REV. LYNN’S BLOG

When we talk about ordination in relation to the Royal Priesthood, it is important that we remember that we are not talking about “ministry” in the sense of an exclusive group within the Church, but of the whole Body of Christ. We are all “ordained” to be priests of God.

In the Old Testament the ordination ceremony consisted of four elements: washing, clothing, anointing and consecration.

First, the priestly candidates were to be brought to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and washed with water. (Exodus 29:4Exodus 29:4
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4 You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the tent of meeting, and shall wash them with water.

) This indicated to the whole congregation (and also reminded the priests themselves) that they, like everyone else, needed to be cleansed before they could approach the Throne of God. Unlike false religions, which elevated their priests as holy men, and sometimes even as semi-gods, God wanted it clearly understood that these were ordinary men, sinners in need of God’s mercy and forgiveness, and that they held their position not because of any merit of their own but because of God’s grace which had caused them to be born into the priestly line.

We also need to remember that God’s gracious choice of us does not make us better than those in the world. Like them, we needed – and continue to need – God’s forgiveness and mercy. When I was a child there was a saying which was applied regularly on seeing someone in worse circumstances than ourselves: “There, but for the grace of God, go I.” It is a truth we would do well to remember as we reach out even to those we consider the worst of sinners, lest we fall into the trap (of which unbelievers so often accuse us) of thinking ourselves better than those to whom we minister.

Secondly, the priests were clothed in the priestly garments. This spoke both of their “setting apart” for the priesthood, and the fact that they were clothed with an authority which was not their own. Exodus 28:40Exodus 28:40
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40 “You shall make coats for Aaron’s sons, and you shall make sashes for them and headbands shall you make for them, for glory and for beauty.

says that the garments were “to give them dignity and honour.” Even though they were ordinary men, they were called to an extraordinary function, and were given the authority for that function. They were to be respected, not because of who they were in themselves, but because of the office in which they stood.

Although we, too, are ordinary people, we have also been called to a high office. As priests unto our God we are His ambassadors (2 Cor 5:202 Cor 5:20
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20 We are therefore ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us. We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

), and as such we have an authority which is not our own, but is a part of the office to which we are called. We are called to walk in humility, but not to be “doormats”. We need to stand tall in the dignity and honour with which God has clothed us, and not be afraid to walk in that authority.

Next, the priest was anointed by pouring oil on his head. (Exodus 29:7Exodus 29:7
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7 Then you shall take the anointing oil, and pour it on his head, and anoint him.

) The oil spoke of God’s favour and blessing (Ps 23:5Ps 23:5
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5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over.

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). Since oil is used for lubrication, it also spoke of God’s enabling, equipping the priest for his service; and since oil was also used for burning, it spoke of God’s empowering.

We also need God’s favour and blessing, His enabling and equipping, and His empowering. We receive it in our “personal Pentecost”, when the Holy Spirit comes upon us in power not to bring us into the Kingdom of God, but to release us as God’s priests, as His witnesses. When we consider that even Jesus, who was God in the flesh, did not begin His earthly ministry until He had received that power outpouring from the Spirit at His baptism, how much more do we need it! The Baptism in the Holy Spirit was never meant to be just a nice spiritual experience – it is meant to equip us for all that God has called us to be.

Finally, the priests were consecrated. One ram was used to consecrate the altar and the sacred objects. Then the priests laid their hands on the second ram, identifying with it ( Exodus 29:19Exodus 29:19
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19 “You shall take the other ram; and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram.

), after which it was slaughtered. No-one could possibly mistake the significance that this consecration was a consecration unto death! The moment the future priest laid his hands on that ram, he became a dead man. His life was no longer his own. Self no longer had any place. Then, just to emphasise it even further, the first place the blood was daubed was on his right ear. This was a reminder of the law which allowed a slave who was due for release to bind himself permanently to his master. If the slave indicated that he did not want to leave his master, the master was to take him before the judges, stand him beside a doorpost and pierce his earlobe with an awl (Exodus 21:6Exodus 21:6
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6 then his master shall bring him to God, and shall bring him to the door or to the door-post, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him for ever.

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), after which the slave was bound to his master for life. Thus the priest was bound to the Lord for a lifetime of service. The blood was then daubed on the thumb of his right hand and the big toe of his right foot, indicating that the priest no longer had right of control over what he did in service for the Lord, or where he went.

Our sacrificial Lamb was slain for us at Calvary. We were happy to identify with Him in His death on our behalf, bearing away our sins. But have we really come to understand that identifying with Him means identifying with His death? That we, like the priests of old, have been consecrated unto death? That death to self is not an optional extra of our Christian walk, but the very heart and essence of it? That we no longer have rights over our lives, or to choose our form or place of service?

When we came to Jesus, we were ordained into the Royal Priesthood, and priests have to be every bit as dead as the sacrifice they offer.

This blog is © copyright Lynn Fowler.

There is one God, and one mediator between God and people, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:51 Timothy 2:5
English: World English Bible - WEB
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

)in Whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in bodily form (Colossians 2:9Colossians 2:9
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9 For in him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily,

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)and Whom God the Father has exalted to the highest place, giving Him the Name which is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11Philippians 2:9-11
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9 Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name; ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth, ¹¹ and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

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I am cross-posting this from my AustralianChristian blog at http://christianaussies.com/australianchristian.  I urge others who may share this concern to also cross post this.

“He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and he who gives gifts to the rich - both come to poverty.” Proverbs 22:16Proverbs 22:16
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16 Whoever oppresses the poor for his own increase and whoever gives to the rich, Both come to poverty.

The release of the federal budget this week reminded me of this verse. It is a pity Kevin Rudd, who is a born-again Christian, didn’t remember it. In spite of all the pre-budget hype about “cutting middle class welfare”, what we received was a budget that took from the poor and gave to those who, whilst they may not consider themselves rich, are most certainly very comfortable.

With great fanfare it was announced that pensioners will be receiving an extra $32 per week. Sounds great, until you realize the bit that wasn’t mentioned anywhere - those same pensioners will no longer receive the $1000 annual one-off payment that has been part of the budget for several years now. Take that off the overall picture, and the actual increase comes down to just a bit over $12 per week - barely enough to replace a couple of light bulbs with the new-fangled ones we are now forced to use because of minimal savings to overall power usage.

Even worse, those on Widow Allowance, the forgotten people of the welfare spectrum, received ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! Widow Allowance was already $116 per fortnight behind the pension, with the increase it will be close to $180 per fortnight behind. What’s more, those on WA have also received the $1000 bonus for the past few years, but now that is gone - so effectively this budget has CUT the Widow Allowance by nearly $20 per week. Mr Rudd and his cronies have already stated that they could not live on the pension, yet they expect people to live on $226.65 per week.

In the lead-up to the budget I spent the best part of a whole day, e-mailing every member of parliament in both houses to bring to their attention the plight of those on Widow Allowance. The buck-passing was something to behold: “You’re not in my electorate” (in spite of the fact that there are undoubtedly many women on WA who are in the electorates of these people) or “It’s not my portfolio” - yeah, right, so you only ever talk about things that effect your own portfolio.

One MP informed me that the Widow Allowance is pegged to the Newstart Allowance (I knew that!) and that those on WA are receiving the same as other “working age Australians.” My response to this is that just because it IS doesn’t mean is it SHOULD BE. The existence of the WA is an admission that women in this age group without recent workforce experience are extremely unlikely to be able to find work. Newstart is designed as short term relief for the unemployed, and by implication assumes that they will only be unemployed for a short term. On the other hand, people with disabilities and their carers (who may be “working age”) are recognized as unlikely to be able to gain full time employment because of their circumstances, and are therefore paid a pension. My argument is that the situation of those on WA is closer to that of disabled and carers than to that of those on Newstart, and therefore WA should be pegged to the pension, not to Newstart.

The same MP also said that payments to women should not reflect the position of their partners or former partners (in other words, just because a woman is divorced or widowed, even though her husband may have not allowed her to work for twenty years before it happened, she should not be treated differently from any other unemployed person.) However, this is a rule that applies only when it suits the government’s convenience. If it were otherwise, every married or partnered welfare recipient would receive the same as a single person, because their payment would not depend on the status of their partner.

So, pensioners emerge from the budget only about $12 per week better off in real terms, and those on Widow Allowance emerge around $20 per week worse off …

Meanwhile, working mums on up to $150,000 per year (that’s nearly $3,000 per week, a figure which most people would agree places one very firmly in the well-to-do bracket) will be able to claim $544 per week for 18 weeks paid maternity allowance. Spread over a year, that breaks down to a bit over $188 per week - just $38 per week less than the TOTAL INCOME of those on WA. What’s more, as far as I can tell there is no provision about how often a woman will be able to claim this - potentially one could go into the full-time baby making business, producing a bub every year, and have a permanent taxpayer-funded income of $188 per week ON TOP OF the income she could earn in the other 34 weeks of the year.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m all for families and I have grandkids myself. But it seems to me that someone on $3000 per week (or even half that) should be able to have the discipline to set aside enough money to be able to support herself for 18 weeks if she wants to take time out to have a bub.

By giving such handouts to those who definitely don’t need them, the government is denying a livable income to those who most desperately do need it. It is nothing short of oppressing the poor in order to give gifts to the rich. God’s word says that leads to poverty … a worrying thought for the direction this nation is heading.

This blog is © copyright Lynn Fowler.

There is one God, and one mediator between God and people, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:51 Timothy 2:5
English: World English Bible - WEB
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

)in Whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in bodily form (Colossians 2:9Colossians 2:9
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9 For in him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily,

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)and Whom God the Father has exalted to the highest place, giving Him the Name which is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11Philippians 2:9-11
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9 Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name; ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth, ¹¹ and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

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In the Old Testament, the priest was to wear specific garments to identify himself and the role he was to fulfill. Likewise, we of the New Covenant priesthood have special garments we are to wear in our priestly service.

The first of these is the robe of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10Isaiah 61:10
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10 I will greatly rejoice in Yahweh, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

). This is not something which we have ourselves, but something which God provides for us through Christ. Jesus told the parable of the ruler who had invited all his friends and neighbours to a feast. When it was ready, he called them, but each of them had some excuse for not coming. So the ruler sent his servants out into the highways and byways to bring in anyone they could find. After they had done so, there was a man in the feast who was not appropriately dressed. The ruler was angry, and ordered that this man be thrown out.

For many years I thought this parable was very harsh. After all, the poor fellow had been pulled in from the street or field where he was working, he did not have time to go home and get cleaned up for the party. However, when I learned about the culture of the Middle East in the first century I understood that this is in fact a very clear picture of our relationship with God. It was quite normal to issue an invitation with no specific date or time, then when everything was ready to simply call those invited to come. This meant that they would be coming straight from their work, and would arrived dressed in their work clothes. Therefore it was the responsibility of the host to provide a “festive garment”, which would cover their own dirty clothes. The only way anybody could be found at a celebration without a festive garment was if that person had refused the garment offered and insisted on remaining in his dirty work wear. To do this would be a terrible insult to the host, and ample reason for the offender to be thrown out on his ear.

In the same way, God calls us while we are dirty – not from work, but from sin. He provides for us the righteousness of Jesus, to cover our own unrighteousness. The only way we can be found without His righteousness is if we have insisted in standing in our own self-righteousness, which is in fact filthy sin. To do that is to refuse God’s grace, and to lose our place in the Kingdom.

Not only in our personal salvation, but especially in our priestly service, it is important for us to remember that we stand only by God’s grace. His choosing of us was not because of anything in us, but purely because of His grace.

The Old Testament priest wore an ephod and a breastplate. The ephod contained the Urim and Thumim, stones which were used to determine the will of God in any matter, and the breastplate was set with twelve stones representing the twelve tribes of Israel, which were to be worn over the heart of the priest. Both of these speak of the prophetic nature of the New Covenant priesthood. Even those who are not called to the prophetic office, even those who do not move in the prophetic gifts, have the Spirit of God living within and are therefore able to hear the voice of God and know His will. Likewise, even those who are not intercessors are to carry the people on their hearts before the Lord.

The Old Testament priest also wore a turban, with a gold plate at the front inscribed “holy to the Lord”. In modern language, this was like a sign saying “For God’s use only!” As New Covenant priests we are set aside for God’s service. Whether we are called to “full time” ministry or not, our first commitment is to the work of the Lord. That work may be carried out in front of a congregation, or it may be carried out in an office or factory or on a farm, or in any number of other situations in which people live and work. We may be a “minister”, or we may be a cook or an accountant or a labourer or a sailor – no matter what function we carry out, we are first and foremost a priest of the living God, set apart for His service in whatever form it may take.

Finally, the garments of the Old Testament priests were to be made of linen, so that the priests did not sweat. As New Covenant priests, we must learn not to strive and struggle in our own strength, but to rest in Jesus and be yoked together with Him. Our own efforts will never minister to anybody, and may in fact be a hindrance to those we would seek to help.

This blog is © copyright Lynn Fowler.

There is one God, and one mediator between God and people, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:51 Timothy 2:5
English: World English Bible - WEB
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

)in Whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in bodily form (Colossians 2:9Colossians 2:9
English: World English Bible - WEB
9 For in him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily,

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)and Whom God the Father has exalted to the highest place, giving Him the Name which is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11Philippians 2:9-11
English: World English Bible - WEB
9 Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name; ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth, ¹¹ and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

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