3RD SUNDAY IN ADVENT
Text: 1 Corinthians 4, 1-5 *
Source from Back to Luther with German archive reference. Back to Walther's Epistle Sermons.
Lord Jesus, we have joyfully gathered in your sanctuary today, for today you give us, your orphaned congregation, a shepherd again. But -- how can we hide it from you? — we rejoice with trembling. To what avail is all the labor of your servants if you do not qualify them? and of what help is our hearing and learning, if you do not open our hearts? We therefore beseech you to have mercy, Lord, have mercy upon us! Do not look upon our great guilt nor that we have deserved to have your Word and its blessings taken from us; look upon your own blood of reconciliation which flowed for us also, which speaks better than Abel's blood; in our behalf it cries, "Mercy! Mercy ! " aloud to you. Oh, pour your Holy Spirit in rich measure upon your servant whom you have given use; equip him with your gifts; give him wisdom which comes from above; give him power from on high; give him that comfort and peace which the world cannot give, faithfulness and perseverance in doctrine and life, in word and deed until his death. Give us who are entrusted to him grace that whenever we hear your voice from his mouth, we will accept it as your Word in a good and honest heart
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* Sermon at the installation of Pastor C. G. Stoeckhardt in Holy Cross Church, St. Louis, Missouri, 1 8 78.
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and bring forth fruit with patience; may he carry out the duties of his office with joy and not with sorrow; then some day may we ail joyfully appear with him before your throne of glory and with one mouth praise your mercy from eternity to eternity. Amen.
Quote the text here: 1 Corinthians 4, 1-5.
Dear Friends in Christ Jesus, the Lord of the Church.
After our beloved former shepherd, who had grown gray in the service of our Lord and Master, had laid down his shepherd's staff, a man upon our call in the name of the Lord came to us over land and sea; today he has entered among us to take charge of the pastoral office; although he had lived in another part of the world, he has been inwardly united with us by faith; yes, he joyfully has borne the disgrace of our name and with difficulty he escaped Christ's enemies. A day of joy has dawned today for our congregation.
To be sure, the day a minister enters upon his office is not always a day of joy for the congregation.
If the one entering upon his office is a false prophet, then the day he takes up his office is a gloomy, dark day, an unfortunate day, a day when God visits the congregation in wrath, a day of deep sorrow for all of God's children. The Lord says, "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves, Mt 7,15. What a frightful day for a congregation when, as now so frequently happens in our old fatherland, such a false prophet is forced upon it! An even more frightful day is the one when the congregation deliberately takes upon itself a false prophet after its own lusts. Sad to say this happens to frequently here in this land of complete religious liberty.
Though the person entering upon the office of the ministry is not a heretic but rather teaches all articles of the Christian faith correctly, denies none, purposely perverts none, but if he is a hireling, if he desires the dignity but not the drudgery of the "good work" of the office of bishop, if in his office he looks out for himself instead of caring for souls, seeking ease and good days, wealth, and the favor and honor of men, the day he enters upon his duties is no less a day of joy for the congregation, but it is likewise one of God's visitations in wrath and bitter sorrow for all of God's children. What an unfortunate congregation ! Instead of getting a pious shepherd it receives a hireling ! The Lord himself says, "The hireling seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth; and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. ” Jn 10,12.13.
Well now, on the basis of our text permit me to answer the question:
WHEN IS THE DAY A MINISTER TAKES UP HIS DUTIES A DAY OF JOY FOR THE CONGREGATION?
On the basis of our text I answer:
1. When the Minister Comes as a Servant of Christ and a Steward of the Mysteries of God, and when,
2. His Congregation Asks no More of him than that he be Found Faithful.
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I.
When the apostle writes, " Let a man so account of us. as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God."(v.l)the apostle mentions-the only way a congregation should think of their pastor; in unmistakable language he indicates what attributes all ministers of Christ must have· For if according to God's Word a congregation is to think a certain thing of ministers, they are to be that also in every way.
And what is a true minister to be? The first thing the apostle mentions is that he must be " CHRIST'S minister." A true minister, at whose coming his congregation has reason to rejoice, has not forced himself into his holy office, nor sneaked in by devious ways, but has been installed into his office by Christ himself. The apostle indicates that clearly in other passages. He writes to the Ephesians, "And he, Christ, gave some,apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers." Eph 4,11. God the Lord himself says of false prophets, "1 have not sent these prophets, yet they ran." Jer 23,21.
Two things are necessary before a preacher can say that he was sent by Christ himself. The preacher must first of all be inwardly called by Christ to this holy office; that is, he himself must be a sheep in Christ's flock, a Christian; he himself must be on that way to heaven which he should show others; he must yearn to bring to others this precious pearl which he himself has found with such blessed joy; in short, he must be able to say with David and Paul, "I believe, therefore have I spoken." Ps 116,10; 2 Cor 4,13. Or does Christ himself appoint a blind person as a leader of the blind or the seeing? Of course not! Christ says to an unconverted preacher, "What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant into thy mouth? Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee." Ps 50,16.17.
The true faith which a preacher himself has, and the compulsion to fill the holy office which fills his heart is only the inner call which he has received from Christ. A second call must come from Christians. Christ has given his believers the keys of the kingdom of heaven and in so doing invested them with the power to elect, call, ordain, and install his servants in his name and in his stead. Therefore only he is the " minister of Christ," or has been called and sent by Christ, who does not brag of having the "Spirit" as do the enthusiasts, but who also can produce the call of the congregation whose shepherd he claims to be.
In our text the apostle does not call the true preacher lords, nor rulers, nor masters, nor dictators of Christ, but " MINISTERS of Christ ";; yes, in the original language the apostle uses a word which really means "Christ's rowers." Christ himself therefore wants to be and remain the captain in the ship of the church; he himself wants to be the rudder; but the ministers are to be his rowers. Therefore only he is a true preacher, at whose coming a congregation has reason to rejoice, who does not come to them to rule over them, but to serve them; he comes not as their master but as their brother.
That we do not err in this exposition of the words, " MINISTERS of Christ " we perceive from the many clear statements of Christ himself, as well as his holy apostles. Christ says to his disciples, "One is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren." Mt 23,8. "Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you; but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant." Mt. 20,25-27. The Apostle Peter not only warns the preachers
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of his time, as though with upraised finger, “Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock«“ 1 Pat 5,3. All the humble apostle's also say of themselves, "Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed." 1 Cor 3,5. "Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy." 2 Cor 1,24. Yes, Paul testifies to the Corinthians, "For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake." 2 Cor 5,4. Oh, with what- joy a congregation can and should welcome, such a humble servant of Chris t!
Not only does the apostle say in our text, "L e t a roan so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, 11 but he also adds, " and stewards of the mysteries of God." That according to our text is the second thing which a true preacher must be: a " steward of the mysteries of God."
Two thoughts lie in also this portion; first of all, that a true preacher does not come with his own mysteries, nor with the. mysteries of his phantasy and science, nor with the mysteries of his heart and imagination, but only with the mysteries of the great God as revealed in the Scriptures; in short, he comes not with human words but only with God’s Word, The writings of the apostles and prophets must be the source from which must flow in their purity everything which he teaches. Not an arrogant master but a humble " minister of the word " must he be # as Luke writes in Luke 1,2. He must be able to say with Paul, "I say none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come." Acts 26,22b. What God says through Moses must be before him day and night, "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you,.neither shall ye diminish ought from it." Dt 4,2. He must therefore be willing to suffer hunger, thirst, and nakedness, shame, disgrace, and persecution, yes, a painful death rather than depart from one letter of the written· Word of tod. Because in these last times God has rekindled, given, and placed upon a candlestick the light of his pure I ford for Christendom only through his chosen servant Luther, and sealed him before the whole world as his prophet, the watchword of a true preacher of these times must be, " God’s Word and Luther's doctrine pure, To all eternity shall endure." And the glorious, beautiful concessions of the Lutheran Church must also be his confession of faith, the banner, under which he teaches and defends his flock, struggles and suffers, is victorious and dies.
In our text the apostle does not call those faithful preachers who merely preach the mysteries of God but who are " stewards " of the same. This is a matter of great importance. A steward is neither an absolute lord nor merely a dispenser of benefits; no, he merely manages the property of another and has precise instructions to give only to those of his household and no more than what they need. The true preacher, at whose coming a congregation can and must rejoice, is not only he who not only preaches God’s Word, Law and Gospel, in their truth and purity in unabridged form, but who also shows himself a faithful " steward " over it; as the apostle says in another passage, he "rightly divides the word of truth.” 2 Tim 2,15; or as Christ says, who " gives them their portion of meat in due season " to the household of God’s house. Lk 12,42.
The moment a true preacher enters upon his holy office In the name of Jesus, he takes every soul entrusted to him into his heart, tries to learn to know each one, and then gives each one what he needs. If he meets a spiritually dead person who is living securely in his sins, he tries to awaken and startle him and therefore preaches to him the Law. If he meets a spiritually blind person who is without the true faith and yet imagines that he has faith, he tries to open his eyes and bring him to the true knowledge of himself. If he meets someone who is ignorant of G od’s Word, he painstakingly instructs him and teaches him the first principles of the wholesome Word, if he meets someone weak in the faith, he tries to strengthen him in the faith and therefore holds up to him
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the sweet promises of the Gospel. If he meets someone worried about his sins, he tries to comfort him and pictures to him Christ in all his grace and great love for sinners. If he meets someone in danger of soul he tries to convince him of the danger in which he is and warn him of it. If he meets someone guilty of mortal sin and therefore fallen from grace, he tries to raise him up from his fall and works unflaggingly with reprimand and comfort. If he meets someone tormented by doubts as to the truth, he tries to make him certain and shows him the immovable foundations of the Christian faith. If he meets someone who has gone astray in any way, he goes after him, hunts him up, entices him, and begs him with tears to turn about and does not rest until he has brought back the lost sheep to his Good Shepherd. The beginners or the children he gives milk, the older or the fathers and mothers in Christ strong food.
All this he does in evil as well as in good days, to adults as well as to children, to young men and young women, to the poor as well as to the rich, to the healthy as well as·;th,e sick, to the living as well as to the dying; and this he does not as a stern law-giver and judge but as a loving brother, a true friend, yes, as a sympathetic, humble, fellow-redeemed sinner. Not only does he do that publicly but also privately, not only in the pulpit but wherever God brings him together with those entrusted to him, be it in his home or theirs, at sickbed or at the grave; everywhere he seeks to impart some spiritual gift to the soul. Thus the true preacher shows himself as a careful physician of souls, sometimes using bitter sometimes sweet medicine, sometimes biting wine sometimes soothing oil, and as a faithful shepherd of souls sometimes with the staff Beauty, sometimes with the staff Bands, as is necessary.
Of a truth, the day such a preacher enters his office is therefore a day of solemn joy for a congregation.
II.
When the apostle continues in our text, " Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful," we see that something is necessary on the part of the congregation, if the day their pastor enters upon his duties should be a day of solemn joy for them; they dare ask no more of their pastor than that he " be found faithful." Permit me to speak to you of this. (Luther: "Ask no more of stewards, than that they be found faithful.")
The first thing, which a congregation has to take into consideration when a new minister comes, is brought out in the words, " no more ". Even to ministers God has given his gifts differently. "For," says St. Paul, "to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith," that is, heroic faith, "by the same Spirit; to another prophecy," the special skill of explaining Scripture; "to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues." 1 Cor 12,8.9b. 10. No one minister, therefore, has all the gifts but only his modest portion.
Even the apostles and their assistants did not have the same measure. Thus, for example, Paul was granted the gift of a deep and rich knowledge, to John the gift of seeing into the future, to Apollos the gift of oratory. And so to this very day one minister has this gift, another that.
As a steward is not responsible for his own property but his master's, so also a congregation should not hold their pastor responsible for this or that gift but only those gifts given him by God, Not only is it unjust, yes, cruel to expect more, but then they themselves are at fault that their pastor did not joyfully administer his office among them; and that is not good; for then they do not receive the full blessings which God had intended them to receive.
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Yet when our text warns not to require more of a minister than that he " be found faithful," the apostles thereby desires that a congregation does not require less. While faithfulness in doctrine and life is important in a minister, it is just as important that the congregation demands that of him. Woe to a congregation, when their pastor wants to be faithful in teaching God's Word but the congregation demands that he preach publicly or privately something else than God's pure Word! Woe to a congregation, when their pastor wishes to refute faithfully all error which is dangerous to their souls, and they demand that he be silent because they want temporal peace! Woe to a congregation when their pastor wants to reprimand faithfully all ungodly life, and they demand that he "speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits" (Is 30,10) just as the Jews of Isaiah's times demanded that of the prophets! Woe to a congregation when their pastor wishes to administer that church discipline faithfully which Christ has prescribed, and they want to use only the key to loose but not to retain sins. Woe to a congregation when their pastor faithfully wants to make no difference among his hearers and they demand that he be a respecter of persons! Woe to a congregation when their faithful pastor wishes to live a Christian life and they demand either angelic perfection and will not even put up with any weakness in him, or if they on the other hand demand that he be a hail-fellow-well-met and serve the world and the flesh as they do!
Well, faithful members of Cross Congregation, today a servant of Christ and a steward of God's mysteries begins his work among you. Demand no more nor no less of him than that he be found faithful!
In a certain sense God's grace has given us the power to decide whether the office, which our new pastor wishes to hold among us, will be blessed or not. Our new pastor himself must as God's steward swear the fearful oath that he wishes to be faithful; he must pledge us, the whole church and his God, nothing less than his soul's salvation; let us therefore — I adjure you by your salva
tion -- let us not demand of him what God forbids him, or forbid him what God demands of him.
Bear in mind that God says to him, "Preach my Word without addition or subtraction, or some day I will say to you, 'I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity!" Mt 7,23. Oh, let us therefore demand of him only God's Word, yes, the entire Word, the whole counsel of God for our salvation!
Bear in mind that God says to him, "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins." Is 58,1. "When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand," Ezek 3,18; —oh, let us therefore cheerfully receive our preacher of the Word even when he reprimands us.
Bear in mind that God says to him, "Be not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth," Rom 1,16; oh let us as poor sinners open our hearts and ears at all times for this joyful message and embrace it in faith!
The flesh, the world, and the devil will daily,tempt our pastor; oh let us all who can pray bear him daily in prayer! If his courage fails, let us try to console him so that he will take courage again! If he is weak in faith or in a necessary work, let us cheer him up! If sorrow comes upon him, let us comfort him ! If he stumbles, let us with a gentle spirit help him to his feet again! If we see that he is faithful in God's house, let him be the more dear to us for his work's sake and hold him worthy of double honor! If he joyfully precedes us on the narrow, rough, and steep way to the heavenly Jerusalem, let us follow him gladly!
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Let us, and this in conclusion I beg you, let us all under the charge of our new shepherd return to our first love and cast behind us all satiety, lukewarmness, indolence, and all earthly and worldly ideas! When he today swears eternal faithfulness to his Lord, let us also swear with him to be faithful until death.
Thus my friends, thus today will not only be a day of solemn joy but the beginning of a time of new gracious visitation and boundless blessing for him and us all; our congregation will thrive like a garden and become richer in the golden fruits of faith and love, hope and patience. And then when the Chief Shepherd will appear not only our faithful under-shepherd but we all who were entrusted to him will receive the crown of glory which fadeth not away.
Hay Jesus Christ, true God and man in one undivided person and the eternal High Priest of the whole lost world, praised to all eternity, help him and us all. Amen.