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Scripture:
1 Peter 2:9-10
What is the most empowering thing someone has said to you?
A Royal Priesthood
We hear it a lot these days, as Christians: “You are a minister of the Gospel of Jesus. Your words and actions represent God to the people around you.”
But imagine being in the early church and hearing the new buzz going around, especially the way Peter and Paul were saying it: “You are priests! Jesus is our High Priest and you are each priestly representatives of Him. You take God’s words and actions to the world around you!”
This would have been both a shock and an amazing blessing to hear. No longer did they need to take their sacrifices to the Temple and let a Levite - a priestly son of Aaron - act on their behalf. They were all Levites and their word and action was leading the world to forgiveness Christ’s behalf.
What is sad is that, much like every church that becomes institutionalised, the Israelites had been sold a partial truth. Way back in the story of their Exile from Egypt they were told they were “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” But the religious leaders had quietly tucked this truth away in their personal phylacteries and told the common people they were sinners in the hands of an angry God.
Today, we have the Bible within reach, all day long. If you’ve got a smart phone, if you sit at a computer at work, if you twiddle away the hours of the evening on Facebook - you have a multitude of Bible versions, a thousand Bible tools and more videos/studies than you could ever watch - right in front of you.
You are a part of the Holy Priesthood of believers and the people in the camp are looking to you. They want to know life matters. They want to see a life of purpose. Deep down they hope there is more to life than eat, work, sleep, eat, work, sleep - but they don’t know how to find it. They wish for forgiveness. All have sinned and fall short. And they can feel this. Just observing the world, they know the wages of sin is death. But you and I know the rest of the verse: “But THE GIFT of God is Eternal Life!” You have the answers - you are their priest.
This isn’t a guilt trip. It’s a commissioning. Go change the world! You have a story that works. People aren’t looking for proof texts, they are looking for life texts.
Go show them.
Go tell them.
You are the priest.
You are the minister.
You are the one they need, today.
Take them to your High Priest - Jesus is ready!
But imagine being in the early church and hearing the new buzz going around, especially the way Peter and Paul were saying it: “You are priests! Jesus is our High Priest and you are each priestly representatives of Him. You take God’s words and actions to the world around you!”
This would have been both a shock and an amazing blessing to hear. No longer did they need to take their sacrifices to the Temple and let a Levite - a priestly son of Aaron - act on their behalf. They were all Levites and their word and action was leading the world to forgiveness Christ’s behalf.
What is sad is that, much like every church that becomes institutionalised, the Israelites had been sold a partial truth. Way back in the story of their Exile from Egypt they were told they were “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” But the religious leaders had quietly tucked this truth away in their personal phylacteries and told the common people they were sinners in the hands of an angry God.
Today, we have the Bible within reach, all day long. If you’ve got a smart phone, if you sit at a computer at work, if you twiddle away the hours of the evening on Facebook - you have a multitude of Bible versions, a thousand Bible tools and more videos/studies than you could ever watch - right in front of you.
You are a part of the Holy Priesthood of believers and the people in the camp are looking to you. They want to know life matters. They want to see a life of purpose. Deep down they hope there is more to life than eat, work, sleep, eat, work, sleep - but they don’t know how to find it. They wish for forgiveness. All have sinned and fall short. And they can feel this. Just observing the world, they know the wages of sin is death. But you and I know the rest of the verse: “But THE GIFT of God is Eternal Life!” You have the answers - you are their priest.
This isn’t a guilt trip. It’s a commissioning. Go change the world! You have a story that works. People aren’t looking for proof texts, they are looking for life texts.
Go show them.
Go tell them.
You are the priest.
You are the minister.
You are the one they need, today.
Take them to your High Priest - Jesus is ready!
Reflection Question:
You are a royal priest. Is this a scary or exciting thing to you? Or Both? Why?
Prayer time:
Before you pray together, ask: What would you like to say to Jesus today?
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