Enchiridion, Ministry, Word and Sacrament

Martin Chemnitz

Introduction

1  What is the office of the preaching office?

It is not civil government, by which political affairs, or the matters of this world, are administered. Lk 22:25–26; 2 Ti 2:4. Nor is it spiritual power lording it arbitrarily and, as it were, by naked power over the church. 2 Co 1:24; 1 Ptr 5:3. Nor is it a business or a tricky way for indulging greed. 1 Ti 3:2–3, 8; 6:5; 1 Ptr 5:2. But it is a spiritual office, instituted and ordained by God for service to the church Also the preachers are and ought to be God's servants [Diener] in the kingdom of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. 1 Co 4:1; Cl 1:25; 2 Co 4:5.

2  What, then, is the office of ministers of the church?

This office has been committed and entrusted to them by God Himself through a legitimate call

I. To feed the church of God with the pure doctrine of the divine Word. Acts 20:28; Eph 4:11; 1 Ptr 5:2.

II. To administer and dispense the sacraments. Mt 28:19; 1 Co 11:23.

III. To administer rightly the use of the keys of the church, by either remitting or retaining sins (Mt 16:19; Jn 20:23), and to fulfill all these things and the whole ministry (as Paul says, 2 Ti 4:5) on the basis of the prescribed command, which the chief Shepherd Himself has given His ministers in His Word for instruction. Mt 28:20.

3  Is it right to ordain and admit to the ministerium those who have not been examined, as is generally done among papal suffragans?

By no means. For in His Word God has prescribed a certain form regarding the call, doctrine, and conduct, or life, of those to whom the preaching office is to be entrusted. One should therefore first carefully test and examine them as to whether they meet the requirements for a person to be called in doctrine and life, so that they can be examples to the flock; for this concern we have the very solemn precept of Paul. 1 Ti 5:22; 2 Ti 2:2. The older councils therefore decreed many things regarding examination of those who are to be ordained; these things are found in Gratian, Distinct. 23, 24, and 81. And canon 4 of the 4th Council of Carthage, at which Augustine was present, decreed thus: Let one who is to be ordained be ordained when he has, in an examination, been found to be rightly instructed. And the canon of Nicaea, Distinct. 81, says: If any are promoted [to be] presbyters without examination, church order does not recognize them, because they are ordained contrary to the rule.

4  What, then, are the chief parts regarding which either one who is to be ordained, or one who already is pastor of a church, is to be examined?

There are four chief parts:

1.  The call.

2.  The doctrine of the Word and of the Sacraments.

3.  The Christian Ceremonies in the church.

4.  The life and conduct of ministers of the church.

Part 1

The Godly and ordinary call of a rightly made preacher

5  May one seek or undertake the preaching office who has neither learned the fundamental Christian doctrine, nor understands [it], nor has the gift to teach others?

By no means. For Paul commands Timothy and Titus to entrust the ministry to faithful and able men. 2 Ti 2:2; 3:2; Tts 1:9.

6  Should, then, one who is somewhat endowed with those gifts, on his own initiative and personal judgment, without a special and legitimate call, undertake and claim for himself the preaching office?

By no means. Ro 10:15; Jer 23:21; Heb 5:4.

7  Are they to be heard, or can they be profitably heard by the church, who have no proof of a legitimate call?

No. Ro 10:14–15; Jer 27:14–15. And for this reason the prophets and apostles so earnestly emphasize the prerogatives of their call at the beginning of their writings. And experience shows that they who thrust themselves into the ministry without a regular call experience little blessing of God and contribute no good thing to the up building of the church.

8  But Paul says, 1 Ti 3:1: “He that desires the office of bishop desires a good work.“ Is it therefore necessary all the time for one to wait until he is called?

To desire the office of bishop is not to thrust oneself into the office without a legitimate call; but if one has learned and understands the fundamentals of doctrine and is somewhat endowed with the gift of teaching—when he offers his service to the church, he thereby seeks nothing else than that God would declare through a legitimate call whether He wants to use his service in the office. And he ought to be so minded, that, if a call does not follow his request, he does not cunningly work his way in. 2 Sm 15:26.

9  But all believers are called priests, Rv 1:6; 5:10; 1 Ptr 2:9. Have all, therefore, a general call to the preaching office?

All we who believe are indeed spiritual priests, but we are not all preachers. 1 Co 12:29–30; Eph 4:11–12. And Peter explains himself: All Christians are priests—we should not all presume that we have the call of the preaching office, but that we should all as priests offer spiritual sacrifices. Ro 12:1; Heb 13:15–16.

10  Yet all Christians have a general call to speak the word of God, 1 Ptr 2:9, and especially family heads  Dt 6:7; 1 Co 14:35.

It is true that all Christians have a general call and command to confess the Word of God, Ro 10:9, to speak the Word of God among themselves, Eph 5:19; to admonish each other, Cl 3:16; to reprove, Eph 5:11 [and] Mt 19:15; [and] to comfort, 1 Th 4:18. And family heads are enjoined [to do] this with the special command that they give their households the instruction of the Lord. Eph 6:4. But the legitimate preaching office of the Word and of the Sacraments is not entrusted to all Christians in general, as we have already shown, 1 Co 12:28; Eph 4:12. For a special or particular call is required for this, Ro 10:15.

11  For what reasons is it so very important that a minister of the church have a legitimate call?

One must not think that this is done by human arrangement or only for the sake of order; but there are many weighty reasons, consideration of which teaches many things and is very necessary for every preacher.

I. Because God Himself deals with us through the preaching office as through the ordinary means and instrument. For it is He Himself that speaks, exhorts, absolves, baptizes, etc. in the ministry and through the ministry. Lk 1:70; Heb 1:1; Jn 1:23 (God crying through the Baptist); 2 Co 2:10, 17; 5:20; 13:3. It is therefore absolutely necessary that the preacher as well as the church have sure proofs that God wants to use this very person for this His ordinary means and instrument.

Now, a legitimate or regular call provides these proofs; for in this way every preacher can apply to himself the statements of Scripture [in] 2 Co 5:19; Is 59:21; Mt 10:20; Lk 10:16; 1 Th 4:8.

II. Very many and necessary gifts are required for the preaching office. 2 Co 2:16. But one who has been brought to the office by a legitimate call can apply the divine promises to himself, ask God for faithfulness in them, and expect both, the gifts that are necessary for him rightly to administer the office (1 Ti 4:14; 2 Ti 1:6; 2 Co 3:5–6) and governance and protection in the office entrusted to him (Is 49:2; 51:16).

III. The chief thing of the preaching office is that God wants to be present in it with His Spirit, grace, and gifts and to work effectively through it. But Paul says, Ro 10:15: “How shall they who are not sent preach” (namely in such a way that faith is engendered by hearing)? But God wants to give increase to the planting and watering of those who have been legitimately called and set forth doctrine without guile and faithfully administer whatever belongs to the office (1 Co 3:6; 15:58), that both they themselves and others might be saved. 1 Ti 4:16.

IV. The doctrine of a divine call stirs up preacher, so that each one, in his station, in the fear of God, performs his office with greater diligence, faith, and eagerness, without weariness. And he does not let himself be drawn or frightened away from his office by fear of any peril or of persecution, since he is sure that he is called by God and that that office has been divinely entrusted to him.

V. Finally, on this basis the hearers are stirred up to true reverence and obedience toward the Ministerium, namely since they are taught from the Word of God that God, Himself, is present with us through this office, wants to deal with us and work effectively in us.

12  Who, then, properly has the right or power to send and call preachers

At all times there have been great, often also bloody, controversies regarding the right to call; but, speaking properly and on the basis of Scripture, the right to call and to send laborers into the harvest belongs to Him who is the Lord of the harvest. For the Son says of the Father, Mt 9:38: “Pray ye the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into His harvest”; Paul testifies of the Son of God, Eph 4:8, 11–12: “He ascended on high [and] gave gifts to people …. And He gave some [as] apostles, some [as] prophets, some [as] evangelists, and some [as] pastors and teachers … for the up building of the body of Christ”; the same is also attributed to the Holy Spirit [in] Acts 13:2, 4; 20:28. Therefore also God does not recognize as true preachers those who have not been sent by Him, even if they have been appointed by kings. Jer 23:21; 27:14–15.

13  But how and in what way does God call and send preachers to his congregation?

There is no legitimate, ordinary, or Godly call to the preaching office except from God, and it is twofold: either without means or through legitimate means.

14  What is a call without means, and how does it take place?

When someone is called and sent to the preaching office neither by men nor through men as through regular means, but without means, by God Himself, and through God Himself, as God in this way called the patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, without any intervening human means. And they who have thus been called have the testimony of the Spirit and of miracles that they do not err in doctrine. And other preachers take their doctrine from them, and they must prove it thereby. And besides, the ministry of those who have been called without means is not bound and anchored to a certain church at only one place, but they have the command to preach to all people everywhere.

15  Is one, therefore, immediately to believe all fanatics when they claim that God has appeared to them, that the Lord has spoken to them, that the Father has given them this commission, and that they are thus stirred up and moved by the Spirit?

By no means. For God has forbidden this with an express warning. Jer 14:14. But God endows those whom He calls without means either with the gift of miracles or with other testimonies of the Spirit with which to prove and confirm their call. Thus Moses established his call before Pharaoh with the gift of miracles, Ex 4:1 ff. Therefore Paul also calls signs, wonders, and mighty deeds proofs of the apostolate, 2 Co 12:12. Christ speaks of these, Jn 5:36; Mt 10:8. But one should not believe false doctrine that leads away from God and conflicts with the Word, even if miracles follow it. Dt 12:1 ff; Mt 7:22–23; 24:23–24; 2 Th 2:9.

16  Should one also in these times expect from God a call to preach like that without means?

We neither want nor ought to prescribe anything to the free will of God and His infinite power. But since in the New Testament we neither have any promise that after the apostles God wants to send laborers into His harvest through an immediate [i.e., without means] call, nor is there a command that we should wait until ministers are appointed by an immediate call, we therefore observe, and should observe, the form that the apostles have prescribed for us by the Holy Spirit, namely that, and how, God will establish the ministerium through regular means.

17  What, then, is a mediate call?

When a preacher or church minister is called and appointed to the office, indeed by God and divinely, but not without means, as the prophets and apostles [were], but through regular means, in a legitimate way. For a mediate call is as much from God as an immediate one, but they differ in the manner of the call. For God called the prophets and apostles immediately, through Himself. But God called and sent Titus, Timothy, Sosthenes, Silvanus, and others likewise, but not immediately, rather through means instituted and ordained by Himself for this purpose.

18  Is a mediate call based on the Word of God?

It certainly is. For the apostles ordained elders or preachers in churches, Acts 14:23. Thus the ministry of the church was entrusted to Timothy by the laying on of hands of the presbytery, 1 Ti 4:14. But lest this call appear to rest only on examples, without divine command, Paul commands Timothy and Titus to appoint ministers in every city and at the same time prescribes a form for them, how they should do that. Tts 1:5; 2 Ti 2:2; 1 Ti 3:2 ff.

19  Show with statements and examples of Scripture that they who are legitimately called through regular means are called and sent by God Himself

Timothy, bishop of the church at Ephesus, was not called immediately, but through Paul and the presbytery, 1 Ti 4:14; 2 Ti 1:6. And he had a mandate similarly also to appoint other ministers of the church. 2 Ti 2:2. And yet Paul says to the elders of the church at Ephesus, Acts 20:28: “The Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to rule the church of God.” And in the 2nd Epistle to the Corinthians [5:19–20], which Timothy also signed, Paul says in his own name and that of Timothy: “God has given us the ministry of reconciliation and has entrusted to us the Word of reconciliation. We therefore stand as ambassadors in the name of Christ, God exhorting through us.” Paul likewise declares that God gives and places in the church not only apostles, who are called immediately, but also teachers and pastors, who are called mediately. Eph. 4:11; 1 Co 12:28.

20  May he, then, who has been properly chosen for the ministry by a mediate call, refer and apply also to himself, each according to his own measure, equally as well as also the prophets and apostles, the promises of grace, help, power, and divine efficacy in the ministry?

The prophets and apostles, who were sent by an immediate call, indeed have many and great prerogatives, in accordance with a larger measure of divine gifts. But the promises of grace, help, power, and divine efficacy in the ministry also apply nonetheless, according to each one’s measure, to those who have been mediately called in a legitimate way. Paul declares this regarding Timothy. 2 Ti 1:6. And lest anyone think that this applies only to those who have indeed been called mediately, but by the apostles themselves, he says, 1 Ti 4:14: “Do not neglect the grace which has been given you by prophecy, with the laying on of hands of the presbytery.” And 1 Ti 4:16 he writes regarding the efficacy of the ministry itself. And when the Corinthians measure the efficacy of the ministry in their church on the basis of the persons, called either immediately or mediately, likewise on the basis of diversity of gifts in ministers, Paul cries out, 1 Co 3:5 ff.: “Who is Apollos? etc.” and for this reason Paul, who otherwise strongly emphasizes his apostolic call, nevertheless in the subscription of several epistles modestly adds also others mediately called. Thus Timothy signed 2 Co together with Paul, likewise ph and Cl; Sosthenes signed 1 Co; Paul, Timothy, and Silvanus together signed 1 and 2 Th.

21  What, then, are the regular means that God wants to use for a mediate call of the preacher?

For a mediate call God ordinarily does not use angels, but His church or congregation, which is a royal priesthood. 1 Ptr 2:9. For to it as to His spouse has Christ entrusted the keys of the kingdom. Mt 18:18. Likewise He entrusted the Word and the Sacraments. Ro 3:2; 9:4. And briefly, all things are of the church, both the ministry and the ministers. Eph 4:12;1 Co 3:21–22.

22  Does the Roman pontiff do right in that he excludes Christian rulers and the Christian laity from the call of  ministers of the church?

It is clearly and surely evident from both the commands and the examples of Scripture, that when the ministry is to be entrusted to someone through a mediate call, those who are already in the preaching office and profess sound doctrine are to be used. Tts 1:5; 1 Ti 4:14; 2 Ti 2:2; Acts 14:23. But since preachers are not the whole church, but only part of it (Eph 4:11–12), and they are not lords of the church, but ministers and overseers (2 Co 1:24; 4:5; Eze 33:7), therefore they neither can nor should seize to themselves alone the mediate call, with the other members of the church excluded; for not even the apostles did this, but drew the rest of the church in with themselves. Acts 1:15–16; 6:2–3; 14:23. And with the name elders are meant not only preachers, but included in the presbytery are also those who were appointed, as Tertullian and Ambrose testify.

23  But with what right does political authority take for itself the power to call and appoint ministers of the church?

The preaching office belongs to the kingdom of Christ. And since Christ wants His kingdom and the kingdom of the world with its functions to be separate, therefore the appointment of the ministry does not properly belong to the political rights of a magistrate like the rest of the things that are called regalia. But since a political magistrate, if he is a Christian and pious, is a member of the church (Ps 47:9; 102:23) and thus has a mandate  to practice piety himself (Ps 2:10–11) but with his office also to be a nursing father of the church (Is 49:23), and in order that the gates of the world lift up their heads, that the King of glory might enter through them (Ps 24:7), this is therefore the concern also of a pious magistrate, that the ministries of the church be rightly ordered and administered.

24  Is a Christian magistrate, therefore, permitted to call and appoint ministers in the church without the will and consent of the preachers and the rest of the church?

As the Roman pontiff, with them who are his, has committed a great sacrilege in this, that he has taken the call of ministers away from the Church and transferred [it] to himself alone, so a political magistrate also becomes guilty of the same offense when he takes for himself alone the power to appoint the ministries in the church, with the ministry and the rest of the church excluded. For a pious magistrate is not the whole church, but only part of it. Ps 47:9. Nor is he the lord of the church, but nursing father (Is 49:23), in fact, its servant (Is 60:10).

25  But do Anabaptists do right, who entrust the whole right of calling to the common multitude, with the preachers and pious magistrate excluded?

By no means. For the church in each place is called, and is, the whole body embracing under Christ, the Head, all the members of that place. Eph 4:15–16; 1 Co 12:12–14, 27. Therefore as the call belongs not only to the ministry nor only to the magistrate, so also is it not to he made subject to the mere will [and] whim of the common multitude, for no part, with either one or both [of the others] excluded, is the church. But the call should be and remain in the power of the whole church, but with due order observed.

26  Ought then the whole multitude (especially where it is very large) indiscriminately and without order handle the matter of election and call?

God is not a God of confusion; He rather wants all things to be done and administered decently and in order in the church. 1 Co 14:40. Therefore to avoid confusion, at the time of the apostles and also after their time in the ancient and pure church, the matter of the election and call of ministers of the Church was always handled according to a certain order by the chief members of the church in the name and with the consent of the whole church. Thus the apostles first set forth a directive as to what kind of persons are to be chosen for the ministries of the church. Acts 1:15 ff.; 6:2 ff. Then the church, according to that rule of the directive, chose and set forth some. But since the call belongs not only to the multitude or common people in the church, therefore they submitted those who were chosen and nominated to the judgment of the apostles, whether they he fit for that ministry according to the rule of the divine Word. And so the election and call of the multitude was confirmed by the approval of the apostles.

And thus finally the calling into the office is committed to those nominated, elected, and called, with the solemn prayer and public testimony, namely laying on of hands. Acts 6:5–6. But since the multitude of the church is not always such that it can search out and propose for election those that are fit, the apostles themselves often nominated suitable persons and proposed them to the churches. Tts 1:5; 1 Ti 1:3, 2 Ti 2:2.

Thus Paul sent Titus, Timothy, [and] Silvanus to churches. But the apostles did not thrust those persons on the churches without either invitation or consent, but nominated or presented them to the churches, which then approved and confirmed that nomination or election with their own free election, as Luke describes this custom with the word cheirotonia, Acts 14:23.

Finally, after the church had grown into a large multitude, a presbytery was arranged and set up already at the very time of the apostles to handle this matter. 1 Ti 4:14. In this [presbytery], according to the accounts of Tertullian and Ambrose, some were chosen and appointed, from all the orders or members of the church, to take care of and administer these and similar church matters in the name and with the consent of the whole church.

And thus the call remained that of the whole complete church, yet with proper and decent order observed. The church immediately following diligently followed these apostolic footsteps. And since the government also began to embrace the doctrine of the Gospel, the whole matter of the call of ministers was ordinarily best distributed among the three chief orders of the church, namely clergy, the pious ruler, and the faithful people. Many notable old canons are quoted regarding this rite, Dist. 23, 24, 62, 65, and 67. And the old church histories testify that at times the bishops and clergy proposed persons to be called, at times a pious ruler nominated [them], at times the people requested [them], but they then presented those proposed, nominated, and requested persons to the other orders or members of the church, that the election might be approved and confirmed by their judgment and consent, Cyprian, Book 1, Ep. 4; Augustine, Ep. 100. From this there still remain the words nomination, request, presentation, consensus, confirmation, and conferring; from these words, rightly considered, it can be understood how and with what order the call of preachers both was once regulated and ought to be properly administered in our time.

27  But whence does the right of patronage originate, and how far does it extend?

That right has its origin in this, that some pious people gave certain returns and assessments of their goods to parishes, and they reserved for themselves this right, that with their consent the profit of those returns be given to suitable persons. But that right did not extend so far that it was left free to the patron to put at the head of the ministries of the parishes whomever they wished, without the judgment and consent of the church of that place. But because the parochial returns flow from the patrons, it [the church] therefore either presents and sets before the patron of the church some suitable person and requests that the profit of those returns be conferred on him, or the patron himself nominates and presents to the church some person equipped with necessary gifts, but always with both the judgment of the ministry and the consent of the rest of the church preserved and free. And in this way the call remains nonetheless that of the church, and that old canon is observed: Let no one be given to the unwilling.

28  Does the church have free power to call whomever it wishes?

The Lord of the harvest has prescribed a certain form and rule through His apostles, which is, as it were, a kind of heavenly instruction as to what kind of people they should be, both in doctrine as well as in conduct, or life, who are to be called for this office. 1 Ti 3:2 ff; Tts 1:6 ff. And the church should recognize in the fear of God that this norm or instruction is to be followed if it wants a call both to be called [divine] and to be divine.

29  If a legitimate call consists in the things that have been said so far, what, then, does the public rite of ordination confer?

This rite is to be observed for very weighty reasons.

The first reason is that, because of those who run and have not been sent, a call ought to have the public testimony of the church. But that ceremony or rite of ordination is nothing else than the kind of public testimony by which the call of that person who is ordained is declared before God and in His name to be regular, pious, legitimate, and divine.

Second: By that rite, as by a public declaration, the office is committed by God and the church to him who has been called.

Third: By this very ordination also, as by a solemn vow, he who has been called becomes obligated to the church in the sight of God to render the faithfulness in the ministry that the Lord requires in His stewards, regarding which He will also judge them. 1 Co 4:2.

Fourth: The church is reminded that it is to recognize that this pastor has divine authority, and to hear him in the place of God.

Fifth, and this is most important: That ordination is to be observed for this reason, that the whole church might, by common and earnest prayers, commit to God the ministry of him who is called, that He, by His Holy Spirit, divine grace, and blessing, might be with his ministry.

30  Whence is the rite of laying on of hands taken, and what does it mean?

The rite of laying on of hands was common in the Old Testament when something was to be put solemnly in the sight of God, as it were, and committed to Him in a special way. Gn 48:14, 20; Lv 1:2, 4; Mk 10:16. And since public functions were at times entrusted to certain persons by laying on of hands (Nm 27:18–20; Dt 3:28; 34:9), therefore the apostles, in the ordination of ministers, out of Christian liberty retained and used that common rite. Acts 6:5–6; 13:3; 1 Ti 4:14; 5:22; 2 Ti 1:6. And thus also the ancient church observed the act of ordination without anointing and without other superstitions, simply with laying on of hands (Dist. 23 of the Council of Carthage). Therefore we also in our churches observe the same rite. For through laying on of hands the person called is set before God, as it were, so that there might be a public and outward testimony that the call is not only a human matter, but that God Himself calls, sends, and appoints that person for the preaching office, though by regular and legitimate means. Moreover, by this solemn act he that is to be ordained is obligated and, as it were, consecrated to Christ for the preaching office. Besides, by that rite, as in the sight of God, the church is entrusted to the minister and, on the other hand, the preacher to the church, through whose ministry, namely, God wants to teach, exhort, administer the Sacraments, and work effectively in us. The laying on of hands in ordination is observed chiefly because of the common prayers of the church, that they may be made with greater diligence and warmer desire. For it is, as it were, a public reminder of the difficulty of the ministry, which cannot be made able except by God. 2 Co 3:5–6. Therefore that minister is presented to the Lord of the harvest through laying on of hands, and the church, reminded of the institution of the ministry and of the divine promises attached to it, reminds God of His promises and asks that by their power He would graciously be with the present preacher with His Spirit, grace, blessing, efficacy, working, governance, and direction. And Paul and Moses testify that these prayers of the church are not in vain. 1 Ti 4:14; 2 Ti 1:6; Dt 34:9. And thus the act of ordination publicly shows forth the whole doctrine of the call of preachers and sets it, as it were, before [one’s] eyes.

31  But what if some preacher is to be dismissed or removed from office?

Just as God properly claims for Himself the right to call the preacher, also mediately, and it is accordingly necessary for it to be done according to divine instruction, so also has God properly reserved to Himself alone this power of removing a preacher from the ministry. 1 Sm 2:30, 32; Hos 4:6.

But since that dismissal takes place mediately, it is therefore necessary that it not take place except by instruction and divine direction. Therefore as long as God lets in the ministry His minister who teaches rightly and lives blamelessly, the church does not have the power, without divine command to remove an unwanted man, namely [if he is] a servant of God. But when he does not build up the church by either doctrine or life, but rather destroys [it], God Himself removes him, 1 Sm 2:30; Hos 4:6. And then the church not only properly can but by all means should remove such a one from the ministry. For just as God calls preachers, so He also removes them through legitimate means. But as the procedure of a call is to follow the instruction of the Lord of the harvest, so also if a preacher is to be removed, the church must show that that also is done by the command and will of the Lord. And just as the call, so also the removal or deposition belongs not only to some one order of the church, with that order preserved of which we spoke a little while ago. Thus also the ancient church handled cases of deposition in the councils with diligent inquiry and careful judgment (ch. 15, q. 7); on this basis one can also answer the other question about moving a minister from one church to another, about which there are helpful canons (ch. 7, q. 1).

The office of a preacher

32  Should one who has been legitimately called be concerned only about parish returns?

Christ declares that laborers have wages coming. Mt 10:10; Lk 10:7. And Paul says, 1 Co 9:14: “God has so ordained, that they who preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel.” But this should not be the chief concern in the ministry. Eze 34:2–3. Therefore Scripture calls pastors ministers, stewards, and laborers of God. 1 Co 3:5; 4:1; Mt 10:10; 2 Ti 2:15. But [Scripture calls] their ministry service, labor, and work. 1 Ti 5:17; 3:1.

33  What, then, is the office or ministry of the preacher?

Sirach says, 38:25–26: “The wisdom of a scribe (namely for the kingdom of heaven) requires opportunity for leisure; and it is necessary for him to be free of other matters, who wants either to obtain that wisdom for himself or impart it to others. For how can he deal with wisdom, who must hold the plow and drive oxen, etc.?” The office of a minister of the church therefore is, that he diligently study the holy Scriptures and give himself to reading them (1 Ti 4:13), moreover, that he labor in the Word and doctrine (1 Ti 5:17), that he feed the flock of Christ and the congregation of God (1 Ptr 5:2; Acts 20:28); that is, he is to serve the church with God's Word and Sacraments. As Origen aptly writes on Lv 8: “These two are works of a priest: First, that he learn of God, by reading the Holy Scriptures and frequent meditation, and that he teach the people, but that he teach the things that he himself has learned from God. There is also another work, which Moses does: he does not go to war, but prays for the people, etc.”

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