Shepherd of the Springs
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod

And He gave some, apostles; some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the perfecting of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect [complete] man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. (vss. 12-13)

Today we commemorate and give thanks to God for the calling of Matthew to be an apostle and for the work of Christ that was accomplished through his Gospel service in the Divine office. In this context we want to pay attention to the contrast between the person, and the office - between the sinful character of the one called, yet the glorious work that Christ accomplishes through the Office of apostle and in turn the office of pastor/teacher. Matthew, of course, is a most excellent example of the distinction between the lowly, perhaps questionable character of the person called, yet the gloriousness and godly Office through which Christ is pleased to continue to extend, preserve, and build up his Church.

Matthew was a low-life. Indeed he was one of the lowest of the low in Jewish society when he was called by our Lord to be His disciple and apostle-in-training. Matthew was a tax collector. He was right down there with the harlots, and Samaritans as the dregs of Jewish society. Decent religious folk did not have anything to do with such as these. They were sinners and they knew it. Therefore, Matthew is a fine poster boy for the requirement of all apostles and pastors appointed as overseers in the Church. Jesus and the apostles only picked sinners for such offices and Matthew was a particularly well-recognized one when he was called. Just think of some of these fine selections that were hand-picked by our Lord. There was Levi (Matthew’s Jewish name) who fleeced the pious of much of their earthly wealth, and then there was Saul who was out to kill them.

The epistle for this day, and the basis of our meditation this morning, invites our attention to the divinely established office of pastor or teacher - the office that does not seem to have much precision in what you call it in the New Testament. Elsewhere it is also called elder or bishop. . . . pastor, teacher, bishop, elder. There has been untold confusion about what this Office was instituted to do in the English speaking Church for the past fifty years or so. Due to strong Protestant influence from the World and the National Council of Churches, most current English translations have been following the RSV translation rendering the important verses this way:

And God gave . . . some to be pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints [no comma] for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ. In other words, it is not the pastor who has the ministry, it is the people. Everyone in a minister and the apostles, prophets, evangelists . . . and pastor merely equip them in some fashion to do it so that the body of Christ can be advanced. This text presents three important commas, not two. The three commas divide three tasks that some, not all have been given. Everyone is not an apostle, or prophet, or evangelist or a pastor. Just some . . . and they have been given three important tasks which Paul then in our text indicates the purpose for all three in the life of God’s people.

First, the saints are not equipped so that they can do something, much less the ministry. Rather, Paul indicates that in the work that the pastors are to do, the saints will be perfected. If we think of the word saint, which each of us is in Christ Jesus - the word means holy one. We have already become holy and righteous and blameless through the saving righteousness of Christ. Yet, Paul indicated that the saints are to be perfected. The Greek word here that is rendered perfected, carries the idea of completeness, being complete. The same idea is picked up in the next verse where becoming perfect or complete is arriving at the stature of the maturity of Christ. As Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, taking on a human nature, entering the world as a babe. We enter the Kingdom of God as babes in Christ and the work of pastors involves a ministry through which God brings them to a full maturity as that of the mature Christ. This is called sanctification. Through the Gospel we are justified, given new life in Christ. And through the same Gospel, we are sanctified. We grow up into the full stature of Christ.

Secondly, Paul wants to emphasize after the first comma, that the labors of pastors is to be about that work that is called the ministry, the ministry of the Church. The pastor is not called to be the CEO of the congregation, or its social director, or Mr. fix it man or Mr. PR. The apostolic work of what we often call the great commission has been passed on to the pastoral office. Pastors have been called to baptize, to teach all that Christ has commanded, to heed the Lord’s command to do this in connection with the frequent celebration of the Lord’s Supper. This is the work of the ministry. The work of the ministry is ultimately the ministry of Christ. He comes through the pastoral office as Lord of His Church to build it up and extend it.

We dress the pastor up into the office suit, the Jesus suit, so that the sinful person is hidden, and Jesus can be seen and heard through the Word and Sacrament ministry carried out by the office. Would that we would see and hear Jesus. But, this only happens when the preaching and teaching is the Word of Christ, not that of the pastor - when he delivers the saving goods, the forgiveness of sins; when he does the saving work - baptizes, absolves, serves up the body and blood of Christ. Isn’t it great when the pastor is Mr. winsome personality, when he has a great gift for gab, when he just ooozes such a loving presence . . . like, of course, our pastor is all the time . . . and his associate! But, that is not what this office is all about. It is about getting the person out of the way, covered up, hidden . . . so that the person and ministry of Christ might be brought to us.

And all this culminates into the third element of the tasks of the office of pastor. The work of the pastor, in delivering the goods of the Gospel, is to edify - that is, to build up the body of Christ, the Church. When we speak here of edification, we do not mean raising up everyone on the feel-good meter. The edification of the Church is referring to the corporate nature of the first two tasks we have already dealt with. The Church is built up when the saints are perfected, when they are matured, sanctified into the full stature of Christ. The edification of the Church is simply the corporate dimension of the perfecting or completing of the saints.

And to what end is the work of pastors who are faithful to their office? We get matured, built up in Christ. When this happens we are no longer in a fog about what its all about in the Kingdom of God. We are no longer tossed to and fro by every teaching that sails forth in the name of Christ and his Church. The sinfulness of men and the evil of the devil seek to lead us astray with false religion and religious campaigns that would displace the Gospel as the life and growth of God’s people. Pastors are to keep us anchored in the saving work of Christ so that we grow in wisdom and stature as a new creation in Christ, firmly anchored in an enlightened knowledge and understanding of Christ, God’s saving purposes and how He accomplishes them, and what on earth we have been put here for. We have been put here to get ready to live as his mature children in the better day coming, in the fullness of his Kingdom that is coming. We are being outfit for eternity.

So this morning we give thanks for God’s gift of the apostle Matthew, and all the faithful servants of the Word that Christ has called to the Office of the Ministry that goes by so many names. Like Matthew, they have all been sinners, who like all the rest of us live by grace. We pray that God would continue to raise up those who will be faithful to the charge of the Gospel Ministry that Christ has entrusted to them. . . to be faithful stewards of the mysteries of God . . . that Christ may continue to have his way with us and his whole Church in bringing it to full maturity, ready for all that eternity would bring us.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. A-men.