quick message. After that we are free to go and be by ourselves or isolate ourselves with some family and a few friends. We so often leave ourselves no time to deepen our relationship with God or with one another. We have no time to be transparent to one another. By doing we cheat ourselves of God's holiness and the holiness of our brothers and sisters in the LORD.
Going on a little further in Genesis we read in chapter 2:25 where this transparency, this ability to be vulnerable, to recognize God as Creator and ourselves as a part of one another and Him in the phrase - "And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed."
We read this passage and we immediately want to put clothes on Adam and Eve. We feel some shame in their transparency and in their openness. I am afraid we read this passage very incorrectly. We need to read this passage as our brothers and sisters did at the time of Moses. They did not focus on the physical but on the spiritual and emotional. They understood the passage to be talking about the freedom and transparency that Adam and Eve experienced. The focus was not on the physical but the sharing of the heart and the mind.
In other words Adam and Eve were not being closed off from one another. They were not attempting to play games or protect themselves or promote themselves as someone or something that they were not. They were not living behind some kind of mask. They didn't attempt to elevate themselves but they poured their lives into one another. They understood that they needed one another to be complete. They were experiencing holiness in its deepest sense. They were living in such a way as to reflect God's image and fulfill His plan and purpose.
Going further, we see Transparent Holiness once again on full display in Exodus chapter three with the LORD and Moses at the burning bush. God speaks out of the bush and tells Moses that he is standing on holy ground and then requests Moses to do a rather unusual thing. He asks Moses to take off his shoes. He asks Moses to remove any barrier that would separate them. We have a tendency to think that when we come into the holiness of God that God wants to separate Himself from us. The wonderful truth is that the exact opposite is true. God desires, seeks and has done everything to be one with us.
When God appears here to Moses is the with the intention of God and Moses coming together. Moses is to stand in God's presence with nothing between him and the LORD. God seeks union with Moses not distance. Holiness does not separate us from God or from one another. Holiness brings us together. Holiness allows God's breath - His Holy Spirit to be one with our breath - with our Holy Spirit.
Going still further, we see another example of Transparent Holiness in 2 Samuel chapter 7 as the Ark of the Covenant is coming into the city of Jerusalem. King David is dancing before the LORD. Again we focus on the fact that he uncovered himself. We must understand that David was not physically dancing naked before the LORD. That would have been something that someone who would have been worshipping Baal or Ashtoreth would have done. That would have been a great abomination before the LORD and most likely have led to King David's death.
That is not what this passage is talking about. David had removed all vestiges of his authority and position. He was standing before the LORD in complete humility. He was being transparent before the LORD. He was opening up his whole mind, body and soul to the Lord. David's dance was that of transparent holiness.
Going still further, see transparent holiness in Luke chapter one where this young 12 - 13 year old girl is approached by the Angel Gabriel. We see transparent holiness in action as she bows her heart, mind and soul and says to the LORD - "Behold I am the handmaiden of the LORD; let it be to me according to your word."
Mother Mary is this beautiful example of youthful holiness that understands that true holiness is transparent holiness. She acknowledges that God is Creator and Lord of her life. Her desire is that through her life the Lord can be visible and that His purpose and plan for the world will be accomplished.
Going just a little more forward we see another example of transparent holiness in John chapter 12 with another young lady named Mary. This time it is Mary of Bethany. She anoints the feet of Jesus and pours out upon him her heart and her life. She surrenders her all at the feet of Jesus. She gives away all that she had. Many scholars tell us that the oil that she poured on Jesus was the oil that was to be put aside for her marriage. By pouring out this oil on Jesus she was signaling that she would forever be committed to Him. She was giving up all of her life for Jesus. There would be no other in her life than Jesus.
There are a great many more examples this morning that we could look at - we could look at the life of Jacob, of Isaiah, of Ruth, Daniel and others and we would find the very same acts of transparent holiness. God pouring out Himself as individuals and groups of people pour out themselves to the LORD. The LORD revealing Himself as they reveal themselves in complete surrender. The Lord being transparent as they are being transparent.
But there is no great example of Transparent Holiness than in the life of Jesus Himself. Jesus is not only God in flesh, Jesus is Holiness in Flesh. No where do we see God being more transparent that through His Son Jesus Christ. No where do we see the heart, the mind and the soul of the LORD than through God in Flesh - Jesus Christ. No where do we feel the passion, do we feel the love of God more than through Jesus Christ.
Christ comes down to reveal God to us. Christ comes down to be God transparent.
If we want to know the heart of God - look and know Jesus.
If we want to know the power of God - look and know Jesus.
If we want to know the love of God - look and know Jesus.
And how was Jesus - open, vulnerable and transparent.
Look and see how Jesus was - powerful, majestic and regal.
Look and see how Jesus was - meek, mild and humble.
Holiness in this life is to be transparent life. Transparent holiness is allowing the LORD to be visible in our lives and to live according to God's purpose and allowing others to see God and His purpose.
Holiness means that our yes is yes and our no is no. It means no double talk or conflicted language.
Holiness means that we choose people over profits. That's what it means to leave a part of your garden unharvested.
Holiness means to love one another as you love yourself.
Holiness means to live as best you can without a mask or a personal agenda.
Holiness means to live open and free, at peace and in harmony. Holiness means to live as the Body of Christ.
I think it is interesting that in God's plan He calls us to look at ourselves as a Body. A body made up of all these different type of members. There are pastors, evangelists, teachers etc... There are those who can heal and those who have great knowledge and those who can speak in languages and interpret languages. There are those who are encouragers and givers and sharers.
And it is in these little Bodies of Christ that we find ourselves all over the world that we learn how to be transparent. We learn how to live holiness practically and relationally. We learn what it means to live without a mask. We learn what it means to come in and not have an agenda. We learn what it means to come in and be one with one another. We learn what it means to be one with God and one with one another.
Oh, the Devil does his best to get us to gather and promote our own agendas or our own plans and goals. He does his best to get us side tracked into thinking that we can't let our guard down. We can't reveal our vulnerabilities, our brokenness or our hurts. We can't confess our faults to one another. He tells us that we must remain closed to one another and sadly even to our LORD.
If we do those things then we will appear weak. If we do those things then people will take advantage of us. If we do those things then people will no longer like us because they will be repelled by our brokenness. It is a blight on the Body of Christ that people feel more at ease being transparent in an AA meeting than they do in Church or in a small group of fellow disciples.
Remember John chapter 21? It's one of the greatest holiness chapters in the Bible. As you read it you watch verse after verse you read firsthand how the LORD GOD was being transparent and then you watch St. Peter being transparent. You read Jesus' words of calling them "children" and you watch as Jesus walks through the "I love you" passages with St. Peter. You can feel the pain Jesus shares with Peter as Peter comes to the realization that the depth of his love for Jesus doesn't match the depth of love that Jesus has for him.
The chapter is full of vulnerability, disclosure and brokenness. And it is full of strength, healing, wholeness and spiritual formation.
In fact, from Creation's story to the last "The grace of the LORD be with you all. Amen" what we find is God being and teaching holiness, transparency and oneness. When you look back at the whole story of the Bible you begin to realize that the Jewish people could have doctored all of their writings. They could have rewritten all their stories where their great spiritual heroes didn't display any brokenness. They could have rewritten their history so that they would come out as God's perfect holiness people.
But instead they chose the way of holiness. The choose the way of Holiness which does not have an self-serving agenda. They chose the way of holiness which allows the Lord to be visible and which puts first the Lord's purpose to be accomplished and fulfilled.
This morning, we serve a Holy God. A God who calls us, commands us and promises us that we too can be Holy. We can live a life of holiness. A life that will show the world who God is and a life that will reveal to the world God's purpose of redemption, renewal and restoration.
This morning, the LORD invites all of to enjoy a life of holiness. A life of holiness that through His Spirit can be lived here on earth. A life of holiness that allows us to be transparent - to take off our masks, to be authentic with one another and to enjoy a fellowship that the Bible calls - Koinonia. A fellowship in which like the sacraments we are the Bread of Christ and the Wine of Christ. We become one in Him and through Him.
This morning, let us go out as His Holy People. Let us go forth to live a life of Holiness. Let us go forth to be people of Holiness - reflecting God's grace and glory.
Altar Call/Communion/Blessing
May the LORD bless all who can use these words. May the LORD bless your ministry and may the LORD grant you much favor. May He anoint your mind, your heart and your voice as you share God's message to God's people this week.
