Holiness in the ordinary
by Tim Castle-Schmidt
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Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other (1 Thessalonians 4:9).
Paul’s picture of Christian holiness is surprisingly ordinary. Live a holy life. Love one another. Do so more and more. Lead a quiet life. Mind your own business. Work with your hands. Win the respect of outsiders. It sounds less like a spiritual fireworks display and more like faithful Tuesday-afternoon discipleship.
That is encouraging. Holiness is not only found in dramatic moments, public platforms or heroic sacrifices. It is also found in paying attention to your family, doing your work well, refusing gossip, keeping promises, showing up, forgiving again and loving the people God has actually placed near you.
Paul says the Thessalonians have been ‘taught by God to love each other’. That is a beautiful phrase. Christian love is not self-invented. God teaches it. The Holy Spirit keeps tutoring us through the word, repentance, the needs of others, the patience of the church and Christ’s steady mercy.
Because holiness is God’s work in us, we do not need to turn it into a performance. A quiet life can be deeply Christian. Honest work can be an act of love. Dependability can be a gift to your neighbour. The Spirit forms Christlike people in the small, repeated places where life is actually lived.
Vindicated by Christ, God’s people are freed and formed to love. Freed from chasing religious sparkle. Formed for holy, quiet, useful lives. So today, do the next faithful thing. Love the next person. Speak the next true word. God is at work in that too.
Father, teach us to love in ordinary ways. Shape our daily work, words and habits into quiet gifts for our neighbours. Amen.
By his own admission, Tim Castle-Schmidt is a broken man. Broken in body, mind and spirit, he says he is learning that God is at work in and through human brokenness. He says that while God has not ‘fixed’ him, God continues to work through his brokenness to connect with the world. Tim is the pastor of Nunawading–Waverley Lutheran Church in Melbourne. After spending many years as a teacher in Lutheran schools, he finally listened to God’s call to the pastoral ministry. Tim is passionate about social justice and engaging the church with contemporary society. Tim shares his life with Fiona, Miranda, and a Jack Russell called Otto.
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