What is the church? In our New Testament lesson this week, St. Peter gives us a straight answer. He calls the family of God "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation."  (1 Peter 2:9)

The language of the reading is replete with undertones of the call of Abraham. God chooses one man to produce a people of God's own possession in order that He might "bless the nations." Israel is to be a vehicle for God's mercy not just internally, but externally. Said differently, Israel doesn't exist for its own benefit, but for the benefit of planet Earth.

By being grafted into the True Israelite, Jesus, the church carries out this same mission. This is what it means to be elect, to be "chosen." We aren't chosen for our sake, but for the sake of others. No one has helped me understand this reality more than the former Bishop of South India, Lesslie Newbigin:

“To be elect in Christ Jesus means to be incorporated into his mission to the world, to be the bearer of God’s saving purpose for his whole world, to be the sign and the agent and the firstfruit of his blessed kingdom which is for all.”

It's providential that the lectionary has us consider 1 Peter 2 following a healing service. I have heard story after story of how God met All Saints last week in signs and wonders. The blessings that flowed from God's hand were immense. This week we will be called to remember the basic logic of the gospel: We are blessed in order to bless. We are forgiven that we might forgive. We are healed that we might heal.

None of us are meant to live as cul-de-sacs of God's grace, but as living streams of life that bless the nations. This is what it means to be a royal priesthood. The church is that society of missionaries that exists for the life of the world. We take the bread that we've found at the altar and offer it to a hungry world.