The Call to the Public Ministry

As I said in my last Blog, I'm focusing upon what happens in a newly formed congregation. The local church that we've joined in Montgomery, TX. is called Living Savior. She has many challenges and opportunities before her now that she is organized. Central to her future is the installation of a permanent pastor. In that matter both the Bible and the Lutheran Confessions have much to say. Here's a brief summary.

In 1537 Philip Melanchthon wrote a very important and concise Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope that became a part of the Smalcald Articles and ultimately of the Lutheran Confessions of 1580. Consequently, they have remained an official statement of the beliefs of the Lutheran community of Christians. In paragraph 67 of the Treatise we read the following:

“For wherever the Church is, there is the authority [command] to administer the Gospel. Therefore it is necessary for the Church to retain the authority to call, elect, and ordain ministers. And this authority is a gift which in reality is given to the Church, which no human power can wrest from the Church, as Paul also testifies to the Ephesians, 4, 8, when he says: He ascended, He gave gifts to men. And he enumerates among the gifts specially belonging to the Church pastors and teachers, and adds that such are given for the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Hence, wherever there is a true church, the right to elect and ordain ministers necessarily exists. Just as in a case of necessity even a layman absolves, and becomes the minister and pastor of another; as Augustine narrates the story of two Christians in a ship, one of whom baptized the catechumen, who after Baptism then absolved the baptizer.

“Here belong the statements of Christ which testify that the keys have been given to the Church, and not merely to certain persons, Matt. 18, 20: Where two or three are gathered together in My name, etc.

“Lastly, the statement of Peter also confirms this, 1 Peter 2: 9, “Ye are a royal priesthood.” These words pertain to the true Church, which certainly has the right to elect and ordain ministers since it alone has the priesthood.”

In his Christian Dogmatics Dr. J.T. Mueller wrote,

"The Christian ministry is called “public,” not in view of the place where its functions are performed, but rather in view of the fact that its functions are executed in the name and by the authority of the congregation, so that even such functions of the ministerial office as are done in private (private Communion; private admonition; private absolution) belong to the public ministry (compare: public service; public servants, etc.). So then, the divine rule obtains: Wherever true believers are found at one place, they must organize and maintain local churches. And wherever there are local churches, they must also by God’s will call official pastors or ministers, who in the name of the congregation preach the Gospel and administer the Sacraments, or who in the name of the congregation execute the Office of the Keys.”

The divinity of the mediate call (is established) from the following Biblical passages:

1 Peter 2:9-10 - But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God's instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.

1 Cor. 12:28 - 27-31 - You are Christ's body—that's who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your "part" mean anything. You're familiar with some of the parts that God has formed in his church, which is his "body":
apostles, prophets, teachers. miracle workers, healers, helpers, organizers, those who pray in tongues.

But it's obvious by now, isn't it, that Christ's church is a complete Body and not a gigantic, uni-dimensional Part? It's not all Apostle, not all Prophet, not all Miracle Worker, not all Healer, not all Prayer in Tongues, not all Interpreter of Tongues. And yet some of you keep competing for so-called "important" parts.

Acts 14:23 - Paul and Barnabas handpicked leaders in each church. After praying— their prayers intensified by fasting—they presented these new leaders to the Master to whom they had entrusted their lives.

1 Timothy 5:21-22 - God and Jesus and angels all back me up in these instructions. Carry them out without favoritism, without taking sides. Don't appoint people to church leadership positions too hastily. If a person is involved in some serious sins, you don't want to become an unwitting accomplice. In any event, keep a close check on yourself.

(All passages above quoted from the contemporary paraphrase: The Message)

See also 1 Corinthians 4:1; 2 Corinthians 3:6; Ephesians 4:11-12; 1 Peter 5:2-3 and many other verses.

Currently Living Savior is being served by a pastor on a part time basis. The challenge she faces in the next years is to grow large enough to provide support for a full time shepherd.