DECLARE HIS PRAISES! 1 Peter 2:9

God wills that His people preach, speak, and live according to His message of salvation. When Jesus left this earth, He commissioned His people, beginning with the apostles and disciples, to take His message to the ends of the earth. God’s kingdom of priests, His chosen, holy people, the clan which He bought with His precious blood serves as His ambassadors and evangelists.

Declare His praises.

The praise of God is His plan, execution, and distribution of salvation. When the time was right, He sent His one and only Son, to be the Savior of all people. The perfect life of Jesus, His agony on the cross and the empty tomb, which has taken away the sin of the world, are given to us unworthy folk through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Comforter uses Law to condemn our hearts and lead to repentance. The Gospel in Word and Sacraments—His chief tool—brings comfort to undeserving sinners like us, keeping us in the faith, and bringing us to our eternal hope.

Peter wrote to people who were going to endure afflictions. This did not diminish their joy in Christ’s salvation or their desire to share it. Peter spoke, preached, and shared the message about the risen Savior. The resurrection of our Lord is an inheritance that does not fade away, a pledge of our bodily resurrection to come. Since our time here on earth is limited, today is the day to speak.

The love of Christ compels us to speak and shapes us into His evangelists. The Spirit poured this love into our hearts and gives us the ability to love others. The Christian conduct and behavior we display testify to the faith that abides in our heart.

Declare His praise as living stones

Jesus Christ is the precious living Stone: the foundation, head, and cornerstone of the His Church. Through faith in Him, we are set in place on that foundation as living stones.

Peter writes to those who trust in this Stone, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God” (1Peter 2:9). All who believe in Jesus constitute one holy, special people. Christians are united by their faith into one priesthood, one nation and people. We Christians exercise our royal priesthood individually by personally telling others about our Savior, and we exercise it jointly with other like-minded Christians by establishing, maintaining, and supporting the public ministry in our congregations and in our Synod. When we exercise our priesthood in this way, whether individually or jointly, we are proclaiming God’s praises. We are functioning as royal priests to the glory of God.

Remember that we were once lost and condemned creatures. We have become the people of God, born not by the will of a man, but of God. God brought about this great reconciliation by sending His one Son through His people Israel. Furthermore, we Gentiles were always included in His mercy.

Our Mission Strategies:

Go and Tell…Come and See

As the people of God we are gathered to be taught and are scattered to tell the message. We open our church doors to all, inviting them to come and see. The general truths that permeate the “go and tell” and “come and see” strategies are these: 1) identity and 2) working with a sense of urgency.

1) Identity: The Book of Acts announces to us that we are His witnesses. Congregation members need to ask themselves Why are we here? What are we to do? Do our members realize the mission of the church and own the mission of the church?

2) Working with a sense of urgency: Today is a day of grace. Is there a sense of urgency among us to proclaim God’s praise to a neighbor, friend, relative, and stranger? Now is the accepted time, the day of salvation. People are dying and we have the message of life for them.

Go and Tell

Congregations should be encouraging their members in their every-day vocations to have spiritual conversations in the work place, or the park, or at children’s sports events, or in school. Who are the people in your life? Perhaps we see as many as thirty different people every day. How much purposeful time do we spend with others who do not know Christ, or who know him incompletely? About 65% of people who visit church for the first time do so because someone extended to them a personal invitation.

Come and See—getting our “house” in order

For most of our congregations, the number one entry point for the guest, visitor, and unchurched person is the Sunday morning worship service. We have one chance to make a first impression. How are we doing with our preaching and teaching and with extending our tender care and concern to visitors?

Once God has placed us where we may be His mouthpiece, what shall we say? Congregations are to be a training ground in the art of speaking the faith. Teach the art of having spiritual conversations and practice them as a part of our daily life and devotion. The Holy Spirit teaches us the art of spiritual dialog through Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman (John 4).

The Law and the Gospel are for preaching, telling, speaking, sharing, singing, and teaching. This proclamation of the Word and the faith it generates rescues lost sinners and causes them to declare His praise. While evangelists do not need an organized program to tell about Christ, they do need the support, encouragement, mentoring, training, and prayers of others to help them along the evangelism road.

Doing “the work of an evangelist” is a God-given responsibility that concerns more individuals than just the pastor. Not only are we to be faithful in our various vocations, but, within that context, we are to speak the good news of salvation through faith in Christ.

Conclusion

Evangelism is hard work, for Satan opposes it. Wielding the two edged sword of the Word, speaking Law and Gospel to a world that has forsaken long standing truths and foundations, leaves us wondering how effective our witness may or may not be.

You have an identity that makes you something special in this world. You are a chosen one of God, claimed by Him as His very dear possession, made holy by Him through Christ; you are the priest of a King.

As His priests it is our privilege and joy to proclaim God’s praises here on earth. It is our greatest delight to thank Him for His grace and mercy and to tell others of His wonderful deeds, namely, that Christ has swallowed up death, devoured hell, overcome the devil, and opened the gates to Paradise for all. What we believe about Jesus is what the world needs. Declare His praises.

Erwin Ekhoff is pastor of King of Grace Lutheran Church in Golden Valley, Minnesota and chairman of the ELS Board for Home Missions. This article excerpted from the Synod Convention essay by the editor.