Called To The Public Ministry

Since October, 2013, I have served Zion Lutheran Church of Tomball, TX. as their Interim Pastor. The congregation was most concerned that everyone knows I was "called" to that position. I accepted on the same basis, believing that the LORD of the church had called me to this position of service within His church. I was called to serve Zion as they prepared to call a new pastor to the office of the public ministry in their midst.

The time of my service may now be coming to an end, since in another week the congregation will gather for another call meeting. Three candidates will be lifted up and the congregation will decide whether it is the will of God that one of them be "called" to be their full time pastor. If the man "called" agrees, my work will be over. I will have completed my work as their Interim Pastor and will step aside.

This bit of history does not, however, define what either the congregation or I believe to be the essence of the Divine Call. For that I refer you to a document published by the Commission on Theology and Church Relations (CTCR) of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod back in 2003. The document is called "the Divine Call" and is available for download online.

The Missouri Synod's conclusions grew partly out of a crisis when the church body was being formed.  In 1824 Lutheran Pastor Martin Stephan of Saxony, Germany, began to explore America as a place to practice the faith without harassment by the state-governed  Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Saxony.

Stephan and ten other men formed a "Gesellschaft" or Society for emigration from Dresden to St. Louis, Missouri. He helped organize 700 people and five ships for passage to America in November 1838. When the ships landed at the Port of New Orleans, Martin Stephan was elected Bishop of this small band of Lutherans according to the travel regulations of the Emigration Society. Forster (Zion on the Mississippi: The Settlement of the Saxon Lutherans in Missouri 1839-1841) indicates that Stephan was made Bishop initially only by the passengers and clergy on board the Olbers. This occurred around the time this ship entered the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Forster states, "On January 14, 1839...they made Stephan their bishop and endowed him with a liberal grant of power to carry out the functions of his office.[5]" Additionally, only four of the five immigrant ships arrived safely in New Orleans (the Amalia never arrived) and the ships arrived at varying times over the course of a couple of weeks. Of note, after his appointment, it was Stephan who originated the practice of kissing the bishop's hand.

After two months, the Saxon immigrants purchased land in Perry County, Missouri at the confluence of the Brazeau and Mississippi Rivers. Here they built homes, towns, schools, and churches. The organization of the community was disrupted when Stephan was accused of sexual misconduct. Pastors G. H. Loeber and C. F. W. Walther told lay leaders of this confession. Walther made two trips to Perry County to prepare the Bishop’s deposition.  On May 30, 1839, Bishop Martin Stephan was deposed and excommunicated from the community on the grounds of sexual misconduct and embezzlement. He was put across the river to Kaskaskia, Illinois. Though the women who initially accused Stephan of sexual misconduct later recanted, he was never restored to his position. Following his removal from the colony, he served another congregation, Trinity Lutheran Church, at Horse Prairie near Red Bud, Illinois.

With Stephan gone the immigrants faced a crisis. How could they find a new pastor? Did they indeed have the God-given right to call someone to be their pastor? Dr. C.F.W. Walther wrote extensively on the topic. His work is available in an English translation of the original German document Kirche Und Amt (Church and Ministry). It is also available as a Kindle e-book.

Walther emphasizes that the key doctrine is the priesthood of all believers, outlined by the Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 2:9 —

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. - 1Peter 2:9 ESV

The pastor does publicly, by God's will, what belongs to the ministry of the Word of God entrusted to the congregation. His is an office specially designated by God for the sake of the church on earth. So Paul writes,

This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. - 1Cor 4:1-2 ESV

So the congregation must establish and maintain the public ministry in its midst. Zion congregation has followed those steps in this manner:

1. They invited members of the congregation to nominate ordained pastors (men certified and eligible for a Call). In addition, the congregation sought counsel and advice from the Texas District of our church body, the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, especially the President. A large number of candidates were submitted. The President's office returned a large packet of information on them all. 
2. The resumes and evaluations of those pastors were carefully studied by an appointed committee of the congregation primarily on the basis of Scripture passages such as 1 Timothy 3:2-7 and the challenges facing the congregation in the rapidly growing area of greater Houston where Zion is located. After many months of prayerful consideration and discussion the committee is now offering three candidates to congregation. Details of the candidates' ministry experience, age, health, training, gifts and families were prepared and distributed. 
3. Now this coming Sunday, February 15, the congregation will gather to discuss, pray and then vote. This process will take place in the congregation's sanctuary with prayer and hymn singing surrounding it. The candidate who receives the most or all of the votes will be regarded and accepted as the one called by God through the congregation. If the vote is not unanimous the congregation will be asked to make it so in order that all may be of one heart and mind. 

The called pastor will then receive a letter and details of his call. It will be up to him to carefully consider whether the congregation he currently serves or the one calling is the church that the LORD of the church wants him to serve. Should he confirm what the congregation believes he will move and be formally installed into office. 

As you can see, it is our belief as a Lutherans committed to the Lutheran Confessions of 1580 that God places men into the pastoral office through the church. Pastors are not placed by overseers or bishops. We also emphasize that no one makes himself to be a pastor. The Call depends on God working through the church. A man may have an "inner call" to serve God as a pastor, but his becomes a Divine Call only when that call is affirmed and confirmed by the church. This remains important since the pastoral ministry is a public activity carried out in behalf of and for the benefit of the church. Study the documents referenced above for further details. And give thanks to the Lord of the church for the pastors He calls to serve His people. 

God's Call And The Response Of Faith

The Hebrews letter's author guides us next to Abraham, one of the most famous of all Biblical personages. Abraham's name occurs 233 times in 220 verses in the ESV. Abram, his original name, occurs 55 times in 47 verses. Abram means exalted father. He was the founder and father of the nation of Israel, the son of Terah, born in Mesopotamia. When called by God, he left and spent the remainder of his life in the land of Canaan with his flocks (cf. Genesis 12-25). Hebrews refers to this journey. There is much to learn from the life of Abraham (father of a multitude). We have room only for a very few thoughts.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. - Hebrews 11:8-10 ESV

What is the Call of God? And how do I know that I am hearing God call me?

The Greek word is the same as ours, but with slightly different letters—kaleō. So we read that both Mary and Joseph called their son Jesus as they had been so instructed by the angelic revelation (Matt. 1:21-25.) Later Matthew tells us that Jesus was called a Nazarene in fulfillment of prophecy (Matt. 2:23). The same use of the verb is found in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount when he says that the peacemakers shall be called sons of God and those who relax even one of the least of the commandments and so teaches will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. From these and other examples we conclude that the verb refers first to giving someone a name and then with that name a description of their destiny and blessing or curse. 

So it was with Abraham. Paul writes of how he received a new name and a new destiny. In some detail in his letter to the Romans Paul says that Abraham, the prime example of a man of faith, received circumcision as a seal—not as a result—of the righteousness he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. Paul's huge point is that faith is the critical factor, not circumcision as an act of obedience. Thus Abraham was pronounced and declared righteous as a gift of God's grace (Gen. 15:6) before and without circumcision. So he is 

. . . the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. - Rom 4:12 ESV

God does the calling, the naming and declaring. He called or declared Abraham righteous in His sight. God counted Abraham's faith as righteousness. Abraham believed the vision the LORD gave that the He would fulfill His promises to make Abraham's descendants as numerous as the stars above (Gen. 15:5). Abraham believed that the land of Canaan on which he sojourned would be the land in which those descendants would dwell. He believed all this even though he, Abraham, had no children and was already an old man. As such his name was still Ab-ram (exalted father). He was not yet named Ab-raham (father of a multitude).  But his name was indeed changed and with that name change came the promise.

Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, "Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Ab-ram, but your name shall be Ab-raham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God." - Gen 17:3-8 ESV

And the lesson for us? 

The LORD called you to faith if you believe in Jesus as the Christ and your Savior. This is the call He spoke in your baptism when He called you by name and declared you to be His child. In that call He declared you to be pure, clean and without sin. He declared you to have suffered the consequences of your sinning with His Son upon the cross of Calvary. He declared you forsaken and rejected along with Christ. He declared you dead. And then He declared you to be alive, risen with Christ. He declared that your life is already hidden with Christ in heaven. He declared that you will not die, but live and be given a new and eternal body. All this is yours when He called you His own in Baptism.

 

Consider what the Apostle writes to the Romans and to others about being baptized into Christ.

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. - Rom 6:3-5 ESV

This does not exhaust the meaning of God's Call. But let it be sufficient for today. Consider your Call and rejoice. In my next posting I'll consider the LORD's Call as God directing and guiding our lives.

With A Deep Sense of Vocation

Things had really changed for the man named Saul. He had the name of Israel's first king--not a great one, but a king nevertheless. Now he had taken to himself the name of "Little One," Paulos in Greek. It was because he saw himself as the chief of sinners, unworthy to be called a follower of Christ, let alone an apostle.

But here he was--a man with a calling and a purpose! That's how he starts out his letter to the Corinthian Christians: "Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God."

How few of us go around feeling we have a purpose and a calling from God. What a difference it makes when you do. The whole idea of vocation or calling changes everything. The Reformation lifted up the ordinary believer to an exalted position by helping us all to reclaim this teaching. Now each believer can rejoice in the mundane and daily tasks of his or her calling. It is a high calling from God to be husband, wife, father, mother, fireman, scientist, farmer, etc.

Paul, the little one, saw the hand of God reach out to him to bring faith in the cross of Christ. His calling was to proclaim that wondrous Good News most especially to the non-Jewish Gentile world. So he begins, with a proud and deep sense of vocation. The very will of God is being accomplished through him. Listen up!

My prayer is that each one of us may approach the tasks of today with that same deep sense of being called. He who calls, also promises to be with us, to bless and guide as we go about our vocations.

Food for the Journey

I've been reflecting much these days upon the life and work of Moses, especially his reluctance at being drawn back into public life as a leader of God's people. Here's what the Scriptures tell us:

Moses fled Egypt after he had grown up, because he had killed an Egyptian in defense of one of the Israelites. Afraid of retaliation by the Egyptians, he ended up living with the Midianites. These nomadic people lived in the wilderness areas to the east of Egypt. They seem not to have had any boundaries. There Moses spent many years in apparent peace as a shepherd (Exodus 1-2). I can only assume that he thought he would live and die in that pursuit, but it was not to be. At about the age of eighty years, he was called out of his nomadic life and into the very public work of leading the children of Israel out of slavery and on to the land long ago promised to Abraham and his descendants.

The work of leading Israel lasted for the next forty years. Moses finally died at the age of 120, though, as Exodus says, "his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone." That suggests that Moses was 80 when he assumed the momentous task of leader. And that fact leads back to why I have been reflecting much upon Moses' life.

This past year I marked 75 years on my journey to what the Bible calls the land of rest, symbolized by the weekly day of rest, the Sabbath, and the promised land. Some eight years ago I stepped aside from full time pastoral ministry to make room for a younger man. At that time I felt it was God's will and plan. Now, with some caution, I have begun to serve a growing congregation of God's people as counselor and advisor, much like Jethro was to Moses. Some of the leaders of this congregation are asking for my greater involvement, perhaps as one of their pastor-shepherds, until they are led to call another man who will serve them in a full time capacity.

I find myself pulled in two directions by that discussion. On the one hand, I enjoy the freedom of the life Sylvia and I have led these past eight years. I've been my own boss, so to speak, making decisions about how to spend my days without the burden of caring for a flock of God's people. And yet, I have always loved the work of the pastoral ministry. To many I've indicated that I'm among the richest men on earth, primarily because of the hundreds of rich and rewarding relationships I've been privileged to develop.

So what to do? As always, I, like you, must go where the Lord leads. He will provide for the journey. He made that promise to those of his disciples sent out ahead of Him. The same applies to us, regardless of the work to which we are called. So I await His leading, as must we all.

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.