July 2014

“Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them; if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if anyone has an office let him attend to the duties of the office; the one who teaches, in his teaching office; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes in his generosity;the one who leads, with zeal, the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. ”
[Romans 12:6-8]

This past month we celebrated the 20^th ordination anniversary of Rev. Joseph Fisher. While planning the service I began to think a lot about the office of the holy ministry, what it is and what it is not. Neither time nor paper could exhaust the pitfalls that must be avoided and the solid ground that must be laid amid the countless currents of cultural, ecclesiastical, and personal perceptions. Be that as it may, I would have us considered briefly wherein this office has its basis, and wherein its proper task consists.

St. Paul's words in Romans 12:6-16 would have us see that there is a particular public preaching office, which has its basis above all in this: that God has made His Church of believers a spiritual body. Just as a body has various members, of which no member has all the gifts, but rather of which each member has his particular gift for the benefit of the whole, so also the Church, as the spiritual body of Christ, has many diverse gifts, and indeed, they are for the common benefit, namely for the building up of the body of Christ, the Church. Yet our God is a God of order. He desires that in His Church all things be done decently and in an honorable fashion, and so He established a public office in the Church. It is through the administration of this office, certain gifts, given to individual members, can be applied in holy order for the greatest fruitfulness. Notice, however, that St. Paul in the above cited passage places this admonition at the beginning, “If anyone has prophecy, so let it be in accord with faith” [v.6]. In doing this, we see that the gift of prophecy is nothing else than the gift to deal with the Scriptures and to open them up for the edification of the Church. For the sake of faith, for the granting of faith, the public preaching office has been established by God in the Church.

What then is the unique basis of the public preaching office? Its not, as is so often thought, that those who hold such an office have a greater holiness among Christians, or a holier estate. Indeed, far from it. The basis is rather that Christians possess various gifts for the service of the whole. To some God has given the gift to treat the Holy Scriptures and to explicate them, a particular public office that is carried out for the common benefit. The preacher is distinguished from other Christians, but not in the way you think he is. He is not something more than a member of the body of Christ, a brother in Christ. He is rather such a member who has obligation to serve the whole. The office is not a higher estate in Christianity. It is nothing other than a greater service. Those who hold the office serve among those who are all priests with them. Christ is the Lord of the house. The Church is His bride. The preacher is the householder. He does not exercise a power that only he, the preacher, has. The power he has is rather the power of the Church. He has been entrusted with this power by the Church according to God’s own order, to be exercised publicly in the name of the Church. He does not dole out goods that only he, the preacher, possesses. He doles out the goods of the Church that are conferred to him by the Church only for faithful administration in its stead. Therefore the St. Paul wrote to the Church at Corinth, “Who is Paul? Who is Apollos? They are ministers, through which you have become believers; and this to each as the Lord has given…We preach not ourselves, but Jesus Christ, that He is the Lord, and we are your servants for Jesus’ sake” [1 Cor 3:5; 2 Cor 4:5. St. Augustine, [354-430 A.D.] Bishop of Hippo in North Africa summed it up nicely, “For you I am a bishop [overseer]; with you I am a Christian.”

St. Paul speaks these words not so much about the general estate of Christians, but it’s much more about the public preaching office. First we see the boundaries of this office and then we see what is the range and specific duties of this office. St. Paul is clear, the boundary of the pastor is to pastor, to shepherd. He is to be about the ministry, a curate of souls. His time and energy are not to be consumed with other things. He should not seek with his office easy living, money, or possessions, or the honor or favor of men. Rather in serving his congregation, he serves Christ. This office, this ministry itself shall be his reward, the joy, the honor that he seeks. He shall note that he does not possess the office, rather he “attends to the duties of the office.” It’s not the pulpit but orthodox preaching, not the vestments but priestly work, that make him a preacher. His office and nothing other than the administration of his office are the sharp boundary line of the task that is given to a preacher. 

So what are these tasks of the office? St. Paul shows us five. “First and most important, is teaching; the second is admonition; third is giving, or the office’s concern for the poor; the fourth is governing, or the administration of discipline and order; and finally, the fifth is the exercise of mercy, or the concern of the office for sick, the weak, and the dying. Behold, how great, how broad, how all-encompassing the task of a preacher is! It requires the whole man. He is to teach those entrusted to his care what they should know for their salvation. He is to admonish them regarding what they are to do. If they have not done it, he is to rebuke them. When they suffer earthly need, he shall assist them in their need. He shall be concerned that the entire congregation and every individual be maintained in holy discipline and order. Where consolation and help are needed, he shall be the Good Samaritan of the congregation, with ready mercy. Thus the great task of his office is to see to it that no one in his entire congregation is abandoned and suffers need without assistance, whether it be in physical or spiritual matters. He sees to it that everyone who belongs to the holy brotherhood of Christ is well cared for. He shall receive the whole as much as the individual, the child as much as the elderly, the uneducated as much as the educated, the weak as much as the strong, the fallen as much as those who stand, those joyful in God as much as the deeply troubled, the poor as much as the rich, the sick as much as the well, the fortunate as much as the unfortunate, outcast, persecuted, the dying as the living—indeed, the very dead themselves, that they like Christ would be brought to rest in burial. All this shall be the concern of his heart. And this shall be his concern at opportune or inopportune times, in evil or good days, in times of richly earthly blessing as much as in times of hunger and pestilence, in war and in peace, publicly and privately” [C.F.W].

Now you may have a glimpse of why “pastoral burnout” has always been an epidemic. After all, who is capable of all of this? Who has enough wisdom, strength, courage, love, patience, zeal, faithfulness, to do it all? Again, St. Augustine said correctly that the preaching office is a burden beyond even what the shoulders of angels can bear. It seems scarcely possible that even a preacher could be saved. For on the day of reckoning, when all shall be made light of, it will be impossible for him to stand. C.F.W. notes, “A negligent preacher who seeks for himself a nice, easy life, and is satisfied if he only keeps his congregation happy, condemns himself as a useless, shameful servant. But even the preacher who sacrifices himself entirely remains unendingly guilty. Daily he must cry from the depths of his soul: “Lord, enter not into judgment with Your servant, for no one living is righteous before you” [Ps 143:2].  An account will one day be demanded from the hands of the preacher for the entire congregation and for the blood of every soul he is called to watch over. What a heavy reckoning a preacher shall have to give one day. What a fearful responsibility he has, a lofty task that exceeds his powers and his gifts.

In the same breath, we must know that the pastor, the holder of the office of the holy ministry, has consolation. What is it? Answer: God does not expect from us gifts that He has not given to us. He does not seek from us works and results that He does not work through us. He only demands faithfulness in what He has granted us. And He remains for us a gracious, merciful, patient Father of the house, with whom there is much forgiveness. So I ask dear Christian brothers and sisters, pray for your pastors. Pray for those who have shepherded you in the past, for those who do so in the present, and those who shall come in the future. And remember the words of the writer to the Hebrews, “Be obedient to your teachers and follow them” [so far as they present God’s Word to you] “For they watch over your souls, as those who shall have give an account, so that they do so with joy and not with sighing, for that is not good for you” [Heb 13:17].   

Blessed Pentecost,

Pastor Raffa