Treat with Reverence That Which God Calls Holy

Recently, in a city about six hundred miles from home, my wife and I went to a church on Sunday morning and realized we were a full hour earlier than we needed to be. We decided we would go to breakfast. It was an odd experience because usually on Sunday morning I am either getting ready for church or at church. I don’t go out to eat on Sunday mornings, but on that morning I did. The restaurant was full of people, and it was evident by the traffic patterns and people who were there that this day was not different than any other day. How can you expect different if someone doesn’t know the Lord Jesus?

You may have noticed that there is no differentiation today, no distinguishing one thing from the other. If you go to Walmart, most people are either in jersey knit or flannel, which is not as it would have been even twenty years ago. I’m not here to decry all the social changes, but it is very obvious that our governing ethic in modern American is comfort. I’m all for comfort and I don’t think pain is intrinsically good of itself, but we are just obsessed with comfort and casual.

The question that must be asked is, “What matters?” Does anything beyond comfort matter? Is every day the same? Is every item of clothing the same or do you have some kind of system to distinguish one day from another or one garment from another? We are in a day where we are conformed and comfortable. That is part of the reason that when you read a book like Leviticus, it slams you in the face. It is so anti-modern and anti-western. It is not all comfort, and sometimes you read things and wonder why God demanded it of Israel.

The answer, broadly speaking, is that we are to treat with reverence that which God calls holy, set apart, special, or different. We should ask ourselves, “What is the difference between Sunday and every other day? What is the difference between going to Walmart and going to a funeral?” My point is today there is no distinction between one and the other. When you read Leviticus, God was very much intent on making distinctions. God is a holy God. He says this over and again in Leviticus 21-22, and He consequently says His people were to be holy. I am not Jewish and we are not under the law, but you can find here timeless principles of the timeless, unchanging God. We are to treat with reverence that which God calls holy.

First, there are people. In Leviticus 21 God is talking to the priests, Aaron and his sons. Verse 15 sums up the entire chapter, “Neither shall he profane his seed among his people: for I the LORD do sanctify him.” So, we are talking about the high priest and certain things he was to do and not to do. The reason was that his office and service to God were special, set apart. He was not to be treated as if what he was doing was unimportant. Anything you do that God has made you to do is important, but to be a priest was a holy, set apart calling.

In our day, is it wrong to eat and drink? No. Is it wrong to eat and drink at a social gathering? Not necessarily. Do you think it is wrong to drink at a funeral? I’m talking more about appropriate than right or wrong, but are you giving gravity to the situation and honor to the person remembered to be sipping your coffee while you are at a funeral service? Even today, as desperate as we are to be casual and comfortable, I think most people would say that is not quite right. Although I am not certain they would say that because I’ve notice recently that we cannot even be bothered to wear our best when we go to a funeral. Is there a difference between a party and a funeral? Yes. Is there a difference between a high priest and everyone else in the nation? Yes. All are equally valuable to God, but this specific office and service was special and was to be counted that way.

As to application, what does that mean? There is a ditch on both sides of the road. When I was growing up, among the churches I was familiar with there was almost an exaggeration of honor so that everyone was Dr. So-and-so instead of Pastor or Evangelist.  I think that can be over the top. The people who earned that doctorate put in many years of study. Others were given an honorary doctorate. I don’t object to that, but the pendulum swing has been that we don’t regard or honor anyone. It doesn’t matter how much he has accomplished, how much God has used him, how old and wise he is, or what difference he made in this world. Everyone is just a Bob. We went from everyone being Dr. So-and-so to now we call our pastor Bob.

What I am saying is that we are to treat with reverence that which God calls special. That is true with people and the way we treat ourselves. We should regard our body and life as a gift from God, and people whom God has called to specific service we should regard that as well.

Second, we should give reverence to things God considers holy. In Leviticus 22 God is speaking to Aaron and says about him and his sons in verse 3, “Say unto them, Whosoever he be of all your seed among your generations, that goeth unto the holy things, which the children of Israel hallow unto the LORD, having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from the presence: I am the LORD.” To be sure, these verses seem foreign to us, partly because there is a form to it. It seems formal, harsh, and severe. Part of that is because it was special and part is because we are desperate to be comfortable and casual. The priests were to treat certain things as special.

One commentator says, “The real issue is that the priests were not to profane or treat as commonly tread the holy name of the Lord through misuse of what the people offered to him.” So, when people brought sacrifices, the priest was to be special and clean physically to indicate the specialness of his service and the people and their sacrifices. Certain things are to be treated as special. I am to treat my local church as special. That is a reason when I was growing up my dad had a pragmatic rule that we could not run in church. We could walk and have fun, but we were not to run around as if we were in our backyard. It was because my dad was trying to teach a specialness and reverence for the place where God’s church meets.

Why is this important? The point is all this is about God. In Leviticus 22:2 God mentions the holy things and His holy name. The things, sacrifices for example, were to be treated with a certain amount of reverence because God was to be treated with reverence. Leviticus 22:31-32 says, “Therefore shall ye keep my commandments, and do them: I am the LORD. Neither shall ye profane [treat lightly] my holy name; but I will be hallowed [treated as special] among the children of Israel: I am the LORD which hallow you.” God was saying, “I am holy and have made you special.” We are a chosen generation and a priesthood. When you put your faith and trust in Jesus, you belong to Him and you are just like every other person in the sense that you have been given life by God. You are to treat what God has given as special.

Verse 33 says He is the one “that brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD.” The reason God rescued them from Egypt and saved you from sin is to be your God. In this day of desperation to be comfortable and casual with no distinctions in dress, days, people, or places, we need to treat with reverence that which God calls holy. One who has reverence for God does not treat life carelessly as if it has no color.

Today, whatever your takeaways are, begin with the premise that God is unique, singular, special and that those things which God claims as His own are to be treated with reverence. Life is precious and we are to enjoy it and to guard it.