Servant Leadership: Participating in the Priesthood of Christ

Hebrews 5:1-10; Mark 10: 35-45

 

It dawned on me the other day as I was watching

          A priest standing before the altar on television

                   And listening to the priest dare to talk about

                             And presume to say something knowledgeable

                                      About the promise of eternal life in Christ

It dawned on me that every week I stand before you and God

          As your priest, albeit a Protestant version,

                   And dare to interpret God’s word to you and

 to offer prayers of supplication for you.

 

I was struck by my own unworthiness,

the awesomeness of the job,

                   The overwhelming responsibility it involves.

                             And my response was to feel it was arrogant

                                      For me to presume to be good enough,

                                                Wise enough, worthy enough

                                                          To be your priest.

 

So I was thankful that the Biblical text was Hebrews 5

          Hebrews 5:1-4 gives the credentials for being priest,

                   And they are twofold:

          First a priest must be one of the people,

                   So that he can identify with people as he

                             Offers whatever sacrifices the people have

                                      To God and be authentic

And sympathetic.

I started to feel God’s call to ministry

When I was in England in High School.

I am thankful that I didn’t follow that call

 then because at that point in life

I was actually too

Self confident.

I had never had any failures in my young life

And at that point I felt that failure was simply

 evidence of not trying hard enough,

          Or not working smart enough.

I felt that people who failed at anything

Must have brought it upon themselves.

I guess it’s not until one falls and God picks us up

That we realize the real power of God’s grace,

And forgiveness and new life in Christ;

          That’s the line in Hebrews where it says:

                   “He is able to deal gently with the ignorant and

                   wayward, since he himself is subject to weakness;

                   and because of this he must offer sacrifice for his own

 sins as well as for those of his people.

 

Secondly the text says that a priest must called by God

          And not self appointed. 

                   That was the problem with James and John

                             They presumed to take the honor

                                       Of sitting at the right hand

                                                Of Jesus in heaven.   

          One might presume that Jesus was indeed calling them

                   To that privilege in asking them to accompany him

                             In the transfiguration and to pray with him in

                                      The Garden of Gethsemane.

                   But it is always Jesus prerogative to call us

                             And never our presumption to call ourselves.

                                      “One does not presume to take this honor,

                                            but takes it only when called by God,

                                                just as Aaron was.” Heb. 5:4

So Hebrews doesn’t diminish the Priestly calling

          But gives language and substance to it.

                   And lest you think I’m just preaching to myself

                             I remind you that as Protestants we believe

                                      In the priesthood of all believers.

1 Peter says:

          “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into him marvelous light.”

          As Protestants we take this passage seriously

                   And believe that each believer is called

                             To a royal priesthood.

          Our baptism is our highest calling and so God calls

                   Each one of us in distinct and unique ways.

                             And that means that each of us is called

                                      And each of us lives out him calling

                                                As a human being with all the

                                                          Limits and liabilities.

                   So that we are called by God

to “deal gently” with each other.

          The word in Greek is metriopatheia.

It means to hear each other without getting irritated

          I often use the term “non anxious presence”

                   And I call our leaders not to be bearers of

                        Gossip or rumors or conflict but

                             Bearers of peace and reconciliation.

That’s metriopatheia and it is our calling as a

Royal priesthood- to deal gently with each other

          Because we also are in need of forgiveness

                   And we also need others

to deal gently with us.

          When we pray for others, that they might be changed or

                   healed or saved we must pray also for ourselves

that we might be changed, healed and saved.

That is being part of the Priesthood of all believers.

Of course if you like me take this priesthood seriously,

          You will be overwhelmed by your insufficiency to the task

                   And so undergirding our own priesthood is

                             The priesthood of Jesus Christ.

“Since then, we have a great high priest, who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confessions.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but we have one who in every way has been tested as we are but is without sin.” Hebrews 4:14,15

 

The real focus and saving grace of our own priesthood

          Is the priesthood of Jesus Christ.

                   Jesus is both God incarnate word to us

                             And our obedient response to God.

          Jesus Christ is the real leader of worship for us today.

                   You and I are simply participating with Jesus Christ

                             When we offer our prayer of confession,

                                      We offer it at the baptismal font because

                                                It is in baptism that we share the life

 and saving death of Jesus Christ.

          We offer our prayers of the people at the communion

                   table because it is in the communion of Christ

                        that we dare to enter into communion with God.

          Jesus not only taught us the Lord’s Prayer but Jesus

                   Prayer for his disciples and is still praying for us.

                             “In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up

                             prayers and supplication, with loud cries and

 tears, to the one who was able to save him from

death, and he was heard because of his reverent

submission.”  Hebrews 5: 7

 

When we think of Jesus crying and in tears we can’t help but think of his prayer in the garden of Gethsemane while Peter, James and John, who wanted to sit at his right and left hand, slept:

          “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me;

 yet not what I want but thy will be done.” Mt. 26:39

We also think of Jesus who wept at the death of his friend

          Lazarus and Jesus who wept over Jerusalem.

This is what a high priest, the high priest Jesus, does,

          He weeps with us.

                   We weeps tears of joy with us when we are happy

                             And he weeps tears of pain when we are sad.

                                      And he calls us to weep with each other

                                                As we minister to each other

                                                          In Christ.

 

Years ago they taught at Seminary not to cry with parishioners

          Fortunately they no longer teach that since that is not

                   The way Jesus acts as High Priest on our behalf.

          Jesus offers prayers for us with “loud cries and tears.”

                In his tears we know that God cares about our pain.

                             In his tears God knows that he is obedient

                                      On our behalf even obedient unto death.

 

Thank God that we have a high priest from heaven

 even Jesus Christ, God’s own son.

          In Christ we receive God’s love and grace

                   And learn to offer that love and grace and

                             forgiveness to each other with tenderness

                                      that befits the Body of Christ.

                                                          Amen