Introduction: Issues of Ministry

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Introduction Issues of Ministry
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Introduction Issues of Ministry

• What is the pastors "real" job in the parish
  theologian, counselor, or administrator?
• Is he the minister or merely the "coach" who
  trains the real ministers in the congregation?

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Introduction Issues of Ministry

• What is the relationship between the priesthood
  of all believers and the Office of the Public
  Ministry?
• Where is his office "located" in relationship to
  God, the larger church, other offices in the
  congregation, other ministries in the
  congregation, and even in relationship to
  himself?

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Introduction Issues of Ministry

• What we will do for today
• Look at the offices of apostle, elder, and
  overseer in Scripture.
• Explore the Lutheran tradition of the pastoral
  office
• Luther
• the Lutheran Confessions
• historical developments in 19th Century
  Lutheranism

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Ministry in the Holy Scriptures

• Jesus and the Apostles
• Overseers and Elders
• Duties of the Pastor Shepherd and Steward

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Jesus and the Apostles

• Ministry is under authority
• Jesus under the authority of the Father Matthew
  99-10 John 334 John 536
• The apostles under the authority of Jesus Luke
  91-6 Luke 1016

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Jesus and the Apostles

• What exactly is an apostle?
• Literally, the word apostello means "one sent
  with a message."
• Classical Greek apostello referred to an envoy
  sent by a king as his personal representative
  with his full authority.

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Jesus and the Apostles

• New Testament one divinely authorized to speak
  for God.
• Narrow sense a person chosen by Jesus as his
  personal representative.
• The apostolic office is unique because their call
  from Jesus to be his apostles was direct and
  immediate.
• The office of apostle was unique in the church's
  history and does not continue today.

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Jesus and the Apostles

• Narrow sense a person chosen by Jesus as his
  personal representative.
• The Office of the Public Ministry is built upon
  the work of the apostles and is a kind of
  continuation of that office in the current era.
• Pastors are still "sent with a message" via the
  Call.
• As long as the pastor speaks the Word of God, he
  is to be accorded the honor given to Christ

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The Continuing Ministry Overseers and Elders

• Two Words
• One Office
• Commanded By God

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The Continuing Ministry Overseers and Elders

• Two Words
• Overseer (Episcopos)
• A Gentile term.
• An episcopos was a government official who had
  certain duties of oversight.
• This term was then adapted by Paul and applied to
  elders of the church as the ones who had
  "oversight" of the congregation's ministry.

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The Continuing Ministry Overseers and Elders

• Two Words
• Elder (presbyteros)
• A Jewish term.
• Elders are mentioned as early as the Exodus where
  they received the Mosaic Law.
• In Deuteronomy, the elders are accorded clearly
  defined legal powers (Deut. 1911-13, 211-9
  2213-21).

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The Continuing Ministry Overseers and Elders

• One office
• Acts 20 Paul summons the presbyteroi of the
  church in Ephesus and reminds them that the Holy
  Spirit has made them episcopoi in the church.

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The Continuing Ministry Overseers and Elders

• One office
• In Titus 1, Paul lists the qualifications of a
  presbyteros (v. 6) and then changes the word to
  episcopos (v. 7). This is the same word that he
  uses in 1 Timothy 31-7.

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The Continuing Ministry Overseers and Elders

• Overseers and Elders Commanded by God
• Ephesians 420 "pastors and teachers" are gifts
  of God to his church.
• Acts 2028, Paul commands the Elders in Ephesus
  to "keep watch over . . . the flock of which the
  Holy Spirit has made you overseers."

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The Continuing Ministry Overseers and Elders

• Overseers and Elders Commanded by God
• Titus 15 "that you might amend what was
  defective and appoint elders in every town"
  (Titus 15).

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Duties of the Pastor Shepherd and Steward

• 1 Peter 51-4 Shepherd the flock
• The Lord is the Shepherd
• Psalm 68, Psalm 23, and Isaiah 40 The LORD is
  the Shepherd of His sheep.
• Jeremiah 23 the Lord accuses the rulers of
  Israel of being unfaithful shepherds and declares
  that he himself will be their shepherd.
• John 10 Jesus declares himself to be the Good
  Shepherd

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Duties of the Pastor Shepherd and Steward

• The pastor is not so much shepherd as
  under-shepherd.
• Protects his flock from dangers outside and
  inside the church (Acts 2030-31)
• Leads his flock by example 1 Peter 53 1 Tim.
  412 "Set the believers an example.

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Duties of the Pastor Shepherd and Steward

• The shepherd must have the conviction that God
  has indeed called him to do the Lord's work in a
  certain area.
• The shepherd serves, he does not coerce

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Duties of the Pastor Shepherd and Steward

• 1 Corinthians 41 Pastors are "stewards of the
  mysteries of God"
• A steward is one who administers the affairs of
  the house.
• As steward, the pastor to administer the
  congregation in such a way that God's plan of
  salvation for all people is achieved and
  accomplished through the local congregation.

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Duties of the Pastor Shepherd and Steward

• 1 Corinthians 41 Pastors are "stewards of the
  mysteries of God"
• The key requirement faithfulness (1 Cor. 41).
• Leadership takes place through trust.

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Scripture Summary

• The pastoral office is directly descended from
  the apostles, not in apostolic succession but in
  apostolic doctrine.

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Scripture Summary

• The work of the pastor is to preach and teach the
  Word of God to his people. Whether called
  "overseer," "bishop," "pastor," or "elder" the
  work is one and the same.

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Scripture Summary

• The duties of the office may be divided into two
  areas shepherd of God's flock and steward of
  God's mysteries.

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Church and Lutheran Tradition

• The Writings of Martin Luther
• The Lutheran Confessions
• 19th Century Lutheranism

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The Writings of Martin Luther

• Warning Always read Luther in his historical
  context!

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The Writings of Martin Luther

• Luther and three major issues
• the universal priesthood of all believers
• the universal priesthood and the Public Ministry
• the Office of the Public Ministry.

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The Writings of Martin Luther

• We will use five documents
• Address to the Christian Nobility of the German
  Nation
• The Babylonian Captivity of the Church
• The Freedom of the Christian (all in 1520)
• Concerning the Ministry (1523)
• Confession Concerning Christs Supper (1528)

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The Universal Priesthood of All Believers

• Address to the Christian Nobility
• Luther argues that Rome has three walls
• First wall Sacredotalism, i.e. the teaching that
  the Office of the Public Ministry was better
  than, and had authority over, the secular realm.
• Second wall the claim of Rome to be the only
  interpreter of Scripture.
• Third wall the claim that only a pope had the
  right to call a Council.

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The Universal Priesthood of All Believers

• Address to the Christian Nobility
• First Wall Luther argued that all of God's
  people are priests before him and have all the
  rights of priests.
• Basing his arguments on 1 Peter 29 and Rev.
  59-10, Luther stated, "All Christians are truly
  of the spiritual estate, and there is no
  difference among them except that of office."

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The Universal Priesthood of All Believers

• Address to the Christian Nobility
• All Christians are priests for all are baptized
  and have faith.
• Faith alone "makes us spiritual and a Christian
  people."

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The Universal Priesthood of All Believers

• Address to the Christian Nobility
• Second Wall Since all Christians are priests
  before God, all have the right, indeed the
  obligation, to read Scripture and judge doctrine.
  
• "It is the duty of every Christian to espouse the
  cause of faith, to understand and defend it, and
  to denounce every error."

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The Universal Priesthood of All Believers

• Address to the Christian Nobility
• Third Wall If all Christians are priests and
  all are called to read Scripture and judge
  doctrine, then what is left for the pope?

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The Universal Priesthood of All Believers

• Babylonian Captivity of the Church
• Luther argues against the Roman view of seven
  sacraments and in favor of only two baptism and
  communion.
• Ordination as a sacrament was unknown in Christs
  time.

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The Universal Priesthood of All Believers

• Babylonian Captivity of the Church
• All "who have been baptized are uniformly priests
  in virtue of that very fact. The only addition
  received by the priests is the office of
  preaching and even this with our consent."

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The Universal Priesthood of All Believers

• Babylonian Captivity of the Church
• "Those whom we call priests are really ministers
  of the Word and chosen by us they fulfill their
  entire office in our name.

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The Universal Priesthood of All Believers

• The Freedom of the Christian
• Begins with the thesis, "A Christian is a
  perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A
  Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all,
  subject to all.
• Since all are justified, all are priests.

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The Universal Priesthood of All Believers

• Concerning the Ministry
• Written to the people and senate of Prague
• The Office of the Keys, that is the ministry of
  Word and Sacrament, "belongs to the whole
  church and to each of its members, both as
  regards their authority and their various uses."
• Luther wanted to erase any understanding of a
  special "spiritual estate" of the clergy.

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The Relationship Between the Universal Priesthood
and the Pastoral Office

• The Question If all are priests and all have the
  same rights to Word and Sacrament before God,
  then why have a ministry at all?

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The Relationship Between the Universal Priesthood
and the Pastoral Office

• Address to the Christian Nobility
• The analogy of ten brothers equal heirs, who
  appoint one to administer the inheritance on
  behalf of the others

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The Relationship Between the Universal Priesthood
and the Pastoral Office

• Concerning the Ministry
• The pastoral office is distinct from the
  universal priesthood it is alongside of it, but
  does not arise from it
• "A priest is not identical with presbyter or
  minister. For one is born to be a priest one
  becomes a minister."

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The Relationship Between the Universal Priesthood
and the Pastoral Office

• Concerning the Ministry
• The congregation calls the pastor to his office
  and gives him the authority to perform the
  functions of the priesthood publicly.

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The Office of the Public Ministry

• Confession Concerning Christ's Supper
• Luther argues that The Office is Divinely
  instituted
• There are "three basic institutions established
  by God for mankind's sake ...the office of
  pastor, the estate of marriage, and the civil
  government."

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The Office of the Public Ministry

• Concerning the Ministry
• The work of the Ministry is the work of the Word
• The authority of the Ministry is the authority of
  the Word

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The Office of the Public Ministry

• Concerning the Ministry
• Everything that is done in the public ministry
  is done with, through, and by the Word For we
  teach with the Word, we consecrate with the Word,
  we bind and absolve sins by the Word, we baptize
  with the Word, we sacrifice with the Word, we
  judge all things by the Word.

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The Office of the Public Ministry

• Address to the Christian Nobility
• The call into ministry is absolutely essential.

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The Office of the Public Ministry

• Address to the Christian Nobility
• Because we are all priests of equal standing, no
  one must push himself forward and take it upon
  himself, without our consent and election. For
  no one dare take upon himself what is common to
  all without the authority and consent of the
  community.

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The Writings of Martin Luther Summary

• Luther saw the Office of the Public Ministry in
  tension.
• On the one hand, he saw all Christians as equal
  in the universal priesthood.
• However, the Christian congregation must elect
  one of their number to exercise the rights of all
  Christians on their behalf.
• This office is divinely ordained.

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The Writings of Martin Luther Summary

• God must call through the congregation.
• The Office is one of service.

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The Office of the Ministry in the Lutheran
Confessions
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Ministry in the Lutheran Confessions

• The Lutheran Confessions consist of
• the Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds
• the Unaltered Augsburg Confession
• the Apology of the Augsburg Confession

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Ministry in the Lutheran Confessions

• the Smalcald Articles
• the Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope
• the Catechisms of Martin Luther

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Ministry in the Lutheran Confessions

• the Formula of Concord
• as found in The Book of Concord (1580)

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Ministry in the Lutheran Confessions

• The Confessions are not equal to the Holy
  Scriptures but under them and drawn from them.

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Ministry in the Lutheran Confessions

• Augsburg Confession
• Article V "To obtain such faith, God instituted
  the office of the ministry, that is, provided the
  Gospel and the sacraments."

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Ministry in the Lutheran Confessions

• Augsburg Confession
• Article XIV "Nobody should preach or teach
  without a regular call."

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Ministry in the Lutheran Confessions

• Augsburg Confession
• Article XXVIII The power of the pastoral office
  is the "power and command of God to preach the
  Gospel, to forgive and retain sins, and to
  administer and distribute the sacraments.

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Ministry in the Lutheran Confessions

• Apology of the Augsburg Confession
• Article XIII, "The Number and Use of the
  Sacraments"
• Rome misunderstands the ministry. They see it as
  "a Levitical priesthood to offer sacrifices and
  merit the forgiveness of sins for the people.
  The Lutherans viewed it as the call "to preach
  the Gospel and administer the sacraments."

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Ministry in the Lutheran Confessions

• Apology of the Augsburg Confession
• Article XIII, "The Number and Use of the
  Sacraments"
• The office is divinely instituted "The church
  has the command to appoint ministers to this we
  must subscribe wholeheartedly, for we know that
  God approves this ministry and is present in it.

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Ministry in the Lutheran Confessions

• Apology of the Augsburg Confession
• Article XIII, "The Number and Use of the
  Sacraments"
• The BIG Quote "If ordination is interpreted in
  relation to the ministry of the Word, we have no
  objection to calling ordination a sacrament.

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Ministry in the Lutheran Confessions

• Apology of the Augsburg Confession
• Articles XIV (Ecclesiastical Order)
• XV (Human Traditions)

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Ministry in the Lutheran Confessions

• Apology of the Augsburg Confession
• XXVIII (The Power of Bishops)
• The issue of the power and authority of the
  bishops.

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Ministry in the Lutheran Confessions

• Apology of the Augsburg Confession
• XXVIII (The Power of Bishops)
• Lutherans are willing to retain an episcopal
  polity and all human traditions so long as the
  "bishops stop raging against the churches" and no
  longer teach that such traditions are a matter of
  salvation.

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Ministry in the Lutheran Confessions

• Apology of the Augsburg Confession
• XXVIII (The Power of Bishops)
• Lutherans have high esteem for the office of
  pastor "For it is the office of preaching which
  is the chief worship of God."

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Lutheran Confessions Summary

• The confessors considered the Office of the
  Public Ministry to be divinely instituted.
• God gave the ministry for one reason to create
  faith so that people might be saved.
• There is no special "spiritual estate," but only
  an office to which one is called.

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Lutheran Confessions Summary

• The Office is not temporal but spiritual in
  nature the office of preaching the word and
  administering the sacraments.
• All pastors and bishops are equal in standing
  before God.

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Lutheran Confessions Summary

• All other ranks are of human arrangement.
• The pastor does not serve at his own behest, but
  at the call of the congregation.
• Ordination is merely a confirmation of the call.

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Nineteenth Century Lutheranism
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Nineteenth Century Lutheranism

• Three Schools of Thought
• Functional What is instituted is not an Office
  but a function.
• Episcopal Not only is the office commanded and
  instituted by Christ, but the office constitutes
  a special estate.
• Waltherian Via Media The Office of the Public
  Ministry in tension between the functionalizing
  and episcopal view.

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The Functional View of Ministry

• This view of the ministry sees the office as
  flowing from the universal priesthood of all
  believers.
• The office does not flow from Christ's divine
  ordinance but was introduced as a human
  arrangement in the interest of good order.

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The Functional View of Ministry

• There is no divinely ordained Office of the
  Public Ministry, but a divinely ordered function,
  namely the preaching of the Word and
  administration of the Sacraments.
• This devalues the Office of the Public Ministry
  into a mere "job."

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The Functional View of Ministry

• Support Article V of the Augsburg Confession
  "To obtain such faith God instituted the office
  of the ministry, that is, provided the Word and
  Sacraments.
• God only ordained a function, a way of doing
  things, and not an office through which the work
  is done.

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The Functional View of Ministry

• Held by the Wisconsin Synod and many associated
  with the Church Growth Movement.

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The Episcopal View

• God first established the office of the pastoral
  ministry, and then he established the
  congregation.

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The Episcopal View

• Chief spokesmen
• Wilhelm Loehe, a pastor from Bavaria

J A A Grabau, a Prussian pastor who formed the
Buffalo Synod.
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The Episcopal View

• Loehe believed that the Office of the Public
  Ministry was a special estate and above every
  human calling.
• Only the pastor has the rights and privileges of
  the Office of the Keys.

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The Episcopal View

• The congregation does not have the right to call
  its own pastor. "The Office transplants itself.
  Only he who has the Office can transfer it to
  another."
• Ordination is absolutely essential to the Office
  of the Public Ministry.

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The Episcopal View

• Scripture Paul started churches and then
  appointed pastors to them.
• Confessions Article XIV of the Augsburg
  Confession "No one should preach or teach
  publicly or administer the sacraments in the
  church without a regular call."

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The Episcopal View

• Strong within the ELCA
• Gaining adherents in the Missouri Synod
  especially through the Fort Wayne seminary.

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Walthers Via Media

• Upholds both the divine nature of the Public
  Office and the importance of the priesthood of
  all believers.
• While seeing them in tension, it also saw them as
  going together.

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Walthers Via Media

• Chief exponent
• C. F. W. Walther

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Walthers Via Media

• Thesis I
• The holy ministry or pastoral office is an office
  distinct from the priesthood of all believers.
• Thesis II
• The ministry of the Word or the pastoral office
  is not a human institution but an office that God
  Himself has established.

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Walthers Via Media

• Thesis III
• The ministry is not an arbitrary office but one
  whose establishment has been commanded to the
  church and to which the church is ordinarily
  bound till the end of time.
• Thesis VIII
• The pastoral ministry is the highest office in
  the church, and from it stem all other offices in
  the church.

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Walthers Via Media

• Thesis IX
• A. To the ministry there is due respect as well
  as unconditional obedience when the pastor uses
  God's Word.

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Walthers Via Media

• Thesis IX
• B. The minister must not tyrannize the church. He
  has no authority to introduce new laws or
  arbitrarily to establish adiaphora or ceremonies.

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Walthers Via Media

• Thesis IX
• C. The minister has no right to inflict and carry
  out excommunication without his having first
  informed the whole congregation.

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Walthers Via Media

• According to Holy Scripture then, no pastor has
  the right to order a congregation to do anything.
  All he can do is to repeat our Lord's
  commandments and say, "That is what my Lord
  Christ says, therefore you must obey or you are
  lost."

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Walthers Via Media

• But if the pastor tries to order the congregation
  to do something he personally wants, then every
  member of the congregation has the right to tell
  him,

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Walthers Via Media

• "Pastor, you don't have the right to boss us
  around, for you are not our pope. Don't you know
  that we are Christians? We will have nothing to
  do with anyone who tries to give us orders and
  command."

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Walthers Via Media

• So, if a smarty-pants pastor says, "I must admit
  that I cannot prove that from the Bible, but you
  must respect my Office," then you tell him, "You
  don't seem to know what your Office is!"

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Walthers Via Media

• Thesis IV
• The ministry is not a special or, in opposition
  to that of ordinary Christians, a more holy
  state, as was the Levitical priesthood, but it is
  a ministry of service.

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Walthers Via Media

• Thesis V
• The public ministry has the power to preach the
  Gospel and administer the holy sacraments as well
  as the power of spiritual judgment.

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Walthers Via Media

• Thesis VI
• A. The ministry of the Word is conferred by God
  through the congregation as the possessor of all
  ecclesiastical power, or the power of the keys,
  by means of its call, which God Himself has
  prescribed

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Walthers Via Media

• Thesis VI
• B. The ordination of the called persons with
  the laying on of hands is not a divine
  institution but merely an ecclesiastical rite
  established by the apostles it is no more than a
  solemn public confirmation of the call.

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Walthers Via Media

• Thesis VII
• The holy ministry is the power, conferred by God
  through the congregation as the possessor of the
  priesthood and all church power, to exercise the
  rights of the spiritual priesthood in public
  office in the name of the congregation.

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Walthers Via Media

• Thesis X
• To the ministry of the Word, according to divine
  right, belongs also the duty to judge doctrine,
  but laymen also possess this right. Therefore, in
  the ecclesiastical courts (consistories) and
  councils they are accorded both a seat and vote
  together with the clergy.

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Summary

• Does the main power of the church lie with the
  lay people (functional view) or the pastor
  (episcopal view)?
• The answer is "Yes" (the via media).

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Church and Ministry Summary Thoughts
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Summary Thoughts

• There is no higher office in the holy catholic
  and apostolic Church than that of pastor.

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Summary Thoughts

• The doctrine of the Office of the Public Ministry
  and the priesthood of all believers compliment
  one another.

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Summary Thoughts

• Those in the pastoral office have no authority
  other than the Word of God.

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Summary Thoughts

• The roles shepherd and steward must be carefully
  balanced.
• The role of steward grows out of the role of
  shepherd.