Holy

Readings for today: Leviticus 11-14

Holy. It’s a word that defies definition. We don’t really understand it. We can’t fully grasp it. We’ve never experienced it or seen it or touched it with our hands. At best we use words like “sacred”, “perfection”, and “righteous” as we grope after it. But it’s like the blind leading the blind in the dark. Only God is holy. Perhaps this is why we struggle to grasp what holiness is all about. It is something unique to Him. And because holiness is unique to God and because God cannot be defined, we will never be able to truly understand what holiness is all about. At the same time, we run across passages where God calls us to be holy as He is holy. How is that possible if holiness is a quality reserved for God alone? How in the world can we be holy as He is holy?

The answer, as always, is found in relationship. This is why God says, “for I am the Lord your God and you are to sanctify yourselves and be holy because I am holy. You must not defile yourselves by any of the swarming things that creep on the ground, for I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God, and you are to be holy because I am holy.” (Leviticus 11:44-45 NET) Holiness is not a quality we can muster on our own. It is not a characteristic we can develop over time. Even if we were able to channel all our effort and energy and attention into being holy every single day of our lives, we would fall short. Holiness is something that comes from God alone. It flows from a deep, intimate relationship with Him. It cannot be experienced apart from Him. It is a byproduct of dwelling in God’s presence. Remember how Moses’ face lit up with the glory of God after meeting with Him? It was like a bit of God’s glory “stuck” to Moses and he had to veil his face as a result. The same is true for holiness. As we spend time with God and develop our relationship with Him, we will find His holiness beginning to stick to us.

One cannot understand the heart of today’s readings without understanding this basic principle. All the rules and regulations regarding what is clean and unclean seem arbitrary and capricious if you do not ground them in relationship to God. God is seeking to set His people apart. He wants them to live a particular way. A purified way. A sacred way. And that requires they take certain steps to keep their food and kitchens clean, maintain personal hygiene, and eliminate disease. Even the person who is “unclean” bears a responsibility to make sure he or she doesn’t contaminate the entire community. It’s why they separate themselves and live alone. It’s why they yell, “unclean” when others are around. Everyone has a share in making sure the community remains pure and holy before the Lord. I know this sounds strange to our 21st century Western ears but in ancient near east culture, the community is always prioritized over the individual. (Important Note: The text doesn’t say the community should shun or not care for the individual in need. It simply says that person should live alone. Don’t let how human beings have cruelly chosen to treat those with disease over the centuries skew your reading of the Bible.)

“Be holy as I am holy.” Thankfully, as always, Jesus Christ shows us the way. He was unafraid to dine with the unclean. Unafraid to touch women with menstrual conditions. Unafraid to touch lepers and others with disease. He was unafraid because He knew He was the conduit for His Father’s holiness. He knew God’s holiness was far more “contagious” than any mold or blood or disease. He knew as soon as people came into relationship with Him that a bit of His holiness would stick to them. And the same is true for us today. As we enter into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, we are made holy. We become holy because He is holy and this leads to a desire to remain holy in order to honor Him.

Readings for tomorrow: Leviticus 15-18

Holy and Common

Readings for today: Leviticus 8-10

“This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations…to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean.” (Leviticus‬ ‭10‬:‭9‬-‭10‬ ‭NET‬‬)

Today’s reading challenges us. Two young men make a mistake as they go about their fairly new, priestly duties and die as a result. They offer “unauthorized” or “strange” or “profane” fire before the Lord and, as a result, fire breaks out from the Shekinah glory of God and consumes them. It’s a sobering reminder of what happens when the unholy comes into contact with the holy. Reminds me of the experiments we used to conduct in science class in middle and high school where certain elements would immediately burn when coming into contact with water. This is what I imagine happening as I read this passage. The two men come into God’s presence with fire that has not been consecrated and the reaction is deadly. Moses’ explanation says as much, “Among the ones close to Me I will show Myself holy, and in the presence of all the people I will be honored.’” (Leviticus‬ ‭10‬:‭3‬ ‭NET‬‬) The point here is that coming into the presence of God is serious business. It cannot be taken lightly or treated in any kind of trivial or flippant way.

The holiness and glory of God is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it inspires awe and wonder. Reverence and fear. It brings us to our knees in humility. On the other hand, it puts us in danger for we are, by nature, unclean. We are, by nature, unholy. We are, by nature, impure. Entering into God’s presence requires a ritual of consecration so that we can stay safe and not be consumed. It requires great intentionality and attention to detail lest we pay the price for being careless about our worship. As many of the prophets will later say, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God.” God is, by nature, pure. He is, by nature, clean. He is, by nature, holy and though we were originally made to stand without fear in His presence, our sin corrupts us and separates us…thus our need for a Savior.

Thankfully, we no longer need to be afraid. God has done what we could not. He has sent His Son to be the pure and spotless sacrifice that makes us clean once and for all. On the cross, Jesus takes all our uncleanliness, all our impurities, all our unholiness on Himself and, in return, gives us His cleanliness, His purity, and His holiness. Now when we can approach God’s throne of grace with confidence. Now we can come into God’s presence without fear. Now we can bask in the glory of God for we have “put on” Christ and are “covered” by Him. Furthermore, we are made a holy priesthood called to intercede for the world just as Aaron and his sons did for the people of Israel. As we come to worship each and every week, may we fix our eyes on Christ and ask the Spirit to continue to do His sanctifying, purifying work in our hearts.

Readings for tomorrow: No devotionals on Sundays