"Be Holy"

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.'” There you have it. The mandate for the Christian life. God is holy; therefore go ye and do likewise. Even Jesus said, “You must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” You must be perfect. Get out there and do it.

At least that that is the way much of “churchianity” casts the Christian life. God is perfect, and He requires you to be also. Maybe we can start with the joys of the grace that awakens you to Him and to His kingdom, but then you better make the right choice between death and life, good and evil.

If you are going to be perfect, you need to spend more time in devotions. You need to spend more time in quiet meditation, opening yourself up to hearing the still, small voice of God in your heart. You need to get out there and do the work of the kingdom. You need to have a well-ordered house, well-groomed and well-behaved children, and a well-tempered husband. You need to attend a Spirit-filled church and receive a spiritual good feeling from your worship experience. You need to keep growing and improving, and you need to stop sinning, or at least cut down as much as you can. Because if you are not improving, you are backsliding, and maybe you do not have enough faith, or you do not love Jesus hard enough, or something.

Is that what the Lord is saying in these texts? Who among you can do these things? If you take seriously the Scriptures' teaching about original sin, then none of you are perfect. No one here is holy, nor in any other church, parish, congregation, or assembly on earth. David says, “there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Psalm 14:3) It is an impossible task for a human being, the son and heir of Adam, to be perfect. So why would the LORD your God issue a command, and our Lord Christ redouble it, if it is beyond your powers?

The first problem is in considering it a command. When the Lord speaks to Moses, He does not issue a command, but says to the people, “you shall be holy” – literally, “holy ones may you be”. It is as though God were saying to His people, “You are going to be holy, because I am the LORD, and I the LORD am your God. I will make you holy, because you are Mine.”

Which is precisely what the LORD your God has done. He has made you His own by drowning you in the Font and plunging you into Christ. Baptized into the Body of Christ, you are no longer the poor, miserable, forlorn and forsaken sinner who had no hopes whatsoever of being holy and perfect in the eyes of God. Instead, you are the washed and cleansed, redeemed and reconciled, restored and re-created son of God. You are covered in the white robe of Christ's righteousness. You are radiant with the Light of the World which shines in and from your heart. You made holy by the blood of the Lamb of God, who has taken away the sin of the world.

The Holy One of Israel is the LORD of Hosts, the King of the Universe, the Creator of heaven and earth, the seas and the dry land, and all that fill them. And He is your God. He has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. He has breathed into your dead lungs the Breath of Life. He is your Father, and His Son is your Brother. It is His flesh and blood which sit upon the throne of heaven, and which sanctify His altar in this and every Christian assembly on earth. He is holy, and because you are in Him, so are you. No trying hard required.

Prefaced in that way, the Lord goes on to give actual commands and injunctions about how His people are to act toward one another, always rooted in this understanding of who you are and who is God. Because the LORD is God, you shall act accordingly.

You shall leave the gleanings and edges of the fields for the poor and the sojourner, says the Lord. That is, you shall be perfect in charity and love for the less fortunate among you. You shall be perfect in showing love and kindness to the widows and orphans, to the oppressed and the dispossessed who pass through your land. You shall not strip the land bare, because it is not only your land. The land belongs to the LORD your God, who grants it to you as a trust, to use for the good of His people.

The things the Lord has given to you are not to be hoarded and shut away. The abundance of the fruits of the earth is not to be hidden in grain bins and silos. There is no need to possess every last bit of everything you can get your hands on. The LORD your God has provided for you out of the abundance of His mercy, and He will continue to provide for you. And He provides for others out of the abundance He gives to you by commanding you to be His agent for good in this world. You are His hands and feet, and tractors and combines.

You shall not steal. You shall not deal falsely or dishonestly with one another. You shall not lie or swear by the Name of the LORD. He is the LORD your God. He has given you your eyes, ears, and all your members, and all that you need to support this body and life. What need have you to steal, lie, deal falsely, or defraud your neighbor? What do you have that is not a gift, and what does he have that is not likewise a gift to him from God, and is not given to you? The LORD your God has given into your hand all things needful. Be perfect in helping your neighbor to protect and improve his possessions and income, his inheritance and property. Give thanks for what you have, and encourage your neighbor to do the same.

Because the LORD your God is holy, you therefore are holy. Therefore, do not oppress your neighbor or rob him. Do not hold the wages of your hired worker. Do not curse the deaf or cause the blind to stumble. Because the LORD your God is holy, you have no need of any crooked or underhanded dealings. If you have agreed to pay a wage to a worker, then do it gladly, because by your hand the Lord is providing for your neighbor and his family. Be perfect in showing love to your fellow man, because Your Father has shown perfect love in giving His Son to die for you, that you may be holy and perfect as He is.

Because the LORD your God is holy, you therefore are holy. Because He has put His Name upon you, your Name is holy and pure. Therefore, do not slander your brethren. Do not speak ill of those around you. Do not gossip or allow your tongue to wag. Speak no ill of those set in authority over you, for they are God's servants for your good. Speak no malice toward those you perceive to be beneath you, for they are God's children, and in need of your love and mercy. Do not hate your brother in your heart, nor take vengeance into your own hands. The LORD is God, and you are not. If He has made your neighbor holy and perfect, just has He has done for you, then who are you to hold a charge against God's elect?

Notice that each of the sections in today's lesson from Leviticus ends with the words “I am the LORD.” The LORD of Hosts, the Creator of the Universe – He is God. You are not. He is holy. You are not. He has kept the Law. You have not. All these things which He has commanded you concerning your neighbor, your brother, your people – all these things you have failed to do, failed to keep, failed to honor and uphold. Even though the LORD your God has made you holy and righteous, even though He has clothed you with the righteousness of Christ, you still persist in doing those things which are abominable in His sight. The good that you would do, you do not, and the evil that you would not, that you do. Repent.

“You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy,” says the Lord. “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect,” declares the Lord's Christ. But you are not perfect or holy. Or are you?

“You shall be holy.” You will be holy. You are being made holy. You are made holy. You are holy. Not because you have tried harder. Not because you have progressed in your sanctification. Not because you have followed the Christian life. Not because of anything you have done. You are holy because you are in Christ. You are perfect because it is no longer you who live, but Christ lives in you. And He is perfect – in holiness, in obedience, in righteousness.

You are holy not because of some magical quality within you, but because your sins have been driven out from you. You are not perfect because of the quality of your moral fiber or your spiritual self-discipline, but because you have been clothed in the righteousness of Christ. You are covered in the blood of Jesus shed on the cross for you. You are holy. And you are perfect. Just as Jesus is, and just as the Father is.

Therefore, since your Father is perfect in forgiving sinners and cleansing away unrighteousness, you also shall be perfect in love and forgiveness, never failing to show forth the love of God in Christ Jesus which has been poured out for and into you. This is precisely the perfection which is assumed every time you pray in the Lord's Prayer “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Because Christ has perfectly fulfilled the Law for you, because He has perfectly forgiven your sins, you are perfect in forgiving and loving your brother, for Christ's sake.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.