Dear Christian friends:
Since (state the reason why you are there today: vacancy? Pastor on vacation
etc.) this might be an opportune time to preach a sermon on pastors. This
is especially true today since the Epistle Lesson for this Sunday offers
a fine text for this topic.
Also this is an opportune time to preach on this topic since the guest
pastor should have no conflict of interest that need concern him or the
congregation.
So, this morning I have chosen to preach on the topic:
The Criteria Of A True Pastor
While there may be more criteria, our text seems to present three that are
most important. The true pastor needs to be sent by Jesus Christ to preach
the message of Jesus Christ, and to admonish in the spirit of Jesus Christ.
I. He needs to be sent by Jesus Christ.
A. St. Paul was sent by Jesus Christ to preach the Gospel to the churches in
Galatia.
We read in our text: "Paul, an apostle - sent not from men nor by man, but
by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead - and all the
brothers with me, to the churches in Galatia." (verses 1-2)
1. St. Paul here emphasises that he was called and sent directly by Jesus
Christ, because his apostleship had come under attack by some Jewish
Christians who taught that the Gentile Christians must be circumcised
according to the law of Moses or they could not be saved. (Acts 15:1)
These Jewish Christians, also called Judaizers, in order to
discredit Paul also challenged his apostleship, claiming that he was not
one of the twelve apostles and therefore had no authority to preach his
gospel of justification by faith alone, without circumcision and without
the law. So Paul at the very beginning of his epistle boldly defends his
apostleship and authority. He is not boasting, but is concerned for the pure
Gospel and the salvation of the Galatians.
2. In the verses which follow our text St. Paul states that he was called
directly by Jesus on the road to Damascus, that he spent three years in the
Desert of Arabia, being taught directly by Jesus and that Jesus Himself sent
him to preach the Gospel to the Gentile nations. He did not learn the Gospel
from Peter or any of the other twelve. (verses 11-24)
B. A true pastor today is not called and sent directly by Jesus Christ, but
he is called and sent indirectly by Jesus.
1. Our pastors study Jesus' words and the apostolic writings of the New
Testament at our seminaries. They are required to know Hebrew the original
language of the Old Testament and Koine Greek, the original language of the
New Testament. They undergo rather exhausting and difficult examinations before
they are declared fit by the seminary faculty. Upon graduation, when they are
ordained, they swear to preach the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
the Scriptures and the symbolical books of the Lutheran Church: Luther's Small
and Large Catechism, the Augsburg Confession, the Smalcald Articles, and the
Formula of Concord. They they receive a call from a congregation, which before
calling prays that the Lord Jesus direct them in the calling. Thus we believe
that a pastor is called and sent by Jesus Christ the Lord and Head of his body,
the Church.
2. A true pastor needs to believe the he is called and sent by the Lord or he
will not be able to do his ministry effectively, especially when there are
difficulties and trials. And the congregation needs to look upon their pastor
as one sent to them by Jesus Christ, so that they hear him and honor him as
the messenger of the Lord. A severe crisis can arise if the pastor forgets
this or if some in the congregation forget this.
II. The second criterion of a true pastor is that he needs to preach the message
of Jesus Christ.
A. St. Paul preached the message of Jesus Christ. Anyone who has read the Acts
of the Apostles and the thirteen epistles of Paul in the New Testament is
convinced of that.
1. Even here in his greeting to the Galatians he clearly and forcefully preaches
the Gospel. He writes: "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil
age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and
ever. Amen." (verses 3-5) Wow! What a lot of clear, precious Gospel is
compacted in this one little sentence! And, of course Paul is refuting the false
gospel of the Judaizers.
Just let me go over it briefly with you and point out the highlights. He begins
by saying, "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."
He reminds himself and the Galatians that he is speaking for Jesus Christ and
God our Father. He bids them grace and peace. What a greeting for hurting sin
burdened ears! This grace and resulting peaced is there for all because "Jesus
Christ gave himself for our sins." This implies that we have sins and that we
ourselves can give nothing or do nothing to be rid of them. Our sins are so
many and so terrible and offensive to the holy God that only the sacrifice of
his holy innocent Son can remove them and thus give us peace with God and with
ourselves and with one another!
Those who humbly confess their sinfulness and sins and trust in Christ crucified
and risen are "rescued from the present evil age." By the present evil age Paul
does not just mean the gross and obvious evils that all people generally
recognize as evil such as disobedience to parents and government authorities,
murder, adultery, robbery, but he means all society that is not under the
influence of Christ, even so called good and respectable societies and religions.
In writing on this text Martin Luther speaks of the "black devil" and the "white
devil." Satan is the prince and ruler of this world. Sometimes he manifests
himself in gross and obvious evils, the black devil syndrome. More often he
manifests himself as an "angle of light," the white devil syndrome. This whole
world is evil even though much of it appears to be good and respectable if it
appears to be good and respectable if it is without Jesus Christ and his
righteousness. If one does not believe in Jesus Christ and him crucified for
the forgiveness of sins, he is of this evil world and under the dominion of
Satan, and he is not rescued!
B. Like Paul, the true pastor needs to preach Jesus Christ and him crucified.
1. He must preach justification by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, without
circumcision, without the ceremonial law without any law, solely and alone
by the gracious work of God the Father through the incarnation, life, death
and resurrection of Jesus, God's eternal Son and the Virgin's Son!
2. The true pastor, like Paul, should greet the congregation each Sunday with
these sweet and precious words: "Grace and peace to you from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ." And the congregation should not yawn when he
does it! It should alert the congregation that they are going to hear the
message of Jesus Christ, the Savior for sinners!
3. When the true pastor preaches about good works he is careful to state
that the believer wants to do good works out of gratitude and thanksgiving
for his free justification by God in Christ. The believer in Christ does not
do good works to be justified; he is already justified fully and completely by
God in Christ. The good works flow out of justification and are done willingly
and freely. Good works for the true believer are the fruit of faith. The true
pastor does not brow beat the people with the law, but he appeals to their
gratitude and love for Christ in exhorting them to live holy lives. St. Paul
said, "He died for all, that they which live should not live unto themselves,
but unto him who died for them and rose again." (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)
III. Finally the true pastor admonishes the congregation in the spirit of
Jesus Christ.
A. St. Paul had the unpleasant task of admonishing the Galatians because
many of them had given up his true and pure gospel and had accepted the
false gospel of the Judaizers. Paul writes: (read verses 6-7) Paul says,
"I am astonished," very kindly and gently! He might have written "I'm
mad at you and fed-up with you." But he is parental and kind and gentle.
He doesn't really blame them for their falling away although they were
certainly partly to blame. But he blames the Judaizers. Very tactful!
And he has no mercy for the Judaizers the ones who taught that besides
believing in Christ one needed to be circumcised in order to be saved.
Here what he says about them and all preachers who teach a false or
"other gospel." (read verses 8-9)
B. Well, a good pastor needs to admonish and correct the people with
love and concern for their souls eternal welfare, like Paul and like
Jesus himself.
1. And the people should humbly listen to their pastor when he in love
admonishes them. You see here how quickly and easily a congregation can
fall into incorrect belief or other shame and vice.
2. We have our modern day "Judaizers" who want to add man's works to
the pure Gospel; thus destroying it. They may not insist on circumcision,
but they will require tithing or something else and they will make it a
condition of salvation. We have others who shame or bribe members into
serving and giving who aren't careful at all about the right motives of the
heart. They just want the big numbers. Natural man and religion leans to
this.
So a true pastor watches for aberrations and tendencies, and when they
rise up in a congregation he must be bold and admonish in the spirit of
Paul and Jesus.
Well, we have presented some of the main criteria of a true evangelical
pastor. I hope that it will help you (State the situation for this church)
to cooperate with your pastor in a vibrant, evangelical ministry here at
_________ Lutheran.
Amen.