PODCAST

Poised for Purpose

December 1st, 2022

1 Peter 2:4-10

Israel was poised for purpose; they just didn’t know it. Having been liberated from the grasp of a tyrannical ruler, they were ushered to the edge of a mountain. There, it would have been easy to celebrate freedom as an end in and of itself.

Atop that mountain a different story is told.

On Mt. Sinai Moses discovers that freedom isn’t merely a “freedom from,” it is a “freedom for.” God carried out of Egypt a loosely affiliated collection of former slaves and nobodies to embody a unique purpose. They were to demonstrate God’s care for creation and mediate God’s presence to the world. They were to play a pivotal role in God’s restorative work.

Peter extends this calling as a “chosen nation and royal priesthood” to the Church. The Church wasn’t the invention of a new community but an extension of an old purpose. The Church was (and is) to demonstrate God’s intentions for the whole of creation. The Church is poised for purpose.

Author: Jeff Stark