Fellow redeemed in Christ,
The ministry of Christian pastors and teachers is little regarded by the world and at times little appreciated by Christians. But God says of it: "This is a trustworthy saying: If anyone seeks after the office of a spiritual overseer, he desires a good work!" (1 Tim. 3:1). What's good about the public ministry? It is good, first, because it was ordained by Jesus Christ Himself. Listen to this word of God recorded in Ephesians 4:11-12:
He [Christ] gave some, apostles; and
some, prophets; and some, evangelists;
and some, pastors and teachers; For the
perfecting of the saints, for the work of
the ministry, for the edifying of the body
of Christ.
This text speaks about two kinds of ministry, the general ministry which belongs to all believers, and the public ministry which belongs to those who have received calls to preach and teach the Word of God to others. Those who have calls into the public ministry, the apostle says, serve to equip the members of their flocks to carry out their personal ministries in their individual private lives. The result is that the body of Christ, the holy Christian Church, is built up as a holy temple in which the Lord God Himself dwells. Here are Paul's words again in a free translation: "Christ has given some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, some to be pastors and teachers, for the purpose of equipping the saints for the work of ministering, so that the body of Christ might be built up."
Let's take these things one at a time. There is a general ministry of the Word which belongs to every Christian man, woman, and child. Many Bible verses serve to establish this fact. For example, the Lord Christ gave this com- mission to a_ll of His disciples just before His ascension into heaven: "Go ye and make disciples of all nations" (Matt. 28:19). And the Apostle Peter says to every Christian man and woman, boy and girl: "Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light" (1 Pet. 2:9). As soon as the Holy Spirit made you a saint by bringing you into the fellowship of Christ through the Gospel, He made you also a witness of Christ to bring this Gospel to others. As soon as He filled your heart with the joy of salvation through the forgiveness of your sins, He also opened your mouth to share this joy with others.
So that you might be more fully equipped for this personal ministry of yours, the Lord Christ established also the public ministry by giving to His Church men and women to serve as Christian pastors, teachers, and so forth. It hap- pens in this way: The Lord makes a group of Christians aware of a spiritual need that they share in common, and then He supplies their need by leading them to send a call to a person who will administer His Word and Sacraments in their midst.
As an illustration of how this takes place, consider the beginnings of ILC in Mankato 25 years ago. Early in 1959 the members of Immanuel Church there became aware of a need--the young people of the congregation could no longer attend the Lutheran high schools, colleges, and seminaries of synods of the Synodical Conference, because these synods had become false teaching. Within a few months the congregation was prompted by the Lord to extend calls to certain individuals to serve as teachers in a new high school, college, and seminary. The Lord then moved these individuals to accept the calls, and in the late summer of that year ILC opened its doors to students.
The ministry of Christian pastors and teachers is referred to as the "public" ministry because these called servants do their work, not only in their own private capacity as disciples of Christ, but by request of and in behalf of all of those other Christians who have called them.
These called ministers of the Gospel, our text says, are gifts of the risen and ascended Lord Jesus Christ to His Church. Next time that you hear your pastor speak to you from the pulpit, next time that you sit at the feet of a Christian teacher in a classroom-think of these called servants as precious blessings to you from a loving Savior, who through them is building you up in your faith and knowledge, so that you may cling to Him more firmly and be better equipped to witness to Him in your own private lives.
This public ministry is a good thing, then, because it has been ordained by Jesus Christ Himself. As we just sang:
Lord Jesus, who are come
A Teacher sent from heaven
And by both word and deed
God's truth to us hast given,
Thou wisely hast ordained
The holy ministry
That we, Thy flock, may know
The way to God through Thee. Amen.
