The Priesthood

THE CALL OF THE PRIESTHOOD

 

      There is yet another image from 1Peter 2:1-10, which can certainly be brought to our attention. The writer says in verse 9, “But you are a royal priesthood.” Just what could Peter possibly mean when he calls believers in Jesus, priests? The background and context for this idea comes from the ancient Hebrew temple organization, practices, and beliefs.

      We are reminded of the way these Jewish people did worship. We remember how the people would stand in the courts outside the inner temple. God’s presence resided in the Holy of Holies, the room in which only the high priest could enter. Between the “holy place” and the “holy of holies” hung a curtain or sometimes called a veil. This curtain separated the presence of God from his people; so the high priest came to God for the people, to present a blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of their sins. Yet the people stood outside!

      Then, there was that Friday afternoon on a hillside outside of Jerusalem, Jesus hung his head and gave his spirit back to God his Father. The Synoptic Gospels tell us that at that moment the curtain in the temple, which separated God from his people, was torn in two from the top to the bottom. At that moment, Jesus became our high priest. No longer did the women, Gentiles, foreigners, those who could not afford a sacrifice have to worship in the outer courts; no longer would anyone be forced to remain on the outside dependent on an earthly priest to make a yearly sacrifice for them.

      In  Leviticus 8 we find an interesting account of the ordination of the priests. Moses does a strange thing; he takes blood from the sheep and places it on the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the big toe of the right foot of Aaron and his sons.

      Why blood on the ear? I suggest that God wanted the priests’ hearing to be dedicated to the words that God speaks. Hearing is the first step in obedience. Why the blood on the thumb? It is our thumb which allows us to pick up and the hold on to things. The priests were to have no material possessions, the Lord was to be their portion; they were to hold only to the things which were holy and pure. Why the blood on the toe? The Biblical term for the Christian faith journey is the walk. They were to walk blameless before God and the people.

      As priests, we are to allow the blood of Jesus to be applied to our ears so that we can discern his voice above the distractions all around us. If we are to be of service to the Lord, we must be able to hear his voice and obey his instructions. And then, because God wants to be Lord over the things we hold on to so tightly, the things which mean so much to us, God wants us to allow the blood to be applied to our hands. And what about our walk? Our walk with Christ must be one in which we are walking in ways which are pleasing to him. God wants disciples who are willing to walk the straight and narrow way, even if it means walking alone. God wants us to allow the blood to be applied to our feet.

      What does it mean to us to be “a priesthood of believers?” The writer of Hebrews 10 says it means to do the will of God just as Jesus did. Priests do not live for themselves; they live for the ones they serve. Serve as Jesus served. This giving of our selves is the essence of the plan Jesus has for his believers and for his church. This is the reason a church without a missionary passion is not the church Christ envisioned. Priests are mediators. They stand between other people and God. They are to teach others about Jesus and how he can make a difference in their lives. Being a priest means that the believer should begin to look and act like Jesus. Jesus’ character is to be the defining quality of their lives. In order to serve as a mediator between a world without God and God himself; we must dress ourselves in the righteousness of God so that the world can see Christ in us. We must allow the Holy Spirit to change us from the inside out so that we actually begin to be like Jesus. The blood applied to our hearts. Our business is to cause the grace of Christ and the needs of the world to meet. As members of the “priesthood of believers,” Jesus sends us into the world, just as God the Father sent Jesus.

Rev Tim McConnell Long’s Chapel UMC July 7, 2013