Kings & Priests

Hope the Rangers got all that out of their system last night. Good gravy, what was that?!? Elvis and Young booting balls all over the infield. Cliff Lee looking more like Cliff Claven. Vladdie needing a GPS in right.

Remember how good we were feeling after Texas took the first two at Tampa and then how immediately bad and bleak it got. Remember how awful it was when the Yanks came back to win the ALCS opener and how quickly it went the other way.

That’s the way baseball go.

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A few of you have asked for a copy of the kings and priests pledge we all took together at Legacy a couple of Sundays ago. We were preaching the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. We were looking at Exodus 19 and Revelation 1 and 5 and 1 Peter 2. We were considering just what it meant to be these priests. Holy go-betweens. Powerful mediators. Intercessors with authority.

We reflect the holiness of God. We offer spiritual sacrifices to God. We intercede for others before God. And, mostly, we represent God to man. We bless people. We take what God has given us and we, in turn, give it to others. We graciously share his love and mercy and comfort and forgiveness to everyone we meet with his power and authority as his kings and priests.

The priesthood of all believers breaks down the barriers between clergy and laity. We are all powerful priests in the sight of God. Nobody in God’s Church has more power or more authority or more permission than anybody else. We’re all the same. We’re all called the same. Nobody’s exempt. We’re all authorized to pray and teach. We’re all authorized to lead Christian ministry. We all have the same authority.

So, right at the end of the sermon, we had everybody place little silver sheriff’s badges on their neighbors. We had printed them up in advance. And we all stood together, 800 of us with these shiny little badges, these little signs of authority. And we raised our right hands and said these words together:

I, (state your name), do solemnly swear, as a faithful member of God’s royal priesthood, to act like a priest.
I promise to henceforth and forever more regard myself as a minister in God’s Church.
I promise to honor and respect and love and cherish my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.
I promise to encourage and not tear down, to bless and not to curse, to submit and to serve in compassion and kindness.
I will not be hindered in my priestly duties by time or decency and order, but will place the spiritual well-being of my church family above all other priorities until Christ returns.
As a minister and a priest in God’s Kingdom, this is my pledge as surely as the Lord shall live.

Peace,

Allan

2 Comments

  1. Rob's Dad

    that phrase was made famous by the little Ticket

  2. Ro

    Happy Birthday!!! Tried to call a couple of times yesterday—didn’t want to pull a BoBo and call you during the game. Hope you had a good one! Love you.

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