Listen to the Sermon here.
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
The text that serves as the foundation of our sermon is our Epistle reading, especially these verses, verse 7 and 9. “An overseer as God’s steward must be above reproach. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in the sound doctrine, and also to rebuke those who contradict it”.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus,
What is a pastor? Why is it important to have one? Who can be a pastor? What are they to do? Too often, so that the congregation doesn’t think that he thinks more highly of himself than he should, pastors have for a long time avoided preaching on the office of the Holy Ministry. It has led to a world where women and homosexuals and transgenders and others to whom God—and even other men—to whom God has not given the divine call into the office of the Holy Ministry have corrupted the office for their own personal greed and gain. Therefore, now as always, it is crucial that pastors teach on the office of the Holy Ministry. Today we remember St. Titus, one of the faithful pastors in the New Testament. St. Titus was a missionary with St. Paul who was sent first to Corinth with Timothy, then to Croatia before finally being sent to Crete. In so doing, he served as one of the church’s first pastors, men who were not apostles, not eyewitnesses of the resurrected Christ, but instead the next generation. From St. Titus, we learn the importance of the office of the Holy Ministry. Today in our readings, we learn that God gives the office of the Holy Ministry for the care of His sheep.
Let us pray: Almighty God, you adorned blessed Titus, Your confessor and pastor, with the office of the Holy Ministry so that he could proclaim You to his people. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts, be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer, that the men whom You raise up as pastors today would continue to faithfully proclaim Your Word, and that we as hearers would faithfully and gladfully hear that word. It’s through Jesus Christ, Your son, our Lord, we pray. Amen.
The first thing that we must be certain of is that God does not just call everyone, or indeed every man, into the office of the Holy Ministry. He has a job description. He has a list of criteria which He gives. And we see that in our epistle reading for today. To Titus, Paul writes, “If anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination” (Titus 1:6). You know here we get this list of qualities that God searches for in pastors.
The first of those is that they are “above reproach”. What does this mean? Does this mean that they are sinless? God, I hope not, because if they were supposed to be sinless, then I would be out of a job. And our two seminarians would have to find different work themselves. “Above reproach” therefore cannot mean sinless, for there has only been one sinless person, Jesus Christ. Everyone else has had their own faults, had their own sins. So what does it mean that a pastor must be “above reproach”? Specifically, it means that—not that they will be perfect, they will be sinless—but that when they err, when they sin, they are quick to confess their sins. As we’re studying in our Wednesday night Bible class, St. John writes, “If anyone says he has no sin, he deceives himself, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone confesses his sin, he who is faithful and just will forgive their sin and cleanse them from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9). For a pastor to be above reproach means that they acknowledge their sinfulness and confess it, receiving from God the same forgiveness that each and every one of us so desperately needs.
Paul continues that they must be “the husband of one wife”. There’s a lot packed in there. First, they must be the husband. That’s male, just in case anyone was confused. They must be a man. God does not give His holy office of ministry to women. Why not? Well, because who is the pastor to stand in the place of? Is the pastor standing, speaking on his own authority? No! The pastor standing in the place of Christ. Which gender was Christ? He was male. Is this to say that women are inferior? That women don’t have a role in the kingdom? Absolutely not! When you look at the Gospels and the Book of Acts, when you look even in the Old Testament, we see a rich history of women serving in the church. There are plenty of roles, including in our synod deaconesses and teachers, to which women have been called to serve. But the pastoral office is one to which God only gives to men.
“Must be the husband of one wife”. Again, just so there’s no confusion, wife means female. So, just as God does not give the office of the Holy Ministry to women, so also doesn’t give it to homosexuals either or to whatever other genders people would try to make up, or to polygamists. He gives it to the husband of one wife. There is supposed to be between a pastor and his wife that which every marriage is supposed to show forth, as Paul talks about in Ephesians chapter 5, the relationship between Christ and His bride, the church. So also the pastor is called to live out that life in his own marriage. Being willing to lay down his life for his bride. Does this mean that unmarried men are not called into the office? Well, no. By all traditional accounts, I believe St. Paul was unmarried. So this just means that if someone is married, they should be married to a woman and only have one spouse.
“And his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, 8but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it” (Titus 1:6-9). In other words, in how they live their lives and in what they do and teach, pastors are called to show forth Christ. Christ was not arrogant. He was not quick tempered. He was not drunk. He was not violent. He was not greedy to gain Christ was hospitable, a lover of good self-controlled upright holy discipline. He held firm to the trustworthy Word. He gave instruction and sound doctrine. He rebuked those who contradicted Pastors are called serve in the stead of God, both in how they live their lives and in what they do and teach.
So now that we’ve talked about who God calls into the office of the Holy Ministry, it’s important to catch what St. Paul says there at the end. The why of the Holy Ministry. God calls men into the office of the Holy Ministry to rebuke sins and to comfort the penitent through the fullness of God’s Word. God calls the pastors to be Christ to you. To rebuke the sins of those who need their sins rebuked as Christ did and then to come in with that sweet comfort of the gospel when the penitent sinner repents. To be there to say, “I forgive you in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ”. Does the rebuke of sins always feel good? Well, no. But it’s better than continuing to live in sin. If a two-year-old was about to stick a fork into an electrical outlet, would you let him do it? I don’t think so. You’d rebuke them. You would pull him to safety. A two-year-old might not like it, but that’d be the loving thing to do. So likewise, God calls pastors to rebuke sin. But then also, where there is confession of sin, to forgive sin. Just as you received this morning. In the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins”. He calls pastors to be his servants, to bind up the broken hearted through the faithful proclamation of His Word, through teaching the Word both from the pulpit and in Bible classes, to faithfully delivering the sacraments that have been given to us to strengthen the faith. In so doing, God calls pastors to be His hands and feet here to serve you. When the pastor does what he does according to his office, it ain’t about me or whoever else stands in this pulpit. It’s about who we’re serving. It’s why we wear these things, the stoles, to show that we are yoked to Christ. It’s that reminder—both for ourselves and for you—that it ain’t about the man, it’s about the God who man is acting on behalf of. Therefore when the faithful pastor preaches the Word, when the faithful pastor announces the forgiveness of sins, gives the sacraments, you should receive it with the comfort and the joy that is as if God himself were doing it for you.
Finally, God calls the flock to care for the pastors that He sends to them, since these men are serving in the stead of Christ. Jesus says to the 72, “Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages” (Luke 10:3-7). God calls pastors. God calls the flock to care for the pastors whom he sends. God calls the flock to support their pastors, because again, those pastors are serving in the stead of Christ.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, God is gracious in giving us pastors. It’s part of His continued care for us as sheep. When a pastor is faithful following God’s commands, we should gladly hear and learn from him. And when a pastor departs from what has been taught, we as sheep are called to inquire of him and see if, make sure that what he’s teaching is in line with scripture or if it is not, to call him to repentance, to receive the gospel for himself. May God so enable you to do this. May God so enable you to do this today and every day, recognizing the gifts that pastors are and supporting them. Amen.
And may the peace of God who surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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