THE GENERAL PRAYER – PART III
This
month we pick back up with the General Prayer from TLH page 23-24. The prayer
continues: Most heartily we beseech Thee so to rule and govern Thy church Universal, with all its pastors
and ministers, that we may be preserved in the pure doctrine of Thy saving
Word, whereby faith toward Thee may be strengthened, charity increased in us
toward all mankind, and Thy Kingdom extended.
With this petition the prayer of the church shifts its focus
from the individual’s preservation in the faith to the whole church throughout
the world. We pray heartily, that is, genuinely and sincerely, that God the
Father would rule and govern the Church Universal, or the church catholic. It
should not frighten us when we hear the phrase “the Church catholic” for that
is what our Lutheran forefathers claimed to be. The reformers were not starting
a new sect or religion. They were reforming the catholic faith from the
impurities with which Rome had saddled the true faith. In the conclusion the
Augsburg Confession Philip Melanchthon writes:
Only those things have been
recounted whereof we thought that it was necessary to speak, in order that it
might be understood that in doctrine and ceremonies nothing has been received
on our part against Scripture or the Church Catholic. For it is manifest that
we have taken most diligent care that no new and ungodly doctrine should creep
into our churches. (AC: Conclusion. Paragraph 5)
We ought not to be ashamed to call ourselves part of the
Church catholic because we confess the true catholic faith in the words of the
Athanasian Creed:
Whosoever will be saved, before
all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith. . . And the
catholic faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in
Unity; neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Substance. . .
Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe
faithfully the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the right faith is,
that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God
and Man. . . Who suffered for our salvation; descended into hell, rose again
the third day from the dead; He ascended into heaven; He sitteth on the right
hand of the Father, God Almighty; from whence He shall come to judge the quick
and the dead. (TLH pg. 53)
Wherever this confession of the true faith is, there you will
find members of the church catholic. St. Ignatius of Antoich (died 202
A.D.), a very early church father, was the first to use the term ‘catholic’ to
describe the church. He writes to the Christians in Smyrna that “wherever Jesus
Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.”[1] Since
Jesus is present with His Church in the preaching of the Word and the
administration of the Sacrament, wherever these things are in their purity,
Jesus is there with the fullness of His blessings. This is why the Augsburg
Confession, Article VII, teaches that the church catholic is found wherever
“the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered.” So
to be catholic is to have pure doctrine and Christ-centered practices based on
that pure doctrine. Being catholic has nothing to do with being Roman Catholic,
since the Roman church has neither the gospel rightly preached nor the
Sacraments rightly administered. Being catholic simply means to be Christian.
So in
this petition of the General Prayer we pray for the universal church, that is,
the Church catholic, all believers gathered around the Word and Sacrament
wherever they might be.
Secondly
we include specifically the church’s “pastors and ministers” in our prayer.
Pastors and ministers are an essential part of the church catholic. Since
“faith comes by hearing,” (Romans 10:17) “How shall they hear without a
preacher?” (Romans 10:14) In the Old Testament the Lord called the Patriarchs
and Prophets to speak His Word to people. In the New Testament area, the Lord
still calls men to preach the Gospel and administer His sacraments. Christ
calls men into the Office of the Holy Ministry so that God’s people may know
with certainty that when the preachers speaks in God’s behalf, it is truly the
Word of God. St. Paul gives thanks for the Thessalonian’s faith in the Word of
God, preached through men. He writes:
For this reason we also thank God without ceasing,
because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed
it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also
effectively works in you who believe.” (1
Thessalonians 2:13)
The Word of God which pastors preach is Law and Gospel, God’s
judgment of sinners and God’s promise of salvation for sinners. Pastors are
similar to the prophet Ezekiel who was commanded to be a watchman for the house
of Israel. (Ezekiel 3:17-21) Pastors are to preach against sin and condemn the
sinner in order to bring about repentance in the hearts of men. To those who
repent, Pastors then get to preach the Word of the Gospel. This arrangement is commanded
by Christ Himself the evening of His resurrection from the dead:
Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you. And when He had
said this, He breathed on them, and
said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any,
they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained. (John 20:21-23)
The Pastor, called and ordained by Christ Jesus, stands “in
the stead and by the command” of Christ. (TLH pg.15) His task of preaching
repentance and faith in the Gospel has the goal of the preservation of your
faith. We pray for our pastors and ministers “that we may be preserved in the pure doctrine of Thy saving Word,
whereby faith toward Thee may be strengthened, charity increased in us toward
all mankind, and Thy Kingdom extended.” From such faith in Christ charity
is increased in us toward all mankind, for good works flow from faith in
Christ. It is also through the preaching office that Christ is present to
extend His kingdom, converting souls through the Word of God, which is living
and active,” (Hebrews 4:12) and “shall not return void.” (Isaiah 55:11)
No flesh and blood man is worthy or adequate for this task. Thus we pray for our pastors, our Bishop, and all faithful pastors and members of the church catholic. We pray this in faith, knowing that the Lord has promised to persevere His true church wherever she may be in this world, as she clings to her Lord’s Word and His Sacraments. No matter what happens, “the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18)
[1]
Library of Christian Classics. Volume 1: Early Christian Fathers. Letters of Ignatius: Smyrnaeans.
Translator: Richardson, Cyril. Westminster Press: Philadelphia. 1953. Pg. 115.
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