“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
Who belongs to the church?
There are certain things we naturally think of as belonging in church.
It can be easy for everyone else to think of themselves primarily as the people who receive ministry. They come to church, hear God’s Word, receive the Sacrament, and then go back to their ordinary lives.
Peter paints a much bigger picture of who God’s people are.
He calls Christians,
“a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession.”
Those descriptions originally belonged to God’s people Israel. Now Peter applies them to the Church. Though, they are people from different nations, families, cultures, and backgrounds, they have been brought together in Christ.
And notice that these are not titles Christians earn.
Peter doesn’t say, “If you live holy enough lives, perhaps God will choose you.” He begins with what God has already done. He has chosen you. He has made you His own. He has brought you into His people.
Peter makes that especially clear in the next verse:
“Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
Everything begins with mercy.
You were a sinner who needed forgiveness, and Christ died and rose for you. God brought you into His family through the Gospel. In Baptism, He placed His name upon you and joined you to Christ. You belong to Him because He acted to make you His own.
But God doesn’t make us His people without a purpose. Peter says that we have been chosen
“that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
This is where that phrase “royal priesthood” becomes especially important. In the Old Testament, priests stood before God on behalf of others, offering sacrifices and prayers. Christ is our great High Priest, and His sacrifice on the cross is complete. Nothing needs to be added to it.
Yet through Christ, all Christians are now priests before God.
That doesn’t mean everyone is a pastor. God has established the pastoral office to preach His Word and administer His Sacraments publicly in the Church. But the Christian life doesn’t stop at the church doors.
God sends His royal priesthood into homes, schools, workplaces, neighborhoods, and communities. There we offer our lives in service to our neighbors. We pray for others. We care for their needs. And when opportunities arise, we tell them about the God who has shown us mercy in Christ.
You don’t need a church title to have a holy calling.
Sometimes we call these vocations. These are roles we have and they are different situations and ways we serve God and love others. The parent changing a diaper or employee serving a customer are roles in which they serve God and others. The neighbor checking on someone who is lonely, and the Christian telling a friend why there is hope in Jesus are all living out their callings as people who belong to God.
You have received mercy. You have been called out of darkness. And now God sends you into the ordinary places of life as one of His people, that others might hear of the One who brought you into His marvelous light.
Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for showing me mercy and making me one of Your people through Christ. Thank You for calling me out of darkness and into the marvelous light of Your grace.
Help me to remember that I belong to You wherever I go. Show me how to serve the neighbors You have placed around me, and give me opportunities to proclaim what You have done through Your Son.
Keep me trusting not in what I do for You, but in the mercy You have first shown to me.
Through Jesus Christ, my Lord.
Amen.
As part of your devotion time, I encourage you to also pray for at least some of the following:
After praying for these people, you may want to finish your devotion time with the Lord’s Prayer…
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. They will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and every. Amen.
In Christ’s Service,
Pastor Kurt
