A Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation

Exodus 19: 2-8

Pentecost 3 (Proper 6)

Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ amen.  The sermon text for the third Sunday after Pentecost is the Old Testament reading Exodus 19.  At the very beginning of this sermon, I am going to tell you what it is all about.  Here it is. Christ has rescued us from sin and death, and He has made us a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.  We see that in our reading from Exodus.  The ancient Israelites were in Egypt four hundred years, and they were slaves for most of that time.  They were oppressed and forced into hard labor.  They were defiled both by the false gods of Egypt and by the abuse of their slave masters.  From a human perspective, the Israelites seemed to be the most accursed people on earth, abandoned by God to rot away in captivity. 

But the Lord heard their cries for mercy, and He saw their misery.  He had compassion for the people of Israel and sent Moses to lead them out of Egypt and out of slavery.  The Lord sent ten plagues against the Egyptians and destroyed Pharoh’s army in the Red Sea.  The Lord led His people to Mount Sinai, where He established His covenant with them and gave them His Law.  God made the Israelites His treasured possession.  He made them a kingdom of priests.  He made them a holy nation.  God delivered them from their slavery in Egypt so that out of all the people on earth, they would be His chosen people through whom He would send His promised Messiah to be the Savior of the word.  What a high honor!      

God’s plan of salvation in the Old Testament involved establishing the ancient Israelites as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.  The Lord did not originally give them a king.  That came many years later.  God Himself was Israel’s King.  He ruled and served Israel through His chosen representatives.  There was Moses the Law giver and there was the high priest.  The Lord dwelt with His people at the tabernacle and gave them the sacrificial system.  It was by shed blood that sins were forgiven.  As the consecrated priests stood before God and His people the Israelites were set aside by God for serve, witness, prayer, and thanksgiving.  They were a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of what we see in the Old Testament. Jesus is the King of kings and the ultimate High Priest.  In the Old Testament, the kingdom of ancient Israel pointed ahead to the Kingdom of Christ. Just as the people of Israel were God’s royal people, so also, we are God’s royal people in Christ Jesus.  The apostle Peter said it this way in I Peter 2. “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”.  Peter uses these words to describe the Christian church. 

The Lord rescued the Israelites from the slavery of Egypt.  Jesus Christ has rescued us from sin and death.  We were slaves to our selfish desires.  We were slaves to greed and pride.  We were slaves to sin and sin always leads to death.  There was no way we could free ourselves.  There was no way that we could defeat death.  Only Jesus the Lord could do that, and He did. God saw our wretched condition and He had compassion on us.  He had mercy upon us and so He sent the Messiah.   Jesus Christ rescued us from the slavery of sin through His death and resurrection.  It is the Lord who also defeated death for us when He conquered death.

The Lord forgives us, and He makes us holy.  All the sacrifices in the Old Testament pointed to Christ, who came to offer Himself as the perfect sacrifice.  Through the cross we are purified from our uncleanness and sanctified to share in His holiness.  Christ’s blood has made complete atonement for our sins. It means that we are forgiven and restored.  We are rescued from sin and made holy.  Thorough Christ Jesus we are justified and sanctified. 

In the Old Testament God dwelt with His people at the tabernacle.  In the New Testament God dwells with His people in the flesh.  Indeed, Christ Jesus is God in the flesh.  It is the Lord Jesus who made the promise that He will always be with us.  There is no longer a sacrificial system in the New Testament because the Lord’s sacrifice on the cross is what gives us life and salvation.  But Christ did institute the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.  It is in these means that the Lord comes to us in a very special way.  It was at our baptism that we were connected to Christ.  It was at our baptism that we were washed clean from sin and brought into God’s kingdom.  In Holy Communion the Lord gives to us His body and blood to strengthen our faith.  The Lord also comes in His Word to absolve our sins and to guide us and comfort us.

That takes us back to what I said at the beginning of the sermon and what the Lord has revealed to us. Here it is.  Christ has rescued us from sin and death and has made us a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.  In other words, we are given the gift of eternal salvation through faith in Christ and placed in His church.  The church is described as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.  The church is often called the priesthood of all believers. What does that mean?  As redeemed children of God we are called by the Lord to service, to witness, to pray and to give thanks.         

Our culture teaches us that we are all autonomous people that can do whatever we want.  That is not what God’s Word teaches us.  As Christians we are to be part of God’s church. We are members of this congregation and thus part of a Christian community.  As members of this community, we are to serve each other.  That means we are to know each other, help each other, and encourage each other.  It means that we forgive each other and bear with each other, always pointing people to Christ.  We are brothers and sisters in Christ who have not only been brought together in this life, but we will continue to be with each other throughout all eternity.

We are also a Christian witness to our neighbors.  That means that we do indeed confess the name of Christ.  We raise our children and grandchildren in the faith, we tell our friends about Jesus, we share the Gospel with those around us, and we support the mission of the church.  The Lord calls us to pray.  It is so easy to complain and to and get discouraged.  That is why God commands us to pray.  Through Christ Jesus we can call upon the name of the Lord and pray to Him. We pray for ourselves, for our church, for our country, for all people according to their needs.  We are moved by the Holy Spirit to give thanks. Indeed, you could say that the Christian life is one of giving thanks.  It is a life of thanking God for creating us, redeeming us, preserving us, and blessing us.  What a joy it is to use our words in prayer, and praise, and giving thanks.

Christ has rescued us from sin and death and has made us a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. The priesthood of ancient Israel was temporary, the priesthood that we Christians have in Christ is eternal.  For it is the Lord Jesus who has made you right with God.  The Lord Jesus has made you a child of God.  As God’s child in Christ, you are a royal heir of His kingdom that you have received in faith.  What’s more, you will forever be with the Lord in your resurrected and glorified body. In Christ, you are holy, so that forever you share in God’s holiness, have access to Him in His heavenly sanctuary, and be in is presence for all eternity.  Amen.