Who Are We? A Holy Nation 1st Peter 2:9,10 (Wednesday Night Reflection)



We have been seeking over the past few weeks to recapture our identity in God as an effort to answer how understanding that identity would effect our response to the events of this world.  We have done this basing our understanding on 1st Peter 2: 9,10.  As I began considering this series on “Who Are We,” one of the first things that stood out was the phrase “a holy nation.”  Why?  Well, it is because I cannot begin to tell you the number of times I have heard conversations or been part of conversations relating to our nation being “a Christian Nation.”  Discussions about prayer in schools—how dare they get rid of it, we are a Christian nation.  The removing of the Ten Commandments from courthouses—how dare they discuss that, we are a Christian nation.  The removal of the Christian Flag and the kneeling soldier monument in King, NC—what are they thinking, we are a Christian nation. The question of whether or not a football coach can take a knee by himself at the end of a ballgame, how dare they violate his first amendment rights; we are a Christian nation after all. If it is not one issue it is another, whether it is the perception of Christian freedoms being taken away, or the allowed observance of other religions practices.  This sermon is not about whether or not the United States ever has been, is, or will be a Christian nation—the original intent or our Founding Fathers or not…because Peter was not writing about the United States when he offered this description of who we, as Christians are to be.  In fact, as Peter wrote, “But you are…a holy nation…”, was not writing about any geographically bound region—remember, this letter was being written to a group of Christians that were scattered about Asia Minor.  This means that Peter is talking about something that extends far beyond a politically governed territory.  Reviewing where we have been the last couple of weeks should help us get a grasp of what Peter was thinking.
We began by considering that we are a chosen race.  We learned that this has nothing to do with the color of our skin, the color of our hair, the color of our eyes, the language we speak, or any other aspect of our ethnicity.  It has to do with being chosen by God, called into a relationship with Christ.  It has to do with being loved by God, being valued by God, and having a God-given purpose in life—the purpose of leading all the world to that day when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Last week we considered that we are a royal priesthood.  We remember that through Christ we all have access to God the Father…and that we, like the priests of the Old Testament, and like the High Priest of High Priests, Jesus Christ Himself, are called to stand in the gap between God and those who are far from God.  We are called to be mediators of forgiveness, possibly even to those who do not realize they need forgiveness.  We are to be mediators of God’s blessings, pronouncing God’s providential care and love, and making it real in meeting the needs of those who are in the world.  And finally, as has always been connected with the role of priests, there is sacrifice—though we are not called to sacrifice livestock and produce, Christ put an end to that in the giving of His own life, but like Christ, in our role as priests in the line of the King of Kings, our sacrifice is like that of Jesus, that of our own lives.
So what does it mean, then, that we are also to be a holy nation? 
For that matter, what does it mean to be holy?
To be “holy” means to be set apart.  It means to be different.  It means to be Christ-like.
We are called to be different.
God loves and accepts us right where we are when we encounter Him (He doesn’t encounter us, for He has knowns us since before time began).  Covered and bound by sin, God loved us enough to enter into our world through Jesus.  We find forgiveness through the blood of Christ as God realizes that we could never atone for our sins on our own.  Washed in the blood of Jesus we are seen by God, not in our sins, but in light of the righteousness of Christ.
However, God loves us to much to leave us as sinful, but forgiven wretches…He desires that we become transformed into something beautiful.  He desires that we leave the sin behind and find our lives changed, truly changed, different than they were before, different from the world around us.
Too often we make excuses.  We claim that we are “only human.”  We claim we are just wired this way.  We claim that “only Jesus was perfect.”  We claim that “this is just how God made us.” 
We forget that God created us “human” and prior to the fall, there was no sin within us…that our original design was to be perfect.  We forget that from Leviticus to Peter we hear God’s declaration “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”[i]  We repeatedly hear Paul talk about it telling folks to cast off the ways of the flesh and to be clothed in Christ—reminding us that there is a transformation that takes place as we come into a relationship with God.  Will we be made perfect this side of the grave, we don’t know—most of us continue to struggle, but we are not to give up…we are to constantly strive to be holy…John Wesley called this striving for perfection, seeking to grow in sanctification and be made perfect in love..
Some of us want to throw our hands up and say, “I can’t. I can’t be holy.  I can’t do it.”  And the truth of the matter is, that is right.  We can’t.  None of us can.  On our own.  However, as God pours His Holy Spirit out upon us, we are given the strength, His strength, to become something new, something different, something holy.
Why are we called to be holy?  We are we called to be different?
Because this world needs us to be.  This world, as a result of sin, finds itself in growing darkness and in disparate need of something bright, something different, something holy.  .  God calls us to be holy in order to be the light that is needed in this darkness…in a world filled with hate, we are called to be love; in a world filled with violence, we are called to be peace; in a world filled with fear, we are called to be hope and courage; in a world filled with vengeance, we are called to be forgiveness; in a world filled with selfishness, we are called to be selfless and self-sacrificing. If we are no different than the world, if we hold onto our sin instead of being transformed, then we only add to the darkness, we become like the clouds darkening the skies, or like the moon eclipsing the sun, casting a shadow over everything.  However, if we surrender to the movement of God’s Spirit within us, we will find ourselves changed, transformed, from darkness into light.  We find ourselves becoming a lamp on a lampstand, a city on a hill, the light of the world.
However, this transformation is not simply about each of our individual lives.  It is about our life together.  We are reminded that we are a holy nation.  We as a holy nation, the Church, are called to be different.  We are called to be holy as a gathered people, transformed by the same Holy Spirit. 
Too often we lament the church’s falling away…that attendance and membership are in decline…and study after study reveals that many who have left the church or who refuse to come are because they don’t see anything special about it…they don’t see it as being any different than the world around them.  They encounter churches where petty arguing and unforgiveness are the rule of the day, where folks won’t talk to other folks, but will gladly talk about them.  They encounter churches where outsiders aren’t welcomed, where differences are highlighted and ridiculed, where prejudice and hatred are practiced.  They encounter judgment and condemnation.  When that is the case, is it any wonder that we find more folks outside the church than inside—for if we are no different in here than the world is out there, why come?  We aren’t to be about reflecting the worlds sins, but offering the life-giving, hope filled, transforming grace of God, reminding those in the world that there is something more and different than what they encounter every day.
We are called to be different.  We are called to be set apart.  We are called to be transformed from the world and it’s thinking.  We are called to be the holy, as individuals, and as a gathered people, the holy nation that God through Peter, declares us to be.  We are called together as citizens, not of the Harkers Island, not of the North Carolina, not of the United States, but as citizens, first and foremost, above everything else, of the Kingdom of Light, the Kingdom of God.  It means that while we might live in the world, we are not of this world.  The allegiance we pledge is to Christ above all else.  To be a holy nation means that we live under the rule of our King…the King of kings—and that it is His reign that we proclaim; His grace we offer, His love we share…offering to the world what it cannot find on its own.
Who are we…a chosen race…a royal priesthood…a holy nation…
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…Amen.




[i] 1st Peter 1:15-16 connecting to Leviticus 11:44

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