SET APART
Jenna Worsham
Today’s Scripture: “Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.” 2 Timothy 2:21, ESV
Theme: God has called us to be set apart.
CEREMONIALLY CLEAN OR UNCLEAN
In the Old Testament there are detailed instructions about being ceremonially clean or unclean. The book of Leviticus outlines the conditions that cause a person (or animal, vessel, building, or cloth) to be in a clean or unclean state – and what to do about it if something or someone becomes unclean. There are a lot of confusing and seemingly senseless rules. Burn it, break it, don’t eat it, wait 7 days, check it, bathe it, shave it, offer an atoning sacrifice, and if it meets the criteria, it’s clean again. Those solutions aren’t all for people – some are for animals, some for vessels, but you get the idea.
“Thus you shall keep the people of Israel separate from their uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness by defiling my tabernacle that is in their midst” (Leviticus 15:31, ESV). Cleansing shows honor. Ceremonial cleansing sets those following the detailed instructions apart. Cleansing regularly gives respect and honor to the one prescribing the ritual. Remaining ceremonially clean requires obedience, time to prepare, and commitment.
BEING SET APART APPLIES TODAY
Today’s scripture (2 Timothy 2:21) is a bridge from the Levitical law to a lasting instruction about being prepared for service to the Lord and Master. Within the early church, the Law and Jewish custom would be familiar. Holy, set apart, clean people and vessels would be understood as ceremonially clean according to the Law. Clean items are useful in cooking, in the temple, for sacrifices, as food, as shelter, and as clothing. Unclean people can’t get too close to God, can contaminate others, and need to cleanse if they want to return to a ceremonially clean state. God’s people tried to stay ceremonially clean but many times it wasn’t possible because of daily living. Priests especially needed to remain clean because of their duties. Being unclean was inconvenient to their meal prep, daily tasks, and ability to perform their priestly duties. Priests were set apart.
And you, the Church today: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9, ESV). You’re a priest set apart, also.
MODERN PURIFYING PRACTICES
Today Christians are still required to observe some rituals that set us apart as holy: baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and weekly observance of the Sabbath, to name a few. Baptism, for example, sets us apart from the world by showing obedience as soon as we confess a saving faith in Jesus. It recreates a symbolic death, resurrection, cleansing, and rebirth as an example and witness to others. We come out of the water purified, set apart as holy, and prepared for God’s good work. Like the Israelites followed the laws about what to eat (kosher) or how to wash (hands, feet, bodies), our submission and obedience in holy practices prepares us to be useful to the Master.
Make It Personal: How do rituals like communion and observing the Sabbath prepare us to come into God’s presence? In what way does our obedience in those areas set us apart? In what ways does our obedience prepare us to be useful to the Master and ready for good work? Consider how the idea of “clean” is different than the idea of “sinless.” Why does the distinction matter?
Pray: Dear God, Thank You for giving us a way to approach You safely and with appropriate respect. Help me to connect the dots from Your laws and rituals for Israel to Your directions applicable to me today. Please help me to understand as much as I need and trust You with the things I don’t yet fully grasp. Thank you for the many resources available to me so that I can learn and understand. Help me to follow the clear instructions (like those for baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and Sabbath) well so that I am prepared for every good work You have planned.
Read: Leviticus 18:1-5; 2 Timothy 2:1-7, 20-21; Matthew 23:26
Weekly Memory Verse: I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Romans 12:1, ESV