In last week’s message, we discussed the Hebrew word “charam,” which usually means “utterly destroy,” but is also used as “consecrate.” Consecrate is a word I used to describe as Christian-ese, as this super secret language that felt like a secret handshake or password that could easily separate those who belong from those who certainly do not. I use this term (Christian-ese) derisively, because as one who did not belong, I felt dismissed and excluded. I didn’t have their code, so of course, I didn’t want their code.

I’m a different person now, one who likes words and definitions. Charam. Consecration is to “set apart something for a sacred purpose.” It’s like an offering. When I write my first check (if you’re of a certain age, you can Google “writing checks” to know what this is) to the church, I consecrate that money. This can be anything; time, energy, stuff, etc. If everything is God’s, gifted to us, this is our natural response. We give it back. Charam can also describe excising any hurtful, damaging, contaminating aspect, “giving” it to God, (or utterly destroying it), so it doesn’t spread and infect the whole. Again, if everything is God’s, this is keeping it nice, in good repair, and trying to not allow it to be stained.

Today, I’m thinking of it in a new way. (Probably outside of the definition, but I’m also thinking that’s ok – I can do whatever I want with these words, can’t I?)

I have what I believe is a bruise on my hip bone. And it sometimes hurts like crazy. When I engage in any physical activity (like lifting weights, walking, playing basketball, or, say, shoveling snow), it hurts. These physical things are vital to me, they comprise an integral piece of my overall health, and maybe this bruise can interfere with my development, growth, and living as a healthy person. A healthy person is able to lean in and participate in his/her ministry (and we all have one – and that one, shared, is loving people, neighbors and enemies alike, and loving this wonderful creation). It’s the same reason I am so intentional about keeping my home relatively drama free (as much as possible)…so I can show up, and help others carry their burdens. If I am personally in ruins, I simply don’t have the capacity (time, energy, or anything else) to engage as a peaceful presence for anyone else.

But this painful bruise can keep me from doing the things that allow me to live at a high level. Left unaddressed, it will contaminate, or hurt, my life, health, and by extension, my ministry. I am/will be in disrepair, living beneath my call. It has to be “charam-ed.”

We all have “bruises,” and far more often, they are not physical. They are character issues, unfaithfulness, control, selfishness, unchecked sin. (Of course, sin is just anything that causes us to live beneath our worth.) They’re not physical, they are largely invisible, which makes the whole thing so absolutely necessary, and so hard to do. It requires us to pay attention to our lives and hearts, requires us to examine our motives and values, requires us to show up to ourselves. Consecrating our own lives is, probably, one of the most important things we’ll do, as new people.

Getting rid of the bruises doesn’t make God love us more – that is impossible – but it will make us different, and us being more of who we’re created to be, consecrated, can and will make this world different. It’ll move, more and more, into the world we’d like to live in, the world we’ve been created to live in.