Second Thursday in Advent

What Kind of Influencer Are You?

 In Genesis we meet the first priest of God, the mysterious king Melchizedek of Salem (later “Jerusalem”), whom the author of Hebrews says foreshadowed our great high priest, Jesus (Heb. 5:10). The Genesis text tells us, “Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. Now he was the priest of the Most High God” (14:18). The priest at this time was the person to whom people brought their offerings for God.

Later, in the days of Moses, God laid out his vision that the nation of Israel might serve as a whole kingdom of priests. God told Moses to tell the nation of Israel, “If you will diligently listen to me and keep my covenant, then you will be my special possession out of all the nations, for all the earth is mine, and you will be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex. 19:5–6). Everyone in Israel was included.

 Eventually, God chose the tribe of Levi, son of Jacob, to serve as a priestly class. He consecrated the Levites by means of a special rite (29:1–30) and the Book of Leviticus records their rituals and responsibilities. The tribe of Levi received no land inheritance when Israel settled the Promised Land, as God himself was their inheritance. 

In the days of Malachi, God was displeased with what his priests were doing. In announcing his displeasure, he described what priests should do: “For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge of sacred things, and people should seek instruction from him [lit. “from his mouth”] because he is the messenger of the Lord who rules over all” (Mal. 2:7).

 In the New Testament, the apostle Peter gives the post-Cross vision for all believers as priests of God. He writes to the church, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Pet. 2:9). In our current era of redemption history, everyone who names the name of Christ is a priest. 

 In what ways do your lips preserve knowledge of sacred things? Can people seek instruction from you because you are a messenger of the Lord who rules over all? Can they trust that you will point them to the King of the universe? In what ways are you proclaiming the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light? —Sandra Glahn

Prayer:  

O Eternal God! O Eternal Trinity! Through the union of your divine nature, you have made so precious the blood of your only-begotten Son…. You are the highest good, a good above all good, a fortunate good, an incomprehensible good, an unmeasurable good, a beauty above all beauty, a wisdom above all wisdom, for you are wisdom itself, the food of angels, the fire of love that you give to humanity. O Eternal Trinity! Amen.   —Catherine of Siena, AD 1347–1380

He will come again in glory

to judge the living and the dead

And his kingdom will have no end.

Photo credit: Rosie Fraser on Unsplash