LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2019, Page 233

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

II. THEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTS­­—COMMISSION ON THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS
land. Anna was sent to the temple each day. When she
witnessed the Christ child, blessed by Simeon, she immediately began “to speak of him to all who were waiting
for the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38).
If mission does not always imply sending far away,
neither does it mean we are sent only to unbelievers,
as important as that is. Holding up the “excellencies” is
important first for others within the priesthood (Rom.
1:5–6). They — and we — need to hear the story of God’s
work and His promises again and again, lest the unholy
trio of the devil, world and flesh gang up and strangle
the hope with which they cling to the cross and look
forward in eager anticipation to the Lord’s return. So the
royal priesthood proclaims God’s excellencies in weekly
liturgy, daily devotions, Bible studies with fellow church
members and casual conversations with a brother or sister in Christ. This dare not be discounted. Our vocation
— that is, our calling from God — is to specific people
and places: family, work, society, congregation. In a wonderful paradox, God sends (missio) us first to the people
and places where He has called (vocatio) us. Fathers are
to bring up their children, teaching them the Word (Eph.
6:4). In fact, in the context of 1 Peter 2:9–10, Peter gives
detailed examples of some ways the royal priesthood
carries out its proclamation in personal vocations. Citizens submit to authorities (2:13–17), employees to their
employers (2:18–24), wives to their husbands (3:1–6), and
husbands care for their wives (3:7). These activities of the
royal priests include both words and behavior.
Then what about “the uttermost parts” of the earth?
We might think of the other side of the globe or a remote
mission field in a far-flung place. Such places are, of
course, included, but “the end of the earth” for Jewish
believers living in Palestine at the time of Jesus was likely
envisioned differently. Their mindset was like the one
The New Yorker once spoofed on a cover cartoon.52 A
street grid of Manhattan was drawn in some detail, but
across the Hudson River to the west was a square about
the size of a city block containing New Jersey, Texas,
Chicago, Kansas City, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas within
it. The New Yorker’s world revolved around central Manhattan’s few square miles. No other place really counted.
Harlem, the Bowery, or an “outer borough”? That’s not
Manhattan. New Jersey? It’s not Manhattan. Those other
places? None of them is Manhattan, and that’s all that
matters. There was a similar mindset for the first century
The title was “View of the World from 9th Avenue,” by Saul Seinberg.
It appeared on the front cover of the March 29, 1976, issue. Electronic
reproductions are readily available by internet search.
52

THE ROYAL PRIESTHOOD

|

Jew, who did not have to go to the pillars of Hercules at
Gibraltar or even beyond to see the world. The first challenge was simply to take one step beyond wherever there
was safety and familiarity. In Acts 1:8, as Jesus sends
the disciples, He starts with Jerusalem, then Judea, then
Samaria — all that before “the end of the earth.”53
That is the geography of Acts. The apostolic witness is
delivered to Jerusalem — to the strangers that fill the city,
to a lame man, to those who hear and those who are hostile (Acts 2–7). Then, as the Church is scattered, individuals from the royal priesthood who are not apostles carry
the message to Judea, to Samaria and to Damascus where
Saul is baptized (Acts 8–9). Along the way, Luke tells us of
a miraculous sending of Philip into the wilderness where
he meets, teaches and baptizes an Ethiopian eunuch
(Acts 8). In Acts 10, he relates how Peter is sent to Caesarea on the coast, to the home of the Gentile Cornelius,
who believed the message Peter brought. With these
events, it is clear that the Church has gone to the nations
— that the royal priesthood will be for Jew and Gentile
alike. And, by the end of the book, Paul is in Rome, sent
under less than enviable circumstances, but proclaiming
the Gospel just the same (Acts 28). In this history of the
earliest Church, we see the fulfillment of Christ’s promise
at His ascension that His followers would come from all
the world — just how His kingdom would expand. That
promise is the last promise that needed to be fulfilled
before Christ comes again on the last day. But success in
Acts hardly puts an end to mission. Rather it means we
are on borrowed time or, better, on God-granted time to
spread the Word. And as long as there are believers, that
is, as long as there are members of the royal priesthood,
there will be service that is needed and there will be people to serve. While Christ’s charge to His followers at His
ascension was His last promise (now fulfilled) with no
more to come until He comes again, and while we ought
to expect His return any and every day (1 Thess. 5:1–5),
that is no reason to cease work. It is instead all the more
reason to redouble efforts in missions, not knowing how
much time remains. Tempus fugit!
It should be plain, then, that the mission of the
Church — the royal priesthood, the baptized — does
begin at home, but it does not end there with family and
fellow church members. Royal priests are royal servants.
Royals reign — a royal priesthood — and from that
53
We note that the idea that mission should primarily entail going to
other lands did not become prominent until the time of the missionary
movement in the nineteenth century. See David J. Bosch, Transforming
Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis
Books, 1991), 341.

II. “PRIEST ” IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

19

reigning position, enslaved to no one, the priest is free to
serve selflessly and purely as a living sacrifice, focusing
on a realm that is as wide as the kingdom of God. The
royal priesthood extends the work Christ came to do,
continuing to speak freedom to captives (Luke 4:18). This
word of freedom is the word of the One who has conquered sin and death and the devil for the world.
Even as every believer has received the blessings of
Christ’s death and resurrection along with the Spirit
promised, so every believer is given the task or opportunity to make the same known in the world. This does not
mean, however, that every member of the royal priesthood offers identical types of priestly service. While
all, in various ways, proclaim the excellencies of God’s
saving grace in Christ Jesus, this does not mean everyone
is a pastor or minister or teacher of the church. (This also
recognizes that not every royal priest is equally adept at
telling others of Christ Jesus.) Thus, the Holy Scriptures
teach not only the general priesthood of all believers,
but also the particular public office of the ministry. “Not
many of you should be teachers” (James 3:1). Thus, there
are different gifts given by the Spirit to the Church and
different ways of serving are exercised, but all serve the
“common good” and the one mission making known the
saving name and works of the Lord (1 Cor. 12).

“Are not even we laics [laity] priests?” — Tertullian

T

he blessings and the privilege of the relationship enjoyed by those
who are priests in God’s royal priesthood
carried over into the early church.54 While
the nomenclature and structure of the public ministry
were still developing, those Christians whom we would
call “the laity” were taking an active role in the life of the
body of Christ.55 The whole assembly of believers both
pursued their own responsibilities and tasks as a royal
priesthood and also approved designated individuals
from their midst to serve them in public ministry.56
Clement, a first-century bishop of Rome (from A.D.
88–99), urged believers in Corinth “[L]et each of you,
brothers, give thanks to God with your own group,
maintaining a good conscience, not overstepping the
designated rule of his ministry, but acting with reverence.”57 While we do not know exactly what Clement
meant by the phrase “with his own group” (the Greek is
tagma), clearly those on the receiving end of Clement’s
letter would have understood what he had in mind,
with particular duties or tasks that were expected of

54
In this section we are summarizing the work of Cyril Eastwood, The
Royal Priesthood of the Faithful: An Investigation of the Doctrine from
Biblical Times to the Reformation (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1963).
55
The term “priest” is applied to Christ for the most part in the Early
Church Fathers (ante-Nicene), and then also to the laity, but it also
comes to be applied to those who serve in public ministry — first to
bishops and later to presbyters. See “Priesthood,” in Everett Ferguson,
ed. Encyclopedia of Early Christianity (New York: Garland, 1990). The
English word is apparently derived from the Greek word presbyter by
way of Latin and then German.

1 Clement 44:3. See Michael W. Holmes, ed. and trans., The Apostolic
Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations (Grand Rapids: Baker
Academic, 2007), 105.
56

57

1 Clement 41:1, in Holmes, 99.

THE ROYAL PRIESTHOOD

|

them, and these were not likely to be insignificant. We
do know that the laity in the early church baptized,
received deathbed confessions and sometimes preached.
For example, while Origen (late 2nd, early 3rd century)
was still a catechist, he preached at Caesarea, an activity
supported by Alexander of Jerusalem, who noted that
bishops elsewhere in Asia Minor had permitted other
laymen to do the same.58
The point here simply is that Clement and the Christian community understood that all involved — the people and those in the public office — had particular roles
to play, and all should both respect the responsibilities
of others and carry out their own tasks.59 Those involved
in the local Christian community provided for overseers
and deacons to minister in their midst, identifying those
with particular gifts and talents who were suited for the
task. In chapters 42, 44 and 48 1 Clement writes about
the church in Corinth, identifying and providing for
those who would minister to them in the public office,
using their abilities for the upbuilding of all. The apostle
Paul had left Clement plenty of guidance in his pastoral
epistles. So he could exhort both the people and those in
public service within the Christian community to respect
the work carried out by all concerned from all quarters.
58

Eastwood, 56.

59
In chapter 40 of 1 Clement, the importance of good order is emphasized: “Those, therefore, who make their offerings at the appointed
times are acceptable and blessed, for those who follow the instructions
of the Master cannot go wrong. For to the high priest the proper services have been given, and to the priests the proper office has been assigned, and upon the Levites the proper ministries have been imposed.
The layman is bound by the layman’s rules” (1 Clement 40:3–5, in
Holmes, 99). Though it is not certain, the reference to “the layman” in
this context appears to parallel “the Levites” in the preceding sentence.

III. PRIESTHOOD IN THE EARLY AND MEDIEVAL CHURCH

21

While there certainly is continuity with the Old
Testament, and while ideas about priesthood and service
are carried over to the New Testament in some respects,
it is clear that the New Testament also has transformed
priesthood and service. We have heard this transformation described in the epistles and have seen it carried
out in the Book of Acts. As the story stretched beyond
the New Testament texts, the Church’s task now was to
continue in this line, to carry forth this transformation
into the wider non-Jewish world and culture (although
witnessing to the Jews remained an important task). The
task was to be faithful to the message, while also translating the message for people in circumstances never before
imagined. The more those second-last days stretched
out, the more it fell to the Church to keep an eye on
this idea of the royal priesthood lest it lose the identity
and mission. Efforts were made, but in the long run, the
focus shifted.

All the implementation of all the gifts of believers
is toward the central work or mission of the Church:
the proclamation of the Gospel. The Church exists only
where there is this mission, and the Church expands only
where there is this mission. Formation means Gospel
proclamation — the word in which the Spirit works to
create, build and sustain Christ’s Church. Mission is not
extracurricular. It is basic and essential to the life of the
church, and all believers are inextricably bound to this
mission. It is impossible to be a believer, that is, to be in
the royal priesthood, and not to be involved in this mission. All the members of the royal priesthood are gifted
by the Holy Spirit and the Spirit’s work alone underlies
and enables the confession that marks the Church:
“Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says ‘Jesus is accursed!’ and
no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit.
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit”
(1 Cor. 12:3–4). He empowers individual believers as He
apportions His gifts, and always to enable the confession
that unites the royal priesthood as one, holy, catholic and
apostolic people, the Church.

THE ROYAL PRIESTHOOD

|

II. “PRIEST ” IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

Laity should honor those serving in the public office
that had been entrusted to them, and those in the office
should allow the laity truly to be the body of Christ.

III. PRIESTHOOD IN THE EARLY
AND MEDIEVAL CHURCH

233

Polycarp, a second-century bishop, demonstrated in
his epistle to the Philippians exactly the kind of spirit a
Christian was to have.60 Although in a position of authority, he replied in a generous tone to their request for
advice: “I am writing these comments about righteousness, brothers, not on my own initiative, but because you
invited me to do so.”61 While Polycarp had a particular
role to play, his use of the term brothers is striking, as he
saw people actively involved in the life of the congregation. So, for example, when there was a problem with a
presbyter, Polycarp called on the people to “be reasonable in this matter, and do not regard such people enemies, but, as sick and straying members, restore them,
in order that you may save your body in its entirety.”62
Widows were not marginalized, but as “God’s altar,” they
offered prayers for those in the community.63 In general,
Polycarp underscored the idea of sacrifice in response
to the identity that the believers have as members of the
royal priesthood of Christ.
Another second-century theologian, Justin Martyr,
emphasized the corporate action of the community in
the Eucharist, as the people together offered prayers,
and when finished, then brought bread, wine and water
for the celebration of the sacrament.64 While Justin
speaks of the public ministry — the one who presides
at the celebration — he also refers to those present as
“the true high priestly race of God.”65 And following the
sacrifice of thanksgiving as the sacrament is received,
there came also a sacrifice of service offered by this high
priestly people, as they cared for the sick, the orphaned,
the widows, those imprisoned and those in need of
protection, as they found them in their midst and in
their community.66
This priestly service happens not in order to become
someone or something special, but because the Christians already have a special identity. Justin notes that just
as in the Old Testament those who were descendants of
Jacob, also called Israel, took on his name, so those who

20

are from Christ bear His name and are called children
of God.67 In that connection and because of this relationship, Justin calls on Christians to carry out a special
mission: “by God’s will He became man, and gave to us
this teaching for the conversion and for the restoration
of mankind.”68 And what has happened? Justin writes,
“For from Jerusalem there went out into the world,
men, twelve in number, and these illiterate, of no ability
in speaking: but by the power of God they proclaimed
to every race of men that they were sent by Christ to
teach to all the word of God; and we who formerly used
to murder one another do not only now refrain from
making war upon our enemies, but also, that we may not
lie nor deceive our examiners, willingly die confessing
Christ.”69 Justin himself was a prime example of this,
but so were countless others who offered not only their
words but even their very lives as a kind of sacrifice in
their priestly calling. The point here again is that Christian believers were active in their witness, and in their
service, as those with a special identity.
Still in the second century, Irenaeus saw the Church
having a priestly nature because of the priestly character of all those who made up the Church.70 When
the disciples of Jesus were accused of working on the
Sabbath after they plucked and ate grain while walking
through the field, Jesus pointed to what David did in the
Old Testament, when he ate the bread of the Presence,
commenting that such eating would not have been lawful
except for priests. That meant that David was in effect a
priest in the eyes of God. As Irenaeus wrote, “For all the
righteous possess the sacerdotal rank.”71 The Church has
a priestly character because God has made it so, giving
spiritual gifts to be used in service. And the ultimate
service are those efforts made for the salvation of all.
Mathetes, another early teacher, drew this analogy:
Christians are in the world rather like the soul is in the
body. It is there to enliven it and sustain it. “God has
assigned them this illustrious position, which it were
unlawful of them to forsake.”72 That is, there is no avoiding the ministry and mission of the priesthood to make
salvation known. Put another way, witness or mission
is not the work simply of those in the public office. It is

60

See Eastwood, 59–61.

61

The Letter of Polycarp to the Philippians 3:1, in Holmes, 283.

67

Dialogue with Trypho 123 (ANF 1:261).

62

The Letter of Polycarp to the Philippians 11:4, in Holmes, 293, 295

68

The First Apology of Justin 23 (ANF 1:170–71).

63

The Letter of Polycarp to the Philippians 4:3, in Holmes, 285.

69

The First Apology of Justin 39 (ANF 1:175–76).

64

See Eastwood, 61–66.

70

See Eastwood, 66–70.

65

Dialogue with Trypho 116 (ANF 1:257).

71

Iranaeus against Heresies 4.8.3 (ANF 1:471).

66

The First Apology of Justin 67 (ANF 1:186).

72

The Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus 6[, 5] (ANF 1:27).

THE ROYAL PRIESTHOOD

|

III. PRIESTHOOD IN THE EARLY AND MEDIEVAL CHURCH

22

2019 Convention Workbook