On occasion, when I am in a reflective mood, I take
a walk round the New Museum of Scotland, in
On occasion, as we read
through the Bible, there are words, there are phrases, there
are whole passages that require us to dig deep. So that we
can understand. We have to dig deep in the great treasure store,
to
allow the rich word of the Bible to speak to us…..
One such phrase, hard to understand,
at least for us, today – is this. That phrase we read in First Peter. You, says Peter writing to the Church,
“You are the ones chosen… for the high calling of priestly work”
These are deep words, and to
explain them simply is no easy task…. even for a minister….. I am not even sure
how deep we are able to dig this morning, or if we will strike the rich seams
of truth and life…. but let us try….
So - what does Peter mean by
that word “priestly “
Well, firstly, what do most
people think of when they hear the word priest ? perhaps it brings something back to mind vaguely connected
with the Roman Catholic Church – where ministers, pastors, are called
priests.
Or, perhaps it might conjure
up memories of B films from years ago. The kind where explorers stumble across
a hidden kingdom in the jungle, in South America, or Africa – there are scores
of films with the same plot – the explorers meet the king of the hidden
kingdom, the people think the explorers have dropped out of the sky, and of
course there are specially dressed priests with elaborate headgear who shake
things, make potions, mumble incantations and so on.
But when Peter says to the
Church…..
You are the ones chosen… for the high calling of priestly work
What does he mean ?
Well, if we want to understand
this in its depth and richness, we need to go back to the Old Testament. To the
passage we read this morning in Exodus.
After many rich experiences of God’s love and the way in which He has protected them - from attack by the Egyptian army, for example, or when He gave them water when thirsty, and food when hungry…… after the experiences here are the people of Israel at the foot of Mount Sinai.
They are those that God has called, once slaves, once
without shape or direction, once living
and working under the dark power of imperial Egypt, God has called them to be
His own people, called them into a special relationship with Himself.
And here they are gathered here.
and in these dramatic moments….. the living God……comes to meet them, in majesty and power……..
As the book of Exodus describes it, there was fire on the mountain of Sinai, crashing noise and the mountain shook – all these speak of God’s presence – the inexpressible power and sheer majesty and holiness of the living God……………
For the men and women this
experience of God’s presence was an ordeal.
The people trembled, shook
with fear…………..
such
was the majesty and power of the presence of the living God.
majesty
and power, the unapproachableness of the living God……..
This is why, as frail men and
women, just as they were, when we come to Him we must come in deepest
reverence….
and
yet, as we discover, He comes near….
When we read on in Exodus…..
we
discover that God made a way for His people to come to Him
they could gather at the Tent
of Meeting, a tent, a place set aside in the desert for them, always there with
them on their travels………
Now at the Tent of Meeting,
there were many priests. They were set aside to live a holy life, to serve day
by day at the Tent of Meeting, to keep the lamps burning in the
But there was only one High
Priest, the most important priest of all.
Once a year, on the day of Atonement,
all
in
their thousands. At a solemn sacred moment, the High Priest wearing the the gold
breastplate, with its twelve precious stones, with the name of every single
Israelite tribe, the family group of every single person inscribed on it,
would
step into the
He took with him, the names of
all the families of
into
the presence of the living God, and there he would pray
for
all the families of
But, as we read on through the
Scriptures the letter to the Hebrews tells us that that what was happening at
the Tent of Meeting there in the desert
pointed
all along – to Jesus !
As our High Priest, Jesus
Christ
has
gone into God’s presence
taking
with Him, who we are, each of us by name.
And in the presence of the
living God, He prays
for
each one of us – bringing all our wants
and needs, our joys, our sorrows, our
thanksgivings before the living God.
But more than this………
This is what Jesus has done –
He has taken human life, shaped it and restored it,
He has taken on our human life, this life on Himself, shouldered all its
burdens, frailties, weaknesses and sin, and has reshaped it in fullness and
completeness.
By living life in the presence of God, in love, in obedience, in power
Jesus has rebuilt our broken human life from the foundation upwards,
And the New Testament declares
that
now from the presence of God, Jesus
shares
that
life, His own life, that new life with us……
He shares His life with us
through the Holy Spirit !
This is why Peter says……..
You are the ones chosen… for the high calling of priestly work
We, like the priests of old,
are
set apart as followers of Jesus,
set
apart and called to live a Holy life.
We are called to live a life
of service -
like they did, the priests of old, each day……….
This is why Peter says:
You are the ones chosen… for the high calling of priestly work
And we are called, as they
were called,
to pray for others……...
To pray…..to
pray for the world round about. To pray for others,
each
Sunday morning, here in Church,
and each day in our own prayers………..
This is part of our priestly calling…..
You are the ones chosen… for the high calling of priestly work.
What a wonderful thing it is to be a follower of Jesus Christ !
There is nothing like this the
world can offer, no other way of life so rich, so full of blessing, and such
great comfort,
this is truly, The Way of
Life………for:
You are the ones chosen… for the high calling of priestly work
AMEN