Jessica BriggsTo some degree, we all divide things into categories. It’s human nature. This week, as Chrsitian’s observe Holy Week, I find myself pondering: “what does holy mean, anyway?” I want to know it beyond the Hebrew or Greek definition…. Yes, we are “set apart,” but what exactly from?
Holy is another way of describing something supernatural. In faith, we consider communion, prayer, scripture reading, corporate worship, relationships, and marriage to be sacred. Material things, jobs, education, friendship, celebrating and the like is usually categorized as secular.
We divide out things into sacred activity and other things go into the secular category, as though they are dichotomies. We try to live life in spheres- church, home, work and the world. I believe this is why so many Christians are struggling. We compartmentalize our lives and don’t live authentically. We put on our mask for each sphere we operate within, and think we must keep parts of our lives hidden and separate from the other. On Sunday morning, we’re proper in our pew but on Thursday night we’re flipping people off on our drive home. Or we are teaching Sunday School but tearing people down with our words in the workplace. No wonder why we are thought of so hypocritically.
I believe sacred and secular aren’t opposites. I believe God became incarnate, became flesh and blood. If Jesus lives in our humanness, than all activities and elements of my life become sacred. Sacred means “holy or divine” yet I don’t think we can separate our experience with the Divine from our humanity. Jesus was human. He became like us to bring the sacred to us. Every ordinary thing is sacred. Every day, week, and month holy. All the ways we connect with God are through our humanity- we utter prayer with our lips, read scriptures or observe nature with our eyes, or practice silence by stilling our tongue.
Isn’t it sacred to hold a newborn baby?
Isn’t it sacred to feel fully known and loved by your spouse?
Isn’t it sacred to stand on top of a mountain and behold beauty?
Conceiving, carrying and birthing is a human experience. Choosing a companion, falling in love, and being committed in marriage is a hard, yet uniquely human experience. Hiking up a mountain, breathless and exhausted, is a physical experience. Those things we feel with our flesh can open our hearts to the Divine just as keenly as “church” can.
The fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) are holy. Love, joy, peace, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, patience, goodness, and self-control are all deeply human experiences. To love, to feel joy, to have peace, to act with gentleness, to be patient, to find goodness, and to be self-controlled are possible because we are connected with God. Jesus is in us, so we are invited to participate in His promptings.
In Exodus 3:1-6, there’s a story about Moses encountering a burning bush. He hears the voice of the Divine say “Take your shoes off, for you are standing on holy ground.” Moses was just working, minding his own business, tending his sheep in the wilderness. In an instant, a brush fire became revelation. God reveals himself to Moses in non-sacred activity, in his every day routine and work. When Moses became aware of God’s presence in the mundane, he then heard the Divine revelation that the ground was holy. The ground itself did not change in that moment; instead, Moses’ perspective shifted. He saw God in the ordinary.
What if we did the same? We have separated our human experience and called it secular, reserving holiness only for Sunday mornings.
In this season of transition in my life, I am not observing Lent and Holy Week how I have in the past. I do not have a church to attend in our new place. Covid still prohibits many places of worship from gathering. I’m not giving things up for Lent or doing a Lenten Bible Study. I couldn’t receive ashes on Ash Wednesday. I didn’t get a palm branch to fold up into a cross on Palm Sunday. I am not attending or facilitating a Seder meal, Tenebrae or Good Friday service. And I’m not even sure I’ll go to church Easter Morning. It’s not because I don’t love Jesus or believe in community. It is just the reality of my life in this current time.
But you know… I see the Sacred and Holy everywhere I look. Creation testifies of the goodness of God here in Hawaii. Every beach and mountain top is sacred. Every new species of bird I observe is holy. Every person I pass in the hotel lobby is sacred. Every night, as I look into the eyes of my husband and kiss him goodnight, I find something set-apart. My children cuddled up on our couch as I read a book to them is holy. While rituals and tradition are meaningful, sometimes finding God in the ordinary rhythms of our life is just as awe-inspiring as a beautifully led church service.
Understanding that church is the Body of Christ and not just a nicely planned service with a bulletin means living a a set-apart life has little to do with our Sunday morning. Holiness is a lifestyle. We are not set apart to become special Sunday morning country-clubs. We are set apart to see God in all and through all. Holiness then becomes our humanity, every experience ripe with the Divine.
God is in all things.
God cannot be cloistered inside walls- He is God WITH us. Emmanuel. This year I find Holy Week hidden in the faces of my family, as we break the bread, say cheers with our dinner drinks, and enjoy a nice meal. I find Holy Week hidden in the nightly prayers of gratitude we say aloud. I find Holy Week in the thorny bushes found along the seashore. I find it in the sticks used to roast thorns. I see resurrection every morning as the sun rises. There is something holy outside the walls of our churches, if only we have the eyes to see.
