Holy to the Lord

Prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed. Like obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires that you formerly had in ignorance. 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.” - 1 Peter 1:13-16

Lent, the season of the church year in which we find ourselves all this month, is traditionally a time for self-examination. Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” But as we examine ourselves, what are we looking for?

When most people think of Lent, if they think of it at all, they think in terms of giving up something. They may promise not to eat sweets or red meat. They may give up television or romance novels. It may be something they feel they ought not be doing anyway, or it may be something that is perfectly acceptable, but giving it up will be a sacrifice. One reason for doing this is so that every time we want a piece of candy, or whatever we gave up, we should be reminded of Jesus’ much greater sacrifice for us.

It’s always good and valuable to remind ourselves, “Jesus loves me so much that he sacrificed his life for me.” But behind that is a deeper question. “Why did Jesus have to make that sacrifice for me?” Beyond the fact that all human beings are tainted by the sinful rebellion that is inbred into our race, this question should lead us to examine ourselves for the particulars of our own part in that sinfulness.

God created us to be holy. “Holy” is not theological jargon for “goody-two-shoes.” Holy doesn’t mean, “never have any fun.” Holy doesn’t imply thinking you are better than everybody else, or that anybody who doesn’t follow your particular list of rules is on the wrong side of God. Actually, the literal meaning is, “set apart for a special use.”

When I was growing up we had two sets of dishes in our house. We had the dishes we used every day for every meal. They lived in easy reach in the kitchen cabinets. We were reasonably careful of them, but if one broke, it was more an inconvenience than anything else.

Then we had the special dishes. They lived in the china cabinet in the dining room, and the rare times they appeared on the table you knew something big was up. These dishes were set apart for a special use. You could say they were “holy to special meals.” To use one of those special dishes for a bowl of cereal or a peanut butter sandwich would almost be a sacrilege. We handled those dishes very carefully.

In the same way, as Christians our lives are to be set apart as “holy to the Lord.” There are some things that are appropriate for Christian lives, and some that are not. We need to handle these special lives we have been given very carefully.

Lent is a set-apart time for examining ourselves to see if there are areas where we are allowing our set-apart status to be compromised. God created you to serve and honor him, in your home and your work and your community as well as in church. There are certain things that the world considers acceptable that God tells us are inappropriate for those dedicated to him. Lent is a time for asking ourselves, “Am I letting myself in any way be contaminated by the world?”

1 Peter 3:13-16 is a great outline for self-examination. Ask yourself: Do I keep my mind prepared to hear from God and act for him? How is my self-discipline? Are my hopes and dreams set on the promises of God? Is my desire to please my heavenly Father by doing what he wants? Have I shed the old desires that used to control me before I knew the Lord? Do my thoughts and words and actions demonstrate that I have set my life apart for God? Does my life honor the holy God?

Don’t let this exercise end up in self-condemnation. The whole point of the Holy Week to which Lent leads us is that Jesus took our condemnation on himself when he died on the cross. There is no condemnation left for you to bear. Instead, there is grace and forgiveness and love and a fresh start. Lent leads, not to death, but to resurrection! So take the sins and failures and opportunities for improvement that you uncover, and offer them to God. Receive in exchange the power of the Holy Spirit to help you do better. None of us can make ourselves holy. The Spirit – the “Holy” Spirit – does that in us. Learn to sense his moving in your life and flow with it. (This is what we help each other learn the second and fourth Sunday evenings at Flowing in the Spirit. We’d love to have you join us!)

You may find that Lent turns out to be the most joyful season of all!