Why I Struggle With 'Holiness'

When I hear the word 'holy' in relation to a person, I think dull, boring, judgemental, critical, holier-than-thou.  I  don't imagine I will have anything in common with them and I don't really want to get to know them.

 

When I hear the word 'holy' in relation to God, I think distant, separate, untouchable, wouldn't understand.  I picture the holiness of God as something that I would be scared to approach, for fear of my own undeniable and inherent unholiness.  Even though I know the Bible says we can approach God's throne boldly through Jesus, the idea of God's holiness still makes me feel uncomfortable.

 

But when I hear holiness like this, my thoughts change:

 

"Holiness is the most attractive quality, the most intense experience we ever get of sheer life - authentic, first-hand living, not life looked at and lived from a distance ... Holiness is a furnace that transforms the men and women who enter it.

 

Wow.

 

 

This view of holiness is interesting, beautiful, attractive, life-giving, transforming, inviting.

 

And this is what Jesus offers.  Holiness, a whole-life.  Aren't they the same thing?  Holiness is a full life, a real life, an exciting life, a transformed life.  And it is a life that is possible through Jesus.

"I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of."

 

[John 10:10 MSG] 

 

This is the view of holiness I want. This is the kind of holiness I want in my life.

Toasters

I was ravenous when I got home from work today and popped a couple of slices of bread in the toaster.  Minutes later, I had all the windows open, the extractor fan on, and was frantically flapping my scarf at the black smoke which was filling my flat.

 

The blackened toast lay abandoned in the bin.

 

I then spent a chilly hour sitting with the windows open, the smoke making my eyes sting, trying to get rid of the smell of burn.  I can still smell it in my hair now.

 

Toasters are funny things.

 

Getting the settings just right is so much harder than you'd think.  The bread is either only slightly warm and crispy, or is instantly cremated.  It is difficult to find the middle ground with a toaster.

 

It is difficult to toast and avoid burning.

 

All of this made me think of Moses' first encounter with God: he was minding his own business shepherding his flock, when he encountered a bush that was on fire, but wasn't burning away to nothing.

 

"Moses was shepherding the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian.  He led the flock to the west end of the wilderness and came to the mountain of God, Horeb.  The angel of God appeared to him in flames of fire blazing out of the middle of a bush.  He looked. The bush was blazing away but it didn’t burn up.   Moses said, “What’s going on here?  I can’t believe this! Amazing!  Why doesn’t the bush burn up?”

 

[Exodus 3:1-3 MSG]

 

Contrary to my toaster experience, this bush was on fire and was 'toasting', but wasn't burning.  No black, eye-watering smoke in this story.

 

But what's it all about?  Why is there a bush that's on fire, but not consumed by the fire? 

 

Is God displaying His pyrotechnic skills?

 

Or is it about something bigger?

 

Fire in the Bible is a symbol of God's holiness and purity - a holiness that belongs to God alone.  A symbol that He is different from us and separate from us because of His pure goodness and love. 

 

But the bush doesn't burn up; it is on fire, but is not consumed.  It's a symbol of how we can experience and approach God's holiness and love and not be consumed, because Jesus has made a way for us to reach God. 

 

Instead of burning up, and ending up blackened and in the bin, the more of God's love and 'fire' we experience, the purer we become.  The more like Him we become.

 

Please Take Off Your Shoes

There is a sign in the prayer room at Momentum asking people to take off their shoes or wellies as they come in. Given the heavy rains and muddy ground, and the fact that people are sitting on the floor in here, it is understandable.

But it got me thinking about Moses' encounter with God. And about Moses' shoes. Moses sees the burning bush and is stopped in his tracks. Then God speaks to him:

"God saw that he had stopped to look. God called to him from out of the bush, 'Moses! Moses!'

He said, 'Yes? I'm right here!' God said, 'Don't come any closer. Remove your sandals from your feet. You're standing on holy ground.'

[Exodus 3:4-5 MSG]

Remove your sandals from your feet.

You're standing on holy ground.

I've never really stopped to wonder why God told Moses to take off his shoes. And what that had to do with holiness.

According to Matthew Henry's commentary, it was a sign of respect. In the same way that we might "doff our hats".

But no one really wears hats anymore - let alone doffing them - do they?

In a society which doesn't know how to respect its elders, or itself, or its own bodies, how do we understand what it means to show respect for God? And why does it matter?

Taking off our shoes is vulnerable: not many of us like our feet. Depending on the ground, it can be painful. If our feet are not that fresh, it can be humiliating. Sometimes our shoes denote our profession, and so removing them is a reminder that we come before God as people, not professionals.

Removing our shoes as we come to pray reminds us that God is God and we are human: we are vulnerable and broken people meeting with a holy God.

We don't have to physically remove our shoes every time we pray (and it wouldn't always be practical), but it is a good reminder for us as to the attitude of our hearts. When we pray, we make ourselves vulnerable and strip away our earthly labels. We realise we have nothing to bring and we encounter the Holy God. And, by His grace, we are not consumed.