Jehovah-Mekaddishkem - The LORD Who Makes You Holy

Dear Friends in Christ Jesus,

            A few years ago a Jewish Rabbi visited one of our pastors here in the Twin Cities. One morning they went out for breakfast. The pastor’s son ordered bacon and eggs. The Jewish Rabbi also ordered bacon and eggs. The pastor got nervous and asked, “Do you know what bacon is?” The Rabbi said, “Sure it is strips of pork.” Our pastor wondered and asked, “How can you eat pork?” (It was forbidden by God for Jewish people to eat pork.) The Rabbi said, “Since I am your guest, when it comes, I’ll just say, Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh. (Holy, Holy, Holy) and then I can eat it.” If it would only be so simple that I could raise my hand and say over all the worshipers this morning, “Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh” and you would all be holy. 

      This morning we have the name of God that is formed from the word “Kadosh.” Jehovah Mekaddishkem, the Lord who makes you holy. We began our service with the words from Leviticus 19:2 "Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.”  When we turn to the New Testament God has not lowered his standards. We read: Hebrews 12:14 NIV Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. The Apostle Peter repeated the Old Testament expectations: (1 Pet 1:15 NIV) “Just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do”  Two aspects guide our thoughts today, both the Holiness of God and His expectation for us to be Holy.

I.              The God who expects you to be Holy.

            Isaiah the prophet was given that awesome vision of the Lord. The Seraphim are calling one to another, (Isa 6:3 NIV) And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." Even the seraphim are covering their eyes in the presence of the Holy one. Isaiah from this point on calls the Lord, 30 times, “the Holy One.”  Moses writes: (Exo 15:11 KJV) Who is like unto thee, … glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?  

When it comes to Jesus we are reminded: (Luke 1:35 NIV) The angel answered, …So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. (2 Cor 5:21 NIV) God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Concerning the Holy Spirit King David in Psalm 51 prays (Psa 51:11 NIV) Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.

As the Holy God he can establish things to be set apart or sanctified, made holy for his use. For example our text speaks about the Sabbath Day, (Gen 2:3 NIV)  And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. How people are to respect that day God expects: (Exo 20:8 NIV) "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” It was to be a special day, set apart for the Lord, different from the rest of the week. As the Lord can set a day to be holy, we find his very presence has an impact. Remember the burning bush account, Moses was told to take off his shoes for it was holy ground. Mt. Sinai would then be known as the Holy Mount. When the Lord sanctified the Most Holy Place in the Tabernacle it would be called, the Holy of Holies. God’s word speaks about the Holy Temple and the land as known to this day, “the Holy Land.”   It was to be set apart. The Sabbath was Holy because God rested on that day and made it holy, the tabernacle and the temple were holy because the Lord would dwell there. 

As the Holy God, the Holy one, he is separate from sin, without sin and at the same time he cannot tolerate sin, immorality and impureness. In the book of Habakkuk we read: (Hab 1:13 NIV) Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong.   When a sinner enters the presence of the Holy God the effect is terrifying. Isaiah hearing Holy, holy, holy cried out himself: "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." When the Apostle Peter realized he had come into the presence Holy Son of God, Jesus, he exclaimed: (Luke 5:8 NIV)   "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!"

II.            The God who makes you Holy.

            When it comes to us, the Lord expects us to be like him. You must be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. Our text reminds us of the Third Commandment. “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.” We could spend a lot of time looking at all the commandments. But what does it mean to keep it holy? This forces us to look at the very worship we do, the attitude of our heart, our faithfulness and the testimony we give in the community.   In the New Testament the day was not the issue, we are not judged by the Sabbath, but whether or not we worship the Lord in spirit and truth. I wonder how many people think they will be in heaven, but during their life have no time to worship him on earth and rather than praising him, they only curse by his name. Why would God want such people in his presence? (Psa 24:3-4 NIV) Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? {4} He who has clean hands and a pure heart. Who are we to come into the presence of the Holy God?

            When I walk out to begin the service, more than once I have asked myself, who am I to lead God’s people in worship of this God? So my opening prayer is important to me, (Psa 19:14 KJV)  Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

            When Pastor Brohn begins his sermons he has a prayer taken from the words of Jesus: (John 17:17 NIV)  Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. Sanctify us (make us holy) by the truth, your word is truth. The question that comes is how can the Lord make sinners such as us, holy in his sight? 

            We need to look very closely at the work of Christ. In the book of Hebrews we read: (Heb 10:10 NIV) we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Heb 13:12 NIV) And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. When the Apostle Paul talks about all kinds of sinners, (1 Cor 6:8-10 NIV)  You yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers. {9} Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders {10} nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.  Do you think the holy God wants such people in his presence? Did you find yourself in this list, but listen to what follows: (1 Cor 6:11 NIV)  And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, (made holy) you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. Only by the work of Christ do we find that we have been made holy in his sight. 

            Do you realize how holy you are? Don’t we feel uncomfortable thinking that we are holy ones, when we know the truth of what is going on in our lives, and how far from perfection we really are? Yet in God’s eyes believers are so holy that the Apostle writes to the believers in various congregations and calls them saints! We confess we believe in the communion of saints, but do we see ourselves as one of the saints? Yet that is the awesomeness of the workings of the God who makes us holy.  

            Our God does want us to be set apart from this world. This is the personal struggle in our personal growing in faith and life: (1 Th 4:3-4 NIV)  It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; {4} that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable. (1 Th 5:22-23 NIV) Avoid every kind of evil. {23} May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.