Hello everyone, my name is James and welcome to Tuesday’s podcast.  Today our passage is 1 Peter 1:13-25.  The verse we’ll focus on today is v15-16.

But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

REFLECTION:

I first came to Sheffield in 2008 as a student. I was fortunate enough to make some amazing friends quite quickly, thankfully, many of which I’m still in touch with today which is good. Some of you know that I decided to do Biblical Studies as a degree. It was a last minute switch as I had just become a Christian before coming to uni. I actually got my place at Sheffield to study Maths, Financial Management and Accountancy – shout out to all the numbers people listening – I know we have multiple maths teachers within our church… you are special people on a special path … I however was not destined to take that journey… I did a sideways move just before starting. I could have been an accountant – imagine that. What was clear at the time was that I didn’t have a clue what I wanted to do in the future. I knew I wanted to study something I enjoyed. I could work hard at. So I made the switch. Now, completely opposite to me… some of my friends REALLY knew what they wanted to do long term. One guy in particular knew he wanted to be a vicar. He just knew and he was very confident about it. Another girl that comes to mind just knew she wanted to be a primary school teacher. She was very very confident about it. Those things have come to pass and they are –  by all accounts – very good at what they do.

Have you ever wondered? Why is it that some people just know what they are on this earth to do? I have. How is it that some people just have such clarity? Have they figured out a way of praying or reading the Bible that decodes it in such a way to figure their life out? Whereas when I pray – it sometimes feels like there is a blueprint in heaven with my name on it and God is reluctant to share the details. What if I never work it out and I mess it up… what happens then?

Well I have got good news for everyone listening. I have figured out what you are called to in life. Yes, everyone. And for £10 it can be yours – no just joking. But this Bible passage today is one of the rare times in the Bible that says explicitly what our purpose is. What our calling in life is.

I found this explanation really helpful in my early 20s. When the Bible talks about calling it rarely talks about what we are to do. It almost always talks about who we are to be. What kind of person we are to be. This can have many practical outworkings but it at the start is good theology.

One of God’s replies to the question of calling is to “Be holy, because I am [God] holy.” What does it mean to be holy? Well the word ‘holiness’ can conjure up images such as clean living, pure, maybe even set apart; you might have heard that before when talking about holiness. Simply put, holiness is one of the useful words we have to describe God. And if we want to know what holiness looks like in a lived human example it is Jesus. The person of Jesus. He is the holy one of God. Without making it more complicated than it needs to be. When we hear the words “Be holy, because I am holy” we are hearing the request to be like Jesus because he is holy. There it is. The not-so-secret plan-of-God for your life and my life is that we become like Jesus.

So why do some people still have razor-sharp-clarity? It is a good question to ask but not the most important one right now. A more important question is… “does what I am doing help me become more like Jesus?” It is not a perfect example, but if you’re a professional thief then it is certainly God’s plan for you to do something else. It is not helping you to become like Jesus.

It is helpful to think of calling not as a precise blueprint that we need to discov...