What, me a priest?!

Happy belated Father’s Day! As we saw this past Sunday, though, not everyone has had a wonderful relationship with their father. This is one of the things that rarely gets said around Father’s Day. But you don’t need to talk to too many people before you know this to be true. Maybe you don’t need to talk to anyone because you know it from personal experience.

And so, even though some of us may have had wonderful fathers, it’s no wonder that others have trouble relating to God as “Our Father.” As we saw this past Sunday, however, God’s Father-love for us is the ultimate model for what the love of our earthly fathers (and mothers!) can be, what it was always meant to be. That’s why Paul says in Romans 8.1, “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.” A Father’s love guides us into what is good and right, into being all we can be. And it doesn’t condemn or reject us when we mess up, even when we condemn or reject our Father by refusing to follow His guidance. His love is always present, always constant, as the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15 shows us so clearly.

And that’s all well and good. What a nice message! Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy, right? But then the question needs to become, “So, what do I do with this? What difference does it actually make in my life?” This is the question we’ll be looking at this Sunday, though in a bit of a roundabout way. We’re going to look at one of the great tenets of the Reformation, what’s known as “the priesthood of all believers.” As we’re told in 1 Peter 2.9, “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 his marvellous light.” Maybe you’ve never thought of yourself as a priest before. That’s okay (and no, you don’t have to start wearing robes and pointy hats). But if you’re free on Sunday (10 am), or want to take a listen online sometime after that, why not join us in considering what it might mean to respond to the incredible love the Father has poured out upon us, what it might mean to be a priest of Jesus in our daily lives. Hope to see you soon!