Judges 8:22-35
Acts 4:1-12
John 1:43-51
Psalms for today
Morning 148 Evening 149, 150
Higher Things reflection for today
Martin Chemnitz, one of the most influential Lutheran theologians after Martin Luther, once defined the Church as being that where there are “preachers and hearers.” Every sin and error that has ever crept into the Church and the lives of Her members can be traced to either preachers or hearers. When a pastor is preaching something other than the Gospel, which He has likewise received, he fosters error and leads people astray. When the hearers close off their ears and, as we reflected yesterday, “despise preaching and His Word,” they fall into any innumerable sins and vices, even, perhaps, rejecting the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
What the Lord has joined together, let no man separate. You don’t receive the Gospel if it isn’t being faithfully delivered. “In order to obtain such faith, the Lord instituted the preaching office” (Augsburg Confession, Article V). Sinful man wants to separate one from the other, prioritize one over the other, and imagine he could get along just fine with one or the other. During the time of the Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church had elevated the priests to a “higher level” than the people. The Gospel wasn’t being received, and people were being burdened by the law. A different radical movement, also going on in Luther’s day, had practically subjected their pastors to “mob rule,” and the true Gospel had been replaced by the whims of sinful men.
Your pastor has been given to you in order to deliver what He has also received: “…that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). It is this faith, which you have received and confess each Sunday in the Creed, by which you stand. The Creed is always spoken either right before, or right after, the sermon. By confessing the Creed, we confirm that what the preacher says, and we receive, is nothing other than the true Gospel of Christ. The “Amen” which follows confirms that we truly stand by these words, confessed in the Creed and proclaimed from the pulpit.
St. Paul – Saul – had once attempted to separate preachers from hearers when he persecuted the Church and blasphemed the name of Jesus. Our mouths are also often filled with blasphemies. But you have received the Gospel. Your pastor proclaims it. You stand firm in the waters of your Baptism. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
¶ 8/31/2006 10:06:00 AM 0 Comments
My thanks to Joho the Blog for this information. ¶ 8/31/2006 08:21:00 AM 0 Comments
