10-4-2016

Good Morning All!!

        Leviticus 19:2; “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.” 

    “You shall be holy.” or “You SHALL be holy!!” or “You shall be holy??”  It is interesting how we can read the exact same sentence and different people can interpret it differently.  How you read a sentence goes on to determine how you respond and react to it. 

    There are those who read this and see only God’s law.  These people then turn around and show only God’s law to people.  These people will see a situation and say,” your sin caused it and now God is punishing you for it.”  Unfortunately, this is the voice that many non-Christians hear.  They see the church as quick to judge and slow to aid.  Perhaps they have even experienced it.  A woman who had an abortion a few years ago and now is having other related health issues, a homosexual who has AIDS, a drug addict who is homeless; these are examples of people who may only hear the church say “Thou shalt not..”  They have needs and seek comfort but are we there to offer them God’s Gospel?

    We read it differently.  This verse doesn’t speak of our actions or character; it speaks of our relationship with God.  Because of what God has done, we are set apart from the rest of the world.  This doesn’t mean we are better or superior.  It does mean that God has blessed us far beyond any measure that we can conceive of.  We have been redeemed and called the children of God; we are declared heirs of his eternal kingdom.  Because of God’s grace, we have a relationship with him that is different than the unbeliever.  In the Old Testament, the Israelites engaged in many ceremonial rites and laws which clearly set them apart from their neighbors.  We too, should be seen as set apart not so much by our ceremony but by our actions within the society in which we live.  God gives to us the vertical relationship with him and then he calls us to live in a horizontal relationship with our fellow man.  We might call the relationship with God “liturgical” (church speak) and a relationship with our neighbors as an “ethical” (world action). 

    The world should see the results of our relationship with God.  In that relationship, we are forgiven entirely by God’s grace.  We should therefore deal with our fellow man with the same grace.  God has chosen you and he has chosen to reach out to the world through you.  You have been called to a wonderful task; the same task that Jesus lived while here on earth.  We are blessed and privileged to carry it out.  Go with God’s blessings in touching the world. 

Dear Father, by your grace you have set us apart; you have declared us holy.  Give us the courage and the wisdom to live our holy life giving glory and honor to you.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.    

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret