When you were young, what did you want to be? The earliest recollection I have of what I wanted to be when I grew up was a fireman. I think that was in kindergarten. By the time I reached 3 rd grade, I wanted to be a pastor. I still remember and can see exactly where I was sitting in my third grade Sunday school class the day the teacher asked that question. Without hesitation I answered, “A pastor.” I don't know where that came from, but I kept that for awhile. Eventually, it slipped away from me.
After growing up on the campus where our young men were being trained to be pastors, I thought I didn't want to be a pastor anymore. In fact, it got to the point where I responded that in no way was I going to be a pastor. At times I wanted to be a teacher, then a meteorologist, maybe a geologist. However, in the end God brought me to the very point where at one time I didn't want to be – a pastor.
Now that you've heard my story, what did/do you want to be? (Ask 2 or 3 – old and young.)
Now, let's vary the question. What does God want you to be? I don't think you could ever find Him telling you what occupation you are to follow. Eventually, He guides you in that for His purposes. But we can still ask the question: “What does God want you to be?” And here's His answer: “Be holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy.”
That's not a suggestion; it's not a wish; it's a command: “Be holy like Me.” It's an obligation – my obligation, your obligation, everyone's obligation – Be Like God – holy.
I. It's an obligation – failed.
That has to raise a question for us. If we're to be like God, holy, what is holy? We've got to know what we're talking about here because this is an obligation , and obligations are to be carried out. So, what is “holy”?
Probably the first word that comes to mind with “holy” is sinless, morally perfect, without anything bad, anything wrong in our lives. Never a dirty thought, never a cross word, no gossip, or bad speaking about anyone, or, as the rest of this chapter indicates: vv.3,4,11-18. That's holiness – moral perfection in thought, in word, in actions. Who has done this – perfectly? Raise your hand if you've been holy. But before you let your hand go too high, there's more.
Holiness describes more than what is done or not done; it also describes who God is in relation to us and everything else on this planet. It describes His nature as being beyond us, distinct, set apart from common activity. Not a drop of the profane touches Him. If it did, He's no longer holy, no longer God.
Imagine it this way. You have a can of pure white paint here and a can of black here. In order to preserve the pure white paint as pure white, you can't mix any of the black with it. Even just a drop or two and the white is no longer white but gray. It's lost its purity. That's the way it is with God, and that's the way He commands it to be with us. H says, “ Be Like Me – holy. It's your obligation.”
If we don't fulfill that obligation, He not only remains distinct from it, but He rises in opposition to it.
For example, do you remember the story of Isaiah's call to be a prophet? In a vision he saw the Lord seated on a throne above him, extending upward in what must have seemed to be a vaultless temple. The Lord had on a robe that swirled throughout the whole building in which He was sitting. Fluttering over Him were glowing angels, each of which had 6 wings. They were singing back and forth to each other: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty.” When their song came out it was so powerful that the doors rattled, the walls vibrated, and the whole building shook in the presence of this holy God. It was like a 10.0 earthquake on the Richter scale – like one that no one has ever experienced.
As Isaiah saw and felt the holy atmosphere he cried, “Woe is me! I am undone! For I am unclean!” He perhaps expected a lightening bolt to come zooming from that presence to wipe him out on the spot because he was not holy.
You see, dear friends, Isaiah's reaction not only reveals that God is distinct from us in His holiness, but that His holiness also takes action against any departure from it. And He does not excuse me in my departure from it. He does not say, “Try to be like me.” He does not say, “Give it your best shot and be happy with what you come up with.” He does not say, “Oh, just forget about it. I'll overlook it because you can't be like me anyway.” No! He commands, “Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.”
Who has done this? Raise your hand if you've been holy. I can't raise mine, even though I'm a pastor. Whoever got this impression that pastors were holy anyway? They're not even close. Only 1 is holy – God. Oh, to Be Like God! It's my obligation. But I've failed.
II. It's my reality in Christ.
In myself I'm not like God. Just look at me; look at yourself; look at your life; what you are and what you've done that goes against His Commandments. He is sinless; in us we see so much sin. He is perfect; in us there is so much imperfection. He is above everything that is profane in this world; we so often mix with the ungodly, live in it, and even desire it.
For example in both the O.T. and Gospel Lessons today we heard God say to us: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Is that your reality ? If I loved my neighbor as myself, I would treat him as I would like others to treat me.
The other day in driving down the highway, I came to a place where the lanes narrowed because work was being done. The cars were backing up and the line was moving slowly. A measure of impatience began to rise in me because I had to be somewhere at a certain time. All of a sudden I could see a car approaching in my rear view mirror, looking for a place to cut into line. But instead of backing off and letting him in, I pulled up because I wasn't going to let him get in front of me. What if he had been me? Wouldn't I have wanted a Good Samaritan to treat me kindly? Was that loving my neighbor as myself?
Even if most of the time I looked out for my neighbor, even if I could somehow say most of the time I've never talked back to my parents; most of the time I've never hit anyone; most of the time I've never hated anyone; most of the time I've never talked dirty, most of the time I've not taken anything that wasn't mine, or wanted something so badly that I didn't have so that I wasn't content, still if it happened once, I haven't done it at all in God's eyes for He says, “Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it” (Jm.2:10). Holiness? It's not my reality.
How could we ever stand before a God who demands perfection like His or otherwise punishes us with death? We can't.
But Jesus can and did and did it for us when He lived to overcome our temptations and died to pay for our sin. So that now the Bible declares, “But now a righteousness from God…has been made known….This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe” (Ro.3:21f)…Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Ro.8:1).
That which is right before God, that holiness that is our obligation is ours by believing in the Savior who did it for us. How paradoxical that is: the holiness that is not my reality in myself becomes my reality in Christ.
To human reason it doesn't make sense. But that's the glory of the Gospel; that's what the good news is. What we failed to bring about in our lives, Christ brought about for us. So, the very holiness that He commands is ours. Oh, to Be Like God! It's my reality in Christ. And robed in His holiness, I am at peace with Him, my conscience is at rest, and I will be blessed to live with Him forever.
III. It's my goal for life.
If that wonder doesn't touch my heart and life, dear friend, nothing will. Christ has given me new life and a new vigor for life. My life will change if my reality is found in Him. How? It will become a holy life, set apart for Him. In other words I will try with all my might, as the Holy Spirit gives me strength, to be holy. It's my goal for life.
That means I will love God above myself and my pleasures, and I will strive to do what He says. It means that I will love my neighbor as myself and I will not do anything against him, say anything bad about him, think anything dirty of him, but do only good. Although I may fail at times since I am not yet in heaven, when I fail I go to the cross for God's forgiveness in Christ, and I will try again to do it right. Where did we ever get this perception that we don't have to try anymore to be holy, to be like God ? On the contrary, it's my goal for life.
Only Christ can save us, that is true. But as we are saved in Him we will strive to live holy lives. And we will try to do it with all our might. Oh, to Be Like God!
God grant it in our lives for Jesus' sake. Amen.