The Pastoral Office in the Catechism

by Timothy Teuscher

Rev. Timothy Teuscher

Recently our seminaries observed the high point of their academic year when graduates received a theological degree and their first call to congregations across our synod. It is, as such, good that we—pastors and people alike—reflect anew on the office of the holy ministry, drawing on the teachings of Luther’s Small and Large Catechisms.

The pastoral office is reflected already in the Small Catechism’s familiar explanation of the Third Commandment: “We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.” Who is to do this preaching of God’s Word in the congregation? It is, of course, called pastors to whom the words of St. Paul are still addressed: “Preach the Word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching” (2 Timothy 4:2).

The Fourth Commandment, the one about honoring our father and our mother, includes, besides our parents and other earthly authorities, also pastors. So the Large Catechism puts it: “The ones called spiritual fathers are those who govern and guide us by God’s Word. In this sense, St. Paul boasts his fatherhood in 1 Corinthians 4:15, where he says, ‘I became your father in Christ Jesus through the Gospel.’ Now, since they are fathers, they are entitled to their honor, even above all others… There is need that this truth about spiritual fatherhood also be taught to the people. For those who want to be Christians are obliged in God’s sight to think them worthy of double honor who minister to their souls (1 Timothy 5:17-18). They are obligated to deal well with them and provide for them.”

In connection with the Third Article of the Creed, the Large Catechism elaborates on why the preaching of the Word, referred to back in the Third Commandment, is so important and so necessary: “Neither you nor I could ever know anything about Christ, or believe on Him, and have Him for our Lord, unless it were offered to us and granted to our hearts by the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the Gospel” (1 Corinthians 12:3; Galatians 4:6). What are pastors to preach? God’s Word and God’s Word alone, to be sure—but, above all, the Gospel; as St. Paul says: “We preach Christ crucified” (1 Corinthians 1:22).

Since the preaching and teaching of God’s Word is so central and paramount to the life of God’s people, how can we not implore Him to preserve for us faithful pastors? Not surprisingly, this is precisely what Jesus tells us to pray for in the first three petitions of the Lord’s Prayer: that the Word of God be taught in its truth and purity and His name be kept holy among us; that the Holy Spirit would empower us to believe His Word proclaimed to us so that we might be and remain members of His kingdom; and that He would fulfill His will for our lives by keeping us firm in His Word that is taught us by our pastor.

Since the preaching and teaching of God’s Word is so central and paramount to the life of God’s people, how can we not implore Him to preserve for us faithful pastors?

The office of the holy ministry also lies hidden within the fourth and sixth chief parts of Christian doctrine from the Small Catechism. For who, after all, is the one called to administer Holy Baptism and Holy Communion so that people might receive the gifts of forgiveness and life and salvation that our Lord Jesus has earned and won for us on the cross? Yes, the pastor.

It is, however, in connection with the fifth chief part on Confession and the Office of the Keys that the office of the holy ministry is made most explicit. The Small Catechism says: “We receive absolution, that is, forgiveness, from the pastor as from God Himself, not doubting, but firmly believing that by it our sins are forgiven before God in heaven.” And further: “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.”

No wonder that the New Testament uses many different names for those who have been called and appointed to this office which Christ Himself has: shepherds (i.e., pastors), overseers (i.e., bishops), elders, teachers, ambassadors (i.e., representatives) of Christ, servants (i.e., ministers) of Christ! Conspicuously absent from this list are the popular ideas that many people have today when it comes to pastors: CEO’s, life-coaches, and the like.

I mention all this not only to encourage you to support our seminaries with your prayers and offerings, but also to do the same for your own local pastor. We are on the verge of facing a lack of pastors in our synod due to clergy retirements and small classes of students entering our seminaries.

I mention all this not only to encourage you to support our seminaries with your prayers and offerings, but also to do the same for your own local pastor.

I challenge you with these words from Martin Luther: “If you have a child fit for instruction, you are not free to bring him up as you please; but you must remember that you owe it to God to further both of His kingdoms and to serve Him in them. God needs a pastor, a preacher, a teacher, in His spiritual kingdom. You can supply Him with one, but you fail to do so. Note that thereby you are not robbing a coat from a poor man but many thousands of souls from the kingdom of God. On the other hand, if you bring up your child in such a way that he is able to become a keeper of souls, you do not give a coat or endow a monastery or a church; but are doing something greater—you are giving a servant of God who is able to help many thousands of souls get to heaven.”

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Rev. Timothy Teuscher is President of Lutheran Church–Canada.

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