Malachi 2:7 “”For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, and from his mouth men should seek instruction–because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty.”

This is a very sobering verse to anyone in pastoral ministry, but under the New Covenant it actually applies to every believer. As Peter famously wrote, “But 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.” (1 Peter 2:9) John reiterated that in the introduction to his record of what God showed him about End Times: “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–to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.” (Revelation 1:5-6) This is the foundation of that famous doctrine of the Protestant Reformation, the Priesthood of the Believer. Most Protestant churches, even, only give that lip service, but the Biblical foundation is secure. There are indeed different gifts, different offices in the Church, but in the place where Paul famously lays out the “5-fold Ministry,” he makes it clear that those designated individuals are to enable the believers to do the “work of ministry.” “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:11-13) So, all of that means that our starting verse applies to everyone who is in Christ Jesus. A lot of people run from that! We have a lot of trouble seeing ourselves as a “messenger of the Lord Almighty!” The flip side of that is those who do see themselves as that and get all puffed up, and that can be tragic.

Of course this applies to me any way you cut it, because I have been in pastoral ministry since 1978. It is particularly applicable since I have a gift for words, as has been noted from my youth, and it can be hard to get me to shut up! Part of that is my Teacher gifting. As Don and Katie Fortune noted, someone with that gifting tends to be like a walking encyclopedia; ask a question and you get more than you really wanted to know. I am very grateful that, given that gifting, I was raised by a man who held Absolute Honesty as one of his guiding principles. Otherwise, there’s no telling what I might be spouting off! With all of my words, spoken or written, I need to be very aware that I am indeed a messenger of the Lord Almighty, not because I am special but because He is. I am to speak only what He says, expressing His truth in His love, and never think that my personal opinion or desire takes precedence over His. If I will do that, then His Word will indeed pour through me to accomplish that for which He sends it. (Isaiah 55:10-11)

Father, thank You for Your incredible grace toward me. Help me encourage others to believe that same grace is available to them, whatever form it might take. I pray that every believer in this church would indeed realize that they are Your messenger to the people around them, not because they are special but because the people around them need to hear from You, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!