Sermon Notes — September 22, 2024
September 22, 2024
Micah 6:6-8
“Personal and Social Holiness”
Rev. Terry Carty
Main Point: “There is no holiness but social holiness.” This holiness calls us to a missional connection with our communities and the world.
Following on last week, it is fundamental to methodism to know that God’s grace is a free gift that works within us to grow every one of us in spiritual maturity and salvation. Some might laugh at that and think, “that’s great to hear. I can keep on doing things my way and let God take care of saving me.” Some might frown at the free gift talk and think, “that’s great to hear, but I still must earn God’s salvation by being a good person.” But the Methodist would light up and think, “that’s great to hear. God is doing the work of grace in me. I am so excited that I want to get on board and help with what God is doing within me. I want to do all the good I can.”
Here is where our Methodist root element of Personal and Social Holiness comes in.
1 Peter 1:15-16
15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” (Lev. 11:44, 45; 19:2)
When I hear that someone has a “Holier than thou” attitude, I hear it in my father’s voice. He used that term to refer to someone who was self-righteous. It meant someone who thought they were better than others. It meant someone who thought they could do no wrong. It meant someone who was pompous and probably judgmental as well.
“Holier than thou” was something I didn’t want to be. My father’s tone of voice told me so. I guess I still live with that. And it makes the word ‘holy’ and its derivative forms take on a generally negative connotation for me.
So when I heard that an old John Wesley in the 18th century said “there is no holiness but social holiness,” I reacted, “so what? I don’t want to be holy anyway.” And who is Wesley to tell me how to live three centuries later?
It was on the ‘Walk to Emmaus’ spiritual retreat that I first came to realize the importance of God’s Grace. And it was the same weekend that ‘Holiness’ began to have meaning for me as well. I learned that in ‘Methodist World,’ as we mature in faith, we should be growing in grace in our interactions with other people.
Growing in Grace means growing to love like God loves. Growing to connect like God connects. Growing in Grace means growing in holiness toward being holy as God is holy.
Studying Wesley has led me to adopt Micah 6:6-8 as one of my favorite scripture passages. You heard it read earlier. To paraphrase, a person asks ‘what’s it going to take to please God?’ Micah says, ’Man, God has shown you what is good: act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.’
To be more precise, my own translation of the Hebrew text is actually this: “to do what is just, and to love being a friend with unfailing love (i.e. grace), and to walk carefully and thoughtfully with God.”
This is a scripture that says a lot about holiness. First, it is clear that holiness is not about comparing oneself to other people, and it certainly is not about becoming ‘holier than thou.’ It is about achieving humility and spending time with God. Not just spending time, but walking carefully and thoughtfully with God until we more fully become like God.
It is not lost on me that we as children copy and act out what we see and hear in our parents, until, in some ways, we become like them. Like it or not, that happens, and we may not be aware of it. Where I once heard my dad’s voice demeaning ‘holier than thou,’ I now hear Micah telling me to hang out with my Heavenly Parent and grow more Godly like God is Holy. I can do this by studying scripture, praying, seeking God-sightings in my daily life.
Better still, as New Testament Christians, we can also hang out with Jesus and be mentored by the Gospels to grow more Godly like God is Holy. And we can hang out with Christian friends who help hold us accountable as we grow in Godliness.
Micah also tells me that being Holy requires more than just hanging out with God. Holiness means also doing what is just and loving other people with unfailing love – growing to love like God loves.
When Wesley says, “There is no holiness but social holiness,” he is directly reflecting James 2:15-17
15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
When Wesley says that holiness is social, he means that the depth of your love for God is revealed by the way you love whom God loves.
It sounds to me like a balancing act. That is exactly what it is. We are called to balance our growth both in personal holiness and in social holiness. We are called to hang out with God and absorb the very nature and attitudes of God. And we are being called to treat our neighbors and the people in the world-at-large with the same unfailing love and forgiveness that God has shown us. It is not one or the other.
Fundamental Methodist practice calls us to spend time with God and to serve humanity with a Godly concern for the common good. That is how we take time to be Holy. We prioritize that duality of emphasis.
Bethlehem United Methodist Church tries to provide many resources to help us find a balance of opportunities. When it comes to personal piety (walking carefully and thoughtfully with God), we work very hard to provide meaningful worship services, Sunday School and other small group studies, prayer group, prayer lists, and recommended daily Bible readings.
When it comes to justice and service, Bethlehem tries to provide a wide variety of opportunities to work for the common good of people in our community and beyond. Feeding people in a variety of ways, helping with reading and supporting students, showing love to people who we may never meet. Even our flower garden offers all of us the opportunity to brighten someone’s day by taking them a simple flower.
We also try to emphasize practical ways for people to advocate for fair practice, affordable housing, affordable healthy food, world peace, and living in peace with neighbors.
In each worship service, we try to offer an ‘Invitation to Discipleship.’ This may sometimes seem like we are advertising our services. But it is far more than that. It is a frequent reminder to be attentive to our call to Holiness.
In the spirit of seeking personal and social holiness, we should listen closely for the opportunities we might hear that will help us to do justice, be a loving friend, and walk carefully and thoughtfully with our God.
Closing Benediction:
Now go back into the world with determination to do all the good you can. “do what is just, and love being a friend with unfailing love, and walk carefully and thoughtfully with God.”