Are you special? According to Lake Wobegone’s Garrison Keillor, if you were raised Lutheran you were taught, “Don’t think you’re something special because you’re not.” While humility is an excellent virtue, it’s not the whole story. We read in Scripture: “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). We’re special because we have been called by God to be a royal priesthood. Notice that it is the call of God that makes us special, not our own efforts. There is, however, an expected response to the call of God. We are to “proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” The mighty act we are to tell people about is Jesus’ resurrection.

How often do we talk about Jesus raised from the dead? If you were asked to tell someone about our church would you talk about how friendly it is or how many activities there are or how uplifting the worship is? Those are good things, but not the most important thing. The first thing we ought to be telling people is that we are a community called by God to share the message, “Christ is risen.” You are special, and you have a special message to proclaim. Christ is risen. Christ is risen indeed.

Read 1 Peter 2:1-9, and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne