Introduction: Ministry in a Divided Society
Ruth Hutchinson

Comment: Conscientious Objector
Adam Turkington

From the Director
David Porter

Christian Perspectives on Reconciliation
Norman Taggart

Ministry in a divided society
1. Pastor John Dickinson
2. Priest Ken Clarke

The Laughing Minister
Graham Cheesman

Forgetting to Remember
Peter Stevenson

Ministry in a divided society
3. Prophet Derek Poole
4. Peacemaker David Porter

Review: A New Start
Heather Morris

< Past Issues Archive

MINISTRY IN A DIVIDED SOCIETY
Part 2: Ministry as Priest
It used to be said that the Holy Spirit was the neglected person of the Trinity. Today it can be said that the ministry of the church as priest is the forgotten ministry of the church. Other words are more frequently used to describe the actions and activities of the church.

What is in a word? In Northern Ireland during the last thirty years we have learned the pressing importance of language, association, and perception. In a politically correct age we are constantly reminded of the necessity of using acceptable phraseology. Particular words politically and theologically do matter. The word priest is such a word. It is consistently misunderstood. It is associated in the minds of many with the Roman Catholic Church or with the Anglo-Catholic Protestant tradition. It is used most often to define and describe an order of ministry that is sacramental in essence and sacerdotal in nature. Whilst we should take on board common public perceptions, it is more important that we study the teaching of Scripture and the vision of God. We need to re-visit the biblical understanding of the Christian leader as a priest, under the authority of Jesus Christ the perfect High Priest. With a little faith and much fear I propose to do that in this paper.

One of the challenges of this theme is that, apart from the detailed focus on Jesus the High Priest in the Book of Hebrews, there are very few references in the New Testament to the Church’s ministry as priest. All of them refer to the whole body of Christ and never to individual Christians or Christian leaders. In 1 Peter 2: 4,5,9 we find references which are highly instructive and significant.

‘As you come to him, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him, you also are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.'’

A Royal Priesthood

I believe we must re-discover the call of God to his people to be a royal priesthood. Too often such a divine intention for the church remains just that, an intention. Despite the emphasis in the Reformation on the priesthood of all believers this truth remains one of the least developed and applied in the church since then. Although issues relating to salvation were clarified, structures in the church solidified. In congregational life, 'the pastor' is still very much the ecclesiastical jack of all trades, the priest who is ‘in charge’. The accusation that the church is ‘priest-ridden’ can be levelled just as much against churches in the reformed tradition as against those in the catholic tradition. The pastor is the one who does the ‘spiritual’ work. The congregation watches, comments, criticises, or feels underused and frustrated. The most serious unemployment in the country is not to be discovered in the dole queues of government buildings but the in church pews of our ecclesiastical buildings! In many congregations the exciting vision of the whole church as the royal priesthood has become as rare as holy water in an Orange hall! The creation and perpetuation of a church caste system can be all too evident, and the unbiblical division between leaders and people persists. John Stott writes:

‘Theologically, the identification of the Christian presbyter with the Old Testament priest and the representation of the Eucharist as the Christian sacrifice, first clearly enunciated by Cyprian bishop of Carthage in the middle of the third century, carried with it the priest-people distinction which had existed indeed in the Old Testament but has been superseded in the New by the priesthood of all believers, that is, the priesthood of the whole church.’

We must take seriously the Biblical mandate for the whole church to be engaged in a royal priestly ministry in a church and world which have lost their sense of the holy and the sacred.

A Priest Declares

One of the privileges of my life has been the opportunity to visit growing churches in other parts of the world. I think of one congregation in Singapore. In 1990 membership was just over 1000. In 1995 the membership had grown to 2000. Mission teams are sent all over the world. The staff numbers approximately 60, only two of whom are ordained. The whole church is mobilised in ministry. Singapore is a racially divided society. Several major world religions are represented. Public evangelism on the streets is forbidden and yet the church is committed to declaring ‘the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light’. According to Peter (1 Peter 2:9), members of Christ’s royal priesthood are people who openly declare ‘the wonderful deeds of God’. The Greek word rendered ‘wonderful deeds’ can also mean ‘moral excellence’ or ‘manifestation of divine power’.

This vision of a priestly ministry of the whole church has profound implications in a divided society. It means that every Christian lives as a priest of God in their family. In a time when family is seen as unimportant and no longer relevant, the Christian family can be a powerful witness to the wonderful works of God. The family priesthood role will involve passing on the faith, teaching Christian values, praying and interceding for the other members of the family, and developing family devotions. What a contrast to so many families in our community which have been the delivery wards, seed beds, and nurseries of unchristian values and sectarian attitudes.

It also means that every Christian is functioning in their place of work as a representative of Jesus Christ. In daily conversations views are expressed. Attitudes are changed and opinions formed. Values are taught and caught. Rumours can be challenged and gossip squashed. Fears can be allayed and bridges are built and crossed. It will result in rebuke, misunderstanding, rejection and personal pain, but this echoes the experience of the great High Priest Jesus himself. Priests of Christ declare by their words and their lives the best way — God’s way.

According to Malachi ‘the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge and from his mouth men should seek instruction’. (Mal.2: 7) The teaching priest is one of the greatest needs of a fragmented, divided, rootless post-christian society. He is to be a messenger of the Lord. Isaiah speaks of one with ‘an instructed tongue’. In a society where rumour is more important than revelation and the pursuit of trivia is more important than the search for truth, a word from God is urgently needed. If the message of the church is to be relevant to society then it has to be a message of truth. Calvin Miller astutely observed:

‘If we are talking about relevance then we need to talk about truth. Truth is relevant. It speaks beyond felt needs to real needs. Teaching was never more important than it is today. The moral goal posts have shifted. The traditional foundations of our society no longer stand.’
(J Stowell, Shepherding the Church into the 21st Century, p. 24)

A Priest Serves

Throughout scripture service is one of the supreme works of the priest. The priest is called and anointed to serve. The Lord said to Aaron: ‘Only you and your sons may serve as priests …I am giving you the service of the priesthood as a gift.’ (Numbers 18:7)

Numerous references to priests include the verb ‘to serve’. In many senses the essence of priesthood is service. Jesus the High Priest came not to be served but to serve. Are we in danger in the church today of losing the sense of privilege in being a servant priest? Is selfishness rather than service my motivation for making choices? How many churches are impoverished when the primary reason for joining a congregation is summed up in the question, “What's in it for me?” The priestly calling is an antidote to self-centred thinking and selfish attitudes. Rediscovering a Christlike servant spirit can transform community relations, because we begin to think of giving rather than receiving, reaching out rather than drawing in.

The Focus of Service

Priests are called to serve and it is a service that lasts forever. This is why we have been called. ‘To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father.’ (Revelation 1:6) Inherent in priesthood is the fact that the Christian is engaged in royal service. Priesthood and kingship are inexorably linked. Priesthood is the service of the King of kings, the ultimate authority. No higher service is possible. Ultimately we are accountable to the King. One church leader, after his installation, said to the congregation, “I am here as your servant, but you are not my master.” His focus was absolutely right. Such focus is a powerful incentive to peaceful initiatives and courageous actions in a divided society. The kingly rule of God in the hearts and minds of our community is a daily passion.

A Priest Offers Sacrifices

In this same chapter Peter calls Christians to offer spiritual sacrifices which are acceptable to God. The history of the people of God is, to say the least, a chequered history. The hands of the priest offered sacrifices but motivation was not always in line with the heart of God. At other times sacrifices were only second best. Sometimes the sacrifices were totally meaningless and offensive to God.

‘The multitude of your sacrifices—what are they to me says the Lord. I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and of lambs and goats. Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you.’
Isaiah 1:11,13,15.

God now asks us to offer as a sacrifice:

our bodies Rom.12:1
our prayer, praise and penitence Rev.5:8; Heb.13:15; Ps.51:17
our gifts and good deeds Phil.4:18; Heb.13:16
our life laid down in God's service Phil.2:17; 2 Tim.4:6
our evangelism Rom.15:16

An acceptable offering involves crossing religious, traditional and cultural fences with the Good News. Paul, a Jew, reached out in priestly service to the Gentiles. His life was given in gospel ministry to both Jews and Gentiles, slave and free, and he earthed this in the phrase ‘priestly ministry’. (Rom.15: 16) This kind of offering disturbs those of us who live, move and have our being only within our own congregation, denomination, or religious tradition. It stretches our vision beyond the familiar to the searingly painful realities of a divided society. A mind-set that is exclusively racial, tribal, or one-sided is in danger of being as offensive to God as the offerings of the Old Testament priests once were. It is certainly not the mind or ministry of a royal priest. In priestly ministry the message is eternal and its scope is universal. All barriers are crossed in the name of the High Priest who died for the sins of the whole world. The great High Priest himself is revealed as one who is unique, trail blazing and distinctively different. He not only offers a sacrifice, he is the sacrifice. His priesthood is universal, cross-cultural, inter-generational and eternal. His sacrifice is unique and unrepeatable, but the results of His work we all enjoy. Jesus the High Priest is our model of priesthood. .

Archdeacon Ken Clarke - rector of St. Patrick's Parish Church, Coleraine. He is a member of the ECONI Steering Group