Dear Disciple of Christ,
You know that pastors are called to Word and Sacrament ministry, right? That’s what we do. That’s why we are so blessed. But the blessing of the Word came long before I was ordained. As I mentioned, in my family, we were rhythmic when it came to worship each and every week. I had classmates (and I’ve taught many a confirmand) who, upon being confirmed, stopped coming to church. It had been a struggle for their parents to get them to those additional classes for study of Luther’s Catechism.
Somewhere along the struggle the parents said, “Once you’re confirmed, you can decide for yourself, but for now, we are your parents and you need to go.” But not going seemed contradictory to my sister and me. It would mean that one minute we would stand before the congregation and confess our faith and indicate we would be faithful disciples. The next we would be telling our parents we weren’t going to church or Sunday School any more?? How odd. How foolish to leave behind the gifts of God and the Gift of His Son.
I think this is as simple as the Christmas gifts. Like many other kids at Christmas, year after year, we got “age-appropriate toys and gifts.” But the gift of the Word was for every age and every time of life. I really don’t remember when the “Gifts” appeared on a six foot table in the narthex of our church. It was a brand new, easy to read translation of the Bible called, “Good news for modern man.” I was just 7 years old and that translation was readable even for me at my early age. And, you could just take one. I had no allowance but my grandfather may have been who I remember giving me 25 cents so I could have my own. I think everyone in my family had one and I expect all in my church did as well. It really was like an early Christmas gift. And they were still distributing them at Christmas. The cost was kept low to make this understandable Word of God available to all the more. This translation of the American Bible Society encouraged us to take the Word and pass it on. Ten years after the New Testament was provided, the Old Testament was made available. Truly it was a gift for all and part of a spirit of evangelism; good news for all.
That came to me exactly at the time I would begin reading and marking (underlining) and learning the Word of truth. I knew that all parts of life work better if the Word is brought to bear on what is going on. When I went off to start preparations for ministry at Concordia Junior college, I still believed that. We had 42 students who were preparing to become pastors and I was one of them. I knew we all had a long road to travel but the Word was ours from the beginning of our lives. That perspective would guide me in my sharing the Word with a student who came to me in some distress. She shared some of her challenges, especially the challenge of accepting God’s forgiveness. Here she was at a Christian (Lutheran) college despite the sins of her earlier life. I shared what I could about sin’s impact and power over all of us sinners. But I also shared how God’s love and power are even more powerful. I could tell I hadn’t answered all her questions nor brought her complete comfort and consolation. I then told her that the Word in worship seemed to always speak to where I was in the midst of my sin. The church next to our campus was holding midweek services and she agreed to come with me to the service.
My regular preparation for worship wasn’t to read the bulletin but to find out what the lessons were about and prepare my heart with prayer. I found the pastor’s sermon title and, to be honest, wondered if it wasn’t going to work this time. The title of the pastor’s sermon was, “Russia today.” I had not known the pastor but later learned he often preached about the “evil empire.” OK, Lord. Can you do something tonight? Now? For her? We went through the liturgy and lessons and got to the sermon. The pastor went into the pulpit and began to preach. “Many of you know I proclaim the Word and spend a large amount of time bringing forward the battle of God’s will and the Evil Empire, Russia. I didn’t have the time I needed to put together what I wanted. So, tonight, I’m going to preach on our accepting God’s grace!” I was stunned. I felt like I should stand up and turn and tell the other worshippers that they could leave anytime, that God was on a mission to speak to this young lady. That was not true, of course. God was not speaking just to the young lady. He was speaking to all of us gathered around Word and sacrament. God’s grace was to her… and all of us!
The nature of God’s grace is that it is, of course, open and available to all who seek it. So when another classmate sought me out after dinner one night and asked if we could talk, I was expecting nothing less than God’s Word coming to the front for both of us. He was one of the 42 (who were preparing to be a pastor) but in his heart he felt like he couldn’t do it. The issue for him? He was sure he needed more faith than he had if he was going to be a preacher of that Word. We talked for quite a while into the night, him sitting on the couch and me on the back of a chair (you know, sitting with feet on the chair the way your mom told you not to sit). I spoke to him confidently. Dwayne. If we we had even just a little faith, we could say to this ceiling light, “Go out!” and it would go out.” That was not the deepest theology, of course, but its power was in the fact that the light went out… just as the last “T” on the word, “out” was spoken.
We both sat there in the pitch dark room. Dwayne made the sound of a disciple realizing God was showing His power and smiling at disciples in the darkness. Ohhh….. Ohhh… We were on the 3rd floor of the men’s dormitory and we found the circuit breaker on the second floor. That’s all it was or all it took. Wasn’t it just a chance occurrence with eerie timing or was it God putting an exclamation point on my sentence? However and whatever happened that day in my dorm room, Dwayne lived by that faith until the day he died, hit by a car as he changed a flat tire. As is always the case, the Word that comes from the preacher is also for the preacher. We share what we know and have experienced in a lifetime with the Word that brings forth faith in hearers.
To be honest, I know that my sermons were seldom (ever?) short. I wasn’t just sharing the Word with hearers, I was listening to every sermon that I ever preached and the Word had power to move me mightily. And “move me,” it did, again and again. What a gift given to pastors (preachers) whose occupation is a vocation, hearing a voice that comes alive and moves into our hearts. What we have learned and heard and received into our hearts, is something that we cherish and have joy sharing with others.
How could I believe that the Word I proclaimed might touch others? Because the power is in the Word. My seminary president, Rev. John Tietjen, whose views and witness I cherished, wrote about his own hearing of the Word growing up. He mentioned that His formation as a disciple came from a pastor whose sermons were “as dry as dust.” Now that’s power that life could come from dry dust, like a risen Lord from a dead body! So too I prayed the Word would flow with power from me.
Can I encourage you to pray about that Word and hold that Word that the preachers have been delving into not just for this past week but for their lifetimes? Yes, welcome and greet members, friends and visitors. Scan through the bulletin. But then, with all that has been going on in your life, hold the Word and pray. Come Lord Jesus. Touch each of us with your Spirit, Lord as we seek your will and ways for life.
Peace in Your service.
Pastor Johnson