2021.04.11 You Know You're a Priest, Right?

Chris Gadlage

Sermon • Submitted 4 years ago

1 Peter 2:9–12

Exodus 29:43–46

0 ratings

· 4 views

Notes

Transcript

You Know You’re a Priest, Right?

What do they need to know? A priest stands in the gap…and you are a priest

Why do they need to know it? The world suffers because of the gap between man and God

What do they need to do? Be a priest and stand in the gap

Why do they need to do it? There is a gap between their friends and God

How can I help them remember?

Have you ever been struggling in life, and a friend sweeps in to help you out? A few years back, I was really struggling, and a good friend helped me, and hearing what he did for me may help you understand what a priest does.

I went to him burdened with a sin I’d been repeatedly struggling with. I felt like Paul when he wrote: “...the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.” (Romans 7:19 NASB)

My friend:

listened - he heard my confession and my lament

then he declared my forgiveness with authority

prayed for me

anointed me with oil

My sin had placed a gap between God and me

My friend walked into that gap, ministered to me, and spoke to God on my behalf.

That’s the job description of a priest!

step in the gap • minister to the need • speak to God on someone’s behalf

Isn’t that what the Church does for each other? Or at least what we’re supposed to?

You Know You’re a Priest, Right?

John Calvin, Martin Luther and John Wesley all used a phrase that may sound strange to us. They preached about the ‘priesthood of all believers’.

This idea is based on the passage of Scripture read for us a minute ago. Let’s look at that again for a minute:

God

As I re-read the passage, I’ll add commentary in a couple of places:

1 Peter 2:9–12 NASB

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11 Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. 12 Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood,

[Old Testament priests were chosen by God - a position of high honor]

a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

[SPEAK OF THE WONDERFUL ACTS YOU’VE SEEN]

10 for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

11 Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.

12 Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.

[THEY WILL GLORIFY GOD…BECAUSE OF YOU!!!]

slide

The Lexham Bible Dictionary Priest

PRIEST (כהן, khn). Religious leaders of Israel. Served as intermediaries between the people and God, and as advisors and leaders of the nation.

The common pastoral question for this week’s sermon … “How can I help my friends come to know Jesus?”

This question is asking for a formula. What do I do, Pastor? Give me a checklist that I can follow:

Place flap A into slot B, Drive a screw and voila you have a bookshelf

But faith in Jesus is not the same as a table from Ikea.

Jesus doesn’t usually answer questions like that.

I would compare this with the Pharisees asking him, “Who is my neighbor?”

Jesus tells a story and then basically tells them to go be a neighbor.

You

And so, to the question, “How can I help my friends come to know Jesus?” Let me answer this way:

“Be their priest!”

Speak of the truth of God and stand in the gap between them and God.

There is a chasm between your friends and God … bridge that gap.

As you speak to them of God’s wonders … also speak to God about their needs!

Talk to your friend about God … speak to God about your friend

In the Old Testament, the priest gave sacrifices and asked for God’s forgiveness for the entire nation!

We already have the only blood sacrifice we’ll ever need … so what spiritual sacrifices have you made on behalf of your friend? Is their soul worth a sacrifice to you?

Their soul is not your responsibility, but they will not take charge of their own eternity if someone doesn’t stand in the gap between them and God. Is their soul worth your sacrifice?

You Know You’re a Priest, Right?

I hope you brought your steel toed boots, this teaching is about to get a little personal.

The global Church regularly talks about “accepting Christ”.

We (the Church) have sold Jesus like a used car salesman sells a jalopy.

We tell people that they need to ‘get saved’, but we have not been willing to sacrifice on their behalf. We have not cried out to them or stood in the gap for them.

This week the Indianapolis Colts Tweeted a photo of a young Peyton Manning with the caption - Mayor of Indianapolis 1941. I tweeted my reply: “We love him. We love him. We love him. (You think everybody’ll forget when we let him go somewhere else so we didn’t have to pay him like we love him?)”

Typically, we’ve been willing to say the words. But we’ve not been willing to do the hard work of winning souls.

What is your friend’s greatest need?

How can you or we try to help meet that need?

You are a royal priesthood, a chosen nation! You are the people of God. How can you stand in the gap for your friends and for your community? How can you point people to God with your actions as much as your words … or MORE THAN your words?

I’d like to encourage two responses today:

First, I’d like for you to take out your cell phone. If you don’t have a cell phone, try to find something to write on.

If you’re using your cell phone, I’d like for you to either send yourself a text or email … or better yet, set a daily reminder on your calendar with your friend’s name.

If you’re using paper, write your friend’s name in big letters! When you get home, I want you to put it on your bathroom mirror or wherever you’ll see it every day.

When you see your friend’s name, let that remind you to pray for them … to stand in the gap and speak to God for their benefit …”God, reach out to my friend … Lord forgive her sins … God, send someone into her life that she will listen to about you.”

Then, throughout the day, remember that you have placed yourself in the gap between this person and God and speak to them about your God.

“I prayed for you today, because I know how important you are to him. Have I ever told you that you matter to God?”

Those are a few practical suggestions for helping your friend come to know Jesus.

But the Church is not just supposed to bridge the gap ONLY for our friends. In the back of the sanctuary,

In our culture, there is a symbol that makes a person immediately recognized as a priest. [show and explain the hat]

The hat was a joke, but I’ve been known to wear it to an unfamiliar hospital, and the staff immediately recognize my role. No one has ever asked me what it means.

So, the black with white square in the middle is a symbol that people today recognize as the indicator of a priest.

So, I printed labels with what looks like the black & white collar of a priest. For your second way of responding today, I’d like to encourage you on your way out this morning to take one of those and put it on your shirt like a nametag. When you go to eat or to Walmart or wherever you may go today, wear it with pride and pray that God will use it to have someone ask about it. Then, just simply tell them that you stand in the gap between God and the people he loves dearly.

“I learned today that every Christian is a priest, and that I’m supposed to stand in the gap between people and God. Can I pray for you? Is there something I can talk to him about for you? In a minute, we’ll be praying for our food, is there anything we can ask God for you?”

So, choose a friend and intentionally be a priest for them. And wear a symbol of priesthood and be prepared to be a priest today! And consider perhaps doing it beyond today … no one is a priest for just one day.