No. 64. >> In my readings and in our classes, I have come across the priesthood of all believers. Let me ask a question about this here: Who are they in relation to the pastoral office? And what role does a priesthood of all believers play in the life of a church? >>DR. KLAUS DETLEV SCHULZ: Josh, you have probably picked up a favorite phrase, the priesthood of believers, that circulates in our church and basically in all Protestant churches and in literature. Especially, also, in a lot of mission literature that tells us clearly that the priesthood of all believers and their ministry is usually underutilized and should be further embellished for the promotion of preaching the Gospel around the world. So the priesthood of all believers is a very important discovery or component of the Protestant Reformation. Such individuals before Luther as ***Horst or Wycliffe, you might have heard of those names, have already come up with the idea of the priesthood of all believers as a device against the primacy and position of the hierarchy and the Pope, the pontiff. They wanted, thereby, to say that the power and authority in the church resides not with individuals but also with those that are believing in Jesus Christ, all Christians, and call them the priesthood of all believers. Is there scriptural evidence for this? Well, I believe there is in I Peter Chapter 2 Verse 9. Therein we read this: But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God. In other words, God has created his own people like the nation of Israel. He now has a priesthood of all believers. We are thinking immediately: Does that mean that they are now of the Levitical order as well as in the Old Testament? Well, Jesus Christ himself was the high priest. And in the letter to the Hebrews, we are given clear indication that through the ministry of Jesus Christ and him being sacrificed on the cross, the Levitical priesthood has, thereby, fallen away. It has now been broadened to every Christian. So that they now may consider themselves as the royal priesthood. This passage here, I Peter 2 Verse 9 is frequently quoted. Some scholars say it has much to do with the realm of worship because it says here that we should declare the praises of God. Well, we generally do that in a worship service, don't we? Where we sing hymns and pray psalms together. And declare the praises of God. Namely, that he has redeemed us from our sins. Given us baptism and saved us. So I, indeed, believe that as a royal priesthood we do gather and declare our praises of God together. At the same time, I wouldn't want to confine this verse to the context of worship alone. It plays a very important role of defining our missionary obligation, to declare that what we believe in to other people. The doctrine of the royal priesthood is not found much in the Lutheran Confessions. In fact, we will search in vain for the title: The royal priesthood. But in the book of the Treatise, as we have looked at it previously, does indicate that underlying the concept of church is also the idea of the priesthood of all believers. If Melanchthon says the keys have been given principally and immediately to the church, it means that he wants to say: The priesthood of believers are in possession of it. Luther himself took great care at explaining the priesthood of believers, as well. He, too, saw it as a means of explaining how the church functions and the right of every Christian in the church. Martin Luther wrote tracts such as the "Babylonian Captivity" on the freedom of a Christian or the Christian nobility, all written in the year 1520. If you look at these writings, you will see that he referred frequently to the priesthood of all believers. What exactly then should we say about the priesthood of believers once we have read Luther's writings? Let me relate to you a few features or characteristics that mark the priesthood of all believers. The first thing that we should note is that the term used for priesthood is sacerdotium. Luther makes sure that that term, priesthood, is confined to all Christians. When he comes, however, to speak about the office of the ministry, the Word and sacrament one, he comes down clearly with the term ministerium. So on the one hand, we have the sacerdotium, the priesthood of all believers as a specific term chosen in Luther's writings. And on the other hand, the ministerium, the diakonia, as we have said it in Greek. How do the two relate to each other, the sacerdotium and the ministerium? Well, obviously they both relate to each other. They are not mutually exclusive. For the characteristic of every Christian in the church is that he listens to the Word being preached so that God, the Holy Spirit, may work on him. And instill faith and strengthen it. So what we have to say about the priesthood of all believers is that they all, first of all, are a congregation that listens. Romans 10 Verse 14 to 17 says: Faith comes through hearing. And so the sacerdotium, the priesthood of all believers, relies on the ministerium. The ministerium in turn relies on the priesthood of all believers. And so they enrich each other. Rather than having been separated completely, we need to affirm that both live off each other. Already in 1519 and 1520 basically through the writings, the documents that I have just mentioned, Luther came to the conviction that there is no special dignity to be appended to those in the pastoral ministry. A dignity that the priests in the Roman Catholic Church is to claim. They claim for themselves the evangelical councils of chastity, of obedience and of poverty. And to all of the Christians they said: Since you are sinners and do not -- are not given a lifestyle as we pursue, we consider you as those who will have to fulfill the Ten Commandments. Whereas, we will do these additional works that are described in the Sermon on the Mount and pursue these. And thereby, accumulate special works, special treasures, that can be handed out to those who do not fulfill them. Thereby, they claimed a special dignity for themselves that elevated them beyond and above those who are the priesthood of all believers. Luther disagreed with that position. Obviously the ministerium can claim that it speaks on behalf of Jesus Christ. And in Luke 10 we hear: He who hears me, hears you. In other words, we know from Apology 5 Verse 28 that this passage of Luke is also used to describe the ministry of Word and sacrament. In other words, the priesthood of all believers need to understand that what they are hearing from the mouths of the pastor are, indeed, God's words and Jesus Christ's words. And so they may take comfort in the very fact that what they are hearing in terms of forgiveness is nothing else but the Word of Jesus Christ. That does not say that this makes the individual, the person, be given a higher dignity as such. But it indicates the importance of someone who serves in the office. Luther also by elevating the priesthood of all believers to a special status does not introduce the ideal of Democratic equality. Luther did not live in a Democratic time. Then it was a monarchy. And so it was not possible to claim the Democratic claims as we have them today. This is important to know, that all theological decisions that have to be made over this or that issue in Scripture cannot be given to a Democratic rule. Sometimes people don't necessarily make the right decision over the truth of Scripture. But rather, need to be taught and ***talded. So we need to be careful that the church with the priesthood of all believers, giving them a right does not mean that ***mabural may exist in the church where they decide whether to discard of this or that doctrine just for the sake of order and of wanting to live a modern life in these times. The features that Luther refers to when he speaks about the priesthood of all believers are these: First of all, he says that all those who are baptized are equal in the eyes of God. Despite their physical, their psychological or intellectual condition. Their social standing or the misfortunes in life that they are experiencing. Complete equality he says exists in view of the reality of faith. I've mentioned already the scriptural passage Galatians 3:28 which says: There's no Jew or Greek. We are all together one. In other words, the Lord Jesus Christ when it comes to our salvation looks at one single thing. And that is the existence of faith. He does not look at what you are and what particular social standing, what race or color. This is what Luther wants to make when he speaks about all Christians being equal through their baptism. Secondly, one further characteristic is that they all are placed immediately before God. In other words, if you as a Christian, a member of the priesthood of all believers, wants to pray, what can you do? You pray directly to God through Jesus Christ alone. There is nobody between you and God who steps and demands from you a certain position in regards to this or that. But he, Jesus Christ, directly relates to you. And you to him through prayer. That is the second characteristic of the priesthood of all believers. Namely, of being placed immediately before God. This, also, eliminates, thirdly, the earthly mediator. Now, by earthly mediator we mean somebody who comes into the arena demanding from the priesthood of all believers new laws, new understandings of this or that doctrine, without actually being able to prove it in Scripture. Mediators such as these have no place between God and the believer. In other words, they may be eliminated and not found suitable in the ministry of Word and sacrament. In other words, also, Luther does not eliminate the ecclesial office by saying there is no mediator. I have said clearly that whenever the pastors are speaking the words of Christ, they should be considered as being those voiced by Jesus himself. But however, as soon as certain conditions are placed on the members that cannot be found in Scripture, the mediation becomes a precarious position. Finally, or should I say the fourth component before we come to the final one, the fifth one, is that every Christian is endowed with a sacrificial life. What does that mean? Luther often spoke of the theology of the cross. And the impact of believing in the cross also means that we as Christians should ethically speaking be willing to suffer for our faith. We should be prepared to be rejected and persecuted by people who do not believe like us. Sacrifice also means that we will do good deeds for the love of our neighbor to promote their well being. And our sole concern should be that we devote our entire life to such neighbors who are in need. That is what sacrifice means. We give our life for the sake of our neighbor. Fifth and finally, we are also as the priesthood of all believers to witness the glory of God to other people. I have spoken to you about this just previously when I referred to I Peter 2 Verse 9. We can also say that such witness concerns our good works, that they may see those outside of the church. Our good works and declare the praises of God on the basis of them. Christians must witness, they must share their faith with others. We are not here to live a faith egotistically on our own and keep it to ourselves privately. We are there to share it with others. We are there to teach our children as father and mothers of a household. We are there to share it with other people in our family relationships. And at work and elsewhere. We are obligated to that because our faith is joyous and wants to share that what it affirms for oneself, also be sharing that with others. One point Luther, however, makes here -- and that is what I've tried to say previously, as well, when we spoke about Augsburg Confession XIV. Namely, that the right given to preach the Gospel is one that is delegated for public purpose. So when it comes to the priesthood of all believers wishing to witness, they cannot claim to do so publicly on behalf of others. They do so merely as being Christians. And Luther uses the word in privata here, in private. That does not mean I withdraw myself from everyone. No. In private that means that there are arenas where I need to witness. At work. At home. At the sporting field. Or on any other occasion. That is what he means by in privata, that witness that is necessary. So those that claim that we as Lutherans have never really utilized the priesthood of all believers, the fault does not lie with Luther or with the concept itself. We might have underutilized it. But on the other hand, it should not be used after we have looked at these various features as a competition to the ministry of Word and sacraments. I have said they do not exclude each other. But each one lives off the other. And together they serve the good of the church.