Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, it's “Preacher Week” this Third Week in Advent. Remember our readings from Sunday which all spoke of preachers and what the preachers are supposed to do. Tonight we heard again St. Paul's words about preachers. We're going to break it down into three parts as St. Paul does. First of all, preachers are servants or helpers or assistants of Christ. Also, preachers are stewards of the mysteries of God. Finally, as stewards, the preachers are supposed to be faithful. With respect to each of these, there is repentance to be had both by the preacher and God's people. And with respect to each of these, there is Good News for you, the children of God.
First off, the preacher is to be a servant, helper, and assistant of Christ. Now, why would Jesus need assistants? If you remember the Feeding of the Five Thousand, you'll remember that Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes so that everyone could eat. But how did they get their food? Jesus didn't hand it our Himself. He gave it to His disciples who gave it to the people. By having such assistants, Jesus makes sure that what He has to give is delivered to all the people who need it. By giving you a called and ordained preacher, the Lord is assuring you that the forgiveness of sins He accomplished and won for you on the cross is delivered to you. By having a called and ordained preacher, you have the certainty that the Lord will be there for you to comfort you with His Word. So what's the preacher's repentance? Simply this: I need to repent of wanting to be the Master instead of the servant. To throw away such thinking that says that this is MY church and congregation and that I am the boss and that what I say must go. Instead, I am to remember daily Who it is that I am called to serve: “As a called and ordained servant of Christ and by His authority.” That's how your preacher does things and only in that way. What's your repentance? You are to repent of trying to do an end-run around your pastor to Jesus. I DON'T mean by that that you don't pray to the Lord yourself and so on. What I mean is that if your pastor is preaching and doing things in the way of God's Word, if there is something you don't like you don't say, “Well, I don't need a pastor or have to listen to the pastor because I know in my heart about Jesus” or something like that. Rather, in humility and repentance, learn the Word of God your preacher is given to teach you. Be glad and rejoice! Jesus has servants so you can be sure His work is being carried out.
Next, Paul writes that the preacher is a steward of the mysteries of God. What is a steward? The steward was the head of the household. The steward was usually a slave but he was the slave who was in charge of making sure that the household ran smoothly and that each family member had everything they needed. When St. Paul calls pastors “stewards of the mysteries of God” he means that pastors have been entrusted with God's Word to properly deliver Jesus' words and gifts to you, His people. That means preaching the Law which accuses and condemns us for our sins. It means preaching the Gospel which forgives our sins and gives us Jesus. It means baptizing people both young and old to put upon them the Name of God and the righteousness of Jesus. It means absolving sinners who are sorry for their sins and binding the sins of those who refuse to repent. It means administering Jesus' body and blood to those who confess the Christian faith and withholding it from those who do not confess Jesus' words and faith. To be a steward means that the pastor is the one whom the Lord has given you to give you the gifts that bring Jesus Himself. To preach to you Jesus' life, suffering, death and resurrection and to preach repentance and the forgiveness of sins in His name. Therefore your steward's repentance is that he give you something you don't need or shouldn't have or something other than what the Lord has given. My repentance is that I would rather wow you with “me” than faithfully deliver Jesus. Your repentance is from seeking to have Jesus some other way than the way in which he comes to you, through the means of grace. To seek Christ apart from the ministry of your pastor is to deny that the Lord serves you through His steward. To look try to have Jesus apart from the Word and Sacraments is to have a Jesus that isn't there. Rather, you are to look to your pastor for every good gift in Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins and your eternal comfort.
Finally, St. Paul writes that the steward must be found faithful. This means not delivering anything else than Jesus. Not Mark Buetow's rules and regulations and notions and ideas. Only the Jesus stuff. That He is true God and true man who has come into this world for your salvation. That Jesus alone takes away your sins by His death on the cross. That only Jesus conquers death by His death and gives us life by His resurrection. That it is only through Jesus that we can know God the Father and that only from the Father and the Son does the Holy Spirit come and only through the Word and Sacraments. Dear Christians, your steward had better be faithful by only giving you Jesus and you had better learn what such faithfulness is all about so that you can test your pastor and see whether he's doing His job. The steward's repentance here—my repentance—is to turn away from wanting to be popular or liked or any of that. Rather, I am to put all my hope and confidence in Christ and His Word. Your repentance is to turn away from indifference when it comes to your pastor's preaching and practice. You ought to pay close attention to all that your pastor preaches and does and makes sure that all of it is only in accordance with God's Word. Not for his sake, but for yours! So that you will be comforted by the certainty that it is the Lord's saving Word and gifts and promises that your preacher is delivering to you.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, your pastor is a servant of Christ and steward of God's mysteries. That's good news for you! If your pastor was YOUR slave, his job would be to give you what you want, not what you need. And he would probably do that and you would perish eternally. His purpose would be to please you and to make you happy. But instead, as Christ's slave he is under orders from our Lord to give you what is Christ's: the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. At the font. At the altar. From the pulpit. There, the slave of Christ carefully and faithfully gives you what Jesus has for you: Himself and His promises that your sins are forgiven and you are God's children. As John the Baptist pointed to Jesus, as the angels announced the Savior's birth and told the shepherds where to find Jesus, so listen to your preacher: not for his own sake, but because that's his job: pointing you to Jesus from the day you are born from above at the font to the day you close your eyes in death. So that in all things you have the comfort of Jesus given to you. That is your pastor's job as Christ's servant and steward: to serve you with Jesus! Amen.