The Pastor's Desk

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“Permanence in Change!”

   Even as you read these words, the Lord already knows the man who will become the new pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church- 

     Even before the voter’s assembly officially “calls” our new pastor on July 18^th.   This is a reason to rejoice!  Because the LORD knows what He is doing and who He is calling.

     Until then, please continue to pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit upon the whole process.  Trust that the Lord is working through the process. This is all very exciting and very good.  But, I hear many say, “I don’t like change, I am comfortable with how things are at my church, what if the new Pastor (fill in the blank).” 

     Change is a natural phenomena in many ways, but there is one thing that doesn’t change (and shouldn’t change) and that is God’s most Holy, Inspired and Infallible Word!!  What we teach, preach, sing, proclaim and pray here at Redeemer shouldn’t ever change.  God’s Law and Gospel applied to His people should be consistent and steady. 

Sure a new Pastor may have a personality or presence that is a bit different, but I am confident that all the men we are considering respect and honor the individual congregations unique traditions and values.   Sadly though this is not true with every Pastor, some may have an agenda that follows them to a new church….. 

     I once heard a pastor, who is an advocate for the exclusive use of contemporary “praise” worship, tell me, “Tim, hymnals and the ancient liturgy  doesn’t appeal to the unchurched!” He was using this line to make the argument that we must design our worship services to appeal to the unchurched. He believed we must avoid using the “old liturgy” and the “old hymns” because the unchurched might feel uncomfortable and not want to join.

     My response to him was, “No kidding! The hymnals are not designed for the unchurched, but the churched. Worship in God’s Holy House is not for unbelievers, but believers.” He disagreed and told me, “If you have that attitude, good luck trying to grow your church.”

     There are so many things wrong with that comment and the attitude behind it that it would take many pages to list them all.  Instead, let me be brief: WORSHIP IS FOR BELIEVERS, NOT UNBELIEVERS!

Contrary to this pastor’s belief, the Divine Service is NOT the time for evangelism. The Divine Service is the time when believers gather together in the Holy of Holies where God’s presence dwells to confess their sins and receive forgiveness, life, and salvation through God’s means of grace, His Holy Word and Sacraments. Only believers, those who have been catechized in the faith, can know and understand what is really going on in the Divine Service.

     We do not apologize for this, nor do we ever dare design our worship services around the wants and desires of the unchurched. If they are to become churched, it is up to the Holy Spirit working through the Word.  Yes, each individual Christian can be the conduit through whom the Spirit works to speak and do the Gospel.  When a nonbeliever believes, then they are to be catechized in the faith so that they, too, can know and understand what is happening in the Divine Service, love and cherish the beauty of God coming a serving us with His gifts. 

     Our hymnal “Lutheran Service Book,”  describes this ’God serving’ concept in its introduction on page viii (you can check out the full introduction in the hymnal, reprinted here is just a snippet)  “Our Lord is the Lord who serves. Jesus Christ came into the flesh not to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many. On the cross He offered Himself as a spotless sacrifice for the sin of the whole world. Through His perfect life and death, He accomplished forgiveness and salvation for all before the Father in heaven. By His empty tomb and ascension into heaven, He declared His victory over sin and death to all the world. Seated now at the Father's right hand, He graciously serves His Church with the gifts of salvation.”    

     Certainly there are those things that are absolutely permanent even in the midst of change!