Sermon

April 20, 2008
Easter 5
1 Peter 2:4-10
Pastor Joel Zank

Christian, You are a Priest of God!

1 Peter 2:4-10  As you come to him, the living Stone--rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him-- {5} you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. {6} For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame." {7} Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone," {8} and, "A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the message--which is also what they were destined for. {9} But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. {10} Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

In Jesus, the Church’s one Foundation, dear fellow redeemed,

In our society, we’re accustomed to using letters behind a person’s name to tell us something about an individual. For example, if the letters M.D. follow a name, you know that person is a medical doctor. The letters C.P.A. identify a person as a Certified Public Accountant. I could on and on, but imagine my surprise one day when a parishioner in my last congregation handed me a note, signed in his own hand, “Rik, P.O.G.”  Now as I said, I know M.D., and C.P.A. I’m familiar with R.N., D.D.S. and Ph.D., but P.O.G., what does stand for? Well, you’ll be interested to know that P.O.G. stands for Priest of God. I say this will interest you because, as it turns out, you get to write these same three letters behind your name – every one of you; for this is what the Scriptures says: Christian, you are a Priest of God, 1) built into a spiritual house and 2) offering spiritual sacrifices.

If you watched the news this week, you saw more than your fare share of priests, didn’t you! Parish priests, Bishops, Arch Bishops, and Cardinals were everywhere to talk about their Pope’s visit to America. You couldn’t miss them in the colorful vestments they wear, all designed to announce the high rank and office they hold. Now, if you were to ask these men how it is that they have come to such a position in life, they would no doubt tell you about their seminary education. They would further explain that after years of service there have been appointments to higher and higher positions of authority. In other words, they have all had to work for what they have and to be who they are. But St. Peter tells us today that’s not the case with any of us, and if any among us says differently, then he or she is not really a priest at all, but a pretender and as such a lost and hell-bound soul.

Why is that? Peter explains, drawing on passages from the Old Testament to show us what happens to those who do not rely solely on Christ for their place and position in God’s kingdom. Peter writes: “For in Scripture it says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.’ {7}...But to those who do not believe, ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone,’ {8} and, ‘A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall’” (1 Peter 2:6,7b,8a).  Back in eternity, before time began, our God knew that his plan for a perfect mankind would crumble to pieces with Adam and Eve’s fall into sin. They would forfeit God’s holy image, not only for themselves, but for all humanity. Yet, in spite of this knowledge, God made plans to save the world from its rebellion and sin–plans that revolved around one person, God’s own Son. Back eternity, God chose Jesus to be the bedrock of our salvation, the Stone on Whom he would build a new and holy people for himself. Jesus is the chosen and precious cornerstone of God’s church.

Now appreciate this word picture, you need to keep in mind is that in Peter’s day, a cornerstone was much more than it is today. In our time, a cornerstone is only for show. On it may be printed the date of a building’s completion. Inside of it may be stored a few historical documents for future generations to see and read. But in Peter’s time a cornerstone was the most important stone in a building. If fact no building could stand without one because a cornerstone was chosen for its perfection to provide the building with its shape and soundness. You see, from this perfectly square stone the lines and angles of the entire building were made straight and true. Isn’t that a great picture of what Jesus does for us? By God’s blueprint and plan, the holiness of his perfect Son extends to all who trust in him. All who believe in Jesus have his righteousness and by it are made perfect in God’s eyes.

But sadly many people reject Jesus, building their hopes for happiness on something or someone else. Some reject Jesus in favor of another kind Savior altogether. Others call Jesus Lord, but still reject him because they cling to the lie that they can and must add their own good works to his in order to merit God’s forgiveness and gain his heaven. Either way, the result is the same – anyone who refuses to trust only in Jesus as Savior from sin is destined to trip over his truth an plunge headlong into hell – not because God wants this, but because apart from Jesus there is no way to be saved.

Do you believe this? By God’s mercy you do, to no credit of your own. That’s what Peter says: “Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (1 Peter 2:10). Once you were not a people! Isn’t that a frightening thought? There was a time in your life when sin separated you from everyone else, especially from God. Sin made you so self-centered that all you could do was hate. At that time you were not part of a people, you were a nation of one, a loathsome individual, a lost and condemned creature. But it was then, when you did not expect it, when you did not want it, when you did not deserve it, it was then that God’s mercy sought you out and made you a part of his people, one of his flock, a member of his family, the holy Christian church.

And how did God’s mercy do this? It taught you to forsake all efforts to save yourself and to lean solely on Jesus. That’s what Peter means when he writes: “As you come to him, the living Stone--rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him-- {5} you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house...” (2 Peter 2:4-5). In his mercy, God has convinced you that Jesus’ holiness together with his sufferings and death for your sin is more than enough to make you right with God. Your future, earthly and eternal, rests securely on Jesus because his promises are rock solid. The word “living” says it all, doesn’t it? Here’s our connection to Easter.  Peter reminds us that Jesus is the living Stone. A dead Savior who couldn’t keep his promise to rise again would be no Savior at all. But the fact that Jesus kept his promise to conquer death for us by rising from it, means that we who trust in him will never be put to shame. He’ll never break any of his promises to us.

Think of what this means! Look at what he promises us just in these verses alone! Through the faith God has worked in you he has made you part of his spiritual house. He promises that you are not mere “”window dressing” for the temple of God, something that could easily blow away in the winds of adversity. No, God has built you right into the structure itself, fitting you in as a living stone. That means you’re a vital part of his spiritual house, on which he plans to build more souls. How? You’re a P.O.G. remember? – a Priest Of God! Not because of some special education you’ve received. Not because you’ve served for years and years and now have been promoted. No, God’s mercy made you  his priest the instant he brought you to faith. In fact, God’s gift of faith connects you to Jesus so intimately that in God’s eyes you are as holy and precious as Jesus himself. Don’t take my word for it. God says it: “...you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God...” because he is the one who bought back from sin with his Son’s life-blood as the price.

Look at you! God’s mercy has taken you from the depths of damnation to the heights of heaven. You hold the highest rank that God bestows, and this isn’t just some honorary title. Christian, you are a priest of God in the fullest sense, having all the rights and privileges which this high office conveys. So much so that you can spend the rest of your life on earth and all eternity in heaven offering spiritual sacrifices that are guaranteed acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. That’s what it says right here in God’s Word.

So what are these spiritual sacrifices that you and I can offer? Well, they are not sacrifices for sin, they can’t be; they don’t need to be because the Book of Hebrews assures us that Jesus sacrificed for our “...sins once for all when he offered himself”(Hebrews 7:27) on the cross. Our sacrifices are not a sin offerings, they are  “thank” offerings to Jesus for paying the price of our sins, destroying our enemy death and giving us a home in heaven.

What will our spiritual sacrifices look like? They will consist of our praise!  We are priests, says Peter, who live and breathe to “...declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9). Think of God’s Old Testament priests. They praised God in all their prayers. We can do the same. God has made us royal priests so that as sons and daughters of the King of kings, we may be bold to approach his throne of grace in prayer, any time to ask for anything. And when we do we are praising him! Every time we ask for his forgiveness in prayer, we are praising him as our Redeemer. Every time we ask for his blessings in prayer, we are praising him as our Creator. Every time we pray for his Word to be spread and for his kingdom to grow, we are praising him as the Savior of all mankind. Prayer by its very nature is praise.

But God’s Old Testament priests did more than pray; they also praised God by proclaiming his forgiveness to their fellow sinners. Christians you can do this same thing. God has made you his priests so that you may absolve one another of all sin. When tempers flare in your home, when hurtful words are spoken, when lies are told, when you bring these and your many sins to each other in repentance, as priests of the Most High God, you are authorized to announce his forgiveness to the one who as sinned and to take away all guilt in the name of Jesus who paid for all sin with his sufferings in hell. There is no greater way to praise Jesus than to proclaim the peace he earned for us all – peace with God. This is what you are doing every time you forgive one another, and this is what you are doing every time you share the good news about Jesus with a friend or a stranger–you’re offering God a spiritual sacrifice of thanksgiving, one that honors his Son, our Savior.

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