Ephesians 4:1–16
Hymn: LSB 647 - Lord Jesus Christ, the Church's Head
Life Together: Clergy and Laity… There could be something a bit off with that phrase. The New Testament does not know of a clerical elite, a kind of expert or professional Christian. The New Testament knows and speaks of the Office that Christ instituted: ministers, preachers, pastors. The New Testament also does not know of laity in the sense of the amateur, the unqualified, or those lacking knowledge. The New Testament knows and speaks of hearers of the Word, disciples, called to be theologians no less than their teachers. But this does not mean that there is no distinction between the Office of the Ministry and the Priesthood of the Baptized. Christ instituted a specific office within His Church to serve His people. How should pastors be of service?
Christ gave them for the perfecting of the saints. Like a doctor setting a broken bone, pastors set things right that have gone wrong by convicting sin with God’s Law and by absolving sin with the Gospel. Like John the Baptist who went before the Lord to prepare His way, pastors get their people ready to meet the Lord with a good conscience that rests upon the satisfaction of Christ.
Christ gave pastors for the work of the ministry. Pastors are servants, stewards for their Master. They serve Him by looking after and providing for the noble Lady of the House and her children. Pastors do not issue their own orders or urge others to follow themselves. They humbly do the job their Lord has entrusted to them.
Christ gave pastors for the edifying of the body of Christ. By preparing the saints, by serving them the Word and the Sacraments, pastors are the instruments by which Christ builds the edifice of His Church. They are given the task of bringing Christians to maturity, so that they might be complete and ready members in Christ’s living and active body.
A common and modern translation of this passage turns pastors into CEOs, trainers, or method teachers. It reads: Christ gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherdsand teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. This means the pastors are no longer ministers, servants, but they are telling everybody else in the church what to do. One cannot help but wonder: when all the work of the ministry has been delegated and put onto the shoulders of the sheep, what is the pastor doing in his office all day? This modern image of the church looks more like a big business run in the way of profits and competition, rather than a body that bears the cross and suffers in love.
How about this picture of the Church instead: “What we see in the New Testament is a church which meets here and there, in this city or that town or village, for worship and prayer and mutual edification in the faith. The first day of the week is the chief time for this meeting, and the celebration of the Lord’s Supper is the culminating act of faith and worship. Certain men, with a special ability to teach and instruct and comfort and advise, play the leading role in such gatherings of the faithful. There are, besides such pastors and overseers, others in the church who devote their lives, wholly or in large measure, to works of mercy for their fellow-Christians, as they help the poor, the sick, the needy.
Apart from the church in assembly, we see these same Christians going about their daily affairs and business, doing their work as wives and mothers or fathers and husbands, some of the women looking after their homes, some of the men working in their jobs, some of them slaves obediently doing what their masters direct. In these various and sundry occupations in and outside the home they are urged to lead beautiful lives, doing beautiful works… By these lives of good works they attract the unbelievers to the faith which they hold and confess and of which they speak as opportunity arises.” (Hamann, p.48)
Let us pray: O almighty God, Your Son, Jesus Christ, gave to His holy apostles many excellent gifts and commanded them earnestly to feed His flock. Make all pastors diligent to preach Your holy Word and the people obedient to follow it that together they may receive the crown of everlasting glory; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Source for the last two paragraphs before the prayer: Henry P. Hamann, "The Translation of Ephesians 4:12—A Necessary Revision," in Concordia Journal, January 1988.
