What does it mean to be holy together?

Well when you both have a site called Holiness Reeducation and have grown up in the Church of the Nazarene you have to talk about holiness at least once a month. I have been reflecting on the corporate nature of holiness and sin. In our faith shaped by 20th century American individualism, holiness has often become a very personal idea. The focus has been on personal sin, personal confession and personal repentance.
So what does it mean to be holy? To be holy is to be consecrated and set apart for sacred use. That which is holy is hallowed and worthy of praise. It reflects the perfect and set apart nature of God. A holy life is a Spirit filled life lived in pursuit of God's perfect love. In scripture, however, there are not just calls to personal holiness but also corporate holiness.

In Zechariah 7:9-10 we read, "This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. ¹⁰ Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.'" Here the call is for systemic justice and mercy. This is a call for corporate holiness, not just as a people but as a nation, as a government. This is about their systems of social justice and taking care of those in their midst.

Then in 2 Chronicles 7 we read, ""When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, ¹⁴ if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." God's promise to the people is that he will restore them, healing their land, when they as a people repent and turn to him. One person isn't enough, the land and God's blessings are tied to corporate holiness.

In Exodus 31 when God hands down his command to the people he says, "You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD; who makes you holy." God's declaration at the giving of the Ten Commandments is a sign to them as a people. The Israelites holiness comes from God, it is part of his sign that he is Lord.

In Leviticus 11:44, in the midst of laws on food, sacrifice and purity God says this, "I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy." Our holiness is once again tied into a response to God's holiness and God's activity in us. So if we are to be holy as God is holy, this once again is a call to not just individual, but also corporate holiness. Doesn't God live in community with himself? Doesn't the trinity make God's holiness corporate? So our emulation of God's holiness is tied into our corporate identity as the people of God.

In Romans 12, where Paul is talking about the role of the body of Christ, and our responsibilities as the part of the body of Christ he issues this challenge, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is true worship." Even the holiness of how you treat your body is not just about you. You are not your own, you belong to the body of Christ and your sin or holiness is directly tied into the health or sickness of Christ's body. Our holiness is tied into our identity as the body just as our gifts are given to bless the body.

Paul also challenges us in 2 Corinthians 7 where he says, "Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates the body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God." This exhortation comes after Paul's warning about being yoked with unbelievers. If we are linked with unbeliever, or as Paul says if light has fellowship with darkness, how can we be holy. Our relationship to others is once again linked to the nature of our holiness.

So if scripture paints a clear picture that our holiness is not just our own; it is lived in response to God's holiness, it is an action directed by God in our lives, and it is related to the holiness of those around us, how are we to be holy together?

First, we have to exhibit perfect love with one another in the church before we can ever consider ourselves holy. 1 John 4 talks about the communal nature of the perfect love of God and says that since we have been loved by God we must also love another. We must take a long hard look at ourselves within the church before we can worry about the sin in the world. We spend so much time complaining against the media, boycotting companies, and railing on politicians and governments that we often forget that we have a massive log sticking out of our eyes in the church. We are divided because of ego, lack of forgiveness, imperfect love, and an unbroken heart. How can you look at the church in America and around the world and not have your heart broken? How can you see the divisions in your town, your denomination, your disconnected nondenominational church, in our country and not feel sick to your stomach for the sin we have let divide us. We must learn to live in unity as the church before we can be holy as God is holy. 

Second, we must recognize that the church is not the only community of people we are part of. We are each part of a local, state and national community as well. The sins of these communities are our sins. In our local communities when there is prejudice, hunger, injustice, false division, and systemic inequities, you are responsible. You may not have been the cause, but are you trying to be the solution? We have a responsibility to bring holiness wherever we can. The same goes for our states and our country. The sins of our government are our sins as a people. We should be very involved in politics and government to seek justice for all people. Praise God we live in a country where that is possible. We can't be ignorant about the sin around us. Our call to holiness is not a call to be separate from our world our culture. We are called to work for good in our culture that we can demonstrate and live out the holiness of God.

In Jeremiah 29 there is the familiar verse about God's plans for our life, but how often have your read the verses that come before them? It reads, "This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: ⁵ "Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. ⁶ Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. ⁷ Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." ⁸ Yes, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. ⁹ They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them," declares the LORD.

    ¹⁰ This is what the LORD says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. ¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity. ^[b] I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."

In declaring the hope for the people in exile, a people who had turned away from God, abandoned his holiness and created a land of injustice and sin, God tells them to settle down into their culture and work for the common good. He tells them that their salvation and restoration are linked to their ability to serve the people around them. Their repentance from sin is seeking the good of those around them. If they are a blessing to the culture around them, God will bless them. When they have sought peace and prosperity for their city of exile, God will hear their prayers and they will seek and find God. is there a millennial promise in these verses for us also? As we live in the already, not yet reality of the Kingdom of God, we too must work for communal good, corporate holiness, so that God will bring to fruition the coming of his kingdom. I don't know if there is a direct equation between the two, but I am confident of the holiness God is calling us to seek and the blessings that will accompany it's pursuit. 

So may you be holy, as people, as a people, as God's people, just as the LORD our God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit are holy.