September 25, 2022                                            Text:  1 Timothy 3:1-13

Dear Friends in Christ,

    In any profession it is always interesting to talk with someone about how they got their job.  It is no different for a Pastor.  Except the question is usually phrased, “What made you decide to go into the ministry?”  From my days at seminary there are 100 different answers.  The common thread is how God worked to call these men to the ministry.  Some came willingly.  For some it took years.  The story begins and ends with Jesus.

    I’ve never preached on this text but today is a great opportunity for learning.  In our congregation we have Pastor’s kids.  We have members who have relatives that are Pastors.  Some of you have been good friends with your Pastor.  Then there is a segment sitting here today that don’t know that much about the ministry.  How does it work in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and what does the future hold.  This sermon may even get one of you men thinking about this profession.  Because, after all it is . . .

“A NOBLE TASK”

    The Apostle Paul writes this letter to young Timothy.  The saying in verse 1 was a well-known adage in the Early Church.  Having a Pastor lead a congregation helps with the Order of the Church.  Those who are served prayerfully benefit greatly.  The task, or the work, requires energy and devotion.  The Pastor is on call 24/7.

    Paul then goes on to list the qualifications of a Pastor.  They reflect what the Lord needs from this man to lead His Church.  These are all reasonable expectations.  If you can’t handle yourself or your family, then overseeing a congregation is never going to work.  Here’s the danger.  Some congregations might read through this list and do a mental evaluation of their Pastor and decide whether he should be in or out.  If things get tough, a congregation could turn to 1 Timothy 3 and begin to make an argument for or against the Pastor.  

    God cares for His Church by having instituted the Office of the Ministry.  Within this office the Pastor is supported by deacons or as most Lutheran Church’s call them elders.  These men also have certain qualifications for their task as listed in our text.

    Think of all the Pastors that God has put into your life.  Prayerfully they have been faithful.  What have they done for you?  They have preached the Law.  They have told you that you are a sinner.  Maybe they called you a filthy rag.  They preached on a topic that made you squirm in your pew.  They called you out on attitude that had no place in God’s Church.  Did the Pastor do this to hurt you?  No.  It was done to call you to repentance.  It was for the purpose of turning from your wicked ways.  How would you know the sweet taste of the Gospel without the bitter nectar of the Law?

    The Pastor directs the affairs of the church.  Shepherds the flock.  Guards it from error.  Administers the Sacraments.  Preaches Good News of your justification.  You are a filthy rag but you are made clean in the blood of Jesus Christ.  The cross is the never-ending symbol of your spiritual freedom.  Your Pastor has the privilege of touching you personally right here, right now.  He loves to share Jesus with you.  And not just from the pulpit.  By the hospital bed.  In the jail.  Confined at a nursing home.  In a counseling session.  On the phone, in a text, standing in the narthex.  It is a ministry of presence, and the best clergy are those who are in the game fighting the devil alongside you.  It is a noble task.

    Some seem to think the ministry is all about the coffee and doughnuts, oh the time wasted on that subject in the past.  To me one of the greatest advantages of this profession is that I have always had my own bathroom . . . and the soft toilet paper to go with it.  Didn’t aspire to this, just one of the nice perks.  What are the protocols for ministry in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod?

    Before going to the seminary, you need a four-year degree.  Study whatever you want.  It will all be helpful.  Then we have two seminaries you can attend.  St. Louis MO and Ft. Wayne IN.  It will be four more years of school.  Two years of study, a third year of vicarage.  You are assigned to a church for a year under a Pastoral supervisor, I went to Quincy IL.  You learn a lot and then you return to seminary for a fourth year.  You talk a lot about the vicarage experience and get ready for your first call.  In the LCMS the first call is assigned.  Which means you go – no questions asked.  They try to send you to a church that lines up with your traits.  My first call – Littlefield TX.  From this point on in your ministry, any of the 6,000 churches of the LCMS can call you.  If a call is received, the called Pastor has a choice.  He’s prays about it and either stays at his call or accepts a new call.  I have done both.  The Lord through the Holy Spirit has always led me to the right decision.

    The ministry is about the faithfulness of our Lord.  That is where the focus needs to be.  I have been blessed in this noble task for 31 years.  Three wonderful congregations where my family and I have been loved and taken care of.  Has it got you thinking about the ministry?  If so, come talk to me.  

    God entered into a saving human relationship with us.  He began this good work in the Church and continues to work through human relationships.  He leads not only though words but also through life.  God offers a list of qualities for Pastors so that He can work through them to form congregations that work for the good of others.

                                Amen.         

September 18, 2022                                        Text:  Psalm 113

Dear Friends in Christ,

    What did the seven dwarfs do for a living?  They worked in a mine, where they mined rubies and diamonds.  They seemed to enjoy their work so much they sang on the way home.  “Heigh ho, heigh ho, it’s home from work we go.”  All my life I thought they sang, “off to work we go” but a lyrical check shows they indeed sang, “it’s home from work we go.”

    Maybe you feel like singing when you go home from work.  Work songs have been a part of life for centuries.  Building railroads, the singing kept the workers in rhythm.  Farm hands and textile workers and other vocations had work songs.  The singing united everyone and kept everyone engaged in their tasks at hand.

    Today we are going to look at Psalm 113 – known as the “praise Psalm.”  It was sung at the beginning of the Passover celebration.  While not exactly a work song, it does convey something important . . .

“GOD’S GRACIOUS WORK”

    “Heigh ho, heigh ho, we look to this work and go.”  God’s gracious work.  The great thing about the work song is how it can tie together an enjoyable thing to do – singing – with something not as fun – a difficult task.  

    Our text also brings two separate things together.  In the opening of the psalm, we start to see attributes that make God – God.  The Lord is enthroned in eternity.  The leaders of nations, kings and queens come and go but the rule of God never ends.  It just always is.  His rule extends everywhere.  East, west, north, south, the Lord is in control.  

    But the Psalm also points out how near God is.  He cares for the poor and needy.  Those who get dinner from a garbage can are those the Lord Almighty notices.  The people who seem insignificant in the world are the ones He marks and claims as His own.

    We are instructed to praise the Lord.  Is this easy for you to do?  Do you have a song in your heart when you look to your Creator?  God the Father Almighty gives you so many things in which to sing His praise.  He sent Jesus, as a man, to pay for your sin and my sin.  He brings joy to the world with his gift of salvation.  He comforts us in suffering and carries our painful burdens.  He chose you.  He chose me.  We are all significant people in the eyes of the Lord.  Sometimes it might seem to us that the good things of the world are overwhelmed by the bad.  But the Lord is not overwhelmed.  He is exalted on high, and He reaches down low with His salvation.

    “Heigh ho, heigh ho, we look to our work and go.”  This psalm guides our work.  Work songs strengthened the bonds of the workers.  This psalm of praise brough together the Jews at Passover.  This psalm invites us to be a part of the community of faith.  

    What events in Scripture would make your top ten list?  The salvation story of Jesus, creation, Adam and Eve, Noah and the ark, the father/son drama of Abraham and Isaac, Moses and the Israelites, David and Goliath, maybe add in Samson, Joseph and his brothers, King David’s life and Paul’s conversion.  Most of us would not include Hannah and the gift of her son Samuel.

    Hannah was barren and in distress.  She went to the temple to pray and was accused by as priest of being drunk.  What she was doing was pouring out her heart to God.  Although her husband did not hear her, though the priest did not understand her, God could hear her and He understood what was happening in her life.  He answered her prayer.  The joy of this child, Samuel, being born brought forth a song of praise to God.  We have a line from that song in our psalm, “He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people.” (v. 7-8)

    A minor character from the Bible, through the gracious work of the Lord, binds Israel together.  They saw how He works in the smallest ways to extend His gracious care to His people.  

    “Heigh ho, heigh ho, it is off to work we go.”  Martin Luther knew nothing about the seven dwarfs, but he knew the value of songs as God’s people work.  In our Small Catechism, as Luther teaches people to pray in the morning, he encourages them, after finishing their prayers, to “go joyfully to your work, singing a hymn, like that of the Ten Commandments, or whatever your devotion may suggest.”

    God gracious work – heigh ho, heigh ho.  He rules over all things.  He graciously loves and cares for us.  We sing God’s praise, and He leads us into service for His Kingdom.  “From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised!” (v. 3)

                                            Amen.