Text: Hebrews 4:14–16
Topic: Christ, our High Priest

• Anyone who ministers in the name of the Lord is a priest.
• Being a priest is an awesome responsibility.

• In the Old Testament, high priests were born, not made.
  • Illustration: While doing research for his book on burnout among clergy, Willimon found that many could not handle the pressure of being so special.
  • Illustration: Charles Merrill Smith wrote a popular satire on the life of clergy called How to Be a Bishop Without Being Religious.
• The priest must be holy because he holds us up before the throne of God.

• How superior may a priest be before he or she becomes distant?
  • Illustration: Willimon recounts many scenarios in which he found it difficult to relate to the people he was counseling.

• Jesus has passed through the heavens—but not before he walked upon and suffered through this earth.
• There is absolutely no temptation with which you wrestle and no pain you bear that Jesus has not experienced.
• God's idea of holiness is precisely in his daring to be so close.

• Illustration: Willimon visited a woman in the throes of death who, while clutching a crucifix, told him she already had a Priest.

For the full text of this sermon, go to "You Need a Good Priest."