Priesthood of All Believers

Anthony Gentle

Tanilba Bay Baptist Church

Being Baptist • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

1 Peter 2:4–10

Jesus

Priesthood

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God has chosen us to be a holy priesthood to bring spiritual sacrifices, but this can only be understood in reference to Jesus as our cornerstone.

Notes

Transcript

MD Lunches

As many of you will know, I worked at Hunter Water prior to coming here. At the time I started, the organisation had somewhere in the ball park of 400 employees making it large, but not too large.

The company, as you might expect, had a fairly typical structure.

At the very bottom, which of course is where I started, you had your workers. Slightly above them you get your team leader positions (actually, I did manage to get to this level before I finished up). Above them were the middle managers. Above them you got to the upper management, or what you might call the executive positions. And above that, right at the top of the pecking order, sat the Managing Director.

Now at the bottom, you would speak on a very regular basis to your team leader. Your middle manager - a bit less. The upper management on a far more infrequent basis.

But the Managing Director... well occasionally you might see him in the corridor. You might hear from him in an all staff email, but any sort of direct contact, well for the worker down the bottom, this hardly ever happened.

Now in the time I worked at Hunter Water, there were a number of different Managing Directors, but there was one, who for a period of time did something which really stuck with me.

About once a month, he would hold a lunch called: “Lunch with the MD”. This lunch was not for upper management, or even for middle management. It was for your regular every day workers. I’m not exactly sure how they were selected, but for every lunch, from memory about eight to ten workers would be invited to a lunch.

Now the Managing Director tried to be deliberate that this was not the time for him to give his messages to staff. There were plenty of other opportunities for him to do this. Rather, this was his opportunity to listen to the workers.

They could ask their questions. They could give their ideas and suggestions.

Now look, how well he actually listened, I don’t know - but from my perspective, it signified something special. The lowly worker could have a voice at the top level.

Wanting to be heard

It tugs at a desire we have - to be heard at levels where it counts.

The voice at the bottom gets so lost. Even though in our digital age we can easily share our thoughts - the reality is, it usually gets lost in all the other noise that is going on.

On the spiritual level

Now, I believe this same desire also exists on a spiritual level.

Let’s start by considering society in general. Now while we’re sometimes led to believe that there is this massive rise in atheism. The reality is that there is actual evidence that the vast majority of people do believe in some higher power.

When life is going more or less to plan, there is usually little interest in needing to communicate with this higher power. Yet when something goes wrong, so does the desire to communicate in the spiritual realm. Most people realise we’re talking about prayer, but their idea of God is so convoluted that they don’t even know who they are talking to.

The sad truth is, many don’t even realise they have the opportunity to call out to God.

This morning, it is not prayer as such that I want to talk about. It is the fact that we can connect to God at all. What I want to explore this morning, is the fact that God has opened the door for us to communicate with him, and then to consider what the implication for this are in a church setting.

The Old Testament

But before I discuss what it is like now, let me go back to the Old Testament and see how things were then.

Now if we go back far enough, we actually see the ideal. Way back in Genesis 1-2, we see the union between humanity and God in the way it was intended. Humanity could communicate freely with God.

But that didn’t last. Adam and Eve turned their back on God, and a barrier was put up between God and humanity.

But God still loved his special creation, despite them rejecting him.

And so he put things in place so that we could communicate.

But of course, there was a problem. God is Holy. Man had become sinful. Holiness and sinfulness combine like oil and water - they don’t.

God though, in his grace, gave us a way, that without altering his holiness, we could come before God.

To do this, humanity would need to atone for their sin. Through God’s chosen people, he gave a system with sacrifices and offerings.

Priests

Within this system he called together a priestly group.

Now I just want to pause here a moment, because it is the development of this priestly group which is going to become important today,.

So let’s start with the question: what is a priest?

In simple terms, a priest is just someone who can mediate between God and humans.

As I’ve said, God is holy - we are not. We need someone who can bridge that gap.

So that someone needs to go to extra lengths to account for their sin. And this is what the Old Testament specifies. I won’t go into all the details, but there were a series of steps they took before they were then in that position where they could mediate between God and humanity.

The Temple

Now there is actually another element to this system that God gave us. The temple.

The temple symbolised the presence of God. Now he wasn’t literally constrained to the confines of the temple, but this was designated by God as the place where the various rituals could take place.

The temple itself had quite an interesting set up. Gentiles were not allowed in. Your every day Jew were allowed part way in but only so far. There was then a section for just the priests to carry out their duties. And then there was the Holy of Holies.

It was in this most sacred section, that not even the priest could enter whenever they wanted. There were strict times and ways in which they could go in here.

We may wonder why it was so strict. But it’s because God is holy - we are not.

What we should give more wonder to, is that this was an amazing act of grace that God allowed us to speak to him at all.

New Testament

So, it’s with this background that we then come to the New Testament.

Now, one thing that is very important to realise is that the New Testament does not just do away with this system.

Rather, what we actually see is a fulfillment of this system.

And to understand it fully, we come to Jesus. The more you study this, the more you will realise just how perfectly everything works together.

Central to this understanding however, is the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross. In this act, he fulfills the entire sacrificial system. He becomes the perfect sacrifice that can take away all sin for all time.

In this process he is also taking away the very thing that is stopping us from connecting with God - sin.

Curtain is torn

Now when Jesus died on the cross, the Gospels describe a lot of different events that take place at the same time.

In Matthew 27 for instance, it tells us in verse 50 that Jesus cries out in a loud voice and gives up his spirit. In the next verse it tells us: “At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom”.

Now in this little detail we actually get something with great importance.

You see, this brings us back to what I was saying about the temple. Remember the Holy of Holies that only was entered by a special priest only on very special occasions, in very special ways. Well, it was the curtain between this room and where the priests could go, that was torn.

So what’s the implication? Well, that barrier that separated God’s presence from everyone else is no longer their. It’s not necessary because of what Jesus did for us.

The High Priest

Now, in all of this we get a new high priest. (And this is something described in Hebrews 4). Jesus becomes the perfect high priest for us. He becomes the one that can perfectly mediate between God and humanity. Why? Well, because he is the only one who is fully God and fully man. He crosses the divide for us.

1 Peter 2

But this brings me to the passage I want to give a little more consideration today to - and that is, 1 Peter 2:4-10.

Now the context of this passage is that it is a letter written by the Apostle Peter - that’s right, the apostle that was perhaps the closest to Jesus and always managing to put his foot in things - but in the process allowed himself to be moulded by Jesus.

Well, Peter is writing a letter which he has addressed to “God’s elect, exiles, scattered throughout the provinces… (of which he names five)”

And right from the start, he is encouraging them to live holy lives.

Now I get the impression that with all the time that Peter has spent with Jesus, he has begun to truly understand what it means to be holy, and he knows the importance of those who follow Jesus to emulate this holy living.

A Holy Priesthood

Now it is after this encouragement that we come to our passage this morning, and Peter says something extraordinary.

He says that as we come to Jesus (and he notes that we will be rejected by humans but chosen by God), but that we: “are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood”.

Now why is that extraordinary? Well, this is one of the only times that we, the regular believers (for want of a better term), are actually described as being part of the priesthood.

Now remember what I said earlier about a priest. A priest is someone who can mediate between God and humanity.

And so who are the priests now? Well, if you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, then you! You are a priest!

You have had the required preparation to do your duties. That preparation occurred when you first came to believe.

And so this is the meaning of the phrase “priesthood of all believers”.

It means that anyone who has accepted Jesus has access to God.

Through Jesus

Now the is a very important thing we need to keep in mind with all of this. Our priesthood is on the basis that Jesus is the high priest.

The reason we can access God is because of Jesus the high priest.

I say this is important to remember, because if we start to think our access to God is independent of Jesus, then we will be sadly mistake. So if you heard my message last week about the Lordship of Christ, then these two message become closely connected.

Peter makes this clear in this passage by spending quite a few verses on describing Jesus as the cornerstone. This all needs to be centred on Jesus.

Our ministry

But Peter makes another important point in this passage.

If we are a holy priesthood, (or even a royal priesthood which is what he says in verse 9), then we have a special ministry.

As he says in verse 5, we are to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Now don’t worry, this does not mean you have to kill any animals - thankfully that system of sacrifice has been fulfilled.

Rather I think Peter is thinking in a similar way to Paul when he said in Romans 12:1 to “… offer your bodies as a living sacrifice...” in other words, living lives worthy of Christ. Being sacrificial in the sense of living for others rather then ourselves.

And so, as priests, you need to be ministering to others and showing them Christ.

Priesthood in the Church

Well, we could spend more time exploring what this means in our lives, however, like I did last week, I want to spend the remainder of this message considering the implications of what this means in the church, and in particular, exploring how it has shaped the Baptist way of doing church.

Well, as you would be aware, in certain denomination, the minister of the church uses the title priest. When this title is used, it is usually understood that this priest is acting in some way between God and them. They even have certain consecration processes to ensure the priest is in a position to act in this way.

But I want to suggest that in this there is actually a misunderstanding of what Jesus has done.

It is almost as if the work of Jesus wasn’t really sufficient, and so the priest has to do something a bit extra so they are that bit closer to God thereby enabling them to act as mediator.

But Christ work was sufficient. And for this reason, every person in the church that has accepted Jesus, well they have everything they need to come before God as a priest. They don’t need something extra.

Baptist History

Now, last week I started to give you some Baptist History. I mentioned that in the year 1609, John Smyth started what is now considered the first Baptist Church, which was essentially a British congregation, but they met in the Netherlands due to fear of persecution from the Church of England.

Last week I focussed on the fact that a strong belief that Jesus is Lord and not king of any nation strongly shaped who they were.

Well, in a similar vein, they also were reacting against an observation that within the church, the priesthood of all believers were being denied.

And so they were very keen to see this idea being firmly planted in how they organised themselves.

Congregational government

You see, within the Baptist Church, we get what we often refer to as congregational form of governance. In other words those in the congregation each get to have a say.

However, there are some important clarifications that are made.

Regenerate membership

Firstly, it is not just anyone in the church. Rather, they used the term, regenerate membership. That term just means that those who are members need to show some evidence that they have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Because it is only as believers that we enter this priesthood. This is actually where the tradition of Baptism being required for membership comes from.

It’s actually not that we believe Baptism is a requirement for salvation, but rather that it is an outward sign of the inward change that has occurred.

Different from democracy

But there is another clarification that needs to be made, because there is often a misunderstanding of what is actually happening.

You see, this congregational form of governance is often mistaken for democracy.

In a democracy, every person gets to have a vote.

But as Baptists in the church, there is (what might seem) a subtle difference, but it makes a huge difference.

You see, in giving those in the congregation a vote, we’re actually not saying we think everyone should have their opinion heard.

What we are actually saying is that every believer is able to hear from God - that’s because we are all priests.

And so by giving everyone a vote, what we’re actually assuming is that you are taking the matter before God, hearing his voice and voting accordingly. Not just what suits you. But what is honouring to God.

Now of course, this is great in theory. The reality is, even as believers, we still suffer from of selfishness. Jesus might be transforming us, but we’re not perfect.

So this reminds us the importance we need to give to our church membership (that is - for those who are members). Because though it is not perfect, when we are all doing our best to seek after God, it actually can work surprisingly well.

But let me come back to the history lesson I started earlier.

You see, there is a little irony in this. This first Baptist Church actually ended in a split. That’s right, the good ol’ Baptist Church split started very early in our tradition.

John Smyth moved on, and much of the church followed another man by the name of Thomas Helwys back to England.

Back in England, under the direction of Helwys, the church really started to form it’s Baptist identity. It connected with other similar churches that had broken from the church of England, which eventually formed what we know as the Baptist Church today.

The Pastor

Now before I finish, if I’m saying we have no need for a priest, what is the Pastor?

Well, the image that is often used throughut scripture, and I think is apt for the role of pastor today, is actually the image of a shepherd. That is, someone who can guide, care and look after. It is for someone who has been gifted in ways that can help others. They have no extra ability to connect with God. My prayers don’t somehow count more than others.

Rather, I am a fellow traveller, on a journey with God. We are walking together, each as part of the holy priesthood that God has made us.

Conclusion

As I started in this message, we each have a desire to want to connect with God.

Much of society don’t realise that God has actually done everything we need to connect with him, all we need to do is accept it.

And once we accept the free gift that Jesus has given, then we become priests, the very ones that have the role to connect other to God.

This is a beautiful thing when you understand it.

And when we apply it to the church, it completely changes how we understand each person in the congregation. Together, we are each priests.

As Peter ends the passage I read earlier: “Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have recieved mercy”.