Theme: You Shall Be Holy
Text: Leviticus 19:1-18
THE LORD IS GOOD and HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER.
Introduction:
Leviticus is not a narrative book. It is a book of rituals and law codes. Holiness is a great concern of Leviticus. Leviticus chapters 17-26 are called the Holiness Code. Leviticus 19 opens with a call to holiness. Moses was commanded to tell the entire assembly to be holy (19:1-2).
Leviticus 19:2: ‘Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.’ This instruction was not to do something, but to be something. Not an act but life. The sentence "I am the Lord" is repeated fifteen times in this chapter. God calls our attention to the truth that he is the LORD, the ultimate lawmaker, we have to give an account for our lives. There are 10 commandments and 603 laws in the OT. Here, the Six out of the Ten Commandments are directly addressed.
Through Holiness we do not earn personal salvation but identify with the attribute of God. It presents a holistic vision of a community. It bridges the faith, morality, and community life under God's holy mandate. It inspires us to cultivate such values in our own lives and communities. Holiness increases through specific actions.
Today, we will meditate on how we can demonstrate holiness: through our relationships, through our communications, and through our occupations. We can even put it in this way: Holiness at Home, holiness at office, and holiness at public.
Let me begin.
1. Holiness at Home (Leviticus 19:3-8)
In the context of community living, the Scripture emphasises the profound importance of interpersonal relationships woven within God's law. The directives given reflect a moral framework where love, respect, and justice are paramount.
Holiness is not a moral improvement or behavioural modifications but its sharing God's communicable attributes. Holiness is primarily Godward. Israel is called to be holy through obeying God’s precepts (Leviticus 11:44–45; 20:7–8, 24–26; Numbers 15:40–41, Deuteronomy 14:2, 21; 26:19; and Exodus 19:6). The Decalogue laws on revering parents keeping Sabbaths and not making or worshiping idols are repeated and reemphasised.
His holiness was expressed through the tabernacle in the wilderness. It was like an electrical power plant, have to handle it carefully and fearfully, mishandling will hurt and burn you (2 Samuel 6:1-10). If we approach a high voltage power line carelessly, without the necessary preparations, we will be hurt, and burnt.
Holiness is demanded from us in our associations, relationship and in our bonds of Life. There is no distinction between “religious” and “secular” concerns. Everything in human life matters to God — what we eat, how we do business, who we sleep with, how we care for the land, our relationships with family, neighbours, and strangers. (Kathryn M. Schifferdecker, OT Professor).
Leviticus 19:3 “Ye shall fear every man his mother and his father…” Please note that there is a huge difference in this command compared to Exodus 20:12, and Deuteronomy 5:16. The order is reversed as Mother and Father instead of Father and Mother. ‘The mother is put first to give her due respect because most commonly neglected’ (Poole). Honor for parents is an essential building block for the stability and health of all society. If the younger generations are constantly at war with older generations, the foundations of society will be destroyed. Holiness starts at home with mother. In Ephesians 6:1, Paul says that this the commandment with a promise.
2. Holiness at office (Leviticus 19:9-10,15)
Everything is matter of Holiness. Every kind of workplace, say it, the business, government, academia, medicine, agriculture, and all the rest—have a distinctive role to play. Yet all of them demand holiness.
The Israelites maintain the poor in part by letting them gather unharvested portions of fields and vineyards. This teaches us about God’s heart for the marginalised and the importance of generosity.
We are employed in different firms, sectors, institutions and organisations. We meet with people who come to our office of different levels, status and needs. We have higher authorities, subordinates and colleagues. We have office assistants, sweepers and those who do menial jobs. Some are good at knowing the rules, regulations, privileges and offers available in the employments. Many may be ignorant of many things and lost all the benefits.
A holy life of a believer demands social justice and to become a voice for the voiceless. Social bias is a heavy matter (Leviticus 19:6). Biased stand, and testimony are wrong and a biased stand is more dangerous. Standing idle in times of troubles of a neighbour and not volunteering to help is a crime. It is true of our social relationships at work, and civic life.
When you play the role of arbiter, how do you execute the justice in favour of the rich and mighty or in favour of the poor and weak or JUSTICE as IMPARTIAL and balanced act?
Leviticus claims that proactively standing in favour of the mistreated is an essential element of belonging to God’s holy people. Leviticus brings its theological vision of holiness to bear on the whole community. The health of the community will be at stake if we don’t practice holiness. There is an interrelationship between business, politics, and religion. Allowing one incident of ungodliness will first hamper the growth and certainly ultimately will ruin.
3. Holiness at public or at community (19:11-14,16-18).
We are called to imitate God’s holiness through our profession and confessions. The key qualities of God’s character are found in Exodus 34:6-7 as mercy, faithfulness, steadfast love, being slow to anger, and justice, and these are reflected in Leviticus 19:15-18. The first half of Leviticus 19:16 instructs man to avoid harming community members through dishonest speech. Leviticus 19:17-18 continue the theme of good relationships with other members of the community. The inward feelings and actions can harm community members, if not handled properly (Diana Abernethy, OT Professor).
Holiness is not just a set of rules but a reflection of God's own nature. Holiness must be expressed in our moral integrity, in our behaviour and actions, our intentions and inner feelings. If we are not holy, it could mean either that we do not know God, or that we do not belong to Him. So, holiness is an inner condition that must be expressed outwardly to have any practical value.
- Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God (v.14).
- Do not go about spreading slander among your people(v.16)
- Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. (v.17)
- Rebuke your neighbour frankly so you will not share in their guilt (v.17)
- Put tattoo marks on yourselves (v.28).
In Leviticus 19:11-18, God begins to illustrate how individuals can be self-governing and servant-minded, which will produce a blessed society that lives in harmony with God and each other.
“Do not go about spreading slander among your people” (v.16). Adam Clarke described the talebearer is a pest to society. Matthew Poole says a talebearer brings great injury to the neighbour and society at large. Matthew Henry says, ‘Tale-bearers pick up ill-natured stories at one house and utter them at another, and commonly barter slanders by way of exchange (Proverbs 11:13, 20:19, Jeremiah 9:4, 5, and Ezekiel 22:9).
Leviticus 19:18 has the most famous verse in the whole of Leviticus: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself”. Jesus quoted this verse along with Deuteronomy 6:5 to tell the greatest commandment as we read in Matthew 22:37-40. Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
We are all forbidden to do anything injurious to our neighbour's good name. It is bad to tell a lie, but it is much worse to swear it.’
So, ‘You shall be holy.’
Zechariah 14:20-21 holiness to the lord in profession, in family and in worship, in community life.
Conclusion: It’s a call to align with God’s holiness in our nature and relationships, to consider our thoughts, actions, and attitudes, to make a conscious effort to respect our family and community, recognising the value of each relationship, to evaluate our daily interactions and commitments, ensuring that we are honest and trustworthy in all our dealings.
