‘Remember whose you are’: Bishop Lester Priebbenow
Sermon
Vic/Tas Bishop Lester Priebbenow
Worship, Saturday 6 October 2018
Text: Exodus 19:1-6
EXTRACT
Of course, there are – and will be – many times when, like the Israelites, we forget that we are God’s treasured possession, or fail to act according to the new nature God gives us in baptism. There are many times when we are tempted to follow our own desires and worship the gods of the world around us; and times when we all too easily fall prey to that temptation.
Even at those times, God seeks to draw us back to himself, saying, “Remember what I’ve done for you in Christ! Remember who you are and whose you are in Christ! Receive my gifts of repentance and faith in my forgiving love, so that you may have my freedom and a future as my treasured possession forever.”
So, as we camp in our own desert places, as we see the imposing mountains that lie ahead of us, as we ask the “Why are we here, where are you taking us, and what next,” questions in our lives, let us not forget that God has graciously rescued us in our own baptismal exodus. Let us remember who we are and whose we are, in Christ. Let us live as his own treasured possession, in the gifts of his holiness and his righteousness as we journey toward our new Promised Land, in Christ.
Read the full text of Bishop Priebbenow’s sermon.
