Look at Me! I'm Holy!

 Heart to Heart from the Housewrights

Honor the LORD, you heavenly beings; honor the LORD for his glory and strength. Honor the LORD for the glory of his name. Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness. The voice of the LORD echoes above the sea. The God of glory thunders. The LORD thunders over the mighty sea. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is majestic. The voice of the LORD splits the mighty cedars; the LORD shatters the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon’s mountains skip like a calf; he makes Mount Hermon leap like a young wild ox. The voice of the LORD strikes with bolts of lightning. The voice of the LORD makes the barren wilderness quake; the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the LORD twists mighty oaks and strips the forests bare. In his Temple everyone shouts, “Glory!” The LORD rules over the floodwaters. The LORD reigns as king forever. The LORD gives his people strength. The LORD blesses them with peace. 

Psalm 29 (NLT)

This morning, Missy and I were reading Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest. Such deep and thoughtful readings…

Today’s entry - February 21 - dealt with Mark 14:6 - “She hath wrought a good work on Me.” Speaking about Mary of Bethany anointing Jesus, Chambers takes that beautiful moment in scripture and relates it to our love for God. And, he wonders, have we ever realized or understood that our “ordinary, simple human things…give evidence to God that I am abandoned to Him? Have I ever produced in the heart of the Lord Jesus what Mary of Bethany produced?” 

He then contrasts this type of love (complete abandonment to God) with personal holiness. “(Abandonment) to God is of more value than personal holiness. Personal holiness focuses the eye on our own whiteness; we are greatly concerned about the way we walk and talk and look, fearful lest we offend Him. Perfect love casts out all that when once we are abandoned to God.”

Whew. What a statement! “Personal holiness focuses the eye on our own whiteness…”

Don’t believe it? Let’s see if we agree with Chambers…

1. When you take a picture of yourself - do you take it when you first wake up or when you get made up? 

2. When you talk about yourself to others - do you talk about your failings or your accomplishments? 

3. When you’re in worship and hear the message - do you thank God it’s for the person next to you or do you take an honest assessment of yourself? 

4. When someone asks how you are doing - do you immediately reply, “Great!” or do you actually share how you are doing including where you are not living according to the commands of Christ?

Kind of makes Chamber’s assertion understandable. We worry about how we look in other people's eyes. We worry about our outward whiteness.

We are called to be holy. “Be holy as I am holy,” Leviticus 19:2.  That command we dare not/cannot refuse. God demands we live as redeemed, restored and reborn individuals. That is not up for debate.

Holiness is demanded, but personal holiness screams, “Look at me! I am holy!” 

But, love that leads to abandonment of self? That kind of love “covers a multitude of sins.” Abandoning love does not let “the right hand know what the left hand is doing.” Abandoning love is imperative. Abandoning love is sacrificial. It demands I look upon others and not myself.

Paul writes in Galatians 5:24: “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” In this verse, it’s clear, self is to be abandoned.

All of us, as followers of Jesus of Nazareth, are called to be holy. But, that holiness means nothing if we are acting like a Pharisee crying out, “Look at me! I’m better than everyone else! I’m not a sinner like those people!”

On the other hand, we are also called to “love the Lord our God with all of heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind, and with all of your strength…and love your neighbor as yourself.”  Holiness and love must work together. That is true abandonment.

Maybe we all need to take a step back today, this week, and like Mary of Bethany do something beautiful for Jesus. Not focusing on ourselves or our own holiness, we will rather focus on Jesus and abandon ourselves to him. And if we do that, there will never be a more beautiful or holy moment in all of our lives.

Missy and Steve