Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. (1 Cor.4:1)

When St. Paul writes in I Corinthians: "let a man so account of us as the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God" and goes on to discuss ministry, many people assume he is speaking of the ordained clergy.

This idea is particularly pervasive in hierarchical churches like ours. The idea that ministry and stewardship are only the responsibility of those who put on a collar is the easy, convenient ( that is so say "lazy") manner in which congregations and individual Christians can evade responsibility for mission, ministry, and witness.

But the Old and New Testaments both affirm that all the people of God are called to be a "royal priesthood" a holy nation of kings and priests.

And while we absolutely believe that Christ ordained the three-fold ministry of deacon, priest (presbyter) and bishop, we also recognize that Holy Scripture affirms a "priesthood of all believers." This biblical is enshrined in the founding Declaration of Principles of the Reformed Episcopal Church.

Therefore, although there is a sacramental and custodial authority entrusted to those in Holy Orders, it is a false idea to teach that the work of the Church has been reserved to a small number of people, thus absolving the rest, of their duty to also be ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.

Since everything we have is a gift from God, and since we depend on the Lord's providential mercy and grace for our very existence, we cannot fill our responsibilities as Christians by obligation we are not allowed by employing others to be religious on our behalf.

Nor can any of us compartmentalize our lives in such a manner as to say that Sunday mornings from 10:30 a.m. until noon belong to God, but the rest of the time is my time to live as I please. Nor is it acceptable to publicly pay "lip service" to Christian ethics and morality on Sunday and then live according to the rules of "political correctness" or by an my will, not thy will be done attitude the rest of the time.

As Christians, we are to live our lives as ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. We do this, not to prove to God that we are "good", but as a response to his love for us as personified in Christ.;

St. Peter writes in I Peter 2:9: "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light"

In the Book of Revelation, St. John states this idea in Chapter 1: verse 5-6:

Unto him [Jesus Christ] that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen (Revelation 1:5-6).

We are thus to live our lives as though we believe that we have been made a nation of kings and priests so that others might see the glory of God reflected in us.

Scripture also affirms that we "have been purchased at a price" and that in Christ, as affirmed at our baptism, we have died to sin and been "born again" unto righteousness.

Thus, as the redeemed, we are not "the same old thing". We have been made a new creation in Christ, washed in the Blood of the Lamb. Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God made man is our example in all things. As we prepare for His coming this Advent season, it is important to remember that the Son of God condescended to become a man for our sake. The Son of God told on our humanity, including death itself out of love for us. The Son of God came into the world to fully show us what God is like, but also to demonstrate to us the cost of sin and rebellion by being lashed and tortured on the cross. Then to prove that God's love is eternal and that there is a victory beyond death, He was raised from the dead on the third day.

But having been washed in the Blood of the Lamb of God, we are called to a higher purpose than just that of conforming to the standards of the world. We are not perfect, but we are redeemed in the blood of Christ and purchased from the bondage of sin and made members of the household of God.

We thus have been offered a new God-given new purpose for living-living to the glory of God. That is what it means to be a "nation of priests and kings" in the service of his Father, assisted by the Holy Ghost who dwells within us, to the glory of God the Blessed Trinity for ever and ever.

Finally, let us look at the "Amen" that concludes St. John's summary of praise and purpose. We say "Amen" so often, we may forget what it really means. The tradition of ending prayers with "Amen" comes from Judaism. The word means "so be it", meaning what has been said is being affirmed by the person saying "amen." St. John was, like all the Apostles, a Jew, and adding "Amen" to a statement was a Jew's manner of making a prayer a binding oath. That is the reason we say "Amen" at the end of our prayers.

Now let us look further at what it means to say that we are all "kings and priests". No one would ever say that every Jew or every Christian in the Bible was literally holding office as a priest or king. In the Old Testament Church, Israel had kings, and had priests, but only a few held those offices. The offices of king and priest in the Old Testament were representative, with certain men representing the people to God and God to the people.

In a like manner, the offices held by men in Holy Orders are also representative in nature.

We expect our clergy to be godly men, we expect them to preach God's true Word to us, to faithfully administer the Sacraments, and to lead us in our prayers.

But that doesn't alleviate our responsibility to personally read and study the Bible, to say our prayers, to do good works in the name of Christ and to minister to others. We are all equally the children of God by adoption and grace, and as such we are all members of a single kingly and priestly family of God, in the Body of Jesus Christ, His Church. What does it mean to be part of the Body of Christ? It is St. Paul who gives us the proper understanding of this teaching in Romans 12: 4-8

"For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness."

Or in I Corinthians 12: 12-23

"For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour…"

The late Fr. Lou Tarsitano, preaching on this passage wrote:

"Every part of a human body (every organ, eye, ear, arm, leg, hand, foot) shares with every other member a single life, even though every member has a different job in the body. Eyes, for example, are used to see things, and not to hear or handle them. The same is true of the Body of Christ, where each of us has his or her own vocation, his or her own purpose, in the one life of Jesus Christ. What is also true, is that whatever our particular calling and God-given purpose in life, we are all engaged in being the ministers of Christ and the stewards of the mysteries of God"¹

The word St. Paul uses for "minister" is a Greek word that means "an under-rower" in a galley, an oared ship like the one that Ben Hur rowed in the movie. The Greeks extended the use of this word to mean anyone who serves another by getting his hands dirty. The word finally takes on the meaning that St. Paul is stressing-someone who acts as the hands of another to carry out his will, in this case, the hands that carry out the will of God on earth."

Stewardship is the proper use and preservation something entrusted to us, but which does not belong to us. The Church, its life and sacraments, the witness of Scripture, the moral authority of the law, are ours to use, but they do not belong to us. We are merely the custodians of the inherited wisdom of the Church with which we are to "minister" (act on behalf of God) to carry out his will in the world.

The Church needs its deacons, priests and bishops, but it also needs every one of you and your God-given talents as ministers and stewards if it is to accomplish its mission.

If we properly utilize the tools the Lord has provided us, in the offering of our time, treasure and talents as part of the household of God, we can all exercise our kingly and priestly role in whatever office we hold in the Church and be good ministers and stewards of the mysteries of God for the building up of his kingdom.

Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.