[Scripture: 1 Peter 1:13-21]
First of all, I want to share the first impression of when I attended this church’s worship service last Sunday. While I was sitting in a pew, something that drew my attention was the stained glass, especially the round glass in the front. It represented to me a powerful metaphor of what Carleton Church should be and should do.
Would you please look at the stained glass? You can see a red symbol on your left side and a dove on your right side, and between the two symbols, you can see the cross.
The cross symbolizes the sacrificial life of Jesus that brings us eternal salvation. That is the foundation of our Christian faith. The two symbols surrounding the cross signify that the Holy Spirit is in our midst. The flame is a reminder of Pentecost when the power of the Holy Spirit came down upon the Church and gave us power against the evil around us and among us. The dove indicates the Christian’s undivided heart and mind for Christ that helps us keep a pure and sincere faith before God.
Jesus said in Matthew 10:16, “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore, be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” Jesus taught his disciples to be innocent and to be shrewd. That means to be intelligent or to be a culturally savvy Christian when we deal with people in a community. Do not forget that we are God’s children living while surrounded by other people and their cultures. Therefore, Christians should be smart and at the same time, should be harmless and innocent. In Psalm 78:72, God told David to communicate to people with integrity of heart and with skillful hands. This should be the true identity of our Church and Christian life in our society.
To be holy because I am holy
“Being holy” is one of the most confusing theological concepts in Christian history. Even though sometimes it is too hard to understand the whole concept for us modern Christians who live in the 21st century, we should try to be holy because God said to us to be holy. However, today, you and I will identify what makes us holy and how we can apply this concept in our everyday Christian lives.
There are some differences between divine holy and Christian holy. God did not ask us to be holy like God because God’s holiness is absolute spiritual and moral purity. In God, there is nothing impure nor any sin. In other words, God is in an absolute vacuum, separated from any type of impurity. For example, think about the cosmos! Space is almost an absolute vacuum. There is no oxygen. We as humans could not survive in that condition. That’s why Isaiah said, “woe to me. I am ruined before God’s glory.” He said I am a dead man if I stand before the radiance of God’s glory. God’s holiness is so absolute that we cannot even think about it.
The holy Christian life is not going to be absolute holiness like God’s, but it is conditional! There are two conditions that make us holy. These are the time and the place. “To be holy” for us means to try to stay and participate in the place and the moment of God’s holiness.
The Place of Holiness
In the Old Testament, the tabernacle and temple were holy places because they were the dwelling place of God. That’s why whatever was in the temple was considered and called holy. For example, a loaf of bread that stayed out of the temple was called ordinary bread. Yet, if it was in the temple, it would be holy bread because it was consecrated for a higher purpose for God—in the same way, being holy means being set apart from unholy things and being in God’s dwelling place, which causes us to stay in the shadow of God’s holiness.
The moment of holiness
The moment of holiness means participating in the presence of God, which makes us holy. Participating in the presence of God is the point that makes everything holy. For example, in Exodus 3:5, God revealed His Godself in the burning bush, and God said to Moses, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground”. What made that ground holy was the presence of God, and God invited Moses to participate in the moment of God’s holiness.
Staying in the place of holiness and participating in the presence of God, these two conditions bring us into the holiness of God in the Old Testament. God does not need anything or anyone to make Himself holy, but you and I need someone who makes us holy because we are mere humans. For example, when I came to the States in 2005, I could not buy myself a Hyundai Elantra. The dealer said, “you need to have a co-signer because you do not have a credit score.” At that time, I did not have any ability to buy things.
Who is the cosigner sharing God’s holiness for us? He is Jesus Christ! There is no other name under heaven given to make us holy but the name of Jesus. Whenever we stay in the shadow of his name and participate in the moment, praising his glory, that is the place and time that makes you and I holy. Because the Christians’ holy life completely depends on the name of Jesus, without him, we are nothing. Staying in Jesus makes someone holy. It is scriptural holiness in the Bible.
If you have faith in Jesus Christ, you are saved. If you take action to come to the place of holiness and participate in the time of God’s holiness, you are becoming more and more holy in your life. If you have faith, you should take action and come to the place and time of God.
Holy Communion is a holy moment for us because of His real presence among us. Jesus Christ is preparing the table and inviting us to join into the place of salvation and eternal life of him. In 1 Corinthians 10: 16, “Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.”
I invite you to come to the holy place and into the holy moment of God today.
2021.07.04. Pastor Cloud Poy
@ Photo on Unsplash
