Priestly Privilege

            It struck me in today’s reading (Lev. 7-9) that Aaron and his priestly sons received portions of a lot of the sacrifices offered in the tabernacle.  They, and they alone, were allowed to eat them.  There is the exception of the peace offering, which formed the basis for a communal meal.  That makes sense, because it was intended to establish what we know as the “communion” effect of the Lord’s Supper, that is, the peace offering was intended to establish peace with fellow members of the people of Israel and with God.

            Now, these two things got me thinking about the Lord’s Supper.  I wonder what Jesus had in mind when He established it?  I think we’re probably supposed to think two things.  First, the Lord’s Supper pretty clearly brings forward the OT peace/fellowship offering.  Paul calls it a ‘participation/fellowship’ in the body and blood (1 Cor. 10:16), and he talks about the Lord’s Supper in a way that takes seriously that eating the Body forms us as ‘the body’ of Christ.  So, it’s a communion in the sense that just as we are united with the Body and Blood of Christ, we are also unified with one another at the altar in the mystical body of Christ.

            A second thought occurs to me, too.  Under the Mosaic covenant, only the priests were allowed to eat the majority of the sacrifices.  Now, in the New Testament, all Christians are called priests and kings.  So, I wonder if this is in the background of the Lord’s Supper, too, that, once, this sort of holy-making meal was the privilege of only the few, but, now, it is the privilege of all of God’s people—declared holy through faith in Jesus and maintained in their priestly holiness through their participation in the Lord’s Supper.

—Updated from, 2/1/2001

            On an unrelated note, I was thinking about the extravagance of the ordination of Aaron and his sons.  When I was in seminary, we had chapel every day with a sermon, and a lot of those sermons dealt with the Office of the Ministry, the Office that pastors hold.  As a result I was in the habit of preaching about the about the Office of the Ministry—a lot—when I was first ordained.  Further, when I was ordained, it was a big deal for me, for my family, and for my home congregation; and each time I’ve been installed, it’s been a big deal.  Yet as the years have passed, I’ve become more and more reluctant to preach about the Office that I am blessed to hold because it seems so self-serving, so ‘uppity.’  Preaching about the Office I hold seems like pointing at myself and saying, “Listen to me!  I’m important!”

            Perhaps the extravagance of Aaron’s ordination is a moment to reflect that some times are appropriate to extol the Office.  Certainly, the Lord celebrated Aaron’s ministry, and, as we’ll read tomorrow, it’s not because Aaron and his sons were so great or so worthy.  The celebration is because the priesthood of Aaron was the means by which the Lord distributed His forgiveness and grace to Israel.  In the same way, to preach about the Office is not to extol a man; it is to point to the fact that the Lord still does things the same way.  We are all priests before God.  Jesus has granted us free access to the Father by forgiving our sins and pouring out His Holy Spirit on us.  But still even among this priestly people, God calls some men to an Office, a service, through which He announces His Words and distributes His grace.  On the basis, that those who hold God’s Offices are servants of the Lord and the agents through which He makes His salvation known, it is appropriate sometimes to preach and to teach about the Pastoral Ministry.