Holy, Holy, Holy Rev. Albert Hung HOLY, HOLY, HOLY NAZARENES: A HOLY PEOPLE Good morning. It’s a joy to be with you today. I want to talk about one of the core convictions of the Church of the Nazarene today. As many of you know, we are part of a larger family of Christian churches that share a Wesleyan Holiness theological heritage. Some of our sister denominations include the Salvation Army, Free Methodist Church, Assemblies of God, and the Church of God in Christ. What makes our churches distinct is our emphasis on holiness. It’s one of our three core values as a denomination: we are a Christian people, a holiness people, and a missional people. In fact, the foreword to the Manual of the Church of the Nazarene, which is our constitution and doctrinal statement, declares that “The primary objective of the Church of the Nazarene is to advance God’s kingdom by the preservation and propagation of Christian holiness as set forth in the Scriptures.” We believe with all our hearts that God is holy, that God has called us to be a holy people, and that God gives us the power to live holy lives. We think that’s good news for the world. I’d love to explore that with you today. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE HOLY? I grew up in a non-Christian immigrant home just outside Toronto, Canada. My parents are culturally Buddhist, but we never went to worship at the temple, and we didn’t have a family shrine at home. So, I didn’t have any religious background. English is not my parent’s first language. Holy, for me, was a word you put in front of other words to emphasize amazement. But my dad worked hard to learn English, including common idioms. So, when he was wowed by something, he’d say, “Holy moly!” Or, “Holy cow!” “Holy smokes!” But my favorite was when he would say, “Holy mackerel!” I think we should bring that one back. Later, I learned that holy had something to do with religion. It meant sacred, connected to God or angels or the church or something along those lines. But it wasn’t until I became a Christian, much later in life, that I started to appreciate what the word “holy” actually means. And once you start exploring holiness, you realize that it is a very unique and special word, a very deep and profound word that really has no other equivalent in the English language. And we’ve lost our Page 1 of 8 Holy, Holy, Holy Rev. Albert Hung understanding of words like holy and holiness, and I think it’s important for us to rediscover and reclaim them, especially in these challenging times. We need to keep this word alive. It means something. Holiness is like the ocean; it’s an idea and an identity and a way of being that we can spend our whole lives exploring and just barely scratch the surface. GOD IS HOLY, HOLY, HOLY If there’s one thing that ought to be central to our understanding of God, it’s that God is holy. It is God’s defining attribute. What does it mean? In Hebrew: Qadosh (adj.) – sacred, set apart. Holy, when used to describe God, does not mean, “set apart” as in, “physically separated, i.e. over there.” It means set apart as in, “different from that which is common,” “special,” “one of a kind,” “without compare,” “unique.” No one is good like God. No one is merciful and just like God. No one is creative like God. No one loves like God loves. God is without equal, there is no one like God. The phrase “holy, holy, holy” appears twice in the Bible, once in the Old Testament (Isa. 6:3) and once in the New (Rev. 4:8). R. C. Sproul observes: “The Bible says that God is holy, holy, holy. Not that He is merely holy, or even holy, holy. He is holy, holy, holy. The Bible never says that God is love, love, love, or mercy, mercy, mercy, or wrath, wrath, wrath, or justice, justice, justice. It does say that He is holy, holy, holy, the whole earth is full of His glory.” If holy means unique, and God is holy, that means that by definition, no one and nothing else can be holy, at least not the way God is holy. You can’t have two holy people or things; as soon as you do, they are not holy anymore, because holy literally means without equal, without compare. Right? Well, if that’s true, then how do we explain the words of Peter? “Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:13-16 Page 2 of 8 Holy, Holy, Holy Rev. Albert Hung WITHOUT HOLINESS NO ONE WILL SEE THE LORD We are called to be holy in all that we do. But only God can be holy. So what do we do with that? Let’s set that aside for a minute and just ask, “What if?” What if we could be holy? What if holiness became our defining characteristic, just as it is for God? What if when people thought of Christians, the first word that came to mind was, “holy?” Because that’s not the case now. Not at all. In 2007, a major study explored what young people really think about Christians.1 The top five responses were: • anti-homosexual (91%) – The research revealed that people don’t just think Christians oppose homosexuality. They believe Christians show excessive contempt and unloving attitudes towards people across the LBGTQ spectrum. I am heartbroken by this. We all should be. Because Jesus says that we will be known not by our love. That is the first thing that should come to mind when people think of Christians. • judgmental (87%) • hypocritical (85%) • old-fashioned (78%) • too involved in politics (75%) That was over 15 years ago. Has our reputation changed much since then? I doubt it. If anything, it’s probably gotten worse. A 2017 Pew Research poll revealed that atheists and agnostics had warmer feelings toward every other religious group – including Jews, Catholics, Buddhists, Hindus, and Muslims – than they did toward Christians. I’ve heard some Christians say we shouldn’t care about what outsiders think. But the Bible teaches that we should have a healthy concern for our reputation as believers. Paul says in 1 Timothy 3 that overseers in the church “must have a good reputation with outsiders, so that they will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap.” He says that we should “show perfect courtesy toward all people” (Titus 3:2). 1 Steve Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons, unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity... And Why It Matters. Page 3 of 8 Holy, Holy, Holy Rev. Albert Hung Jesus says, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another,” (John 13:35). “I pray that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent Me” (John 17:21-22). The writer of Hebrews 12:14 couldn’t have made it any clearer: “Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.” Without holiness no one will see the Lord. Christians are not thought of as holy people. And that is a big problem. The word “Christian” has become co-opted and compromised in many parts of the country. Public trust in pastors is at an all-time low. Every year, the Gallup organization conducts a poll to measure perceptions of the honesty and ethical standards of various professions. Nurses top the list, with 89% of Americans believing they are honest and trustworthy. Doctors and teachers are also highly trusted. 52% believe police officers are trustworthy. Only 39% of Americans say they trust pastors (yikes!) At least we’re not at the bottom of the list. That distinction would go to Members of Congress at 8%. The church in America has been in decline for decades. U.S. church membership has dropped below 50% for the first time, down from 73% just 20 years ago. The median worship attendance of all US congregations has been cut in half, to just 65 people, in a single generation. During the pandemic, 1 out of 3 Christians stopped going to church altogether, whether online or in person. Compared to the general public, evangelical Christians are the least likely to believe climate change is real. They are the least likely to support efforts to address racial injustice. They are the least likely to support immigration rights. The least likely to support any kind of gun reform legislation. Evangelical Christians are the least likely to follow health orders related to the COVID-19 pandemic. I say all of this not to condemn the church. There are plenty of people doing that already. I love the church. But what I am saying is that we are different from our non-Christian neighbors, but not necessarily in a good way, and not in the ways that matter. What ought to distinguish us is not our views on politics or social issues, or what we do on Sunday mornings. What ought to set us apart is that we are holy people who follow a holy God. If that is not what defines us, then we have lost our way. And that is no one’s fault but our own. Because God has made Page 4 of 8 Holy, Holy, Holy Rev. Albert Hung it clear that that is who He is and that is who we are called to be, and God has empowered us to be a holy people. What would happen if we devoted ourselves to being holy in all that we do, just as God is holy? Holy in the way we work, in the way we learn, in the way we play, holy in the way we rest and in the way we love? Holy in the way we worship, in the way we treat people, in the way we see and experience the world? What if we were holy people? But how do we do that? By definition, only God can be holy. So how can we possibly do what God is asking? How can I be holy? READ: Isaiah 6:1-8 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” 4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. 5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” Page 5 of 8 Holy, Holy, Holy Rev. Albert Hung And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” What is going on here? What is the significance of this scene in Isaiah’s vision? This video from The Bible Project might help us to understand. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9vn5UvsHvM AN INVITATION TO COME CLOSER How can we become holy as God is holy? By allowing His holiness to touch us, to purify us, to transform us. In other words, holiness begins with God and is transferred to us as we become aware of and respond to His presence. Jesus is like the hot coal that was touched to Isaiah’s lips. Through Him, we can be made holy. And through God’s Holy Spirit living in us, the world can be made holy. Holiness is not a set of behaviors that we adopt or a persona that we take on and off. It is not performative. It has nothing to do with being in a certain place at a certain time, like church on Sundays. Holiness is about who God is and who we are and the relationship that He makes possible between us. If we understand the call to be holy as an invitation into a relationship with God, as an invitation to follow Jesus, to stay close to Him so that we can learn from Him and enjoy Him and be transformed by Him, then our everyday routines and choices begin to change; we begin to change. And all we do begins to become holy. Different. Our sense of what brings life and what brings death becomes like God’s understanding of these things. Our sense of justice becomes like God’s. The way we love starts to look more like the way God loves. The way we forgive starts to look like the way God forgives. We begin to become holy in all we do. “Be holy” is not a command to try harder; it is an invitation to come closer. If you are burned out by religion, weary of the state of the church, turned off by the witness of Christians, you are not alone. The good news is that God is tired of it too and loves us too much to leave us there. Jesus is making all things new, including us, especially us. He will not rest until He has completed the good work that He has started in us, until, as Paul writes in Philippians, we become “blameless and pure, children of God without fault… shining as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15). Page 6 of 8 Holy, Holy, Holy Rev. Albert Hung Here is the good news. This is the gospel. This is what the arrival and teachings and life and death and resurrection of Jesus means. Before Jesus, people believed that sin and death are contagious. But Jesus came to demonstrate that it is the holiness of God that is contagious. Life, true life that comes through Christ, that is what is contagious. Sin and death are no match for the holy love of God. And in the end, it is life that will prevail. Friends, this is the message of the Church of the Nazarene. This is what it means to be part of a holiness tradition. We believe that Jesus does only set us free from the penalty of sin, but also from the power of sin. You will often hear it said that people don’t change. Sometimes people will say defiantly, “You’re not going to change my mind.” Sisters and brothers, this is the opposite of the gospel. The Christian life is a transformed life. Jesus said in Matthew 18:3, “Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of God.” He said to Nicodemus, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again” (John 3:3). At the start of his ministry, Jesus announced, “The time has come! The kingdom of heaven is near! Repent and believe this good news!” (Mark 1:15). The word, “repent,” literally means to change your mind. To have a change of heart, a change of allegiance, a change of direction. The Christian life is one of continual change. People who are not willing or able to change their mind will never mature. You know who doesn’t change their mind? Dead people. Paul writes, “Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:1-2). The posture of the Christian should be, “Lord, change my mind. Change my heart. Make me like Jesus.” When Nazarenes speak of holiness, this is what we are talking about. The power of God to transform us. To set us free. To reshape our thinking. The redirect our behavior. But it does not happen through clever arguments. It happens through relationship. We draw near to God. We draw near to God’s people. We draw near to God’s Word. Holiness is not a command to try harder, it is an invitation to come closer. Page 7 of 8 Holy, Holy, Holy Rev. Albert Hung God is holy, holy, holy. And He desires to share His holiness with us. All of us. God does not intend for us to be set apart from the world. He desires that we be set apart for the world. And that is very, very good news. Page 8 of 8
