The following sermon was delivered by the Reverend John W. Howe at Truro Episcopal Church in Fairfax, Virginia on May 17, 1981. The title is The Royal Priesthood, and the scripture reference is 1 Peter 2, verses 4-10. 

If you don't already have them out, would you get out the Bibles that are there in your pews? I want to look at a number of passages of scripture with you, and I'll tell you in advance that we're really just scratching the surface of a very, very important subject this morning. Still, I think it's important that you see it for yourself. A number of years ago, I spent an evening with Alex Haley, the author of Roots, and that was while that mighty book was still in production, still in the final research stages.

and Haley said something to me that I found very interesting and which didn't come across with entire clarity in the television version. You remember when the father takes his newborn child out under the night stars and lifts him up and whispers the child's name in his ear. Haley said that's a tradition that's gone on from generation to generation and is still done today.

And the tradition is that the father whispers the name into his child's ear before anybody else hears it, including the mother. And the reason is that those names, just like biblical names, are full of meaning. They're chosen very carefully.

They have a kind of a prophetic element to them of what, at least it's hoped, the child will grow up to be. And the tradition is that this child would hear his own name and know who he is before anybody else knows it. When you stop and think of what has been done to a whole people, ripped away from their home and their culture and deprived of their whole understanding of who they are, including their names, so that Kunta Kinte becomes Toby, that has a kind of a chill with it, doesn't it?

Yet I wonder how much that same picture might apply to the church of Jesus Christ. God, you see, has whispered into our ear any number of names of who and what we are. Yet I wonder how much we understand them.

How much we know what He calls us to be. We heard a number of names read just a minute ago. You are a chosen race.

That's your name. God says, I chose you. Don't think you chose me.

I chose you. You are a royal priesthood. That's your name.

You're my own people. god whispered those names into our ear and yet you know if you ask the overwhelming majority of episcopalians what is a priest what is priesthood what do they say priest is the member of the clergy our ministers are the priests hey didn't you hear what god whispered in your ear I want to look at that mighty name, Royal Priesthood. And I want to begin very far back in the story.

If you turn to the book of Exodus. Exodus chapter 19. I want you to know who you are today.

Exodus chapter 19, God has delivered his people from Egyptian bondage. 430 years they've been slaves in Egypt. And now with a series of mighty acts, he visits Egypt with plague after plague.

He gives warning to the Egyptians. They won't let them leave and then finally they do. And even then the Egyptians take off in hot pursuit.

They come to the shore of the Red Sea and God miraculously opens the water. Moses and the children of Israel go across dry shod. Pharaoh and his army is drowned as the water comes crashing in upon them.

We come to Exodus 19. It's been about three months since that event. They've wandered into the Sinai Peninsula.

They've been moving along the east coast of the Red Sea. They've turned inland and gone about 65 miles to the foot of a mountain called Mount Sinai, and there they set up camp. The Ten Commandments have not yet been given.

We're just on the verge of that. That comes in the next chapter. And reading from verse 3, it says, Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him out of the mountains, saying, Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel, You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.

Stop right there. you've seen what I did he says I did it you thought I did it I delivered you I bore you on eagle's wings I brought you to myself I'm the one who did it all I'm your deliverer but notice deliverance is always attached to destiny I did it for a purpose I did it for a purpose now therefore If, if, if you have your own Bible, you might underline that word, if. If it's ours, don't touch it.

If you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my own possession among all peoples. For all the earth is mine. What a curious statement.

All the earth is mine, therefore you shall be mine. But he's saying you shall be mine in a very special way. All the earth is mine, but you will be my special people.

My own personal possession. My chosen ones. You shall be mine if you obey.

This is what you call a conditional promise. There are many, many promises in Scripture which are without condition. God simply says, this is the way it is.

He says to Abraham, I will make of you a great nation. And he doesn't say, Abe, what do you think about the idea? He says, that's the way it is.

I'm going to do it, period. But this one is conditional. If you obey, then you'll be my special possession among all the nations.

And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Did you hear that? The earliest encounter we have with the notion of priesthood in the Bible is that the whole nation of Israel is to be a priesthood.

It's to be a priestly people. The nation of Israel is to be God's representative here on earth, proclaiming His wonderful deeds to all the other nations. They're to represent God to man, and they're to bring man to God.

That's their calling. That's their destiny. That's why they were delivered.

You see, we've got it all confused. We speak of them as the chosen people, as if that meant that they were going to have some sort of exclusive relationship with God to be kept to themselves. Not at all.

Not at all. They're the chosen people chosen to bless others. A royal priesthood.

A kingdom of priests bringing the knowledge of God to the whole world. The whole earth. In fact, that's what God said to Abraham.

I'm going to make you a great nation that through you all the other nations shall be blessed. But note, if you obey. If you obey.

they didn't do all that well next chapter Moses goes up on the mountain to get the ten commandments and before he gets back down again they've broken every one of them reveling immorality worship of idols involvement in every kind of idolatry and gross sort of worship that they had just been delivered from Egypt to get away from adultery blasphemy If you obey. But they didn't obey. So what did God do?

He went to plan B. Turn to the right. Book of Numbers. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers.

Numbers chapter 18. Israel was to be a nation of evangelists, a nation of priests, bringing God to the rest of the world. They blew it.

Numbers 18, so the Lord said to Aaron, You and your sons and your father's house with you shall bear iniquity in connection with the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear iniquity in connection with your priesthood. Instead now of having a whole nation of priests, God picked one man, a fellow by the name of Aaron, brother of Moses, both of the tribe of Levi. And he said, Aaron, you're going to be the first of a hereditary priesthood, one family now.

My original perfect will was that all of Israel be a priesthood. But now I'm going to choose you, you and your son and your son's son and his son after him. You will be my priests.

One family out of one tribe. Please note, nobody ever decided to go to seminary and become a priest. You were either born into the house of Aaron or you were not.

If you were not born of Aaron's line, you could not become a priest. And if you were, you couldn't escape it. You may remember the incident where King Saul at one particular point was on the verge of a battle.

He wanted to make sure he had all of his ducks in order, and he figured to himself it would be really good to have a sacrifice tonight before we go to battle tomorrow. No priest was around to offer the sacrifice, so Saul waits and waits and finally says, I'll do it myself. Only problem is he wasn't a priest.

And Samuel comes to him and he says, because of the sin of this presumption, God's going to take away the kingdom from you. Nobody but a priest of the house of Aaron could offer the sacrifice. You want to read a really frightening story.

Don't do it now, but do it sometime. Turn back two pages and read chapter 16 of the book of Numbers. The rebellion of Korah, who was of the tribe of Levi, but not of the house of Aaron.

And he says, why can't I be a priest? And God caused the ground to swallow him up for his presumption. God elects one man and says, you and your house now will be my priests.

Notice, he says, you shall bear iniquity in connection with your priesthood. Isn't that an interesting phrase? Priesthood originally was not a matter of bearing iniquity.

In God's earliest intention, it was a matter of proclamation, of representation, and of celebration. But now, because my people have sinned, you will bear iniquity in connection with your priesthood. And so from this point on, the very central act of the priesthood is the offering of sacrifices.

Aaron confesses his sin and he hears the confession of everybody else. And they bring in an innocent animal and he lays his hands on the animal, symbolically transferring the sin to the head of the animal. The animal is slain, its blood is shed, and we, the sinners, escape because of the sacrifice.

There's the root of the word scapegoat. We escape because the goat is offered on our behalf. Priests and sacrifices go together from this point on.

But that's plan B. That's plan B. Note what happens in the very middle of the Bible. Turn to Isaiah chapter 61. It's a very familiar passage.

It's quoted in the New Testament, and I think you'll recognize it immediately. Isaiah 61, just about dead center in the Bible. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, to grant to those who mourn in Zion a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, a mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. who quotes that in the New Testament the Lord Jesus himself and when does he quote it somebody said it when he goes back to his own hometown into the synagogue in Nazareth do you remember the story he goes in and they invited him hometown boy to come up and read from the scripture he takes the scroll he opens to this passage he reads these words and then he says this day these words are fulfilled you're hearing. And most of the people are absolutely angered out of their minds because it's abundantly clear what he's saying.

He is claiming to be the Messiah. The words are the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me. Meaning of the word Messiah is the anointed one.

That's the meaning of Christ as well. It's the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew Messiah. He's saying, I am the anointed one.

I am the Messiah. I'm the one about whom these promises were written. I've come to do this.

This is my ministry. He's anointed me to preach good tidings. To set at liberty those who are enslaved.

How many of you know that it's possible to be enslaved without being in a jail cell? Jesus came to set you free. To comfort the afflicted.

maybe also to afflict the comfortable I'm not sure but anyway this is what I've come to do he says I am the Messiah but we usually read and stop short of the conclusion he says I do all of this that they may be called oaks of righteousness the planting of the Lord that he might be glorified I've come to do all these things To establish all those whom God is planting That they might be oaks of righteousness Firmly planted That they might be what he calls them to be You know, not all Israelites are God's planting Some are Not all Gentiles are God's planting Some are Jesus said in Matthew's Gospel Every tree which my Father has not planted shall be uprooted. He's interested in what he plants. And the purpose of Messiah's ministry is to set at liberty those who are captive to comfort the afflicted that they might be firmly planted.

What God calls them to be. Look at verse 6. And you shall be called the priests of the Lord.

Men shall speak of you as the ministers of our God. Who? Who will be the priests of the Lord?

All those whom God has planted. Do you see what this word is suggesting? That when Messiah comes and does His work, He's going to reestablish that which was lost by the disobedience of the people of Israel.

They were called to be a kingdom of priests. They lost it. And it went to one family.

And when Messiah comes and does His perfect work, He's going to reestablish. He's going to replant that which was lost. It's no longer going to be a matter of being of the house of Aaron.

It's no longer going to be a matter of being of the tribe of Levi. It's no longer even going to be a matter of being one of the Israelites under the old covenant. There's going to be a new covenant.

And in that new covenant, everybody is going to be a priest. Do you follow that? we celebrate in just a few minutes we say on the night before he was betrayed he took bread and he broke it and said this is my body after supper he took the cup and he said this is my blood of the new covenant let me put it to you as strongly as I can from the moment Jesus instituted the new covenant in his blood the word priest is not once used in the New Testament for what you and I would call a clergyman.

Not once. Not once. It's an accident of history that we call our clergy priests.

The real root meaning of the word priest is presbyter, elder. as we apply it to Christian clergy. Presbyter in Old English became pro-est, Middle English became pre-est, and Modern English became priest.

What it means is elder. We're a bunch of Presbyterians. That will make some of you feel much more comfortable and others quite worried.

I haven't checked with Joe as to how he feels about it. Biblically, the word priest in this sense of the offerer of a sacrifice is not once used of a Christian clergyman. Not once.

Why? Because Jesus Christ himself is the high priest. He fulfilled and in the process abolished the priesthood of Aaron.

And that's what happened and that's what we celebrate at the Lord's table. On the night before he died, he instituted a celebration which commemorates that perfect sacrifice. He's high priest and he's sacrificial lamb all at once.

And that cannot be added unto, cannot be repeated, cannot be in any way supplemented. It's perfect, it's complete. A full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world.

but the word priest in the original sense before Aaron is used in the New Testament of all of God's people and it's used four times we heard two of them read this morning turn all the way to the right the first Peter chapter 2 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 4. It's interesting that Peter's the one who's writing this. Peter whom they call the first pope.

You understand, I trust, that things are taught in Peter's name that he would never recognize. Peter says come to him to that living stone rejected by men but in God's sight chosen and precious and like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood marvelous picture Jesus is the cornerstone the cornerstone of the temple that God is building is not a block of granite. It's the living Christ.

And you and I are called to be living stones built into a living temple upon that cornerstone. But that's not all. A holy priesthood.

A holy priesthood. All of us. All of us.

That's who we are. That's the name God would whisper into our ear. You and I together, all of us, are to represent God to all the world to tell the marvelous deeds that he's done to bring him to men and to bring men to him.

Verse 9, But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people. And he didn't ask you how you felt about it. That's who you are.

It comes with the package. See, the whole controversy about women's ordination utterly misses the point. And it's not a problem of misunderstanding women.

It's a matter of misunderstanding priesthood. Although some of us may misunderstand women too. You are a priesthood.

That's who you are. How about beginning to act like it? It's mentioned in two other places.

The book of Revelation, chapter 1. The beginning, right in the middle of verse 5. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and has made us a kingdom.

Priests to his God and Father. To him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Now, in the words of that verse, who are the priests? Who are the priests? Well, we are, yes, but in the words of that verse, who are the priests?

That's right, those who have been freed from sin by Christ's blood. Do you see the implication of that? People come to me and they say, please pray for me.

I say, I'd be glad to pray for you. But my prayers are not one iota better than yours. If you have been freed from sin by the blood of Jesus Christ, you are a priest.

Do you understand that? That exclusive gift of ministry that was given to Aaron and nobody else could do it. Nobody else could do it.

You go into the Holy of Holies. If you're not Aaron, you're struck dead. You're a priest if you belong to Jesus Christ.

You have been invested with divine authority. Bold, I approach the eternal throne. if I belong to Jesus Christ.

Folks say, come and hear our preacher. You don't have to come and hear our preacher. You preach it.

You preach it. God has put you in a place to bear witness to Him that I will never get to. Proclaim His marvelous deeds.

That's who you are. A priest bringing God to man. Minister to each other.

Set each other free. that's the priestly function set each other free it's not just for Joe and me and for Neil and Rod it's all of us that's not to say there's no role for clergy you'd be very glad to hear that Joe it's just that it's not the role we thought it was it's not to be a priest in some exclusive sense it's to be an apostle or a prophet or an evangelist or a teacher or a pastor have lots of need for those I serve on the commission on ministry and we have fellas and gals coming before us and say I aspire to be a priest and I say well that's lovely because you already are one now tell me are you an apostle or a prophet or a teacher you're already a priest nobody ever became a priest in the Christian church because some bishop laid hands on his head you're a priest in the Christian church because Jesus Christ said you are and there ain't no higher authority than that Terry Fulham said that about two years ago to a conference of 830 Roman Catholic bishops priests and deacons and when they heard it they stood and cheered because you see what we've done we have so missed the point we've said that the ministry belongs to the clergy and too often the clergy has said that the ministry belongs to us no! we might have a special contribution to make different ones of us making different contributions but the ministry belongs to God's people.

Do you know who you are this morning? You're a kingdom of priests. It occurs one more place.

Revelation 5. And I want to begin with verse 9. And they sang a new song.

I like that. There's precedent for singing new songs. They sang a new song saying, Worthy art thou to take the scroll and to open its seals, for thou wast slain, and by thy blood didst ransom men for God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and hast made them a kingdom and priests to our God.

And they shall reign on earth. When you begin to understand who you are, It's going to change the way you pray. Do you understand?

Do you begin to understand why Jesus could say, and he who believes in me will do the same things I do. And greater, greater. Why?

Because you're priests. Invested with his authority. It's going to change the way you witness.

Because you are God's representative and you don't need anybody else to be his representative. He's placed you in a particular spot to work through you. and nobody else.

It's going to change the way we worship. Do you realize that for centuries the priest was the only one who was allowed to raise his hands? What a shame.

As for all of us, to praise God, because we're all priests. We're going to worship with an expectancy because we've entered into the Holy of Holies. If we have eyes to see it and ears to hear it, and hearts to believe it.

Let's bow our heads together. Come and worship Royal Easter Come and praise Him Holy Nation Worshipped Jesus Our Redeemer He is Nation King of glory Lord Jesus, thank you for making us kings and priests a holy nation your own chosen people once we were no people but now we're God's people proclaiming his marvelous deeds. Hallelujah.