Corinth #2

HOLY

The sound of the word itself invokes a stirring in my heart. Holy. Say the word and let it rest in you for a moment.

I am reminded of Isaiah 6, his commissioning and the seraphs speaking "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory." I wonder what it sounded like to hear those words spoken in a heavenly tongue. I suspect our english word HOLY doesn't do it justice but it is all we have.

As I sit with the word I sense the "otherness" of it, the weight, the ineffableness of it. In many ways it is indescribable, a little like trying to describe the color of the sky to a blind person who has never seen it. The seraphs gave us a hint with the statement of His glory filling the whole earth - God-spoken creation gives us a glorious glimpse of His Holiness.

Holiness is disturbing, something just out of reach to mortal men and yet here is Paul telling us we are called to be holy. In our attempt at understanding this call we usually define it with a list of rules, "do's" and "don'ts", a measurable list that will show us and others that we are holy. It is our attempt at making holiness attainable. This will lead us to our own bankruptcy rather than to holiness. This call to something unattainable in our own efforts was done wisely; done so that we will be called back to Him.

In these opening words Paul answers this with telling us we are called into fellowship with Jesus Christ our Lord (vs 9). It is in fellowship where any hope for holiness is found. It is about new wine (His life) being poured into new wineskins (our lives redeemed, changed fundamentally at second birth) where we find holiness. It is in living out of His newness He's given through His grace where holiness arises. We are new creatures in Christ.

As I think about what that might practically look like, I no longer think of a list of "do's" and "don'ts" but rather I settle in on Galatians 5:22 - the fruit of the Spirit. LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS, SELF-CONTROL. As we live by the Spirit, this fruit will grow from the inside out. Authentically living out this fruit will be a holiness entirely different from what this world offers. In the end we may, in fact, live out the list, but it will not be a narrowness, but rather out of the broad places of the abundant life He gives us. Psalm 18:30 comes to mind, "He broadens the path beneath me so that my ankles do not turn". Holiness is living broadly in the Spirit.

It is unattainable on our own, no list can contain this. His call to be holy is a call to trust, a true and honest trust in His Spirit within me.

Corinth #1

I've been in a dry place spiritually, a desert. We occasionally find ourselves in these places, don't we? Often we think something has gone wrong, that we've lost our way somehow. While there are times it is true something is "wrong", I now consider another possibility; He may want me in the desert for a while. Maybe my heart needs it. Deserts are places striped bare of all but the essentials, even the essentials can be barely found. It is a place of thirst and hunger as well as a place for remembering times more lush with His purpose, His presence. Psalm 63 recounts a time spent in the desert by David. So, I take to heart Jesus' words just before He left, "Lo, I am with you always" and know He is with me in the dryness that comes at times.

I've started a slow meander through I Corinthians. I wouldn't call what I do "study" but more a slow, thoughtful reading that is more about listening than anything else. I am reminded about what Paul wrote early in his letter to the Ephesians, "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened.." (vs 1:18) and ask Him "What do you want me to see, to know?", when I spend time in Scripture. This attitude make this more personal, less ponderous.

I am stuck in the first 9 verses, actually one word, "called", has jumped out at me. If I am called, someone has done the calling and with that, there is a hearing implied. More deeper still, an active listening is needed. I am reminded about Jesus speaking about His sheep hearing His voice. This little word is not one to be skipped over quickly today, and the question arises, "Am I listening"?

The desert is a good place to listen.