Priesthood of All Believers Part One

Along with Sola Scriptura (on Scripture alone), Martin Luther wanted to empower and equip the lay people of the church.  He wanted to bridge the gap between priests and the people...between the pulpit and the pew.  I would argue that five hundred years later, we are still struggling to live and lean into what Luther was talking about.  Perhaps that is also true with Scripture.  There is still a separation between pastors and the people we walk with.  Sometimes this is because of professional boundaries.  Sometimes it is because of power struggles and surges.  Sometimes it is because of history and hierarchy.  Sometimes it just is.  Like Pastor Ames in Gilead walking down the street seeing people laughing and joking, who reflects on how that often such playfulness stops in his presence.  How people become sober and serious and say things like, "Good afternoon, Padre".    Like people who hear you are a pastor and want to justify or apologize why they don't go to church or maybe uncomfortably try to make an excuse to leave the awkward silence that arrived the moment they found out what I do.  Good time! 
Perhaps this is way people don't always live into the priesthood they are called into the moment of their baptism.  Take the first stanza of the hymn of the video above, "Called as Partners in Christ's Service."

1.  Called as partners in Christ's service,

    Called to ministries of grace,

    We respond with deep commitment

    Fresh new lines of faith to trace.

    May we learn the art of sharing,

    Side by side and friend with friend,

    Equal partners in our caring 

    To fulfill God's chosen end.

I love that line, "We respond with deep commitment, fresh new lines of faith to trace."  That what we are about as the church is tracing a line that began before any of us took our first breath and even before Luther came up with the idea of the Priesthood of All believers.  But we have to do it in a fresh new line.  It is not routine rut to re-trace through rituals, it is fresh and new.  I remember years ago my daughter would study spelling words by writing the same word over, but each time use a different color.  The end result was both beautiful and practical...she learned to spell and created art at the same time.  The same is true of ministry.  You are called to pick up your crayon box, pull out a color that you want to add to the mosaic of ministry, and start coloring.  As good Protestants, we may not always color inside that lines...that would be boring.  But we do find limits and edges in the paper we are called to stay upon.  We work side-by-side as equal partners. 

I invite and encourage you to go back and listen again to the hymn.  How are you being called to be a partner and a priest in these days?  May this music move you and sing to your soul with more than a trace of God's grace.

Blessings