Leviticus 19:2 Pursuing Holiness with Hope. Michelle Drewitz June 12, Riverdale Baptist Church Whitehorse, Yukon

Transcription

1 Leviticus 19:2 Pursuing Holiness with Hope Michelle Drewitz June 12, 2016 Riverdale Baptist Church Whitehorse, Yukon

2 Intro/Story Two years ago I went to Hawaii. I didn t surf or scuba dive, didn t hike, didn t go to a restaurant, didn t even get a tan. I flew in, stayed 3 days, and flew out again. All my time was spent either on an ultimate Frisbee playing field or camping on the beach. I love to play that sport. Running, diving, throwing, catching. I love the adrenaline, competition, skill, and teamwork. At Frisbee tournaments, when the games are done and muscles stretched out, the field gets transformed. It becomes a place not for athletic skill but seems to turn into a university dorm building. It s embarrassing really. Suddenly the field turns from a place of respect to disrespect, from common sense to nonsense, from following clear rules to having no rules, from order to disorder. I get disoriented, confused, disappointed. My teammates have become someone else. My playing field isn t for athleticism and recreation. How then do I, a Christian, respond? How then do I live in a world where there is disorder around me? How do I engage or disengage? These precise questions have been asked for generations and generations. And they will continue to be asked. Thankfully, the books of Leviticus and 1 Peter respond to the question of Christian living. Both these books of the Bible talk about holiness. And that s what I ll talk about this morning too. The passage from Leviticus read for us this morning is the same text that the children are learning as a memory verse throughout the month of June. Leviticus background Let me offer you some background about the book of Leviticus. The people of Israel have not yet entered the promised land and Yahweh, God, continues to prepare His people. Leviticus deals with preparing the people of Israel for living with nations that reject Yahweh, righteousness, and

3 goodness. Leviticus helps to form a people who will be prepared to live in a cultural and societal context marked by disorder and disarray. That s why the latter half of the book of Leviticus is commonly referred to as The Holiness Code. Leviticus is about Yahweh giving directive and instructions to His people on how to live. So holiness is profoundly practical, seeping into our daily living. Speak to all the congregation of the people So let s first take a look at the text in Leviticus, then we ll look at 1 Peter. The first part of Leviticus 19:2, Yahweh tells Moses to speak to all the congregation of the people. The message that Yahweh gives to Moses is for everyone. It isn t just for the leaders. It isn t just for the men or just for the women. It isn t just for the children. It is for everyone; for the entire congregation. No one is exempt from what God will tell his people. Everyone must play their part in maintaining covenantal ethos. Yahweh s message for the entire congregation of Israel, the entire gathering of the people, is a command. Sometimes I think the word command or commandment has a negative perception. For some, commandment gives an image of a strict, stern, parent wagging their finger and nagging their child to do something because the parent has told them so. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, the ten commandments are grounded in Jesus loves me. The ten commandments begins with a declaration of God s love for us. We see that here again in the holiness code. What God tells us doesn t come from a strict, stern, finger-wagging, nagging Father. It comes from a God who loves us.

4 Be holy Here is what God tells his people: You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. Holiness defined You shall be holy. Holiness is a theological word. It is a word which describes God. In Hebrew, holy is qadosh. It means sacred, separate and set apart from sin. The word holy is found 77 times in Leviticus alone and is implied over 150 times in the book of Leviticus. Holiness is truly the central theme of Leviticus. In Hebrew thought, everyone and everything was considered either holy or common. Common things were then divided into clean or unclean things. Cleanness was the state in between holy and unclean. Cleanness is the normal condition of everything, the base line, the reference point, the starting place. Sanctification is the process of making a clean thing holy. In Hebrew understanding, something holy and unclean were never to be in contact with each other. This is why there is such outrage when Jesus, the Holy, pure and perfect One, touches, communicates, interacts with, befriends the unclean: the sinners, lepers, diseased, sick. Jesus actions are scandalous to the Jews because it changes everything about their worldview and understanding of holiness. The Greek word for holy is hagios. It means properly, different, unlike, other, distinguished, distinct. For a Christian, it means being like the Lord in nature and character. The central meaning of hagios is different. A temple in the first century was called a hagios holy

5 because it is different from other buildings. Over 200 times the word hagios is used in the New Testament. 60 of those times it is commonly translated saints in our English Bibles. Now, often in our current cultural context, it is considered offensive, impolite, un-canadian-like to point out something as different, distinct. To uphold different and distinct opinions, beliefs, behaviours, is often regarded as intolerant, judgmental, superior. But the Hebrew and Greek understanding of holy or holiness requires there to be a distinction, a difference. Because You shall be holy because. Conjunctions are powerful parts of sentences. Grammatically, a conjunction links two ideas or clauses together. The conjunction in this text is because. Everything that comes after the word because tells us why we are to be holy. This is important. I am Holy: God s Holiness You shall be holy because I the Lord your God am holy. The reason why we are holy is because God is holy. Now, the danger in reading Leviticus is that holiness becomes a set of rules, a to-do list to check off, a criteria from which to be measured. The text does not say be holy because I command you to be holy; or be holy because I tell you to; or be holy because I want you to flourish in life. It says to be holy for (because) I the Lord your God am holy. We are to be holy because God is holy; because we are imitators of Christ and God is holy. Our pursuit of holiness comes from our place of adoration, worship, and love

6 for God. Not from a place of guilt, shame, or fear. Our attention is pointed, appropriately, to God. The reason for our holiness is because of God s holiness. Well what exactly is God s holiness? The holiness of God describes his character and nature. God s holiness is reflected in his attributes of righteousness, love, purity, goodness. It describes God s infinite power and greatness. Sometimes I am concerned that Christians humanize Jesus Christ a little too much and we forget the holiness of God. We forget His power, His divinity, His perfectness. When I consider these attributes of God, my response is awe. Holiness of Israel comes from God Fundamentally, Israel is called to be holy because God is holy. God is the holy one who lives among them. Hosea 11:9 reminds us of this: for I am God and no mortal, the Holy One in your midst. Israel is holy because God is holy. Israel cannot make themselves holy. Holiness comes from God alone. Leviticus 20:7-8 says Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the LORD your God. Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the LORD, who makes you holy. And Leviticus 22:9 reads "The priests are to keep my requirements so that they do not become guilty and die for treating them with contempt. I am the LORD, who makes them holy. Or consider Leviticus 22:32 says Do not profane my holy name. I must be acknowledged as holy by the Israelites. I am the LORD, who makes you holy. God makes people holy. God s holiness makes us holy. We don t make ourselves holy. God makes us holy.

7 Comprehensive Holiness Holiness, according to Leviticus, touches all aspects of our lives and our being. At first read, Leviticus 19 appears like a list of rules and laws. It appears there is no logic to the placement of the laws. When you read Leviticus 19, you ll notice one phrase which is repeated 16 times: I the Lord your God. This is a clue that there is a break or transition to a new law on holiness. This is also a reminder to us that we are holy because God is holy. So when we study the laws set out in Leviticus 19 in more detail, we notice how the laws shift from one central place to another to another. The chapter moves from the home to the gathering of the church (the sanctuary) to the community or society as a whole. In all areas of our life in the home, in the church, in our city we are called to live a holy and obedient life. We are called individually and we are called communally, collectively, as the church. Verse 3 tells us to revere our mother and father and to keep the Sabbath. It seems then, that practicing holiness starts in the home. Holiness begins in the relating to your spouse, to your children or grandchildren, your parents, those with whom you live. What you do in the home equips you for your responsibility in the church. Leviticus then goes on to give direction about offerings and sacrifices. Holiness moves from the home to the church, the sanctuary. It is here where holiness is accountable, encouraged, upheld. Holiness continues in the church. And then holiness spreads outwards to our community: our workplaces, schools, sports or recreation fields, libraries and community centres, music and arts venues. Leviticus talks about how to treat your neighbour and how to be in relationship with the community.

8 1 Peter 1:13-16 So we have a sense of what holiness is and why it s important. Now 1 Peter will help us understand how to begin to practice holiness, how to live holy lives. 1 Peter examines three types of holiness. First, personal holiness refers to an individual s call to live a holy life, a life of selfcontrol. Second, social holiness discusses how Christians relate to non-christians in a social or cultural context. Social holiness does not offend while giving up our natural desires to adopt the cultural expectations and norms. Thirdly, communal holiness examines the practices and virtues which contribute to solidarity in Christian community. Peter s main concern is our speech, our tongue, our language and words and tone. Peter emphasizes love, hospitality, servant leadership, humility as characteristics of holiness which work to preserve and maintain Christian community. Peter is concerned about keeping the community together, particularly in the face of suffering, challenge, and barriers. Holiness isn t just about our personal relationship to God but holiness impacts and touches all of our relationships. Overview 1 Pet 1:13-16 The call to holiness begins with the theme of hope, moves to a relationship with God, and climaxes with the initial call to holiness. The remainder of the book rests on the integration of hope and holiness. We ll take a quick look at 1 Peter 1: Begins in the mind Holiness, according to 1 Peter 1:13, begins in the mind; it reads gird up your minds. Some translations read ready your minds. The Greek word is anazonnumi which means to gird up. In ancient culture, long robes or tunics were worn. When someone engaged in active or physical

9 work, they pulled up their tunic or robe and tucked it into their belt. This way, the person was ready for action. This action is called girding up. So in the context of 1 Peter 1:13, Peter is telling his readers to prepare their minds for action. The mind does not refer to the intellectual process but to a mental resolve and preparedness. I m going to be biking in the bike relay next week. I ve been training physically on my bike for a few months. But the race also requires a mental training, a mental preparedness, a mental resolve. I need to be ready for the hills, for the wind, for the ache in my legs, for the potential mechanical problems. I need to be ready in my mind to compete in the race. When I hit the 100 km mark and want to stop, my mind needs to be ready to keep going. That s the kind of readiness of mind to which Peter refers; a mental resolve and preparedness. Be sober Peter then tells us we must be sober. In Greek this means to have clear judgment, presence of mind, temperate or self-controlled. It is about having clarity of mind so that we can make good decisions. Set your hope fully on Jesus Christ Then we read set your hope fully upon the grace that is coming to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Hope is deeply connected to the theme of holiness. We notice in 1 Peter 1:3, 21, and 3:15 the connection between hope and holiness. Peter reminds us where our hope is. Our hope is fully on the grace that will come with the revelation of Jesus Christ. The word that s translated fully or totally in our English Bibles is the Greek word teleios. It means completely, perfectly,

10 without wavering. So the verse isn t about a comparison between less and more hope. It isn t comparing people s amounts of hope. It isn t about which glass is full of hope and which glass has less hope. Rather it is about putting our complete hope, however much that is, in Jesus Christ and the promise of his second coming. It is a hope that is future oriented, instead of present-based. It is about putting total hope in Jesus rather than putting hope in our present. There are many circumstances, events, words and actions which can cause our hope to waver. It is difficult to hope for something in the future when our present life seems quite unhopeful and dreary. But we must evaluate our present day behaviour, present day living in light of our future hope. We don t avoid or deny or ignore our today to instead live in the future. We deal with our today by understanding our future, by living in hope of the future revelation of Jesus Christ. Holy living is about living in hope. Conclusion Finally, Peter concludes with Instead, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; for it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy. For Peter, holiness begins in the mind and embraces our hope in the second coming of Jesus Christ. Holy living is pursued when we hold on to hope. Holy living is the call for all of us, particularly as we live in contexts of disorder.