The Aroma of Holiness

Rector’s Rambling: June 2013

With Tristan’s departure for summer studies in Luxembourg, our dog count at Briarwood has risen to four. Imagine two completely undisciplined terriers, a beagle who wants to dash off at every hint of rabbit scent, and one relatively well behaved spaniel, with me, on the way to the barn for chores. Things can get a bit complicated, especially if a chicken gets out of the pasture or we jump a rabbit or a gate gets left open when we are moving the horse between pastures. Perhaps we should change the name of Briarwood to “Mayhem,” or perhaps “Malfunction Junction.” But I still take the time to enjoy the beauty all around me. Tonight, my gaggle and I walked around the south end of the house on the way back from the barn and greenhouse. The combined scent of honeysuckle and lilac was overpowering, and it got me to thinking, “I wonder what holiness smells like?”

Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary defines “Holy” as “moral and ethical wholeness or perfection; freedom from moral evil. Holiness is one of the essential elements of God’s nature required of His people. Holiness may also be rendered “sanctification” or “godliness.” The Hebrew word for “holy” denotes that which is “sanctified” or “set apart” for divine service…While “holy” is sometimes used in a ceremonial sense, the main use is to describe God’s righteous nature or the ethical righteousness demanded of His followers. Originating in God’s nature, holiness is a unique quality of His character…”

The Dictionary continues, “Jesus was the personification of holiness.” And again, “The theme of sanctification, or growing into God’s likeness and being consecrated for his use, is prominent throughout the Bible. Like Jesus, the apostles taught that sanctification, or true holiness, expressed itself in patient and loving service while awaiting the Lord’s return.” Paul’s prayer in I Thessalonians 3:12-13 concludes the article and provides the ultimate definition of how holiness looks, or smells, in the life of the believer. “And may the Lord make you increase in love and abound in love…so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.”

As summer begins, how are you doing at holiness? Do people see the character of God in you? Is your life spent in patient and loving service as you await the coming of Jesus? Do you believe in the second coming of Jesus? Do you have a sense of being “set apart” to do God’s work in this world? Does love dominate your motives and your actions and attitudes? Are you closer to moral and ethical wholeness as defined by the Bible than you were say ten months ago? Are you able to honestly say that evil does not have a controlling grip on your life? Are you growing to be more like Jesus every day?

Most of us know the answers to these questions in our own lives. And we are all better off if we worry about how we answer those questions and don’t worry about how we think other people ought to answer them about their own lives. Judgment of others is merely a distraction that the devil sends into our lives to keep us from making the kinds of changes we need to make to be more like Jesus. If we honestly ask the right questions, if we search the scriptures and pray to have God’s Spirit and motives, He will guide us, and people will see his character revealed in us, and be drawn into fellowship with Him. And in years to come, those people who knew us best will say that we truly possessed the aroma of God’s holiness.