You Are a Priest

Ordination sets some apart for specific roles, but baptism makes every believer a royal priest. Father Aaron unpacks what the royal priesthood means for your ordinary week in the North.

Transcript

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Good morning. This is Northword. The collar doesn't make someone a priest. The baptism does. Good morning. This is Northword, the Word, the North, your Week, a daily podcast from St. John's Fort Smith, in collaboration with the Anglican family. I'm your host, Father Aaron. On Sunday, we worked through the four titles Peter gives to the people of God in 1 Peter chapter 2. And the one I want to sit with today is the one that I think surprises people the most: Royal Priesthood. When people think of a priest, they think of me. They think of ordination, a collar, vestments, a bishop laying hands, leading a church. And yes, all of that is real and it matters. I, as a priest, have been set apart for a specific role in this community. I preside at the table, I administer the sacraments, those visible symbols of God's invisible grace. So I bring the grace of God to you, to the people within the walls. But here's what Peter says very plainly in his epistle. You are all a royal priesthood, every single one of you. My role and your role are not competition, they are complementary. I bring the grace of God to you inside the church. You carry it out. Every grocery store conversation, every moment of patience with a difficult coworker, every time you sit with someone in their grief, that's priestly work. That's the grace of God moving through you into places I may never even reach. And this matters practically. The North, where we are, has a way of putting people in hard situations far from any priest, far from any church building, far from any obvious religious infrastructure. But it is never far away from you, and you carry the priesthood with you wherever you go. So I want to bring you a question now. Do you know that you're a priest? Not some vague motivational sense, but actually, do you know, do you understand that your ordinary week is in fact a sacred calling? Because if you do, it changes how you walk into Tuesday, into Wednesday, into Thursday morning. Think about that today. Think about your calling. Thank you for having joined us this morning. I hope you've enjoyed your time with us. Please feel free to use the text us link in the description. We'd love to hear from you. We'd love to know what's on your heart and how this message has spoken to you. And until tomorrow, may God be with you. In the name of the flower, the sun, and the holy spirit. Amen.