SOUND THE RETREAT
2 Samuel 20:15b They built a siege ramp up to the city.
Hebrews 12:14b be holy; without it, no one will see the Lord.
A siege ramp was a sign of offensive aggression, “I’m coming to get you!” The siege ramp that the Romans built during the 79AD Jewish Revolution on the side of the giant butte named, Masada, to capture the Jewish renegades who waited atop, took two years to build. Two years! Boy, talk about tenacity! The Jewish families under attack were just as defensively tenacious, embracing suicide as the final resort, down to the last man, as a better choice over Roman captivity.
The great lengths people have gone to in the name of their ‘cause’ is impressive, to say the least. To be so focused that nothing or no one can instigate a retreat or persuade to shrink back; that is called, staying power. Interesting word, retreat.
‘Retreat’ in mainstream language is associated with cowardice, mostly because of the military flavor associated with the word. But what about the Bible reader? There is a discussion over offensive and defensive spiritual strategies. The Armor of God immediately comes to mind. Ephesians 6:10-17 describes the offensive weaponry and the defensive weaponry. This is how 'we' do it. Who is we? The holy ones.
Be holy. Without holiness, no one will see the Lord. Isn't that the prize? Isn't ‘seeing the Lord’ the trophy, the gold medal? If that’s the case, we all may want to regroup and go back to the drawing board.
If I was leading this board-room meeting, I would begin by listing a few questions on that drawing board for discussion:
1. Who is God?
2. What is God’s goal?
3. What is my role as God’s subordinate?
I don’t know that there are any other useful questions to ask at this point. If not careful, these questions could lead to a useless Fat Brain Bible study that doesn’t lead to changed behavior. But if I was a disciple of Jesus, a role as God’s subordinate, then my job is holiness, leading to much life-change, because the goal is to show the world the Lord, and without holiness, no one will see the Lord.
So, question number one, Who is God? God is the metaphysical presence of holiness. Peter, the lead disciple in the gospels, invited all future disciples to the delegation with one directive, 1 Peter 1:15-16 “Just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, for it is written, ‘You will be holy, because I am holy.” This brings the answers to the boardroom meeting: God is holy, His goal is for all who claim Him Lord to be holy, and my role is holiness so that the world will see the Lord.
We may need to go back to the drawing board because many will ask what it is to be holy, which, of course, is an easy one. The word, holy, means to be separate from the common condition. Set apart. Not blending in. The goal of the disciple is to NOT look anything like the world or to have the same goals as worldly people. Without holiness, separation from the world, no one will see the Lord. Without holiness from the Lord's people, people on the outside will just keep on seeing the world, and that they already have.
Holiness is radical tenacity, like the Jewish Zealots or the Roman siege. We stay the cause, come what may. Why? Because the cause of a disciple is not perfection but one of self-sacrifice, to fall on one's own double-edged sword. Self-sacrifice is the bar of holiness that Jesus set as the standard. My role as His subordinate is to share in that self-sacrifice and suffering, to give up my right to be right or to give up my right to be anything at all. In that action of holiness, you can bet that people will see the Lord. Remember, that is God’s goal. I just have to decide if I’m going to be on the side of holiness.
The decision for holiness is a retreat in and of itself, to trust God with the battle. Retreat isn’t cowardice, and it isn’t post-modern relaxation. Another militia motif is used to describe ‘retreat’ in prose: Psalm 46:9 “He makes the wars cease; He breaks the bows, shatters the spear, burns the shields.” We’ve come a long way since bows and spears, but combat is combat, no matter what weapon is put in the hand.
But where is the retreat? The retreat is in the next verse, “Be leisurely unoccupied and know that I am God.” Translation? Be at peace, mind your own business and enjoy the retreat, because you know He is God. It’s not perfection, just holiness.
