ROUGHLY EDITED COPY LUTHERAN PASTORAL THEOLOGY & PRACTICE LPTP-8 Captioning Provided By: Caption First, Inc. P.O. Box 1924 Lombard, IL 60148 800-825-5234 www.captionfirst.com *** This text is being provided in a rough draft format. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings. *** >> JOSHUA: Now I see why it's important to have the specialized preparation for the ministry. But tell me: What about ordination? Does ordination give a pastor some special status with God? >> PROF. SENKBEIL: Well, remember, Josh, we talked about the vocation of every Christian; that he or she actually, in terms of the leity of the church, each had a separate calling which gives gives them a place in life, be that butcher, baker, candlestick maker, you could say. Father, mother, child, spouse, whoever we are, this is where God has called us to serve. In the office of the ministry, it also is a special office but one in which God works by virtue of his divine means through the Gospel and the sacraments. That places it into his right-hand kingdom, if you will, into the area of the operation of his church. So now, when it comes to ordination, that question you asked, does it give some sort of special status? It is an important question. Remember when we talked about the 5th article of the Augsburg Confession, we said that the office of the public ministry really consists in this: That God has given to this church on earth the Gospel and the sacraments. Through these, as through means, he sends forth the Holy Spirit who works faith when and where it pleases him in those who hear the Gospel. So that Christ's people, his church, might be very confident that the man whom they have called is indeed serving in this office, it's only right and proper then that there would be some sort of ceremony that would designate this man as their pastor from this day on. Remember now, we said what really gives him a legitimate standing in that office is the call of the congregation. But now in the rite of ordination, the assembled congregation has the joyous privilege of seeing and hearing their pastor designate, the candidate for office, if you will, publicly profess the faith that he is called to teach and to preach. And, if you haven't looked at it before, it's really quite an interesting and very awe-inspiring rite. For example, the pastor is asked publicly before God and the assembled congregation to state, "Do you believe 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?" You see, God's people have a right to know that the man whom they have called will base his sermons and his teaching, all that he does really, not in his own private opinion but on the basis of God's word. Secondly, the question is: "Do you accept the three ecumenical creeds; namely, the Apostle's, the Nicene, and the Athenasian Creeds, as faithful testimonies to the truth of the Holy Scriptures? And do you reject all the errors which they condemn?" As a minister of the church, we profess again not a private opinion but rather the faith which the church confesses especially over and again the ancient and contemporary heresies false teachings which attack and assault the church. So it's important that a man profess, first of all, the holy scriptures and then the ancient creeds, the ecumenical creeds, as a sum total of this Christian faith which we profess. The next question gets to the heart of the matter of what it means to be a Lutheran pastor. "Do you believe that the Unaltered Augsburg Confession is a true exposition of the word of God and a correct exhibition of the doctrine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church; 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 Book of Concord�-- are also in agreement with this one scriptural faith?" You see, we're not a lowest common denominator church. We're not interested in everybody's own private opinion of what might be true or could possibly be true. But we want every pastor to be able to say unequivocally "thus says the Lord." Therefore, as Lutheran pastors, we also pledge our allegiance to this Book of Concord; that is, the assembled body of Christian teaching from the time of the Reformation that, in every article of faith, we might teach what Holy Scripture teaches since these are of course what we call normed norms. The Bible itself norms the faith. But these -- this collection of the confessions are themselves normed by Holy Scripture so that we might collectively as a church teach with one voice what the Bible itself teaches on all the controverted articles of Christian faith. Then comes another question regarding the duties of the office. "Do you solemnly promise that you will perform the duties of your office in accordance with the confessions or symbols and so that all your teaching and your administration of the sacraments will be in conformity with the Holy Scriptures and with the aforementioned symbols?" You see, this is what provides continuity and uniformity amongst the congregations of the synod, that all the men who serve in our ministerium who hold the office of the public ministry in our church profess this one scriptural faith and with one voice confess the teachings of that faith. It's only right then that the congregation which would have a right to expect their pastor to uphold these doctrines and to teach this faith which they themselves profess because these very things, the Bible and the Confessions, are included in every congregation's constitution as the foundation of what it is that they stand for as Christians in that place. Another question regarding what it is that pastors do: "Will you faithfully instruct both young and old in the chief articles of the Christian doctrine? Will you forgive the sins of those 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 admonishing the people to a lively confidence in Christ and holy living?" Now, that's a tall order. To which the pastor responds, according to our rite, "I will, with the help of God." Remember, Josh, we said that a pastor is not merely something that he is, but something he does. What he does has to be consistent with who he is both as a Christian and as a called servant of Christ in the church. So, therefore, the congregation is interested that he upholds the standards of this public office in everything that he does, in his public teaching and in his private ministry. And so this is the intent of that question. And then finally this: "Finally, will you adorn the office of the public ministry with a holy life?" We already said how important a man's personal faith is. His own devotional life; exhibiting to everyone, both within the flock and the community at large, the qualities of what it means to be a Christian and to be a public servant of the Word. And so it's important then that congregations hear with their own ears this promise, this pledge from the mouth of their pastor. To which he responds, "I will, the Lord helping me through the power and grace of His Holy Spirit." Now, Josh, I've given you a rather lengthy list of things to a rather simple question. But really it's important that we keep these things central to the question of ordination. Because, you see, what ordination is is really the public acknowledgment of the entrance into this office and the church. The term "ordination" does not mean some sort of magical process by which a man receives some sort of spiritual quality within the church which elevates him to a certain status higher above the rest of the congregation. But rather it places him into this office, namely, of being a lowly servant in Jesus' name. Like Jesus himself came not to be served but rather to serve, in fact, to give his life as a ransom for many. So it is that those who are called to this office, which is indeed the highest office of the church, might serve in a lowly way. Ordination, therefore, is the way by which the congregation hears the pledge of their pastor and by which he is installed into this public ministry. In I Timothy chapter 4 we read about this practice of ordination where St.�Paul writes to young Timothy in verse 14, "Do not neglect the gift you have which was given you by prophecy when the consul of elders laid their hands on you." And this really is what ordination means, namely, to place one's hands on someone. It is a universal gesture within the church which has to do with the blessing of God, the application, the personal application of the blessings and gifts of God. It's used in many kinds of contexts, both in the everyday ministry that a pastor might carry on in his daily duties, at the sick bed, at the altar rail, whenever he is serving in Christ's place. But also when he himself enters then into this office, this practice is the way by which he is designated as Christ's own servant. Notice that the apostle calls it the gift of the Holy Spirit. This, I think, says a great deal regarding what it is to be a pastor. It's to be a gift, a gift of Christ to His church, to serve in His place, to feed His flock, to nourish His lambs and sheep, to be Christ's man, to speak His word, to administer His sacraments. This is what ordination is about. It's the way by which a man is placed into this office which he holds by virtue of a call of the congregation. Thanks for asking that question, Josh. *** This text is being provided in a rough draft format. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings. ***