Month: June 2022

During a recent Sunday worship, I enjoyed hearing – and singing – one of my all-time favorite hymns: Holy, Holy, Holy. You are probably familiar with the words, which begin with:

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty
Early in the morning my song shall rise to thee
Holy. holy, holy, Merciful and mighty
God in three persons, blessed Trinity*

After singing, I asked myself why I found that hymn so satisfying. Part of the reason is that I’ve been hearing it my whole life; it just says, “Church” to me (especially with words like “thee” in it). Part is the tune, which is melodious and easy to sing – even for me. But what I really find satisfying is its theology; it speaks of God’s greatness and his nature. Unlike many contemporary songs which dwell on my feelings and problems, which are changeable and self-focused, this great hymn lifts up the eternal, unchanging nature of God. It is about him.

It’s in a group of classic hymns which praise God for who he is, including: Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise; Praise to the Lord, the Almighty; Crown Him With Many Crowns; and of course, How Great Thou Art.

As the next verse of Holy, Holy, Holy proclaims: “Lord, only Thou art holy.” But that raises two questions: First, what does it mean to be holy?  And second, what is it about God that makes him holy?

First, what is holiness? The basic meaning of holiness is to be sacred and separate from the world. It means to be above any commonness or crudeness. It means to be righteous, pure, perfect, separate and set apart; and therefore to be worthy of awe, reverence and fear.

In the Bible, there are two words that convey God’s holiness. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word for holy is kavod, which carries the meaning of “heavy, weighty,” and therefore, importance. It demands awe and respect, as well as beauty, radiance, and glory. The New Testament Greek word is hagios, denoting separateness from the world, and sacredness.

God is holy, not a part of creation, but above and beyond it. Before anything is, he was. He is all-important and righteous in all he does and is.  And when we say God is holy, we are talking about the entire Trinity being holy: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This three-fold holiness of God is reflected in both Old and New Testaments, where revelations of heaven show the heavenly beings praising God with three-fold blessings:

Old Testament: “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!'” (Isaiah 6:1-3).

New Testament: “And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!'” (Revelation 4:8).

Hence the three-fold praise of our hymn: Holy, Holy, Holy. When we sing that, we are joining the eternal, heavenly praises of our God.

Only God is truly holy, but there are things we call holy which are associated with him and therefore derive their holiness from God and their service to him. For example, the Scriptures speak of the holy Temple (Psalm 5:7), the holy place (1 Kings 7:50), holy angels (Mark 8:38), God’s holy words (Jeremiah 23:9), and the holy church (Ephesians 5:27). And in that holy church, we speak of the Holy Gospel, Holy Baptism, and Holy Communion; all holy because they come from God.

We even speak of holiness in people, meaning they act or live in obedience to God, reflecting his holy image. But such holiness is derived only from God, as the moon’s light reflects more dimly the light of the sun. It is not from some innate goodness in ourselves. It is possible only by the Holy Spirit working in a person. Only by such working can Paul say, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1).

When I was in Bible Study Fellowship, we had group prayer times which followed a specific order. Before offering petitions for healing, etc., and even before thanking God for all he has done, we would always begin with prayers of praise to God for who he was, for his awesomeness, love, power, and holiness. May we remember to do the same in our prayers. For God is God, greater than we can even imagine. Truly we should join the eternal chorus of heaven itself, crying out,

Holy, Holy, Holy!

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Psalm 30:4; Psalm 99:2-5; Luke 1:49.

*by Reginald Heber, 1826, in the Public Domain 

 

“Dear Lord, give me patience, and I want it NOW!”

Yes, it’s an old joke, but its message is still true: we are impatient creatures who want things and want them right now, when we want them. Our parents told us, “Good things come to those who wait,” but our culture tells us, “Eat dessert first!” As individuals and as a nation, we have record-low savings and record-high amounts of debt because we want instant gratification. Rather than saving up for something, we charge it and worry about paying for it sometime in the future. Of course, new wants and needs will come along in that future, too.

We all experience feelings of impatience for certain things and milestones in life. Kids can’t wait until Christmas or until summer vacation; grade schoolers can’t wait till they grow up to be high schoolers; high schoolers can’t wait until they’re adults; a couple can’t wait to get married; workers can’t wait until the weekend or until retirement; if we’re sick or injured, we can’t wait until we heal.

This last test of patience has been, and still is, my experience this year. Ever since foot surgery in January, I have been riding a wheelchair and enduring almost-daily wound treatments. And just when that wound was healing up, a new surgery on the other foot “reset the clock” in a sense, meaning more months ahead of waiting patiently for that wound to heal. I can’t wait to be healed and back on my feet again!

Of course, there are times to be patient, and times not to be. When there is a problem that we can help correct, then we shouldn’t just sit around patiently, hoping things get better. We may need to act right away to prevent the problem from getting worse. As Ben Franklin once put it, “A stitch in time saves nine.” If we experience medical symptoms, or hurt someone’s feelings, or need gas for the car, then prompt action may be called for. If we see injustice, we may need to speak up or seek relief rather than watching it continue.

As one starving buzzard said to another, “Forget patience! I’m going to kill something!”

Although there are times to act instead of waiting, the majority of times we will have to wait patiently, especially when we cannot change what is making us wait, such as time or space.  For example, when my wife and I drove cross country, we “couldn’t wait” to get to our destination, but had to, because of the time it took to cover the distance we had to go.

Because patience is so difficult for us, God’s word addresses this as a virtue, and calls on us to be patient in three different, yet related, ways.

First, be patient with each other.  Part of loving other people is to be patient with them. We don’t now what they are going through, what hurts they have experienced previously, or what factors are keeping them from doing what we want according to our timetable. Or we don’t know why they just don’t straighten up like we think they should. Maybe they’re slow, or have different understandings, or see dangers we don’t see. Regardless, we are called to be patient with them. Scripture  commands our patience: “Love is patent and kind . . .” (1 Corinthians 13:4), and “. . . we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all” (1 Thessalonians 5:14).

Just this week I heard from an elderly woman who told how she had been praying for decades for a son who had misspent most of his life. Through one scrape after another, through a wild, sinful life, through a time spent in prison – she kept praying patiently for her son to get right with God. She never gave up, and now, as her life is drawing to an end, she learned that he did find Christ, and is now serving as a minister. Hers was a patience born of love.

Second, be patient with God. One of the hardest things for Christians is to pray and not see immediate answers to our prayers. We pray for a job, for a relationship, for healing – and we wonder if God hears us. He has promised to answer our prayers and give us the desire of our hearts, yet so often heaven seems silent. We join the psalmist is crying out, “Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me!” (Psalm 27:7), but then we lament, “O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest” (Psalm 22:2).

When we don’t see immediate answers to our prayers, we must remember: God is not a magic genie who has to obey our commands. He is the sovereign Lord of all, who sets the seasons, who gives life and takes it, who works all things for the purpose of his will (Ephesians 1:9). He has his own timetable of what he will or will not do, and when he will do it. He who knows all things and loves us beyond measure, will act in ways that are best. Just because we don’t see an answer doesn’t mean God isn’t working behind the scenes to bring about the best results. After all, God is a loving Father who knows what we need even before we ask; shall he give us a serpent when we ask for a fish, or a stone when we ask for bread? (Matthew 7:9-11).

Being patient with God is a matter of faith. It means we trust his promises, and trust him as our heavenly Father who provides for us in this life, and has provided for us for the life to come. Even if we must wait patiently for answers to prayer, we still pray for our daily bread and deliverance from evil. We still believe in Jesus’s promise to “ask and it will be given, seek and you will find, knock when it will be opened to you,” even when our eyes deny that truth.

It is a matter of faith. It was such faith that Scripture lauds in the saints who endured lifetimes of waiting and suffering for God’s sake. Hebrews 6:15 tells of Abraham, who, “having patiently waited, obtained the promise.” And in Revelation 2, Christ praises the saints in Ephesus, saying, “for  I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary.” Likewise, James 5:7 tells us all to, “Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord,” as a farmer plants seed and has to wait for the crop to grow.

Third, remember that God is patient with you. I confess that at times I want to see God’s righteous judgment and destruction of evil-doers. So many horrible things happen by so many wicked people, that it seems like it’s time for another world-cleansing flood to take them all away. (Too bad God promised never to do that again!) But then I realize: if God acted to kill every one who sins as soon as he or she did something, the world would end right now and I would be among the casualties. So why does God delay in sending judgment? Because God loves us and love calls for patience.

This wonderful truth is declared definitively in 2 Peter 3:9, which says to those who think the Lord’s judgment is delayed, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

Finally, when it comes to being patient, we have help. Fortunately, we are not left to our own imperfect strength of character to summon up patience toward God, other people, or  difficult situations. Though our wills are involved (we choose to be patient), patience is also a fruit of the Holy Spirit, given to believers whom the Spirit indwells. Galatians 5:22-23 spells out the fruit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Patience is a God-given ability that will bless us as we employ it. For with it come the other fruits of peace and joy.  May you find such peace in your life as you practice patience!

May the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Psalm 37:7; 2 Timothy 2:24; James 5:7-8;  Revelation 2:2-3, 19.