Congregation at Prayer

Catechesis Notes for the Week — What is the work of the ministry? This week concludes the two sections from the Table of Duties concerning “Bishops, Pastors, and Preachers and What the Hearers Owe Their Pastors.” If we are admonished to hold our pastors “in the highest regard in love because of their work,” we should understand clearly what their work is and what we should expect of them. The minister’s work is clearly spelled out in our Lutheran Confessions: “According to divine right, therefore, it is the office of the bishop to preach the Gospel, forgive sins, judge doctrine and condemn doctrine that is contrary to the Gospel and exclude from the Christian community the ungodly whose wicked conduct is manifest. All this is to be done not by human power but by God’s Word alone. On this account [we] are bound to be obedient to the bishops according to the saying of Christ in Luke 10:16, ‘He who hears you hears me.’ On the other hand, if they teach, introduce, or institute anything contrary to the Gospel, we have God’s command not to be obedient in such cases, for Christ says in Matt. 7:15, ‘Beware of false prophets.’”

CP250323 v.2

Catechesis Notes for the Week — “What the Hearers Owe Their Pastors”— This section from the Table of Duties speaks of the responsibility of the congregation to provide temporal support for her pastor who faithfully preaches the Gospel and administers the Sacraments to her members. Every Christian is called by the Gospel to “share all good things with his instructor.” It is a mockery of God when members of the congregations turn a deaf ear to the Word of God and a hard heart toward the care of their pastors. Such neglect flows from impenitence and unbelief. Where there is faith there will be love, affection, and generous support of the Church’s pastors by her members. Chief among the duties of Christians is the faithful hearing of the Word of God when it is preached and taught by our pastors. Pastors receive the greatest joy in their ministry when the people of the congregation come eagerly to hear the Word of God when it is taught and receive it with joy and the hearty “Amen” of faith. The “Amen” of faith is confessed in the way in which the congregation takes care of her pastor.CP250316

Catechesis Notes for the Week — Pray for Your Pastors — This week we begin eleven weeks of meditation upon the biblical texts in the Table of Duties concerning Christian vocation. The first set of texts concerns those who are called to preach the Word of God: To Bishops, Pastors, and Preachers. There are not three different offices, but one office. Each word describes an aspect of their work. A bishop is an overseer. He is to supervise the doctrine and life of the congregation, along with the administration of the Sacraments so that everything is taught and done according to God’s Word. Pastor means shepherd. The Pastor “shepherds” the flock by calling to repentance, admonishing the erring, and bestowing forgiveness for Jesus’ sake to the penitent. The word “preacher” gets at the heart of the minister’s work: proclamation of the Word of God. “He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.”  This section of the Table of Duties not only teaches us concerning the qualifications of our ministers, but it also encourages us all to “pray for our pastors” that they might remain faithful in the work God has called them to do.CP250309

Catechesis Notes for the Week — Why are Guests Asked to Speak with the Pastor before Communing? —There are two reasons why guests are asked to speak with the Pastor before going to the Lord’s Supper. First, it is the responsibility of the pastor to examine the confession of faith of those who come to the Altar. Our concern is that they know their sin, they trust in Christ alone for salvation, and they believe that He is giving them His body and blood for the forgiveness of sins in the Sacrament. “Worthy reception” of the Sacrament requires such faith. Second, the Lord’s Supper is not merely an individual Christian in communion with his Lord. It is also the declaration that the communicant believes and confesses the faith with the church in that place. The external teaching and confession of the church that we belong to is important because it is the external Word and sacraments that nurture and sustain that saving faith. CP250302

Catechesis Notes for the Week — A Pledge of the Resurrection of the Body — The Lord’s Supper was, since ancient times, called “the medicine of immortality”. In the Lord’s Supper we receive Jesus’ true body and blood. This is the same body and blood that was born of the Virgin Mary and that was given and shed for us for the forgiveness of all our sin. “Where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation.” It is precisely because the body and blood of Jesus delivers to us Christ’s forgiveness, that His body and blood becomes the source of restored life with God, the resurrection of our bodies, and eternal life, incorruption, and immortality. When we receive Jesus’ true body and blood in faith, we are receiving the very pledge from our Savior that on the last day we shall be raised bodily from the dead, and our mortal flesh will put on immortality and incorruption. CP250223

Catechesis Notes for the Week — Catechesis Notes for the Week—They Drank from the Rock—This week’s Bible verse teaches us that Christ was actually in the Old Testament with the children of Israel in the Rock that followed them and from which they drank. This passage of the “real presence” is chosen to highlight that since Christ was actually present with the children of Israel in the Rock from which they drank in the Old Testament, how much more should we understand that Christ is truly present with us today in the Lord’s Supper. He declares of the bread and the wine of the Lord’s Supper: “This is My body…This is My blood…” Therefore it is His true body and blood.

This is My body. In the Lord’s Supper Jesus gives us His body to eat and His blood to drink. The Sacrament of the Altar rests upon the Word of God. Jesus’ words give what they say. The power and benefits of the Sacrament are given through the Word. Take away the Word and there is no Sacrament. With the Word, there is a Sacrament, namely, “the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, under the bread and wine, instituted by Christ Himself, for us Christians to eat and to drink.” What role does faith play in the Sacrament? Faith receives what the Word says. Faith believes in what the Word gives. Faith rests upon the promises of God. The essence of the Sacrament, that is, “what it is,” is determined by the Word. This gives faith its certainty. We know we receive the body and blood of Christ for the forgiveness of all our sins, because the Word says so.  Faith knows no other certainty but the promises of the Gospel.CP250216

Catechesis Notes for the Week — Martin Luther Teaches Concerning Private Confession and Absolution: If anybody does not go to confession willingly and for the sake of absolution, let him just forget about it. Yes, and if anybody goes about relying on the purity of his confession, let him just stay away from it. We urge you, however, to confess and express your needs, not for the purpose of performing a work but to hear what God wishes to say to you. The Word of absolution, I say, is what you should concentrate on, magnifying and cherishing it as a great and wonderful treasure to be accepted with all praise and gratitude (Large Catechism, “A Brief Exhortation to Confession,” Tappert Edition)CP250209

Catechesis Notes for the Week — “A Lover’s Word”—This week we begin two weeks of meditation on Confession and the Office of the Keys. These headings from the Catechism might sound dry and sterile to some, but these sections are all about receiving “a Lover’s Word.” Jesus’ Word of forgiveness is a “Lover’s Word”—the Word of Him who loved us, His bride, so much that He laid down His life in death to cover the ugliness of our sin and rebellion against God. Just as the words of our beloved in marriage strengthen our relationship with our spouse, so the words of absolution from our lover Jesus strengthen our relationship with Him. Even more than this, His Word of forgiveness makes us beautiful, strengthens our faith against sin and temptation, and gives us comfort. What woman doesn’t want to hear the word of him who loves her? This is how we should view the absolution, and why we should learn to value it and long to hear it from our pastorsCP250202

Catechesis Notes for the Week — Confess Your Trespasses to One Another — “I’m sorry! Forgive me!” These are the words of daily contrition and repentance. “I forgive you!” These are the words of new life from God and the life we share with one another. There is nothing more central to the baptismal life of a Christian than to live by faith in the undeserved mercy of God in Christ and to share that mercy within the body of Christ. It brings constant healing and renewal. This is the meaning of this week’s Bible Verse: “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” We are righteous by faith in Christ and He desires that we pray for one another so that our consciences are healed by Christ’s forgiveness shared within the body of Christ. This emphasis upon confessing our sins to one another and praying for one another that we might be healed by Christ’s forgiveness is what the third section of the Catechism is about. The plural pronouns in the passage from Romans indicate that we are all joined together by our Baptism into Christ so that His undeserved forgiving grace might shape our lives. “We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”CP250126

Catechesis Notes for the Week — Baptism’s Power is in the Word — The Catechism states that “the Word of God in and with the water” of Holy Baptism is what gives Baptism its power to work “forgiveness of sins, rescue from death and the devil, and give eternal salvation to all who believe this.” Take away the Word and you have nothing but water; but with the Word you have a life-giving water, rich in grace, and the washing of the rebirth in the Holy Spirit. The Bible Stories for this week continue to highlight the power of the Word in, with, and under the water of Baptism. By the Word of the Lord the heavens were opened for forty days and forty nights in the divine judgment of the great flood and Noah and his family were saved through water. By the Word of the Lord, God saved the children of Israel through the water of the Red Sea and destroyed Pharaoh and his armies. By the Word of the Lord, the waters of the Jordan parted, and Israel was drawn into the promised land. By the Word of the Lord, the water of the Jordan cleansed Naaman of his leprosy and even brought him to the faith that confessed that the God of Israel was, indeed, the Lord and the only true God. In all of these stories, there are two common themes. First, the water was very very real, it was not a symbol, and it carried both the condemnation and the salvation of God. Second, the Word of God itself was real, and God joined Himself to the water by His Word in order to accomplish His saving work. To despise the water was to despise the Word. To despise the Word was to reject the water. The water and the Word were inseparably joined together by God. Why is this so important? It is by the Word in tangible water that we come to receive salvation and that we come to know that salvation with absolute and unshakeable certainty.CP250119