looking for Jesus in Leviticus: "holy," part 2

The Word for today:
Leviticus 13:47-14:32

mark this: Leviticus 11:45
I am the LORD who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.

If there is one word in Scripture which sums up the character of God better than any other, that word would be “holy.”

But what does” holy” mean?

Yesterday, we attempted to convey a sense of that beautiful, misunderstood, and awe-inspiring word. Today, we offer some practical suggestions about how we might fulfill God’s command to “Be holy, for I am holy.”

***

I inherited my suspicion of doctors and hospitals from my mother. When she retired, she was head nurse at a large hospital. She knew the good, the bad, and the indifferent. She inculcated our family with a healthy skepticism towards medical institutions.

I also inherited her high blood pressure.

I know I did, because she warned us to watch out for it. So when I worked as a teacher, every year I'd ask the school nurse to take a reading. Later on, when I worked as a social worker, I'd go to the public health nurse and get my once-a-year blood pressure check.

Those yearly moments were the only "doctor appointments" I made for nearly thirty years. Over that time I watched my blood pressure slowly rise into the danger zone.

Shelley, who runs the universe whenever Jesus is on vacation, put her foot down the other day and told me that I'm going to the doctor and I'm going to take medicine if the doctor says so.

All of this talk of checkups got me wondering why we don't get a spiritual checkup every year like many of us get (or should get!) a medical checkup.

When was the last time you had a spiritual checkup? What would such a checkup even look like?  There's a word in the Bible which is an overall measure of spiritual health. The word is "holy."

“Holiness is the fundamental descriptor of who God is. It is not merely one of his many attributes; it is the key to his very being. Calling God “the Holy One” speaks to the transcendence of his nature, in sharp contrast to the finite creation, whose creatures are bound by time and space. God speaks of himself as “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14), defining himself by himself. God is the Wholly Other, the One who is completely self-sufficient and distinct from the created order.” (1)

As the passage says, God’s most all-encompassing name (Jehovah/Yahweh/LORD) conveys the idea that he can only be described in terms of himself. That is holy!

He’s not only holy, he’s holy, holy, holy! (2) He’s other-ly and Only.

And then --oh, dear--he has to go and tell us to be holy, too:
I am the LORD who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy. (Leviticus 11:45; cf. 1 Peter1:16)

What does that mean?

First, here's what it does not mean: the cartoon image of the man atop a mountain thinking deep thoughts is about as far from the biblical definition of holy as one can get, because the word holy is a call to action. It implies that something or someone is set apart to serve. The man on the mountain is just apart. He isn't serving. And he wasn't even set there. God doesn't set anybody on a mountain to serve.

"Be holy, because I am holy" can sound intimidating, unattainable. But God doesn't set the unattainable before us. Here's the same command, expressed in terms we can grasp:
Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children. (3)

Instead, our holiness is wholly dependent upon our relationship with Him. (Relationship can be a sort of fuzzy new-age word--there are relationships good and bad--so a stronger way to express this idea is to say that our holiness depends upon whether or not we are rightly related (as children of God through faith in Jesus) to Him.

As children, here's a picture of the one we're trying to imitate:
Let us lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (4)

Holiness, the all-encompassing word for the nature and character of God, is meant to be an all-encompassing word for us as well. It's meant to be an indicator of our overall spiritual condition.

What spiritual shape are you in to run the race, to join the battle set before you? That is how holy you are.

Let's go back to the man on the mountain. He probably prays. (What else is there to do up there all day?) He probably is strong in scripture study, at least in an academic sense. But he's not in the race. He's not using the gifts God gave to serve and strengthen others. He might love God up there, but he isn't loving his neighbor as himself. (Primarily due to the fact that he has no neighbors!)

He is in poor spiritual shape. He's nowhere close to holy.

***

Every now and than, I urge the Bible classes I teach to utilize a device--a handy holiness barometer--which can help us make an effective spiritual checkup. This device, if you were to hold up your hand, is right in front of your face!

So open your best hand, palm up:

· If you are in a whole-Bible study program (like Stand in the Rain!) then curl your index finger toward your open palm.

· If you take time each day to pray, curl your next finger toward your palm.

· If you serve others, using the gift God gave you (teaching, compassion, music, administration, helpfulness, you name it...) then curl your third finger inward.

· If you invest your cold hard ca$h--to some sacrificial degree—in the cause of Jesus Christ, then curl your little finger inward.

· And if you love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength; and your neighbor as yourself (5); then bring your thumb down over your clenched fingers. (Notice that this one covers all the others, just as Jesus said it does.)

If you can clench each finger and cover them with your thumb, you are in good spiritual shape. Now you are ready to fight, to race, to endure, to win.

Holiness is about the daily disciplines of spiritual training. It is more about dirt, sweat, and deprivation than it is about thinking fond thoughts in the rarefied air.

Holiness is about showing up every day, taking your assigned spot on the battle line, and fighting to win. Even when--especially when--the victory is achieved at great cost.

So go, be holy: make a fist, and fight.

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(1) quoted from the NLT Study Bible; (2) Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 4:8; (3) Ephesians 5:1 (4) Hebrews 12:1-2; (5) Matthew 22:36-40