Anoint them Prophets, Priests, Kings, Apostles — those who are called, ordained, and sent by the Lord to preach His Word and administer His Gifts are all of those things, though not as the world imagines. But they describe themselves as slaves of Christ Jesus and as servants of His Church.
Who then is a faithful and sensible slave? St. Timothy was, whom we remember with thanksgiving on this night. He was not perfect, nor did he always succeed in his efforts. But he was a faithful pastor and confessor of Christ Jesus, by whom the same Lord Jesus Christ cared for His Church.
It is not only Pastors, however, who are slaves of Christ Jesus. St. Paul writes that you have been set free from slavery to sin and death, in order to live unto righteousness as a slave of Christ.
You can picture what that means by way of analogy. So, for example, if you are a father or mother, and if you entrust the care of your children to someone else while you are away, you have certain expectations as to how that person will manage that responsibility. You certainly don’t want him or her to beat your children, to make new rules for them, to neglect them or mistreat them. You rather expect that babysitter to care for your children wisely and according to your instructions.
Similarly, if you’re going to be away from your home for an extended period of time, you might arrange for other people to live there while you’re gone, so it doesn’t sit empty. And in such a case, you want those folks to make themselves at home, to eat and drink, to sleep and wash, and to go about their normal activities within your house. But you don’t want to come home from your time away and find that your house has been dismantled or remodeled without your permission.
Well, in much the same way, the Lord has entrusted you with a stewardship of His good Creation and with the care of His children And the way you think about that makes a world of difference.
If you suppose that the things in your possession and the people in your life are “yours” to do with as you like, then you will not care for those people, use those things, or exercise your stewardship as a faithful and sensible slave or servant of your Lord Jesus Christ and your Father in heaven.
But if you recognize that your father and mother, your husband or wife, your children, and your other neighbors in the world, are human beings like yourself, created by God for life with Him, to live with Him in His Kingdom as His own dear children, as members of the Body and Bride of Christ Jesus — and if you recognize that the heavens and the earth and everything in them belong to the Lord by right — then you will conduct yourself in the fear of the Lord, in faith and love.
So, how often do you deal with your neighbors and use the Lord’s Creation as though you were their lord and master, and as though you were simply free to do or not do whatever you feel like?
To live and act in that way is to live and act as a servant and slave of the devil, as though the Lord Jesus Christ had not redeemed you and set you free from the bondage of Satan, sin, and death, in which you were conceived and born. For that is the slavery to which you return when you pursue sin and your own selfish ambitions instead of living unto righteousness by faith in Christ Jesus.
And that is to follow the devil’s own wicked example of unrighteousness. The Lord God created him as a holy angel to be a servant of His Creation, a servant of Man. And that is how St. Michael and the holy angels serve; they are not ashamed to attend us, to guard us and keep us, to the glory of the Holy Triune God. But Satan was prideful and jealous, envious and arrogant; he did not like the way that God had ordered things; he did not think it was wise or right; and he did not want to serve Man, who was formed out of the dirt. So he rebelled and set out to make himself the master of this world. Instead of serving God’s good Creation, the devil seeks to pervert it or destroy it.
But the devil is not free, for he is not the Creator, and he is not able to thwart the Lord’s purposes. And neither are you free when you succumb to the devil’s temptations and submit to his tyranny. On the contrary, you thereby place yourself under bondage to sin and death, and you have the devil breathing down your neck, driving you on with his whips and chains and threats of punishment. And so long as you remain in your sins, you are a slave of sin, destined for death and damnation, and tormented by the assaults and accusations of that cruel jailer who has you locked up in fear.
But now the Son of Man has come like a thief in the night, in order to plunder the devil’s house of bondage and fear. He has come at an hour, by ways and means, which Satan did not anticipate and could not perceive. He has dug His way into the devil’s stronghold and robbed him blind. And what does this mean, but that the Lord Jesus Christ has entered into the fray, in order to bring you out of captivity into the freedom of faith in His forgiveness of sins.
You, then, be ready and waiting. Be on the alert and watching. For this Thief in the night is your Rescue and Release, your Ransom and Redemption. But He does come at night, that is to say, in the midst of deep darkness, when you neither see nor feel any hope at all. He comes at an hour, by ways and means, which you did not anticipate and could not perceive by any wisdom, reason, or strength of your own. He comes by the Cross; and by the Fruits of His Cross He now saves you.
This dear Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, comes to you in divine and holy Love. He comes not to threaten or punish, not to drive you with a whip, nor to accuse you of how badly you have done and how much you have failed to do. He comes to feed you and take care of you.
Jesus is the wise and faithful Slave, the Servant of His God and Father. And He has been entrusted with the care of the entire Household of God, the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him, the stewardship of all things, to the glory of God the Father. Indeed, He uses His authority to bless and benefit His people, to forgive their sins, to raise them from death to life, to bind their wounds and heal their diseases. He gives them His Meat and Drink at the proper time. He does all of this for you and for His whole Church.
And here is how He does it: He calls and sends men — like St. Timothy — to be the shepherds of His flock, to be the pastors of His Church on earth; to confess His Name, and to preach repentance and forgiveness of sins in His Name. Such men are servants entrusted with the stewardship of His possessions, with the authority to administer His Gospel for the salvation of sinners, and so also for the continued care and feeding of His Household and Family.
It is required of such a servant of the Lord that he be found faithful, that he do what his Lord has given him to do, and that he do so in the way and with the means that his Lord has given.
As you are a servant of the Lord to care for His people within your stewardship, so was Timothy a servant of the Lord; and your pastors are likewise servants of the Lord to care for you. That’s the Lord’s “economy.” That’s how He orders all things in heaven and on earth, all for the sake of His Church, for the life and well-being of His Holy Bride, for the benefit of His dear children.
In much the same way that He gives parents to care for you, especially when you are very small — He gives mothers to feed their babies, and He gives fathers to work and provide for their families — so does He give pastors to care for this household and family of His Church, to feed you and clothe you; to work for you, that you may rest in Him; and to give you His good Gifts.
Along the same lines, St. Paul writes elsewhere to St. Timothy that, if a man aspires to be a bishop — a pastor of the Lord’s Church — he must be a man who cares for his own family and orders his own household wisely and well; because the Church is the Lord’s own Household and Family, with fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus.
So, as Jesus has given you parents, He has given you pastors to feed you with the forgiveness of sins in His Name and with the light and the wisdom of His Word, both His Law and His Gospel, whereby He calls you daily to repentance and faith in His Name. To feed you with the very Body and Blood of Christ Jesus, not by any sort of “magic” power, but by the power of His Word.
Pastors do not come with their own stuff to give you. Pastors do not speak their own wisdom, but that Wisdom which is given to them by the Holy Spirit through the Word of Christ Jesus. Pastors forgive your sins in His Name and stead, with His authority, by virtue of the Office to which He has called and ordained them. And so do pastors give you Jesus Himself, His Body and His Blood. He is your Meat and Drink indeed, which you eat and drink as a child at your Father’s Table.
And in much the same way, that is how you are to feed your neighbors. As you are cared for, so are you to care for those whom God has placed into your keeping for a time. And blessed are you who do so; for you will surely lack no good thing. Indeed, all things are yours in Christ Jesus.
Serve, then, with a glad heart, a happy heart, a peaceful heart, wherever the Lord has put you. And do not worry about how big or small your task may be. If the house that He has given you to care for is a very small house, then take care of it well. And if it is a very large house, do the same. Wherever the Lord has stationed you, that is where you are to live and to serve to the glory of His Holy Name and for the good of your neighbors. That is your post. And that is where and how you are to be on the alert and ready, watching and waiting for the coming of your Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, you may look around and see that other servants of Christ Jesus have been given seemingly more impressive tasks or greater responsibilities. And to be sure, some of His servants are given more to do in this body and life; and others are given less. But there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, and it is for the sake of all His people that He does whatever He does and gives whatever He gives.
Do not fret if you are not given as much responsibility as others may have, or as much as you would like to have, but do faithfully whatever the Lord has given you to do. And when you have served faithfully, He may put more into your hands. In any case, you live by faith in Him.
And all the while, in the same way that you are a servant of Christ and you are given to serve a portion of His Household, you are also His own dear child within His Family. And so He provides other servants to care for you and to feed you at the proper time with His Word and all His Gifts.
Over and above us all, the Lord Jesus Himself is the faithful and sensible Slave who cares for you, deals with you, and provides for you with grace and wisdom. Though He is your Lord and Master, consider what He does. He enters this House, and He bids you to recline at His Table. And here He girds Himself to wash your dirty feet and attend to all your needs. He is both the Cook and the Waiter, your Host, and the Meal! He comes to help you, to serve you, and to save you for Life.
He knows you and loves you well, and He is always ready, willing, and able to help you at all times and in all places. When He disciplines you, it is in perfect love, with tender mercy, and for your good. And then, at the proper time, He feeds you with His free and full forgiveness of your sins. And in the Day of Salvation He lays Himself and His Life into your hands and upon your heart.
Behold, now is the proper time, now is the Day of Salvation. Lift up your head in peace and hope, and lift up your heart in faith and in love. Thus are you alert and ready for the Lord who comes to you in steadfast loving-kindness. Even now He is at hand, and your Redemption has drawn near in His Word and with His own Flesh and Blood. As He gives Himself to you here, as He presses Himself into your hand, so does He hold on to you, and no one shall snatch you out of His hand. For you are His own, and He is yours, forever and forevermore.
In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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