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 29:4) 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 28:40 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 5:20), 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 29:7) The oil spoke of God’s favour and blessing (Ps 23:5). 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 29:19), 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 21:6), 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 2:5)in Whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in bodily form (Colossians 2:9)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 2:9-11)

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