Daddy was the ultimate utilitarian. I know he appreciated beauty.  The beauty of my mother’s sacrificial love for a man often hard to love.  The beauty of growing things.  But the beauty he admired most was order, efficiency, usefulness.  And so, when we gave him gifts, the criteria were clear.  Gifts must be eminently useful.  Shaving supplies, tobacco for his pipe, and dress shirts for his work.

The shaving supplies and tobacco were immediately used.  But the shirts he would put away, in their original packaging, in the top of his chest of drawers.  “When are you going to wear your new shirt, Daddy?” we would ask.  And he would say, “I’m saving that one for my funeral!”   It was a poor joke for children eager to see him enjoy what we had carefully chosen.  But until my father’s current dress shirts were unwearable, the new shirt was not worn.  While not saving it for his funeral, he was saving it.  Setting it apart, preserving it, waiting to use it. But not using it.

The Bible speaks a lot about ‘holiness.’  The words for holiness in the Bible’s original languages speak of something “set apart for special use.”  Holy things were not to be used for common purposes.  In Israel’s ceremonial law, things related to worship: the furnishings of the tabernacle, the priests and their garments, and the sacrifices of the people, were all called holy.  They were special, set apart. 

But they were to be used.  Used every day to teach the people of the depth of sin and the even deeper grace of God to provide atonement by faith in the One to whom they all pointed.  The blood of bulls and goats and the pageantry of the Day of Atonement could not forgive sin.  No, forgiveness came only by faith in the true Day of Atonement that was coming.  That day would occur at Calvary as Jesus bore away our sins once-for-all, the only true sacrifice and high priest.  All the holy things for worship in ancient Israel “prefigured Christ, his graces, actions, sufferings and benefits.”  And so, the Psalmist rightly notes that worship is in the “beauty of holiness.” 

Not only does the Lord, speaking in the Old Testament, call worship ‘holy,’ but he also calls for his people to be “holy ones.”  The beating drum of Leviticus is “You shall be holy [ones], for I the Lord your God am holy.”  Leviticus beautifully describes God’s gracious provision of atonement and forgiveness for his people.  This promised redemption enables them to live graciously and gratefully in his presence.  And in response they are called to glorify and enjoy the Lord by living lives that imitate Him and not the world around them.  Lives that reflect wholehearted love for the Lord and wholehearted love for neighbors and strangers.

Their holiness is not something attained, achieved, earned, or maintained by their efforts.  It is offered to the people graciously.  It is the holiness of another that makes them holy.  Walking in holiness is a work of God’s free grace by which those who are regenerated “grow in grace, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”  For the unbeliever, the call to “be holy” is an impossible, hateful, burdensome command.  It exhausts and frustrates and embitters the unbelieving soul. 

But to the believer, the call to “be holy” is a beautiful and joyful, “sweeter than honey from the honeycomb, more to be desired than the purest gold.”  It is peace, rest, and beauty.  And yes, sometimes a war within.   But the believer desires to imitate and reflect the beauty of God’s holiness.  Not as the root of God’s favor, but as its fruit.  Walking in holiness is an expression of our chief end to “glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” 

The opening half of Leviticus points to the graciousness of God to forgive sin and cleanse from unrighteousness.  The remainder instructs the people in what it looks like to live as redeemed people.   They are to be holy [ones] because their redeeming God is Holy.   God calls them to love him and to love one another.   Leviticus 19 is an effusive call to walk in this holiness.  Sixteen times they are reminded to be holy because their God is Holy.  They are to imitate, reflect, and reveal God’s grace and glory to the nations. 

While some of the specific commands in Leviticus 19 no longer apply to us because they are part of the ceremonies which pointed to Christ’s finished work this passage is referred to many times in the New Testament.  Jesus quotes this passage when responding to the lawyer’s question about the greatest commandment.  Peter quotes this passage when exhorting believers under fire from a world hostile to the gospel.  And Paul refers often to this passage as does the anonymous author of Hebrews. 

Holiness is a gracious gift, but not to be put away in a drawer saved for some future day.  It is not like my father’s new shirts.  It is a gift to be put on and worn.  Indeed, Paul exhorts us to “put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:24)  And the author of Hebrews instructs us to “strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12:14)

Leviticus 19 paints a beautiful picture of the call for God’s people to walk in holiness, glorifying and enjoying their God, loving and caring for one another, and reflecting and revealing God’s grace to a watching world.  What does the word holiness evoke for you? Impossible demands? Hypocrisy? Nit-picking moralism? Or beauty, love, community, and grace?

The Bible teaches that holiness is a gracious gift that teaches us to love God, love neighbors, and love strangers. Join us as we examine Leviticus 19 and consider the gift of holiness.  We meet on the square in Pottsville, Arkansas right next to historic Potts’ Inn for worship.  Get directions here or contact us for more info.  Or join us on Facebook Live @PottsvilleARP or YouTube.