Celebrations in the Kingdom of God are sacred occasions to pause, reflect upon and give thanks for the gracious activity of the Triune God.
Seasons change, years pass, but the Lord of the Church remains the same!
On Sunday, November 6th at the 10 am service, East Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Detroit will be celebrating 105 years of combined pastoral service.
All three pastors are celebrating milestone years.
- Rev. Asaph James will be celebrating 20 years of pastoral ministry
- Rev Warren Arndt will be celebrating 55 years
- and I will be celebrating 30 years
You are welcome to attend.
Our special guest speaker will be the President of the LCMS Michigan District, Rev. David Davis.
Some Time to Reflect
During this 30th anniversary year I have often returned to some words that have framed for me the work of the public office of the ministry. They have come from …
- the Holy Scriptures (exhortations about the institution and responsibilities of the ministry)
- the Lutheran Confessions (the connection between the gift of justification and the institution of the public ministry)
- the sacred vows of ordination (a reminder that pastors are “lashed to the mast”)
I’ll provide some highlights of each below.
The Pastoral Office and the Scriptures
The Institution and Responsibilities of the Office of the Ministry
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20 ESV)
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” (John 20:21-23 ESV)
Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. (1 Timothy 4:14-16 ESV)
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. (2 Timothy 4:1-5 ESV)
The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. (1 Timothy 3:1-7 ESV)
The Lutheran Confessions: Justification Through Christ and the Office of the Public Ministry
ARTICLE IV Justification
[1] Our churches teach that people cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works. [2] People are freely justified for Christ’s sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor and that their sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake. By His death, Christ made satisfaction for our sins. [3] God counts this faith for righteousness in His sight (Romans 3 and 4 [3:21–26; 4:5]).
ARTICLE V The Ministry
[1] So that we may obtain this faith, the ministry of teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments was instituted. [2] Through the Word and Sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Spirit is given [John 20:22]. He works faith, when and where it pleases God [John 3:8], in those who hear the good news [3] that God justifies those who believe that they are received into grace for Christ’s sake. This happens not through our own merits, but for Christ’s sake. [4] Our churches condemn the Anabaptists and others who think that through their own preparations and works the Holy Spirit comes to them without the external Word.
Paul Timothy McCain, Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions: Second Edition, Concordia Publishing House
Lashed to the Mast
Eugene Peterson, in Working the Angles, has a wonderful metaphor for the ordination vows of the pastor. He equates them to the ropes that bind Odysseus to the mast of the ship so that he might not follow the sirens’ song that lures sailors to their doom.
He has the church saying to its pastors:
“We are going to ordain you to this ministry and we want your vow that you will stick to it. This is not a temporary job assignment but a way of life that we need lived out in our community. We know that you are launched on the same difficult belief venture in the same dangerous world as we are. We know that your emotions are as fickle as ours, and that your mind can play the same tricks on you as ours. That is why we are going to ordain you and why we are going to exact a vow from you.
We know that there are going to be days and months, and maybe even years, when we won’t feel like believing anything and won’t want to hear it from you. And we know that there will be days and weeks and maybe even years when you won’t feel like saying it. It doesn’t matter. Do it. You are ordained to this ministry, vowed to it. Promise right now that you won’t give in to what we demand of you. You are not the minister of our changing desires, or our time-conditioned understanding of our needs, or our secularized hopes for something better. With these vows of ordination we are lashing you fast to the mast of word and sacrament so that you will be unable to respond to the siren voices.”
Eugene Peterson, Working the Angles
Every pastor in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, when ordained or installed into a local church, is asked to make a public pledge and a solemn vow. These are the vows that “lash and bind him to the mast” of the Divine Call. The words below are a sacred responsibility and can only be accomplished and upheld by the work of the Holy Spirit.
The Sacred and Sobering Vows of Ordination
(from the Lutheran Service Book Agenda)
1. Do you acknowledge that the Lord has called you through His Church into the ministry of Word and Sacrament?
I do.
2. Do you believe and confess the canonical books of the Old and New Testaments to be the inspired Word of God and the only infallible rule of faith and practice?
Yes, I believe and confess the canonical Scriptures to be the inspired Word of God and the only infallible rule of faith and practice.
3. Do you believe and confess the three ecumenical Creeds, namely, the Apostles’, the Nicene, and the Athanasian Creeds, as faithful testimonies to the truth of the Holy Scriptures, and do you reject all the errors which they condemn?
Yes, I believe and confess the three Creeds because they are in accord with the Word of God. I also reject all the errors they condemn.
4. Do you confess the Unaltered Augsburg Confession to be a true exposition of Holy Scripture and a correct exhibition of the doctrine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church? And do you confess that the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, the Small and Large Catechisms of Martin Luther, the Smalcald Articles, the Treatise on the Authority and Primacy of the Pope, and the Formula of Concord — as these are contained in the 1580 Book of Concord — are also in agreement with this one scriptural faith?
Yes, I make these Confessions my own because they are in accord with the Word of God.
5. Do you promise that you will perform the duties of your office in accordance with these Confessions and that all your preaching and teaching and your administration of the Sacraments will be in conformity with Holy Scripture and with these Confessions?
Yes, I promise with the help of God.
6. Will you faithfully instruct both young and old in the chief articles of Christian doctrine, will you forgive the sins of those who repent, and will you promise never to divulge the sins confessed to you? Will you minister faithfully to the sick and dying? Will you demonstrate to the Church a constant and ready ministry centered in the Gospel? Will you admonish and encourage the people to a lively confidence in Christ and in holy living?
Yes, I will with the help of God.
6. Finally, will you honor and adorn the office of the holy ministry with a holy life? Will you be diligent in the study of Holy Scripture and the Confessions? And will you be constant in prayer for those under your pastoral care?
I will, the Lord helping me through the power and grace of His Holy Spirit.
In these dark and latter days, may the Lord Jesus pour out on all pastors, the gifts of His Holy Spirit for this office and work, that they may faithfully preach the Gospel and administer the Sacraments. Amen.
Thank you again for your generous support, encouragement, prayers and many kindnesses.
If you would like to continue to support the Missionary at Large position through East Bethlehem you can either give a charitable donation by check or through electronic giving. Here’s a link that will give you more information …