Indiana District President Stuckwisch article

 

Blest Be the Tie That Binds

With the Commemoration of the 16th-Century Reformation on All Hallows’ Eve this Saturday, and the Feast of All Saints this coming Sunday, my thoughts have certainly been drawn toward that great cloud of witnesses with which we are surrounded in the Holy Communion of All Saints within the one Mystical Body of our Savior, Christ Jesus, in heaven and on earth. The example of those who have gone before us in the faith and confession of Christ is a blessed encouragement and a strengthening of our own journey through the wilderness of this vale of tears with our hearts firmly fixed on the hope of the Resurrection.

Along with those broad considerations of the entire Body and Bride of Christ, there have also been more than a few things to focus my attention especially on the pastoral fellowship that we who are called and ordained to the Office of the Holy Ministry share in that sacred Vocation. At the pastors’ conference this past week, we remembered and gave thanks for those men marking significant ordination anniversaries in the course of this year. I give thanks for the thirty years that I have been privileged to hold this Office, unworthy servant though I am (St. Luke 17:10). I am also called to mind that this Wednesday, the 28th of October, the Feast of St. Simon & St. Jude the Apostles, is the twentieth anniversary of the ordination and installation of my friend and colleague, Rev. Dr. Gifford Grobien, at Emmaus in South Bend, where he served alongside me as a good and faithful associate for six years before being called to CTSFW. I still recall the sermon that our mutual friend, Pr. Dave Petersen, preached for that occasion, highlighting the service and suffering of the Holy Apostles, such as St. Simon & St. Jude, who have gone before us in this work of the Ministry. It is good to remember that we follow in their train, even as they followed Christ.

Since the pastors’ conference, I’ve had the joy of installing two brothers in Christ and in this Office to their positions within our Indiana District: Rev. Barry Malone as Chaplain at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Marion, Indiana, and Rev. Peter Brock as the Chief Pastoral Officer of Cedar Lake Ministries in and around Louisville, Kentucky. As always on such occasions, I asked each of these men to confess their faith and to reaffirm their commitment to the Holy Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions. As often as I am given occasion to do this – at every Ordination and every Installation – I become increasingly aware that these official Rites and Ceremonies are far more (and far more significant) than mere formalities. It is not simply a case of lip service to historic standards that we look for and require from all our pastors, but a public promise in the presence of God that the entire work of the Office will be done on the basis of the Word of God and in accordance with the Book of Concord as a faithful exposition of that Word.

What is more, those solemn promises are made, not as though it were up to each individual pastor to decide what the Bible and the Book of Concord really mean, but in view of the fact that every pastor on the roster of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod has not only “been called by the Lord of the Church into the Office of the Holy Ministry,” but has also “been prepared for this ministry by careful study and prayer” and “been examined and declared ready and prepared to undertake this sacred responsibility” (LSB Agenda, page 161). So seriously do we take the preaching and teaching of the Word of God, the administration of the Holy Sacraments of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the pastoral care of His people, that we work together as a Synod – as a fellowship of “the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church” (LSB Agenda, p. 166) – to form men for “this public trust and responsibility” (LSB Agenda, p. 169) according to a clear and consistent catechesis and confession of “one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all,” in order to “maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3-6). And as surely as it is the Gospel of Christ Jesus that binds all the saints together in the fellowship of His one Body in heaven and on earth, so surely is it the common confession of His Gospel – including the consistent administration of His good Gifts of the Gospel in harmony with that common confession – that binds together the pastors of our entire Ministerium. On the one hand, that is a matter of mutual accountability to and for one another, for the sake of the Gospel, and for the sake of all those entrusted to our pastoral care. On the other hand, it is also an encouragement to each of us who are called and ordained to this Ministry, that we are not alone in our labors; not only do we walk in the footsteps of the Apostles and Prophets, but we work side-by-side with brothers in Christ.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

John Donne on Christmas

Image
As we are now happily within the Twelve Days of Christmas, I am pleased to share this snippet by John Donne that I have borrowed from Alan Jacobs blog:  https://buttondown.email/ayjay/archive/christmas-epiphany/ John Donne, from a sermon preached at St. Paul’s Cathedral on  Christmas Day 1626 : The life of Christ was a continual Passion; others die Martyrs, but Christ was born a Martyr. He found a Golgotha (where he was crucified) even in Bethlehem, where he was born; For, to his tenderness then, the straws were almost as sharp as the thorns after; and the Manger as uneasy at first, as his Cross at last. His birth and his death were but one continual act, and his Christmas-day and his Good Friday, are but the evening and morning of one and the same day. And as even his birth, is his death, so every action and passage that manifests Christ to us, is his birth; for,  Epiphany  is manifestation; And therefore, though the Church doe now call Twelfth-day Epiphany, because...
Read more

2022-12-19 Vespers - Commemoration of Adam and Eve

 2022-12-19 Vespers - Commemoration of Adam and Eve - Isaiah 40:1-17 & Revelation 7:1-17 As we commemorate the first man and woman today, we recognize that Adam and Eve were endowed with great gifts from God. Adam is created in the image of God. And from Adam came Eve. Adam is given dominion over all the earth. A tremendous responsibility of stewardship is entrusted to him.  When they succumbed to the temptation to be like God, and fell into sin, their sin impacts us all to this day.  When Adam and Eve chose to disobey God’s command, they inaugurated a cycle of life and death that we have no choice but to participate in.   Creation is constantly changing. There is nothing steady.  The seasons come and go.  The sleep and inactivity of winter leads into the new birth of spring which is followed by a summer of growth which is then followed by a time of harvest and a slow dying as all of creation returns to its winter death waiting for the new life to ...
Read more

2022-12-21 Evening Prayer - Commemoration of St. Thomas, Apostle

 2022-12-21 Commemoration of St. Thomas, Apostle- Isaiah 42:1-25, Rev 9:1-12 In the name of the Father, +Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.  God speaking through Isaiah issues a wonderful promise: “Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.” That promise is of a Savior who is coming.  Isaiah 42 contains the first of four suffering servant songs found in Isaiah. The others may be found in chapters 49, 50, and 52-53.  These texts are linked to Jesus. In fact, Isaiah 42:1-4 is quoted in Matthew 12. In between the miracles of healing a man with a withered hand and casting out a demon, Matthew lets us know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus is the one Isaiah spoke of.  Jesus is the chosen servant. He does the Father’s work in the power of the Holy Spirit.  He is opposed, oppressed, ridiculed, rejected, scorned and even smited on the cross. But, despite the herculean efforts of the enemies...
Read more