In the Name of Jesus: continued

      Four posts below I presented In the Name of Jesus as a commentary regarding the ever growing tendency among pastors to experience what they have called “boredom with preaching.” My post is given as a counter to this mindset, intended as an encouragement to remember Who the true preacher is and what this means for everyone connected to this preaching.

      My comments have been misunderstood by some and mocked and ridiculed by others. My heart aches to observe this. Nevertheless, I cannot imagine any believer in Christ being bored with preaching, most especially those entrusted with the Public Office of Preaching. Below I wish to continue explaining what preaching is, for everyone who has been called to be a vessel of the Lord and especially for the called and ordained preacher.

      Consider what the preaching of the Gospel really is and how it encompasses and pervades the life the one who preaches, especially the one who preaches according to the public office of preaching.

      The pastor/teacher is one who regularly prepares to stand before the people of God and to preach in the name of Christ. He is one who is driven first to study the Scriptures and to wrestle with the Lord his God and to continue in this until the Word speaks to his own heart and soul. Then, in the joy of what has been proclaimed to himself he arises before the congregation to which he is called to serve this Word. He leads them in the invocation of the Word, to call upon this Word to be present with power, even as has been promised. He turns to see the faces of those who have been gathered by this Word in the expectation of being converted again to the repentance by which life is restored through the forgiveness that this called servant has been entrusted to deliver. All eyes and hearts intently turn to this man to receive from him the One in whom all hope resides. All who are gathered fully expect this miracle to be performed in the name of Jesus. During this gathering to the Word the pastor steps into the appointed place for preaching and preaches the blessed Word that has been given to him. As he preaches what he has written with his hand, he also hears with his ears and knows that the grace, mercy, and peace of the Lord that he again receives for himself is being poured out to all who have gathered. His own heart melts and is restored. He also sees the responses of the faces of those to whom the Lord is coming through his preaching. He knows that God is at work in the hearts and minds and souls of those to whom he preaches. He directs them to the Holy Communion of the Lord and then he first receives for himself and then distributes to all the rest, the body of unity and the blood of forgiveness and life and renewal. Finally, all sing Simeon’s marvelous Amen to what the Lord has done for them, and the pastor again places the name of blessing upon the congregation.

      This same pastor later goes to the hospital to visit the hospitalized. Every person in the room turns and breathes a sigh of relief. He approaches the bedside and administers Christ to the dear brother or sister and to all who receive Him.

      This same pastor goes to those who are homebound. Their countenance lights up. Their eyes glow with the joy that has been restored to their hearts. They receive the absolution. They receive a brief word of exposition of the Gospel. They receive the body and blood of their Lord. They give thanks to God for sending His servant to carry to them what they cannot congregate to receive otherwise. They thank their dear pastor for coming.

      The hospital chaplain calls. He says that a man had a heart attack while driving his car and has been brought to the hospital. His family is with him. He is unconscious and in bad condition. He has not been a church goer but at some point attended a Lutheran church. The chaplain asks that the pastor come and be with the family. Upon arrival the room becomes quiet and the pastor begins pouring out the blessed Gospel for everyone present, praying for the unconscious man, proclaiming the Law and the Gospel to him and his family. Subsequent visits are made. The man dies and the family requests the pastor to preside over the funeral. Again the questions of the Law are addressed and the promise of the Gospel is proclaimed. The question is left open as to whether the man heard and believed, but the faith is proclaimed for those who are grieving and the confidence of God’s mercy is extended for those who hear that day.

      The sheriff’s department calls. “We have a man in custody who is on suicide watch. He is very upset. He is angry and afraid. Can you come?” The man’s life is being destroyed. He is facing terrible charges. He is angry at his wife. He is angry at society. He is angry at God. He is afraid. The pastor is not concerned about the charges. The pastor is concerned about the man’s excommunication from God’s Holy Communion. He listens. He responds. He listens. He speaks to the man’s sinfulness, not merely his sins, but his poor miserable condition on account of being a sinner. He speaks to the man’s hopelessness. He speaks strong and hard words to the man. He simultaneously speaks of the love of God in Christ. He speaks of the forgiveness that Christ won by suffering the full burden of the man’s sinfulness and actual sins as well as the sinfulness and sin of the world. The man is broken and weeps. The man hears the absolution. The man goes to face his trial and is found guilty and goes to prison. The man rejoices in the grace of God in Christ all the days of his imprisonment and all the days of his life.

      A woman under treatment by a psychiatrist for depression has been turned into a drug addict by the psychiatrist. She has adulterous affairs in search of a sense of identity and for reasons she does not even know. She calls the pastor. She hears the Gospel but is not willing to let go of her false faith. She calls for the pastor many times. Each time she hears again and again the Lord speaking to her, confronting her in her desperation, calling her to repent and receive His gracious help, and calling her to a life of freedom in His grace, mercy, and peace.

      A man comes to the pastor. He feels worthless and without hope. He is afraid that he could take his own life. The pastor listens. The man tells of abuse in his childhood. He asks why these things happened. The pastor directs the man to the Lord Jesus. The man hears of God’s great love displayed in the gift of His Son. He hears the great cost that God paid for his redemption. He hears of the great worth that God counts toward him. The pastor goes with the man to his home. They continue talking. The pastor shows him simple things that he can do in his life, things that he counted as insurmountable. The pastor helps him with some of his chores, showing him that he is not unable to do them. The man wonders how to get past the hurts that he has toward those who have hurt him over the years. The pastor again brings the man to his baptism and the cleansing of his soul and the regeneration to the new life that is his in Christ. He invites the man to remember the proclamation of the Lord’s death in the Holy Supper. He assures the man of his forgiveness. The man’s hurts begin to fade and to be obliterated by the love and mercy of God that is received in the blood of Christ. The injurious things that others have done and continue to do seem to lose their significance as he turns from them to the confidence and forgiveness that is in Christ’s Holy Communion. Before long God’s forgiveness is all that he knows and that forgiveness overflows to cover the wrongs of those who have injured him so deeply. Soon he no longer wonders about how to get over the hurts and how to forgive, because those things are no longer brought up in his remembrance of those people. He begins to see that this is what God has done for him through Christ.

      On and on the opportunities pour forth to the pastor. In every instance he preaches the Word. In season and out of season he preaches the Word. People come to him and he goes to people. He stands before the congregation and he goes out from the congregation to those beyond the regular gathering. He stands in the power of the Gospel. He stands in the name of Jesus. He touches peoples hearts. He reaches into their souls and takes hold of the ugly, dirty, dark, filthy crap that pervades their souls and holds it before their eyes and shows them that because of Jesus none of these things have any power over them. He pierces the hard, rocky mountains of doubt and fear and desperation and depression and guilt and condemnation and drives in the dynamite of the Gospel and breaks to pieces the mountains and casts them into the sea of forgiveness and life and salvation. From the pulpit, from the altar, and in private visitation, the pastor does away with sin and sets people free. In all these things the pastor rejoices, knowing that the freedom that he preaches to others is his for his own life and his to give.

      This is the life of the preacher of the Gospel. This is the preaching of the Gospel.

      What part of this is boring? I truly do not understand how any preacher of the Gospel can call this anything but exciting! What could be more exciting? Where does the preaching of this Gospel leave room for anything besides humble rejoicing and thanksgiving in the peace of God that surpasses all understanding?