Do You Know The Rules of The Road On The Highway of Holiness?
Good Morning Friends,
Maneuvering in the very diverse variety of churches is not easy, for the leadership is bound to protect the interests of their denomination with some degree of legalism. The scandal of our Christian faith is twofold but related in this regard. First, it is embarrassing that we are so divided. And second it is shameful how pathetic we are at making disciples. Religious leaders understandably want to protect their power. It is human nature. But to do so at the cost of not making disciples is more than lame. Thankfully Isaiah gives us a picture of a safe passage for people seeking to become sanctified. Do You Know The Rules of The Road On The Highway of Holiness?
Scripture: The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God. Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are of a fearful heart, “Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you.” Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp, the grass shall become reeds and rushes. A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way; the unclean shall not travel on it, but it shall be for God’s people; no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Isaiah 35:1-10 (NRSV)
One day, while he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting nearby (they had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem); and the power of the Lord was with him to heal. Just then some men came, carrying a paralyzed man on a bed. They were trying to bring him in and lay him before Jesus; but finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the middle of the crowd in front of Jesus. When he saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.” Then the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, “Who is this who is speaking blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” When Jesus perceived their questionings, he answered them, “Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” —he said to the one who was paralyzed— “I say to you, stand up and take your bed and go to your home.” Immediately he stood up before them, took what he had been lying on, and went to his home, glorifying God. Amazement seized all of them, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen strange things today.”
Luke 5:17-26 (NRSV)
Message: There’s a popular thought in Christianity, that while we are to be living in the world, we are not to be of the world. What this means is that we are not supposed to be living our lives in accordance to what the world says or even some pastors, but rather by what the Lord says, which is the focus of today’s topic. At the core of it is discovering the path of hope that is holiness, for without holiness there is no revival and there is no renewal. We are paralyzed. The reality is that the church has undergone many changes in its attempt to make itself relevant to the society in hopes of revival. For example, the Advent Season we celebrate now was not practiced until the 4th of 5th centuries. Before then the focus was on Lent and Easter. But both have ties to pagan celebrations. Maybe it is part of a grand plan for redemption but maybe it was a cultural subversion of the Biblical faith. I really wonder about this. I have listened to what is being taught, read what is being written, and witnessed how those who call themselves Christians are living, and what has become evident is that the institutional church has in most of its expressions made the Christian journey rather dull and boring in order to appear more holy. Oh, there are moments when we have inspiring music. But the daily dance is a bit awkward. The core of the problem is that we do not take discipleship training seriously. We desperately need more people and more friends working together and set apart for God. We desperately need more people living a life of service for God bringing people to Christ. We need more people conforming to and becoming like Christ in service to the vulnerable. Here holiness is active service to God to help people to become like Christ as a collective body. That is the process of holiness. And so, to be holy is to be separate from sin and set apart for God and His kingdom purposes. What this process does is bring us comfort and assurance but it does not mean we never sin. But it does mean we start to hate sin. Friends, you have been called to be holy and to believe that God desires for us all to walk in obedience. And we need friends…we need disciples…we need committed teams working together strategically to bring those in need to Jesus.
Pray we have lots of friends that know Jesus. Pray we take sin seriously. Pray we not have a self-centered attitude that takes the focus off God. Pray never stop living by faith. Pray we pursue peace and holiness with all people. Pray we have a vision of a future where people see God and understand the way made straight. Pray we realize that holiness cannot be relegated to a set of behaviors nor is it perfectionism. Pray we are set apart for a purpose. Pray we wake up to God’s holiness, amazed, forgiven and healed to walk on the highway of holiness. Pray we have places of worship that are packed with full time Christians. Pray we have teams of friends willing to bring others to worship and if necessary rip the roof off legalism so that those paralyzed by sin might be healed by Jesus.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 