The Public Ministry.
(De ministerio ecclesiastico)
1. The concept of public ministry.
The word "ministry" is taken both in Scripture and in church usage in a general sense and in a special or narrower sense. Taken in the general sense, it denotes every way of preaching the gospel or administering the means of grace, whether it is done by all Christians to whom the gospel or the means of grace are originally and directly given and besought, or by
1577) Gal. 3:28.
1578) Cf. L. u. W. 1856, p. 289 ff.: "The difference in status in the church"; 1857, p. 234 ff.: "Whether it is in accordance with the gospel to take the governance of the Lutheran church in this country, as of every single congregation, into the hands of the so-called three estates, namely the doctrines, the defense and the nourishment."
502 > The Public Ministry. [English ed. ~ 439-440]
chosen public ministers (ministri ecclesiae) on behalf of Christians.. We understand here by the public ministry of preaching the ministry in the narrower sense, namely the ministry through which the means of grace originally and inalienably entrusted to Christians are administered on behalf of Christians, that is, by reason of fellowship. The ministry in this sense always presupposes the existence of Christian congregations. Only where there is a congregation beforehand can the public ministry of preaching be established by it. Smalc. Art., p. 341 [Trigl. 523, 67 🔗]: "Where the church is, there is ever the command to preach the gospel. Therefore the churches" (the local churches are meant) "must retain the power to demand, elect, and ordain ministers." So also the Scriptures. Only after congregations had arisen in Crete through missionary activity does Paul commission Titus (Tit. 1:5) to appoint elders (πρεσβντέρονς) city by city (κατά πόλιν, that is, in the cities where congregations were), whom he also calls bishops (επίσκοποι) v. 7. Further: to the congregations which had sprung up in Asia Minor on the first missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas on the return journey appointed congregational (κατ' έκκλησίαν that is, where there were congregations) elders (πρεσβυτέρονς). That the public ministry presupposes the existence of congregations is further evident from the fact that Scripture mentions congregations as a whole and each individual member of them as the object of the activity of this ministry. Thus 1 Tim. 3:5: provide for the congregation of God (τής εκκλησίας τον ϑεον έπιμελεΊσϑαι), Acts 20:28: take care of the whole flock (προσέχειν παντϊ τω ποιμνίω), V, 28b: feed the congregation of God (ποιμαίνειν την έκκλησίαν τον ϑεον, V. 31: admonish any one (νον&ετεϊν ένα έκαστον), 1 Pet. 5:3: be examples to the flock (τύποι γινόμενοι τον ποιμνίον). "Public," therefore, is the name given to this office and to the functions of the same, not from the place where they take place, but in the sense of: on behalf of and in the service of the congregation and to the congregation, just as in civil life we speak of public officials and of public service (public servants, public service) in those who stand in the service of a commonwealth. Therefore, the functions of the public ministry are "public," not only when its ministers preach the Word to a whole congregation, but also when they minister to individual souls in private pastoral care. Where no
503 > The Public Ministry. [English ed. ~ 440-441]
Christian congregations are, as in a heathen lands, there is also no office of fellowship. But as soon as a congregation has come into being through missionary activity, the situation is also created whereby the ministry of public preaching comes into being. After Luther has explained that a special calling belongs to the public doctrines among Christians, he continues:1579) "This is the calling of a public office among Christians. But if one were to come among the crowd, where there were no Christians, one would want to do as the apostles did and not wait for the calling (for there [namely, where there are still no Christians] one does not have the office of preaching), and one would say, 'All here are not Christians, I will preach and teach them about Christianity,' and a crowd would gather, choose and appoint me as their bishop, then I would have a calling."