What a Pastor [Easter 7]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE

 READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Ezekiel 36:22-28

• 1 Peter 4:7-11

• St. John 15:26-16:4

Grace, mercy, and peace [are yours] from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. (1 Tim 1)
 
Who speaks to you today, from His Gospel heard in His Service, saying: 
“And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.”
 
On this Sunday after Christ’s Ascension to the Right Hand of God, we have Jesus teaching about the Office of the Holy Ministry. In one of the signs of Christ's church on earth, Jesus gives the ordaining of pastors, gives them their marching orders, and sends them off with a “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours” from St. John 15:19-20.
 
For bearing witness to Jesus is not a simple thing. The word “witness” in Greek is martyr. At the start, it is the Apostles who will be the martyrs and will be persecuted. But what then? After the Apostles fulfill Jesus's Word by being killed, is that it for the Church on Earth or is there a continuation?
 
Jesus founded a Church and He has sent men to pastor it. So what is a Pastor and what is Ordination?
 
The first question is not as easy as you may think. Defining a pastor can be as simple as “someone who leads a church”. However, the hard part comes when you try to define the words “lead” and “church”. It is at that point that Christians shatter into a million denominations, sadly enough, being tricked into believing that a good leader is charismatic and popular and that a church is just a self-help rally.
 
Beginning at the beginning, the Apostles ordained pastors to shepherd the Church after them. they did not cater to their own egos and teach that “no one could fill their shoes so good luck picking someone”. 
 
Acts 14:23 tells us, “And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.”
 
St. Paul directs St. Titus, “This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you” (1:5). 
 
And 1 Peter 5:1-4:  “So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”
 
Also from Acts 20:28:  “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.”
 
These verses set forth three of the terms Scripture uses to describe the work of the office of pastor: elder, overseer, and shepherd.  (Pastor in Latin means “shepherd.”)  Pastors are to shepherd God’s flock with His Word and Sacraments, and be regarded “as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God” (1 Cor 4:1).
 
The Church did not make up the Office of Pastor and neither did I. These “under-shepherds” also are not to be “leaders” or “in charge”. Christ is in charge. What happens between Pastor and congregation, then, is not leadership, but familial relationship. Thus pastors are called “fathers” as St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4:15, “For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”
 
So we have this Pastor, but now what? He must be Called and Ordained. Hebrews 5:4 says, “And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was.”
 
We teach that no one should publicly teach or preach or administer the sacraments in the church without a call issued in a regular and orderly way, says our Confessions (AC XIV). This refers to the structure and setup of the church, how its work should be carried out in an orderly way. Because, let’s face it, the phrase “called by God” has been used and abused an hundred times over.
 
In order to prevent just anybody from stepping into Christ’s Office of the Holy Ministry, the Church then takes over as best She can by educating, examining, calling , and ordaining. This is the way the Church has decided to interpret the “call from God” by educating, examining, calling, and ordaining men for the Office.
 
Even St. Paul, who was Called by the Risen Lord Himself, did not begin his witness immediately, but listened and learned for three years first. After that, he made his way to St. Peter in Jerusalem and was examined by him for 15 days (Gal 1:17-18). 
 
The Church’s educating and examining come from the Apostles’ doctrine and is passed down through the laying on of hands, prayer, and the Word of God. Because it is connected with the Word of God and prayer, ordination surely imparts divine blessing. But ordination does not bestow a special power on the one ordained which is not given to others in the church; nor does the efficacy of the means of grace depend on ordination, as others claim. The Word of God is effective with or without the rite of ordination.
 
The office of the holy ministry comes from God, through the church. Pastors are not superior to the members of the church. The ministry is not a difference of level or power, but of Office. When called ministers deal with us by Christ’s command - that is, when they teach, admonish, and comfort us with the Word of God, then we should receive their instruction, admonition, and comfort as though God spoke to us Himself.
 
The purpose of the office of the ministry is for the public administration of the means of grace for the purpose of saving souls. We have been given the Gospel (which is to be preached) and the sacraments (which are to be administered) in order to make disciples of Christ and teach them to observe what He has commanded (Matthew 28:19-20), to edify the church of God (Ephesians 4:12), and to save lost souls (1 Timothy 4:16).
 
The authority of the public ministry comes from God and the power is found in His holy Word alone, not in those who minister the Word! Yet the way we keep the Word publicly preached among us is completely church custom. 
 
Yes we have biblical support for what we do, but we could just as easily sit around and draw straws to see who God chooses to be pastor next. We don’t do that for the same reason that we don’t spend Sunday mornings in silence, waiting for God to speak to us.
 
God has spoken and continues to speak to us in His Word. God has sent His Apostles to preach, teach, and be martyrs. And God has created His Church to continue to Call and Ordain men to do the same. The Helper Who proceeds from the Father and the Son bears witness of Christ. And when we hear of Christ and His Work to purchase and win salvation for us, this is the Apostolic Church and this is God’s man whom He has sent to us.
 
 
Alleluia!  Christ is Risen!