Holiness Is Where You Find It
"I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me, I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one. I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved me." – John 18:20-23 NKJV.
“I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I am saying” – Oscar Wilde.
I now know how Mr. Wilde felt. I have often said about writing these devotions that I learn much more than I ever manage to impart. That has certainly been the case this week. I’ve had to look up Hebrew and Greek words, I’ve had to wrestle with concepts and ideas that have never before occurred to me. And I’m not at all sure I understand what “holy” or “holiness” is anymore than when I started. It reminds me of former Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart’s infamous observation in a very different context, “I know it when I see it.”
And we can see it, if we look for it. In some ways, holiness is like those sub-atomic particles theoretical physicists are always yapping about. Just because you can’t see them doesn’t mean they’re not there. You can see, or feel, their effects.
Holiness is God. Holiness was a man called Jesus. Holiness is a spirit that is eternal, alive and well, and at work in the world today. Holiness is more a state of being. Holiness is doing something that needs to be done. Holiness is acknowledging that imperfect as we are, we yearn to be better. Holiness is walking toward the margins rather than the mansions. Holiness is knowing and accepting that we are in this world but not of this world. Holiness is remembering who we are and to whom we belong, because to whom we belong is holy.
I’ll wind up with the words of an old gospel song. It really does not say anything about “holy” or “holiness” per se. But its words always remind me of who I am and to whom I belong:
Just suppose God searched through Heaven
And couldn't find one willing to be
The supreme sacrifice that was needed
That could buy eternal life for you and me
Had it not been
For a place called Mount Calvary
Had it not been
For the old rugged cross
Had it not been
For a man called Jesus
Then forever my soul would be lost
Holiness is where you find it. Holiness is where you make it.
Look for it. Make it happen.
Have a great Labor Day weekend.
Rejoice always,
Jerry Lipscomb
