When we sing the hymn “Holy, Holy., Holy,” we know that we are singing about God (“Lord God Almighty”). The writer of 1 Peter has added another dimension: “But, as obedient children, you must be holy in every aspect of your lives, just as the one who called you in holy” (1 Peter 1:16). Me, holy? This must be a misprint in every Bible on my shelf.
Many students of the Bible conclude that this letter was addressed primarily to Gentile Christians. These believers would not automatically see themselves in the heritage and learnings of Jewish Christians, so Peter reminds them of how they fit into that story. He quotes Leviticus 19:2: “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Say to the whole community of the Israelites: You must be holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy.’”
One meaning of the word “holy” is “set apart.” If I am “set apart,” my values are not the values of the world. My priorities are not the priorities of the world. My words, my actions, are not the words and actions of the world.
Let’s come down “the ladder of abstraction.” (Thanks to S. J. Hayakawa for that term.) How holy is our church budget? For that matter, how holy is my pocketbook? (Do I spend money in the same way as non-believers?) How holy is my use of time? How holy is my attitude toward the woman holding up the sign “Homeless”? How holy am I toward those with whom I disagree? How holy am I toward the clerk at the supermarket?
Being holy looks like an impossible task. Peter puts all of this in the context of hope (v. 6). He acknowledges that it is not easy or simple—note he acknowledges that his readers are in times of “various trials” (vv. 3, 6). Even so, the believers move on the journey with hope, a hope that lives because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
“Hope” and “holy.” Those two themes describe the gift and challenge of living a faithful life. We have hope because of what we have seen in Jesus Christ. We are to be holy because we are shaped by a holy God. It’s not too soon to start.
What Someone Else Has Said: In Mud and Poetry (Fresh Air Books), Tyler Blanski has written: “But holiness is also never a life of extremes for the sake of extremes. It’s extreme because Jesus demands of us the impossible. He wants us daily to die to ourselves, to forget ourselves, so that we might find our identity in him alone. And this includes every part of our lives...”
Prayer: As you prepare this lesson, let your prayer begin: “Christ, the Holy One, shape me to be what I must be in order to follow You...”
