A New Job Title

Galatians 6: 1 - 10

1 Peter 2: 4 – 10

October 27, 2024

We have been thinking together, really since August, about what it means to be a missional church, working in the kingdom of God, living in a deep relationship with God and committed to living into God’s will and purposes for Creation. It is not an easy topic, although those who are familiar with the vocabulary but not the meaning behind those words, would suggest it is not such a big deal.

Quite the contrary, I would suggest that it is the most radical set of changes that we have seen for the church since, perhaps, the Reformation.

Like at the Reformation, we seek revitalization within a church context that is highly institutional, highly entrenched, and that has had a long season of relative prosperity and influence. That season is now being challenged.

Like at the Reformation, we are confronting an understanding of a church that has in many ways sold out the gospel in its desire to protect - at all costs - its privileged cultural position. The church prior to the Reformation was a crowner of kings, a protector of the nobles, an accumulator of wealth. Look at how the church is being appropriated now in our national life.

Like at the Reformation, we are challenging a church that has turned itself into a religious carnival hoping to have the latest and greatest spiritual entertainment as a way of attracting a loyal group of attendees. This attractional church mentality has turned far too many of us into church consumers looking for the right religious product that meets our needs as we define them. We have normalized church shopping. As attractional church consumers, we are not looking for transformation. We are looking for confirmation.

Like at the time of the Reformation, we have turned numerical goals into the ultimate description of institutional religious success. Profitability, return on investment, customer loyalty – I remember being told with great sincerity and passion by a church member that the best thing about this church, THE BEST THING, is that we are debt free. Not spiritual transformation. Not growing into the likeness of Christ. Not our missions and service work. No. Our financial numbers were good, we were above water.

The Reformation was a time of great upheaval and change. The Reformers – Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Knox and others called the church back to what were known as the 5 great “Solas.” Sola is simply the Latin word for “alone” and was used in reference to the belief that:

•We are saved by Christ alone,

•Through faith alone,

•By God’s grace alone.

•Scripture alone is the guide and authority for our faith,

•And that God alone is due all glory and praise.

Yes, the authority of the Pope was challenged, the legitimacy of the sale of indulgences – those spiritual get out of jail free cards – was rejected. The church was called back to its earliest teachings – the writings of Scripture, the proclamations and teachings of early church apostles and theologians.

The Reformers rejected the notion – the heresy alive and as well today as it was back then – that we can somehow work our way into God’s good graces. It is one thing to serve as a joyful response to the treasure – the gospel – that you have received. It is quite another to think that our works are the irrefutable symbols reflecting our own goodness. Oh, we would never be as crass as to actually “SAY” that. But isn’t that exactly what we mean when we say that “we believe we have done enough to get into heaven?”

The Reformation was a rejection of religious institutionalism. The Reformation was a call back to scriptural authority; to faithful work in the spiritual vineyard that is the Kingdom of God. The Reformation was a fundamental rejection of the notion that we believers needed another human being between us and God to make our petitions known.

It is to this last conviction that I really want to speak most fully. Yes, I believe the Missional Church follows most faithfully in the spirit of the Reformers. Yes, I believe that we also need to say no to the death grip we have on cultural privilege and say yes to true, faithful, abundant kingdom work. Yes, I believe that we need to challenge the institutional power of the church in the belief that that power has come at the expense of our souls.

I believe that our embrace of the missional church begins, perhaps, with our understanding of the Reformation principle of the priesthood of all believers. At its simplest, the priesthood of all believers is a celebration of the direct access to God that we have through Jesus Christ. The Church does not control that access. Neither does the Church or the Professionally Religious mediate or need to referee or negotiate that access. I say that at its simplest, this is what this notion of the Priesthood of all Believer is about. And if that was all it is, that in itself – our direct access to God through Jesus, Jesus and NO ONE ELSE – that would be enough to have a celebration over.

But that is not all that it is. The Priesthood that we share is not just about access. It is also about purpose. To understand that, we need to understand the role of the priest in the Old Testament. At that time:

•Priests carried the Ark – the physical symbol of the presence of God.

•Priests served as representatives of the people before God, and, at the same time, a representative of God to the people.

•Priests were educators.

•Priests were leaders ensuring the proclamation of, and obedience to, God’s commands.

Priests were a set apart people. Set apart, not by training and education, although they received both. No, priests were members of a particular tribe, born into particular roles and responsibilities. Priests carried symbols that testified to the presence, to the reality of God. Priests were educated in the wills and purposes of God and called to share that discipleship with others. Priests led the people, by word and example, by serving as a spiritual imitator of God.

Friends, keep those roles in mind as we look again at our text from First Peter. Look as Reformation people who have regained a great calling. Like the Levites, you have been called by God. As believers you are God’s people – called, marked, and sealed as His own. Each of us – each of you, each and every one of you – are members of a royal priesthood endowed with particular responsibilities, with particular ways of being.

We are called to carry – perhaps not an Ark – but instead a particular light, a particular testimony, a particular way of carrying one’s self that testifies to the presence of God in our lives. In a world filled with darkness we are called to be light bearers – EACH OF US!

We are called to be in prayer for one another, bringing our care and concern for others to God. In praying for others, we pray on their behalf, on the behalf of those whom we know and perhaps love. We are called – blessed really – to, at times, be God’s answer to someone else’s prayers. As an answer, we represent God’s will and action.

We are called to be both educated and educators. To say it a little differently, we are called to be transformed by the presence of God in our lives and growing into the very likeness of Christ. As we do so, we can reflect that image into and for the lives of others.

To be honest, this may be the most difficult of all of the expectations of the priesthood. To be willing to submit ourselves to the teachings of Jesus requires a humility that recognizes the need for that growth, for that transformation. This humility helps us to see that we are finite people trying to understand an infinite God, so we need to hold our positions with some grace. This humility helps us to see that it is not enough to have an opinion. We also need to have God’s wisdom backing up that opinion.

In short, as priests in the kingdom of God we need to move from consumers with rights and expectations to stakeholders with ministries. A consumer only wants the right product. A stakeholder – a priest – wants life in the kingdom, an advancement of the will and purposes of God. We must be willing to step back and see the big picture – God’s picture – not just our own.

I believe that God is offering to us a new season of Reformation, a missional Reformation. I believe that God is offering to us partnership in the kingdom of God – a minority partnership to be sure, but a partnership - a priestly belonging, nonetheless. I believe that God is calling LNPC to a startling new season of faithfulness, one that, right now, we can’t even imagine.

God was faithful in the first century and the church exploded. God was faithful in the season of the Reformation and the church took on a new shape, a new mission, a new reach. God will be faithful in this season, bringing about a reformation that will startle and shock us. The question is, how will we be faithful in return? Amen.