Selected Passages "Being Holy"

You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.

Our passion is to experience and express grace.

Join us.

Thanks, DJ, for helping to lead us before God's throne.

I want to stay there this morning.

We're going to get back in just a little bit to our study of John's gospel.

Lord willing, we will finish this spring.

I know some of you don't believe that, but we will.

But today, I wanted to get back to basics.

At the beginning of a new year, I want us to talk a little bit about why we are here.

What's our why, so to speak?

What motivates and drives us personally and as a church together?

What's your why?

Some of you, especially business people, like to ask that question a lot.

What the question's about is, what's your purpose?

What gets you out of bed in the morning?

What gets you through the afternoon when you're starting to get weary?

For many of us, at its core, our answer to that question is basically to be happy.

Whether that means being comfortable, you know, making enough money to retire early and do whatever I want.

Or, you know, being respected.

Having others recognize me.

Having my parents see me as successful and made something of myself.

Maybe it's making a difference or an impact in the world.

Giving my kids a better life than I had.

Or seeing justice advanced in my community.

And many of those are very noble goals as far as they go.

But if at the end of the day my why is really about myself.

About my being fulfilled.

My being happy.

The Bible says it actually has a higher purpose for us.

A grander mission if we're willing to accept it.

It's the why without which we will never be fulfilled.

We've articulated the mission here at Southwood as to experience and express grace.

In relationships that impact eternity.

You've heard me say before that that's a big statement.

And it's synonymous with other things like knowing God and making Him known.

Like tasting God's love and sharing God's love.

As Libby said, like loving God and loving neighbor.

It's why we exist.

And notice that in all of those things, no matter what words we use to say it, it's all about who?

God.

All of them.

My purpose begins with Him.

Grace.

Jesus.

That comes from God.

That is Him.

It's the same idea saying the main thing is about my relationship with God.

Out of which flow my relationships with other people.

An eternal impact.

Because He's eternal.

It's what our every breath should be about as we breathe in God's grace.

And then, moment by moment, breathing out God's grace over and over.

And I want you to remember this morning that that's not merely for Southwood as a church.

Because it's easy to think that and think, well, when I show up in this building, I'll be about that.

Okay?

Today?

No.

It's for each of us individually, too.

That's our why.

Life with God.

And today, I want us to see that primary purpose that you may already think about through a fresh lens.

I want to play word association with you this morning, which I know is risky, like asking a question during a children's moment.

You know, you don't know what you're going to get.

But word association means I'm going to say a word.

And some of you are going to need to talk.

And say the first thing that comes to mind.

We don't do this often.

So, if you're visiting, we're trying something new.

Okay?

The word for this morning is holy.

Whoa.

Okay.

Now you're going to have to slow down.

It was too many at once.

Holy.

Set apart.

God's.

Weak.

Weighty.

Thank you.

Better than weak, I think.

Other things?

Yeah.

Halo.

Yeah.

So, a lot of times we think of holy and we think of something churchy, right?

And super spiritual with a halo.

And I understand that.

You may think about a lot of things when that word is thrown out there.

What if I said to you this morning, you are holy?

You don't have to respond.

But how would you feel if I said that to you?

I've tried this on a few people.

And so, I know some of the answers.

Would you be too ashamed to agree?

Apparently, pastor, you don't know how I talk.

You don't know what I've done.

Whatever it is that you'd fill in that blank.

I'm not super spiritual.

What are you talking about?

Would you be embarrassed to think of yourself that way?

Because of the negative connotation that word has for many of us.

I'm not stuffy, stuck up, thinking I'm better than everybody else, holier than thou.

Would you maybe accept it?

You've been in church long enough.

You're like, yeah, I think that's probably true.

But kind of begrudgingly, like, I mean, maybe I am.

But I'm really not excited because holy means no fun.

I know that much.

I hope to start changing the script on holy this morning.

What it means for you to be holy.

So that you'd be excited about being holy in 2025 or any other time.

What a great why that is.

What a great purpose.

What adventure is in that.

What fun even.

Yeah, some of you don't believe that's going to be convincing.

But let me back up for a minute before we go there.

Your instincts were right, a couple of you, in word association.

You can't talk about holiness without talking about God first.

It is all about God.

Holiness is sort of, it's his godness.

What sets him apart from everyone and everything else as the one true God.

We sang it that there is none beside thee.

Perfect in power.

Perfect in love.

Perfect in purity.

God is holy, holy, holy.

Right?

In fact, being holy is so associated with God in the Bible that whatever is associated

with God, whatever gets close to him, becomes holy.

That's how it happens.

This is actually what got me thinking about this topic.

We were reading toward the end of last year.

If you were doing the Bible reading plan with us last year.

And one of the last books we got to toward the end of the year was Leviticus.

I kept noticing things in Leviticus that were holy to the Lord over and over.

Lots of things.

And see, what happens in Exodus, it's right before Leviticus.

And at the end of Exodus, God's people finish building the tabernacle.

It's the initial temple, the house for God to live in among them.

And the book ends with Yahweh's presence coming down and filling the tabernacle, which is what

makes it a holy place.

It's just a nice-looking tent before God shows up to live there, right?

And so in Leviticus, I noticed all sorts of things being referred to as holy, being set

apart for God.

The crazy things, a table, an altar, various utensils, a basin, a stand, every tenth animal,

holy.

And it's not that they were superior objects to all of the other objects.

That's not what made them holy.

What was it?

It was that they were gods.

They were in His presence.

They were used for the purposes of God.

So they were holy.

Otherwise, honestly, they're not a whole lot different from the next table or the next cow

or the next utensil.

But holy, set apart to be gods.

I just think about that.

That's pretty cool for the average bowl, right?

I mean, you're just a bowl, an ordinary, everyday bowl.

And all of a sudden, you get set apart.

And what happens to you?

This bowl is going to witness the sacrifices for sins, for thanksgiving to Yahweh Himself.

It's going to hear God's voice speaking to the priest.

And most of the people of Israel don't ever get to hear it.

It's going to be an instrument itself of cleansing and forgiveness as blood that is in the bowl

is sprinkled on things.

And on a daily basis, that's what it's going to be used for.

How amazing for an average bowl, right?

And it didn't even win a contest.

It didn't perform the best or the longest as a bowl.

It just got placed in God's presence.

Wow.

You starting to track with me?

Being holy means being gods.

It means an average person without having to perform to win a contest,

without having to outdo someone else,

can come in close contact with God Himself,

can find oneself becoming an instrument of His healing in ordinary, everyday places,

just by being placed in God's presence.

And here's the deal.

It's not just that that could happen, theoretically.

It's that the Bible says over and over to God's people,

you are holy.

So many places.

I'll just start with one.

1 Corinthians chapter 3.

1 Corinthians 3 · chapter mention

Do you not know that you are God's temple

and that God's Spirit dwells in you?

If anyone destroys God's temple,

God will destroy him.

For God's temple is holy

and you are that temple.

You are holy.

You, not the super spiritual elite task force.

You are the tabernacle of the Most High God.

His Holy Spirit dwells inside of you.

So your why is to be His.

Your purpose, above all else,

is to live with Him, through Him,

and for Him in everything.

Young or old, by the way,

kids, don't you check out on this

because holy sounds like a word for big people.

Elsewhere in the Bible,

our kids are specifically referred to as holy.

And then throughout your life,

once you're holy, you never cease to be.

I want us to see that set apart for God reality

in two ways this morning.

First, we were made for this.

To be God's people.

Yahweh is God.

It is He who made us.

And as a result, we are His.

Psalm 100.

In Isaiah, God gives us a glimpse of His heart

in creating us.

Everyone called by my name whom I created.

Why?

For my glory, whom I formed and made.

It's about me, God says.

Jesus boils it down to this in John 17.

Remember, if you were here last year,

this is His high priestly prayer.

He's talking to His Father.

And He says, where is life?

It's in knowing and having relationship with

the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent.

We were made for this.

I mean, imagine that you owned a race car, okay?

Some of you have driven some of these cars that are designed to go 200,

even 300 miles an hour.

Imagine you owned one of those.

That would be pretty cool.

Imagine you took it out every day on the streets of your neighborhood here in Huntsville

and drove it 20 to 30 miles an hour.

There's a lot of things you could do with that race car.

You could drop the kids off at school,

although it might be a little tight squeeze for carpool in the back.

You could coast down neighborhood roads to Lowe's

and pick up a dozen bags of mulch,

probably fit them in the back.

You may have some issues when you get home to the driveway.

It may do some damage.

It may ding up the race car trying to get in the driveway

with the back dragging full of mulch.

It's not made for that.

I mean, the race car could do some of those things, right?

But the whole time, I think you'd be feeling something.

I know the car would be.

You'd be thinking, it could do so much more.

This car was made for more.

Wouldn't you be thinking that?

Some of us thinking, man, I was made to sing.

I was made to make good grades.

I was made to play basketball.

I was made to make money.

And this year, I'm going to do that.

Come what may, nothing's going to stop me.

That's what I was made for.

And you probably will.

Although, if you do those things, you may get dinged up along the way.

And at some point, you will almost certainly,

if not this year, in a year soon, you'll feel,

you know, I was made for more than studying and acing tests.

Amen, students?

I was made for more than studying and taking tests.

Have you felt that before?

Some of you feel that a lot right now.

Others of you remember feeling it when you were younger.

You know why you'll say that at some point?

I just feel like I was made for more.

It's because you were.

You were made to be holy.

Among other things,

to glimpse the glory of God's infinite holiness

and study Him until you realize

you're never going to ace that test.

There's always more to marvel at than you can comprehend.

You were made to rest

in an eternal security

as the tightly held treasure of the king of the universe,

even when the storms of life hit hard.

You were made to share

the wonder of a perfect creator

who would grace a rebellious creation

with mercy and life and hope.

And you were made to strategize

how that wonderful message

would reach every corner of the globe

and every person in your life.

Whoa.

Kids.

God says if even one of your parents

has this special relationship with Him,

you are holy from birth.

You were made to be His.

So whatever else it is that you want to be,

and I know there's a lot of things,

firefighter, right?

Professional athlete,

nurse, engineer,

whatever it is,

first, you are holy.

You're God's.

And as good as those other things are,

there's a lot of good things for you to be.

They'll never fulfill you.

They will never make you deeply happy on their own

if you skip living with God.

You'll always feel like that race car

was made for more.

And you were.

1,700 years ago,

a man named Augustine

tried out a bunch of these possibilities.

He looked for life for his why

in money,

in women,

in fame,

and he finally concluded,

you have made us for yourself,

O Lord,

and our hearts are restless

till they find their rest

in Thee.

You have made us for what?

For yourself.

We are designed for God

like a race car

is designed for a speedway,

like a fish

is designed for water.

Are any of you feeling

like a fish out of water

in this world?

Are any of you feeling

you're doing some good things,

but you're a bit dinged up

and there must be something more than this?

I can't just do this

the rest of my life.

Are any of you feeling restless?

Would you be honest enough

to admit,

I know that restlessness

he's talking about.

You're on the road

to being happy

and fulfilled

and comfortable

and respected

and all the things

you've ever dreamed of,

but you feel the restlessness.

Would you be willing

to consider

you may be feeling that

because you were made

for God.

You were designed

to live with Him.

You're destined

for another world.

You're shaped

with a void

at the center

of your soul

that only God can fill.

Well, one of the reasons

we know what that feels like,

I think we all

can relate to that,

is because all the way

since the Garden of Eden,

we've been trying

to make ourselves happy

apart from God.

We prefer our own ways

most of the time.

The Bible says,

although we were made for Him,

we were separated

from God

by our sin.

So what did God do?

God sent His Son

to deal with that sin

so that we could live

with Him again,

so that we could be

in the holy place

where He lives.

So, Christian,

you were redeemed

for God,

not only made

to be holy,

but redeemed,

remade,

if you will,

to be holy.

Now, I just want you

to marvel with me

at this for a minute.

It's amazing enough

to think that God

would make you

once upon a time

to be His,

to be holy,

set apart for Him.

You know how much

He loves you?

How precious you are

to Him?

That when you broke,

when you didn't work

right anymore,

when you weren't really

in that relationship

with Him

the way you were

supposed to be,

He came and remade you.

He came to find you

broken and remake you

and restore you

in that relationship

with Him,

to make you holy,

to set you apart

for Himself forever.

That's how much

He loves you.

That's amazing.

I hope that gives you joy.

I hope it delights

your soul

to know that the God

of the universe

thinks of you that way

and doesn't just think,

but acts towards you

in that way.

I talked to John Foreman

this week.

John knows Leviticus.

I've heard him teach it.

That's how I knew.

I asked him what he learned

about holiness,

spending so much time

in Leviticus.

Most of us don't camp out

in Leviticus

for long periods of time.

And John said the thing

that struck him

is how amazing it is

that God keeps providing

for us to be in His presence.

He keeps making provision

for us to experience

His holiness.

It's why right after

God's presence shows up

in the tabernacle

among His people,

we get the book of Leviticus,

which is mostly,

if you read it on the surface,

about what?

Sacrifices.

All kinds of sacrifices.

What's happening

is that God is dealing

with our sin

to make us holy.

And He especially does that

when He sends His Son

to be the ultimate sacrifice.

He's dealing with our sin

to have us back holy to Him.

I could put passages

about this up here all day.

I'll just highlight

a couple different ones.

Ephesians 1

says,

this has been on God's heart

since before you were born.

That when the Father

and the Son

decided to rescue you,

it was setting you apart

for God

that you would be holy

with the goal,

next verse says,

of adopting you

into His family,

that you'd be His.

Colossians 1

says that making you holy

is the specific effect

of Jesus' sacrificial death

on the cross for you.

That you are now holy

before God.

He bought you.

You are His.

In fact, 1 Peter 2

says it's not just you,

but you're part of a group

of people bigger

than you can imagine

that are a holy nation

set apart for God

that you might know Him

and make His excellencies,

His glory,

His greatness known

because we are God's people.

His treasured possession,

instruments to serve His purpose

in His kingdom,

to battle.

This is what He saved you into.

Into a battle

that's not a cage match

against flesh

and blood,

but it's actually

even more adventurous,

even more daring

than entering into

something like that.

It's a battle

against the forces of evil,

against powers

and principalities,

Satan and his minions,

and it's a battle

with the souls

of men and women

and boys and girls

and the destiny

of all creation at stake.

And He bought you back

to be on His side

in that great war.

If being holy

doesn't sound like fun

to you,

then you might need

to get outside these walls

for a little while.

You might need actually

to get wounded

in this battle

and to watch King Jesus

ride in

and swoop you up

and rescue you

and heal you

while He Himself

is wounded

in your place.

Pastor Jack Miller

said of that

last verse

we just looked at,

what is the fundamental

nature of the church?

To belong to God.

That's why we exist.

Those who are

the God-possessed

by virtue

of their new life

and relationship

to God

are also holy.

If we belong

to a holy God,

we are inherently

involved in His holiness

by virtue

of that relationship.

I share that with you

to remind us

how it happens.

We didn't perform well

to attract

God's attention.

Remember?

That's not how

holiness develops.

We are ordinary people,

often those

that no one

would choose,

who become set apart

for something

extraordinary

because God

shows up

in our lives,

decides to take

residence

in our hearts,

making us

the tabernacle

of the Most High God,

vessels for His

majesty.

I assure you

that's more than

you can contain

and think about.

But He dwells in you

and the reality

of that transforms

everything about us.

Everything.

It makes you

entirely different.

Friday morning

I woke up early.

I was excited

and I went outside

and the ground

was wet.

Merely wet.

And muddy

in a lot of places.

Messy.

And I was very disappointed

like some of you.

But over the next few hours

you watched

what happened,

didn't you?

This pure

white

stuff

started falling

from heaven.

and it came

in contact

with the messy

ground.

And I was inside

for a little while

and I came back out

and it was perfect,

wasn't it?

It was

beautiful.

That's how God's

holiness

works.

You got a glimpse

of it this weekend.

God comes down

from heaven

in utter purity

to land

on messy

people.

And there's still

some mess

underneath there.

Right?

But His

perfect purity

covers it.

And we are

as clean

as the driven

snow.

And you only get

to see that

every once in a while

around here.

But that's something

we got to taste

and see

that's holiness.

Child of God,

you are

holy.

Like it or not,

and I hope

the more we talk

about it,

the more you will

like it.

You are

holy.

Set apart

to be

gods.

Well,

so what?

There is another

facet of holiness

in the Bible

where God

calls us

to become

holy.

To holy

living.

And we'll

focus on that

next week.

But here's

what we're

going to

remember then

as well.

I want to

connect this

one dot

before we

come to

the table.

Dr.

Martin Lloyd-Jones

says it well.

Holiness is

not something

we are called

upon to do

in order that

we may become

something.

It is

something we

are to do

because of

what we

already are.

it's a big

difference.

Something we

do

because of

what we

already are.

Because God

has shown

up.

God has

set us

apart.

God has

made us

holy.

That's where I

want to challenge

all of us to

start today.

If it's all

about Him,

you are

holy.

You are set

apart for God.

You are made

to live in

relationship with

Him every

moment of

every day

and every

place to

be holy,

holy.

The why

behind every

other why

for you

must come

back to

Him.

And some

of us

recognize that.

For many

of you,

that's not

surprising to

hear this

morning,

but what

you're living

in is the

reality that

life is

coming at

you so

fast.

It's

work and

school and

parenting and

dance and

sports and

God and

family and

friendships and

finances and

it just feels

overwhelming and

it feels like

the best we

can do is

squeeze God

in among all

of those other

important things.

Squeeze Him

in when we get

a minute to

make it to

church or to

grace group or

a few minutes

of Bible

reading.

But I think

God in His

Word today is

calling us to

something a bit

different.

different to

start with

Him as we

approach all

of those other

things.

He's not one

among them.

We've been set

apart for one of

those specifically

for Him.

There are a lot

of ways to

approach this.

We'll talk more

next week, but

talk with your

grace group.

Challenge one

another.

It's what the

Bible means when

it says spur one

another on.

What's it look

like for you?

One thing you

can do is you

could pick a

verse of take

my life and

let it be.

The song DJ

just sang.

And pray and

reflect through

it.

I say just pick

one because I'm

still on the

first verse.

It's about time.

You might want

to skip it.

Take my moments

and my days,

God.

You take them.

That means my

mornings.

And my evenings.

It means my

meetings that I'm

expecting and it

means my free

time.

It means my

weekends and it

means my vacation

weeks.

God, they're

yours.

They're to be

about you.

They're to be

with you.

They're to be

for you.

God, all of

them.

Nothing else

assumed.

Nothing else I

know has to

happen.

And I've got to

start on that now

because I don't

know about you,

but I've already

started dropping

in on my calendar

commitments for this

year and ways I'm

spending a lot of

that time.

We need to start

from being holy,

set apart for God.

That's the one

thing.

Believing what's

best is actually

being His.

That's the best

thing.

That's a life of

real purpose.

Would you be more

excited about this

year if you

actually believed

that God was

living in you,

that you were a

tabernacle of the

Most High God,

and that He was

going to be using

you for His

purposes that will

last for eternity

this year?

Is that how you've

thought about your

year?

Is that what you

think He's going to

do with the time

that He's given

you?

I don't know how

long it'll be.

It may be just

today.

You may have a

whole year ahead

of you.

But how exciting

if God was going

to show up and use

you for His

purposes.

If you're really

brave, you can

start with take

my hands and

feet, what I do,

where I go, or take

my money and my

intellect, or take

my words and my

will, all of them

consecrated, set

apart, holy to the

Lord, because they

are.

Whatever you

consider, I'm

challenging you to

wipe the slate

clean.

I've done this

enough times to

know that our

first assumed

priorities are

often selfish.

Yes?

Have you ever

had a selfish

priority?

I think you

have.

If they're not

selfish, they may

well be culturally

driven, just

assumed priorities.

I have to make

this much.

I have to wear

this, work this

long, live here,

fit in there, reach

that goal.

I have to.

I want to

reframe that for

you.

You are holy.

You are set

apart for God.

You have to be

His, period.

Just stop there for

now.

No matter how old

you are, this year

is for knowing

Him, living with

Him, living for

Him, not to become

holy, but because

you are holy.

He's made it that

way.

Remember that.

He wants you to

remember that you

are holy.

It's one of the

things this table

teaches us because

as you come here,

just ask yourself

the question, how

else could He sit

and eat with you?

Right?

The holy

God

comes here

by His

Holy Spirit

to a holy

table.

Not holy

because it's

made of better

wood than

another table.

Not holy

because this

bread is better

bread than

some other

bread.

Holy

because He

is here.

The only

holy,

holy,

holy

one.

And He

eats with

holy people,

doesn't He?

That's the only

way it can be.

So we come

here

calling ourselves

holy,

not because we've

outperformed

anyone else.

Don't get the

wrong idea,

please.

But because

Jesus has

outgraced

our sin.

Amen?

He's taking

care of

everything that

would make us

unholy.

In fact,

when we

wandered

away from

God,

that's what

made us

unholy,

right?

That distance

from Him,

Jesus chased

after us

to bring us

back and

He's done

that for

you even

this week

when your

heart has

wandered away

from God

and He's

chased after

you to

bring you

back,

to make

you holy

as you

turn back

even now

by faith

to being

His.

I'm His.

That's where

I rest.

If that's you

this morning,

whether you're

a member of

this church

or another

church that

preaches the

good news

that we

are holy

not because

of our

good efforts

or our

good performance

but by grace

through faith

in Christ

alone,

then please

come and

eat and

celebrate with

us.

If that is

not your

why,

if you're

not about

wanting to

be holy

to the Lord

or you're

not sure,

you're still

kind of wondering

about that

because it

seems like

a big

change for

you,

a big

commitment

to make,

what a

great thing

to be

considering.

I'm so

glad you're

here considering

that and

we would

invite you

not to

come to

this table

to this

bread and

it's a

bite of

bread,

a sip of

wine.

We want

more than

that for

you.

We believe

that you

were made

for more

than that.

You can

come up and

observe,

you can come

and let

us pray

with you

but we

would love

to talk

with you

about a

holy God

who makes

unholy people

holy with

him forever.

It is a

big change

for people

like us.

It is a

big commitment

but more

than that,

it is a

big gift

that he

offers to

you freely.

Jesus,

on the night

he was

betrayed,

sat with

his disciples,

he took

bread and

he broke

it.

As I

ministering

in his

name,

give this

bread to

you,

he gave

it to

them and

said,

this is

my body

given for

you.

Do this

in remembrance

of me.

In the

same way

after supper

he took

the cup

and said,

this cup

is the

new covenant

in my

blood,

shed for

many for

the forgiveness

of sins,

drink from

it all of

you.

For as

often as

you eat

this bread

and drink

this cup,

you proclaim

the Lord's

death.

until he

comes.

You declare

that your

holiness comes

not from

yourself but

from one who

would give

himself for

you.

Let's pray.

Jesus,

what an

amazing gift.

What a

great celebration.

Father,

would you use

a common

table set

with common

food and

drink for a

holy purpose?

That you

would meet

very common

people and

by your

spirit so

work in

their hearts

that they

would be

all of us

for a very

uncommon

purpose for

you and

for your

kingdom and

your glory.

Meet with

us, we ask

in Jesus'

name.

Amen.

For more

information,

visit us

online at

sapwa.org.