On Reformation Sunday, we often celebrate the gift of having direct access to God. This truth is often talked about as a cornerstone of Evangelical Lutheran theology known as the priesthood of all believers. But this gift of priesthood does not mean we are self-sufficient or faith becomes a solo endeavor.
When we consider Jeremiah’s promise of a coming “new covenant” — a day when everyone will fully know God and never need reminding — we may quickly recognize that we are not there yet. We still forget. We still doubt. We still need one another to proclaim God’s love and forgiveness.
The foretold New Covenant in Jeremiah is not the same new covenant that is given to us in Jesus. In Jesus Christ, we live in the in-between time; the new covenant has begun, but it has not been completed. In Jesus' new covenant, he establishes a Church in which all baptized people are priests ushering in the Kingdom by:
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speaking hope where it’s forgotten
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naming the holy in ordinary places
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praying for those who can’t
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blessing and caring in concrete ways
In the new covenant of Jesus (and in the Reformation's recovery of the clear gospel message), the role of mediators (of priests) is not abolished. It is multiplied! So too, the reformation is not a moment in history or an institutional phenomenon. It is the multiplication of witnesses now set free to be mediators and priests for a world hungry for the good news of Jesus Christ.
