Friday-Saturday of Trinity 13

 Honor God, Honor Parents

Ephesians 6:1-4 (ESV) Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Along with the honor required in the Fourth Commandment also comes fear of God, as Dr. Luther explains: “We should fear and love God so that we do not despise parents and other authorities, but honor them, serve and obey them, love and cherish them.”

We are to fear God according to the First Commandment, and we are to honor, serve, obey, love, and cherish our parents and other authorities according to the Fourth Commandment. That we are “to obey” is acknowledgment that parents and authorities have the obligation to discipline us when we disobey God’s Law.

Now that is something that makes us all uncomfortable: discipline. Yet our Lord speaks of discipline that comes from him and our parents. The letter to the Hebrews says: “Endure suffering as discipline. God is treating you as children. All children are disciplined; if you are not given discipline you are not true children of God, but are illegitimate. While we are being disciplined, it always seems painful, rather than joyful” (Hebrews 12:7ff).

Discipline is training—from the hand of God and from the hand of parents—often firmly on children’s bottoms, or resolutely in the lives of adults who continue to go astray and need to be straightened out.

But this discipline is fundamentally a part of God’s training of His disciples (Did you ever notice that disciple and discipline are closely related words? No coincidence!), reminding us that we are not illegitimate children but are children of a God who loves us and desires us to walk in the ways of truth and righteousness. Only illegitimate children are allowed to live without discipline and boundaries—disregarding right from wrong, pretending like they are autonomous.

What an awesome responsibility that has been given to parents! So many parents today either are unaware of their responsibility as parents or have flat-out rejected the importance of their office. Parents are first to know the Lord’s desire for their own lives, learning from God’s Word how to live; and then they are required to impress these things upon children, as Moses (inspired by the Holy Spirit!) teaches us:

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)

None of this is optional—parents cannot allow children room to chase the wind, allowing them to make decisions on their own, hoping they will simply learn from their mistakes.

No, once parents have been taught the Lord’s will, they must impress these things on their children,  not as tyrants, who exasperate their children, but as parents who fear, love, and trust in God above all things and want their children to fear, love, and trust in God above all things.

Godly parents do not simply scatter children, like seed, out among the weeds, hoping they will by some miracle grow up into healthy trees that bear good fruit, because scattered, undisciplined children won’t grow up at all. How many 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, or even 90 year old children do we encounter on a daily basis?

Scripture teaches us that those who are left to themselves, apart from God, will die. Not only will the weeds of the world creep in and choke them off, but the sin that lives inside of them by nature will cause them to choose the wrong, never the right. Children must be taught, and they must honor those who teach them. Such is God’s will.

Forgiveness is always available through the Means of Grace, for all the times we have dishonored parents and other authorities, for every time we have run rough-shod over God’s Commandments.

May we all live in repentance, and as baptized children of God, may we learn both to honor Him and to honor our parents and other authorities!

Prayer: Lord God, heavenly Father, Your Son gathered the little children to Himself that He might bless them. Strengthen all parents that they may faithfully bring up their children in the nurture and instruction of the Lord by a life of prayer and devotion to You and Your Word. Bless all who assist our parents in teaching the faith to children, that all might be led into the Savior’s loving arms and grow to lead godly lives to the praise and honor of Christ’s holy name; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Thursday of Trinity 13

 God's Temples

1 Kings 6:1-14 (ESV) In the four hundred and eightieth year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, he began to build the house of the LORD. The house that King Solomon built for the LORD was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, equal to the width of the house, and ten cubits deep in front of the house. And he made for the house windows with recessed frames. He also built a structure against the wall of the house, running around the walls of the house, both the nave and the inner sanctuary. And he made side chambers all around. The lowest story was five cubits broad, the middle one was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad. For around the outside of the house he made offsets on the wall in order that the supporting beams should not be inserted into the walls of the house. When the house was built, it was with stone prepared at the quarry, so that neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built. The entrance for the lowest story was on the south side of the house, and one went up by stairs to the middle story, and from the middle story to the third. So he built the house and finished it, and he made the ceiling of the house of beams and planks of cedar. He built the structure against the whole house, five cubits high, and it was joined to the house with timbers of cedar. Now the word of the LORD came to Solomon, “Concerning this house that you are building, if you will walk in my statutes and obey my rules and keep all my commandments and walk in them, then I will establish my word with you, which I spoke to David your father. And I will dwell among the children of Israel and will not forsake my people Israel.” So Solomon built the house and finished it.

God gave Moses instructions for establishing the mobile Tabernacle, in which the LORD would come to dwell and be accessible to Israel (Exodus 25). David desired to build a permanent Temple for the Lord’s name (1 Kings 5:3), but the Lord forbade it because David was a man of war and shed so much blood (1 Chronicles 22:8). Nonetheless, David contributed to its eventual construction by giving instructions and collecting materials for it (1 Chronicles 22; 29:6-9; 2 Chronicles 2:3-7).

The long-anticipated Temple was built under Solomon’s supervision (1 Kings 5-6). The Lord gave Solomon wisdom to undertake this enormous project (1 Kings 5:12). He relied on Hiram’s expert timber workers and employed Israelites and many conquered Canaanites.

At the Tabernacle and Temple, the Lord’s name dwelled and He was present to meet with His people, hear their prayers, and bless them (Exodus 20:24). The Temple was the Lord’s sanctuary that housed “the ark of the covenant of the LORD and the holy vessels of God” and was a “house built for the name of the LORD” (1 Chronicles 22:9). The Lord promised, concerning the Temple, “My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place” (2 Chronicles 7:15).

But the Old Testament Tabernacle and Temple were only provisional, pointing to the New Testament, when God would dwell with His people in a more wonderful way, in Jesus Christ! The eternal Son, the Word of God was made flesh and “tabernacled” among us (John 1:1, 14). His body became the true and final Temple of God and was put to death for our sins but raised on the third day (John 2:18-22).

Jesus still tabernacles with us and is our Temple because He has promised, “Wherever two or three have been gathered in my name, there am I among them… I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 18:20, 28:20). He continues to be Immanuel, “God with us,” (Matthew 1:23) in His Church through the Word and Sacraments. We are corporately and individually “God’s temple,” where the God’s Holy Spirit dwells (1 Corinthians 3:16-17, 2 Corinthians 6:16). And because of God’s wonderful promises to us in Christ, we can confess with confidence, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (Psalm 23:6).

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You have joined us to Yourself in Holy Baptism and made our bodies a temple of Your Holy Spirit. May the fruit of the Spirit be born in our bodies as we show forth in the world Your love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, for against such things there is no law; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Wednesday of Trinity 13

 Church Discipline

Matthew 18:15-20 (ESV) Jesus says, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

In the Grace Lutheran Church Constitution, in the “Article VI - DUTIES OF MEMBERS” section, it says (among other things):

It is expected of all baptized members that they:

1) attend divine services faithfully and regularly;

2) lead a Christian life as taught in Galatians 5:19-26;

3) out of Christian love submit to brotherly admonition according to Matthew 18 when having erred or offended;

This coming Sunday’s Epistle reading (and sermon text) will be the Galatians 5 passage, which deals with the “works of the flesh” and the “fruit of the Spirit” (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control). The Matthew 18 passage is part of the Gospel reading for tonight’s midweek Divine Service.

This is a remarkably timely passage, especially in a hypersensitive world that does much of its communicating online. When one offends another, the tendency for the offended party is to go straight to public rebuke and even “cancellation.” This is not only highly corrosive to polite society but also unchristian behavior.

When someone sins against me, Jesus tells me that I have to go directly to that person to point out his fault, not broadcast it to the world! And if my one-on-one interaction is unsuccessful, at most, two or three other people should be involved next, not the entire community (much less “online community”!).

In the case that stubborn impenitence sets in, “the church” must be called upon to call the sinner to repentance and, if necessary, exercise the Office of the Keys (specifically, the “binding key”). As the Small Catechism explains:

What is the Office of the Keys?

The Office of the Keys is that special authority which Christ has given to His church on earth to forgive the sins of repentant sinners, but to withhold forgiveness from the unrepentant as long as they do not repent.

Where is this written?

This is what St. John the Evangelist writes in chapter twenty: The Lord Jesus breathed on His disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven” (John 20:22-23).

What do you believe according to these words?

I believe that when the called ministers of Christ deal with us by His divine command, in particular when they exclude openly unrepentant sinners from the Christian congregation and absolve those who repent of their sins and want to do better, this is just as valid and certain, even in heaven, as if Christ our dear Lord dealt with us Himself.

The forgiveness and salvation of sinners is always the Church’s main objective. All of us need to hear God’s Law to show us our sins, so that we know what to repent of and recognize our need for a Savior; all of us need the Gospel to forgive our sins, grant us a clear conscience, and give us strength for holy living.

But we also need to remember that God’s Law is His will for every day of our lives, and the Gospel is not a get-out-of-hell-free card that we keep in our pocket, only to be pulled out at death or on Judgment Day. To help us remember this, and to keep us accountable to God’s Word, the Church must teach about and use the Office of the Keys.

The initial questions this Office demands that we answer are twofold: 1) How do we identify a repentant sinner to whom forgiveness is to be given? And on the other hand, 2) Who is the sinner from whom forgiveness should be withheld until he repents?

Setting aside the problem of hypocrisy (when one secretly does not believe in Christ but retains the outward appearance of being a Christian), the only way the Church can discern repentance is through an individual’s words and works. So for us to apply the Office of the Keys, the Church must judge the words and deeds of Her members, and actually make distinctions between types of sin (public versus private) and types of sinners (penitent versus impenitent)!

The exercise of the Office of the Keys is part of “Church Discipline.” This discipline is helpful for preserving the congregation from being corrupted by false doctrine (Romans 16:17) and the spreading of immorality (1 Corinthians 5:1-13, 15:33). It helps promote unity in doctrine (1 Corinthians 1:10) and seeks the salvation of an unrepentant sinner (1 Corinthians 5:5).

No Christian should take pleasure in speaking the harsh word of God’s judgment upon an unrepentant sinner, but it is necessary and actually a loving act. By analogy, no godly parents enjoy disciplining their children, but it is necessary to curb sinful behavior and instill a love of righteousness: “For [our fathers] disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but [God] disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:10–11).

Prayer: Almighty and everlasting God, You despise nothing You have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent. Create in us new and contrite hearts that lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness we may receive from You full pardon and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Tuesday of Trinity 13

 One Word's Necessary

Luke 10:38-42 (ESV) Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
 
Jesus makes a pit stop in the village where Mary and Martha live. The road-weary traveler visits the house of His dear friends so that He might bring them some Good News. The group sits down in the living room – a scene repeated millions of times in the history of hospitality. But the unique thing about this instance is the conversation. Jesus begins to preach His Word. This is no casual discussion of life on the road with the disciples. This is a sermon about the Son of Man, who came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. Mary understands that Jesus is serving dinner, and she gladly receives the Bread of Life. As St. Augustine said, “She was eating the One she was listening to.”
 
Martha, on the other hand, has the wrong dish in mind. She has forgotten that “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Deut 8:3). Martha is a conscientious hostess, so it is second nature for her to worry about serving. She wants to put her best food forward.
 
But Mary doesn’t budge. She remains at the feet of the Lord, feasting on His Word. She won’t be ready to push away from the table until she is filled to the brim. She knows that the Word of Jesus feeds those who hunger for righteousness. In the meantime, Martha bangs around with pots and pans, occasionally peeking out to see if Mary is going to join her in the kitchen. Finally, Martha’s frustration comes to a head. Huffing and puffing, she marches up to Jesus and blurts out, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me alone to serve? Tell her to help me.” Then comes a moment of uncomfortable silence, while Martha waits expectantly for an answer in the affirmative.
 
“Martha, Martha, you are worried and in an uproar concerning many things, but One thing is needful. Mary has chosen the better portion, which will not be taken away from her.” With Jesus, we don’t always get the answer we expect – but we do get the answer we need. Jesus’ gentle rebuke proves to Martha that He does care about her. He knows what she needs better than she does. It is a matter of good, but mistaken intentions. Martha thinks that she has chosen the better course by preparing dinner. So Jesus corrects her in the hope that she might come to realize her error.
 
The Savior’s reply to Martha is not harsh, but it is firm. When the Word is present, the many worries of the kitchen must fade into the background. The One Thing Needful – Jesus – must stand in the foreground. Jesus is not opposed to serving meals – He serves one for us every week. But no matter how tasty Martha’s morsels might have been, they could not compare to the better portion that Mary chose, the Word of God. Mary knew that disciples of Jesus are called to be hearers of the Word and then doers. Followers first are to be served by Him, and only then can they serve others.
 
Jesus, the One Thing Needful, is the Abiding Word. Like Mary, blessed are you who hear the Word of God and keep Him (Lk 11:28). Like Mary, you may quietly feast on the Word of God, for the Son of Man comes not to be served, but to serve you with the Bread of Life through the Means of Grace.
 
Prayer (LSB 585: 1, 2, 6):
 
1. Lord Jesus Christ, with us abide,
For round us falls the eventide.
O let Your Word, that saving light,
Shine forth undimmed into the night.
 
2. In these last days of great distress
Grant us, dear Lord, true steadfastness
That we keep pure till life is spent
Your holy Word and Sacrament.
 
6. Stay with us, Lord, and keep us true;
Preserve our faith our whole life through—
Your Word alone our heart’s defense,
The Church’s glorious confidence. Amen.

Monday of Trinity 13

 Our Good Samaritan

Luke 10:25-37 (ESV) And behold, a lawyer stood up to put Jesus to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

When the LORD revealed Himself to Moses, He described Himself as “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6). His covenants with Israel were motivated by His grace, mercy, and love. Therefore, the love shown by individuals in Israel was to be understood as a gift from the LORD; any mercy they showed was animated by the mercy already shown by God.

When Jesus came, He found that many Jews were getting things backwards. Instead of saying, “God has been merciful to us, so now we live grateful lives of limitless mercy toward all others,” they said, “Let’s codify how much mercy we need to show—and determine to whom we need to show it.” The lawyer in the story of the Good Samaritan was a legalistic Pharisee and held to the latter attitude. Jesus used the story to call Israel back to the proper perspective.

The lawyer was well versed in God’s Law, which requires total love toward Him and selfless love toward the neighbor (Luke 10:25-28). Thinking obedience to the Law was the path to eternal life, he asked, “Who is my neighbor?” in an attempt narrow the requirement of “mercy toward all” down to “mercy toward some.”

Jesus’ story portrays actions far beyond typical sinners’ inclinations to mercy. We, like the priest and Levite, regularly act without love and mercy—even toward our families and friends! But the Good Samaritan interrupted his journey (implying a long trip) in order to help a complete stranger, risking his own life (clearly, highway robbers were nearby). He not only performed first aid and transported him to the inn, but also basically said, “Here is my credit card. Feed and care for him as long as necessary.”

We may respond, “The world would be a great place if everyone were like the Good Samaritan.” Of course! The world would be a great place if everyone obeyed the Ten Commandments and fulfilled the law of love (Romans 13:8-10). But this story teaches nothing new about morality; the Old Testament already required mercy toward all! To apply this parable as exclusively Law, by admonishing, “Now you get out there and show some mercy like the Good Samaritan,” misses Jesus’ point.

Our best attempts to “go and do likewise” are exposed as total failures in the light of God’s strict Law. But Jesus, THE Good Samaritan, did “go and do likewise.” He found us dying sinners, totally estranged from God, and paid all He had—perfect obedience during His life and a sacrificial death for our sins—in order to redeem us. He has freed us from sin to live under His mercy, so that by repentance and the forgiveness of sins our lack of mercy is pardoned. Whatever our vocations, “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

The most merciful thing we can do for our neighbors is to introduce them to the true Good Samaritan, who saves us from the deadly wounds of sin: “God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5).

Prayer: O God, You declare Your almighty power above all in showing mercy and pity. Mercifully grant us such a measure of Your grace that we may obtain Your gracious promises and be made partakers of Your heavenly treasures; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Saturday of Trinity 12

 I Do Believe! Help My Unbelief!

Mark 9:14-29 (ESV) And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. And immediately all the crowd, when they saw Jesus, were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted him. And he asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” And someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” And he answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.” And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” And Jesus said to him, “ ‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”

“Lord, I believe! Help my unbelief!” the father confessed to Jesus. That confession should also be on our lips every day of our lives as baptized children of God—we should confess our sinfulness, and we should confess our faith.

But confession is not something we are able to do on our own, without the Lord first giving us His Holy Spirit. The Word of God is the only thing that can enable us to confess our sin or faith. His Word of Law reveals our sin and unbelief, and His Gospel delivers forgiveness of sins, which creates faith and moves us to ask the Lord to get rid of the sin and unbelief that remain in us.

The Lord speaks first, and only then can we respond with a correct confession at all. This is what happens in Mark 9. The father of the demon-possessed boy did not realize his unbelief until Jesus rebuked him, but after Jesus spoke, then the man was able to confess: “Lord, I do believe! Help my unbelief.”

But first he was rebuked. After the disciples had been unable to overcome the power of the demon, the man got to speak to Jesus directly, as he had hoped to all along, because he thought Jesus would be able to help. But the man also doubted. He said to Jesus, “If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” That’s a big “if.” It expresses uncertainty in the power of Jesus. You can tell Jesus took it this way because He said incredulously, “ ‘If you can!’ All things are possible for the One (τῷ) who believes (πιστεύοντι)!”

“The One who believes” is Jesus. First and foremost here, He is referring to Himself. He is the only-begotten Son of God according to His divine nature, and according to His human nature, He is the One who has always believed in God the Father without ever doubting, without ever wavering, and so for Him, all things truly are possible.

Saving faith looks to Christ alone to find God and His salvation. Look to Jesus, to whom all things are possible, especially our eternal salvation. Unlike us, Jesus never doubted God’s power nor did He ever doubt God’s good and gracious will. In the garden of Gethsemane, as Jesus faced the prospect of death by crucifixion under God’s wrath against our sin, Jesus prayed, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will” (Mark 14:36). He submitted to His Father’s will and trusted that God would raise Him from the dead.

Although the Father placed all of our guilt and shame upon Christ and afflicted Him with the torments of hell instead of us, the Father was always near to save His Son and to vindicate His righteous cause, the cause of saving us. Christ was put to death for our sins and raised for our salvation, and since “all things are possible for the One who believes,” His death was able to accomplish forgiveness for all of the world’s sins and His resurrected life is able to grant the greatest of all possibilities—everlasting life—to all who believe in Him. “For God loved the world this way: He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

And such promises from God to us in the Scriptures—His assurances that He is for us in every case, that He will never leave us nor forsake us, that He will not destroy us but keep us eternally safe—His promises make us bold to cry out, “Lord, I do believe! Help my unbelief!”

 

Prayer (LSB 720):

 

1. We walk by faith and not by sight,

    No gracious words we hear

From Him who spoke as none e’er spoke,

    But we believe Him near.

 

2. We may not touch His hands and side,

    Nor follow where He trod;

But in His promise we rejoice

    And cry “My Lord and God!”

 

3. Help then, O Lord, our unbelief;

    And may our faith abound

To call on You when You are near

    And seek where You are found.

 

4. For You, O resurrected Lord,

    Are found in means divine:

Beneath the water and the Word,

    Beneath the bread and wine.

 

5. Lord, when our life of faith is done,

    In realms of clearer light

We may behold You as You are,

    With full and endless sight. Amen.

Friday of Trinity 12

 Laypeople and Pastors

Working Together

Titus 1:1-11, 2:1 (ESV) Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior; To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you— if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach… But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.

As an apostle, Paul received the same mandate as the other apostles selected during Jesus’ ministry: to baptize and preach the Gospel (see Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 16:15) and forgive and retain sins (John 20:21-23). Timothy and Titus were such pastors. We refer to 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus as “the pastoral epistles” because they were written to pastors (Timothy and Titus) and address the requirements for those who are placed into the Office of the Holy Ministry.

Titus does not appear in the Acts of the Apostles but is mentioned several times in Paul’s epistles. In 2 Corinthians 8:23, Paul calls Titus “my partner and fellow worker for your benefit,” that is, for service to the church at Corinth.

In the Acts of the Apostles and the epistles of Paul, we witness a “handing on” of the apostolic ministry from the apostles to the first generation of pastors. This occurred because the Lord Jesus desires always to give good gifts to His church (Ephesians 4:1-16) and distribute His Word of eternal life (Titus 1:1-3). When Paul calls Titus his “true child in a common faith” (Titus 1:4) he indicates that, in one way, Paul has authority over Titus, but in their common Christian faith, they are equal. This same point is illustrated beautifully in 1 Peter 5:1-4 where Peter explains that the elders (pastors) are among the church (that is, they are members), but also are to “shepherd the flock of God.” In the congregation, we are equal in Christ (Galatians 3:26-28) but there are also must be leaders who watch over our souls, to whom we must submit (Hebrews 13:17).

“Elder” is another word for “pastor” in the New Testament. Paul instructs Titus to order the congregation in Crete and appoint elders (in the King James Version, this is translated “ordain elders”) in every town where there is a congregation (Titus 1:5). The Lord desires our congregations to be well-ordered because “God is not a God of confusion but of peace” and “all things should be done decently and in order” (1 Corinthians 14:33, 40).

The Office of the Holy Ministry is reserved for men; the “husband of one wife” obviously cannot be a woman (Titus 1:6; 1 Timothy 3:2, 12). There also are clear moral requirements for pastors (Titus 1:6-8) and qualifications for knowledge of and faithfulness to the Word of God (Titus 1:9). Lutherans take seriously the importance of thorough training for pastors. Such training equips pastors to keep their congregations firmly grounded in the pure teaching of God’s Word (Titus 1:9; 2:1) and to defend the church against erroneous teaching (Titus 1:10-16).

Pastors and laypeople alike are members of God’s “royal priesthood” and are to “proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). We cannot underestimate the importance of laypeople being “sound in the faith” as a result of imbibing “sound doctrine” (Titus 1:13; 2:10). When laypeople become disciplined and knowledgeable students of the Bible, then they are equipped to share their faith with others and also discern whether their pastors are meeting the qualifications set forth in the pastoral Epistles. Pastors and laypeople are gifts from God to one another, and also hold each other accountable to the Word of the Lord!

Prayer: Almighty God, You called Titus to the work of pastor and teacher. Make all shepherds of Your flock diligent in preaching Your holy Word so that the whole world may know the immeasurable riches of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.