■^^nmm 
 
 g 
 
 w^mimmjfm'mm 
 
 ^iJttauim^;iiiii^^siSiimUisi^it^,mtt^iimi^mmMimiftmtmim 
 
Works of Prof. G. H. Gerberding, D.D. 
 
 THE WAY OF SALVATION IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH 
 
 (Thirtieth Thousand) 
 
 The most popular English Lutheran Book. Has been translated into 
 German, Swedish, Norwegian, and in part into Tamil, Telugu, and 
 Japanese. Has converted scores of outsiders to the Lutheran Faith. 
 The best seller. In its 30th looo in English. 267 pages. 
 Price, $1.00 
 
 NEW TESTAMENT CONVERSIONS 
 
 (Seventh Edition) 
 Plain. Practical. Popular sermons, pervaded by a spirit of deep piety. 
 Meets and answers "Salvation by Character" and emotional revivalism 
 by an earnest appeal to apostolic teaching and practice. In its seventh 
 edition. 
 
 Price, $1.00 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF W. A. PASSAVANT, D. D. 
 
 (Second Edition) 
 
 The life story, largely autobiographical, of the most remarkable man in 
 the American Lutheran Church. It is, indeed, doubtful whether any 
 other church has produced his like. This life story is a revelation and an 
 inspiration. Every Lutheran who loves his Church and would learn to 
 understand her better and love her more ought to read it. 
 
 Over 600 pages. Price, $2.00 
 
 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR 
 
 (Fifth Edition) 
 
 A Text-book on Pastoral Theology. The only English work on the 
 subject on the market. 
 
 Highly commended by Tlie Lutheran, The Lutheran World, Ob- 
 server, The Lutheran Standard, The Lutheran JVitness, Dr. Stellhorn 
 in Theologische Zeitblaetter, President Richter in Iowa Kirchen-Blatt, 
 Prof. Geo. H. Schodde and ministers from every part of our Lutheran 
 Church. 
 
 462 pages. Price, $2.00 net 
 
 THE LUTHERAN CATECHIST 
 
 (Third Edition) 
 A Companion Book to "The Lutheran Pastor" 
 
 The Publisher's Announcement says : "A book for the pastor, whose 
 difficulties, cares, needs and joys Dr. Gerberding so well understands. 
 It will do good to every student of theologj' and be a great blessing to 
 the mature minister. By its perusal the usefulness of many catechists 
 may be doubled." 
 
 Few new books have been received with such general favor. 
 
 Over 300 pages. Price, $1.50 net 
 
 BX 8071 .G43 1902 
 Gerberding, G. H. 1847-192 
 The Lutheran pastor 
 
THE 
 
 LUTHERAN PASTOR 
 
 ^ G. H. GERBERDING, D. D., 
 
 PROFESSOR OF PRACTICAL THEOLOGY IN THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY OF THE EVAN- 
 GELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, CHICAGO, ILL., 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 "The Way of Salvation in -vtit Lutheran Church," "New Testament 
 Conversions," Etc. 
 
 FIFTH edition. 
 
 PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, PA.: 
 
 LUTHERAN PUBLICATION SOCIETY. 
 
[COPTRIOHT, 1902. BH G. H. GBaBERDmo.] 
 
 DEDICATION. 
 
 TO A HOLY MINISTRY, ORTHODOX AS CHEMNITZ, CALOVIUS, 
 
 GERHARD. AND KRAUTH ; SPIRITUAL AND CONSECRATED AS 
 
 ARNDT, SPENER, AND ZINZENDORF ; ACTIVE IN THE 
 
 MASTER'S SERVICE AS FRANCKE, MUHLEN- 
 
 BERG, OBERLIN, AND PASSAVANT, THIS 
 
 BOOK IS HOPEFULLY 
 
 DEDICATED. 
 
PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. 
 
 A SECOND edition of this work has been called 
 for more speedily than we expected. For this we 
 are grateful. It shows that there was a need for 
 such a work, and that this need has been met. 
 
 The book has been received with far greater favor, 
 in all parts of our Church, than we had dared to 
 hope. While there have been differences of opinion 
 on certain points — which was to be expected — there 
 have been no serious criticisms. 
 
 This new edition is not a revision, but a reprint. 
 In only two places has the text been corrected. On 
 page 7 of the Introduction we have added a foot- 
 note, because the blunt statement of the text was 
 liable to be misunderstood. On page 78 we had 
 unwittingly and wrongly placed the German Iowa 
 Synod among the adherents to the Transference 
 Theory of the Call. This has been corrected. 
 
 The Alphabetical Index has been thoroughly re- 
 vised and made about one-third larger. Every 
 proper name and every work consulted are now in- 
 dexed, and thus a full bibliography of books and 
 authors cited can be gleaned from the Index. 
 
 (3) 
 
O INTRODUCTION. 
 
 to that pastoral Kliigheit., that sanctified common 
 sense, that will enable him to solve particular diffi- 
 culties on the basis of right principles. 
 
 The object of a pastoral theology is to enable 
 men to be true pastors. They cannot learn it all 
 from books. Neither can they afford to ignore the 
 help of good books. Let them master the basic 
 principles, learn from the experience of others, and 
 then, especially, from their own experience, how to 
 apply them. Right conduct and action should 
 always grow from right principles. 
 
 Now, the fundamental principles of Lutheran 
 faith and theology are different from those of the 
 Reformed churches. There is a difference in 
 on Reformed doctrine. Because of this there must of necessity 
 be a difference in spirit, which will manifest itself 
 in a difference in life. While the Reformed Chris- 
 tian, like the Lutheran Christian, believes in the 
 necessity and efficacy of divine grace for salvation, 
 the latter has views and convictions different from 
 the former as to the means and methods through 
 which that grace works. This must necessarily 
 affect his whole administration of these means. The 
 Lutheran pastor looks upon his people from a stand- 
 point that differs from that of his Reformed neighbor. 
 To the former all the baptized children are in the 
 kingdom, subjects of divine grace, sons and daugh- 
 ters of God. It is his office, not to convert them, 
 
 works? 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 but to have them fostered and fed, as the lambs of 
 Christ's flock. He instructs, catechises, and con- 
 firms these children of God. They are his Beicht- 
 kinder. And when, unhappily, some do go astray, 
 he has something to appeal to and to bnild on in 
 seeking to bring them back home again. All this, 
 and other points of difference that might be men- 
 tioned, put an entirely different aspect on the whole 
 work of the Lutheran pastor from the work of his 
 Reformed neighbor. The Lutheran pastor, there- 
 fore, cannot be either a unionist or a revivalist. 
 His principles forbid it. * 
 
 fWhile this book is written for the Lutheran 
 pastor, it is especially for the American Lutheran. 
 Conditions and circumstances here are so different 
 from those in Europe that our work must be essen- 
 tially different also. ' We are a free Church in a 
 free State. We are surrounded by churches, 
 denominations, sects, cults, and heresies without 
 number, all as free and as favored by the State as 
 ourselves. We cannot, therefore, get all our pas- 
 toral theology from our fellow-Lutherans across the 
 seas. While the Germans and Scandinavians have 
 
 Need of an 
 American 
 Lutheran 
 Pastoral 
 Theology. 
 
 * We do not believe in a union with those who, while profess- 
 ing union, repudiate our faith and proselytize our people. We 
 long, hope, and pray for the union for which Christ prayed and 
 Paul pleaded. 
 
 We repudiate false revivals, but pray and labor for true 
 revivals. (See Way of Salvation in the Lutheran Church, 
 Chapters XXIII.-XXVIII. ) 
 
8 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 produced a rich and rare literature on every possible 
 phase of pastoral work, and while we can and should 
 diligently avail ourselves of these rich treasures, we 
 cannot learn from them how to do successful church 
 work at home. 
 
 During a service of over twenty years in the 
 active ministry, in widely varied localities and 
 among widely different peoples, we have been con- 
 fronted with nearly every problem that the pastor 
 is likely to meet in his work. Again and again we 
 have been perplexed, and knew not whither to turn 
 wJ written, ^^r couusel. We have tried to write such a book as 
 would have helped us in our difficulties, and pre- 
 vented some of the mistakes we made. 
 
 During the eight years that we have been teach- 
 ing practical theology we have also keenly felt the 
 need of a book that covers the whole ground of 
 pastoral theology. The questions from the students, 
 which we always encourage, and the discussions in 
 the lecture room, have brought out many of the 
 hints, suggestions, and counsels contained in this 
 work. It embodies the answers to the most impor- 
 tant questions asked by our students. 
 
 We cannot expect that all that we have written 
 
 will please every reader or critic. In a science 
 
 Fo itie critic, where so much is left to individual judgment and 
 
 counsel, it is but natural that opinions will differ. 
 
 Wc belie-v^e that we have builded on the foundations 
 
INTRODUCTION. 9 
 
 of the Divine Word and the confessions of our 
 Church. Judgments may and will vary as to the 
 application of principles to particular cases. We 
 trust that those who will differ from us here and 
 there will bear this in mind. 
 
 The book is the result of years of experience and 
 study, and of four summers of actual preparation 
 and writing. We have, as will readily appear, Soaroes. 
 drawn from many sources, from the Early Church, 
 from German and English, Lutheran, Reformed and 
 even Roman Catholic writers, from the living and 
 from the dead. We are indebted to the Rev. William 
 T. Finck, of Anderson, Ind., for assistance in proof- 
 reading, and to the Rev. J. R. E. Hunt, of Engle- 
 wood, Chicago, for assistance in preparing the index. 
 
 The doctrinal chapters on the Call may appear 
 too controversial, tedious, and dry. We hope that 
 no one will judge the whole book by these early 
 chapters. Read the rest before you pass judgment 
 
 We send forth this labor of love with the hope 
 and prayer that it may help to give our dear Church 
 such a ministry as will, under God, make her, as 
 she ought to be, the leader of the hosts of the Lord 
 in our land ; and also that it may give our students 
 for the ministry such a conception of the holy office 
 and its holy service that they may enter upon it 
 with clear conceptions of its nature, its duties, its 
 responsibilities, and its glory. 
 
lO INTRODUCTION. 
 
 With such a ministry our Church will soon " go 
 forth as the morning, clear as the sun, fair as the 
 moon, and terrible as an army with banners." 
 
 COTTAGB RSST, 
 
 Grand junction, Mich., August, 1902. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 THE pastor's office AND CALL. 
 
 PAQB 
 
 Chapter I. — The Pastor's Ofl&ce 17 
 
 Chapter II. — The Pastor's Call — The Inner or Pre- 
 paratory Call 38 
 
 Chapter III.— The External or Official Call ... 69 
 CHAPTER IV. — Ordination — And the Call from One Field 
 
 of Labor to Another . . . 107 
 
 PART II. 
 
 THE PASTOR AS A MAN. 
 
 Chapter V. — In His Personal Character and in Society . 135 
 
 Chapter VI. — In His Study 161 
 
 Chapter VII.— In His Closet 184 
 
 PART III. 
 
 THE pastor's general WORK GENERAL 
 
 SEELSORGE. 
 
 Chapter VIII. — Taking the Oversight — As Head of His 
 
 Congregation or Parish . . . .217 
 
 Chapter IX. — Guarding the Good Name and the Altar of 
 
 His Church — Church Discipline . 255 
 
 (13) 
 
14 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 PART IV. 
 
 THE PASTOR IN THE SANCTUARY. 
 
 PAOB 
 
 Chapter X. — In the Pulpit — Preaching the Word . . 273 
 Chapter XI. — At the Altar — Leading the Worship of 
 
 the Congregation .... 288 
 
 Chapter XII. — Baptizing 296 
 
 Chapter XIII. — Catechising and Confirming . . 304 
 Chapter XIV. — Conducting the Service Preparatory to 
 
 the Holy Communion .... 329 
 
 Chapter XV. — Administering the Holy Communion . 337 
 
 Chapter XVI. — Performing the Marriage Ceremony . 348 
 Chapter XVII. — Ministering to the Bereaved — Burying 
 
 the Dead 355 
 
 PART V. 
 
 THE pastor's private WORK — SPECIAL OR 
 PRIVATE SEELSORGE. 
 
 Chapter XVIII. — Significance — Principles and Import- 
 ance of Private Seelsorge . , 371 
 Chapter XIX.— The Pastor Visiting .... 386 
 Chapter XX. — Visiting Special Classes .... 402 
 Chapter XXL— Visiting the Sick .... 416 
 
 PART VI. 
 
 THE pastor's RELATION TO SYNOD AND CON- 
 FERENCE — HIS VACATION — CONCLUSION. 
 
 Chapter XXII. — The Pastor's Relation to Synod and 
 
 Conference ...... 437 
 
 Chapter XXIII. — ^Vacation — Conclusion — Reward . 446 
 
PART I. 
 
 THE PASTOR'S OFFICE AND CALL. 
 
THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE pastor's office. 
 
 If sin had not come into the world there would 
 have been no need of reconciliation between God 
 and man. Before the fall there was the most per- The first 
 
 breach. 
 
 feet harmony between the two. There was the 
 most intimate relation between heaven and earth. 
 The first chapters of our Bible give us a beautiful 
 picture of unrestrained, free, and filial relationship 
 between the Heavenly Father and His earthly 
 children. But with sin came the breach, the 
 estrangement, the alienation. Man had become 
 suspicious, distrustful, hostile, and impure. Had he 
 been left to himself in this state of alienation and 
 sin he would never have returned to fellowship 
 with God, but would have wandered ever further, 
 sunk ever deeper, until he would have become a 
 very demon and a part of the kingdom of darkness. 
 2 (17) 
 
i8 
 
 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 God moved to 
 remedy. 
 
 Prophets. 
 
 But God did not leave him to himself. When 
 man hid himself, God sought him, called hiin, 
 promised him redemption, and, at once, began that 
 great redeeming and reconciling work which was 
 finished in Christ when the fullness of the time had 
 come. Thus God first came to fallen man, through 
 His calling, enlightening, and saving Word. That 
 Word of Reconciliation was first brought to man by 
 God Himself. He Himself was the first shepherd 
 or pastor to go out after the lost sheep. So we find 
 Him dealing directly with Adam, Cain, Noah, and 
 others. Afterward, in the patriarchal age, we 
 meet with the various theophanies, or corporeal 
 manifestations of God, which foreshadowed the 
 incarnation of Christ. And so, all through the Old 
 Testament, and sometimes even in the New, we 
 find God dealing directly with man through the- 
 ophanies, visions, dreams, and immediate revela- 
 tions. In all this God is Himself carrying forward 
 the great work of reconciliation and renewal. 
 
 On the other hand, however, we find early indi- 
 cations that it was God's purpose to deal with man 
 through man. Thus we find traces of the prophetic 
 office even before the flood. A prophet (from 
 7rpo-(f)i]fii,) is one who speaks or interprets for 
 another. The prophet spoke for God, interpreted 
 for God to the people. He was God's mouthpiece, 
 preacher, ambassador. He was the Old Testament 
 
THE PASTOR'S OFFICE. 19 
 
 " minister of reconciliation," the forerunner of the 
 minister of the Gospel. Thus we find that Enoch, 
 the seventh from Adam, who walked with God, 
 "prophesied." And Noah was a "preacher of 
 righteousness." In the patriarchal age the church 
 was in the house. The father of the house was its 
 prophet and priest. He was to instruct and com- 
 mand his house, which often consisted of several 
 generations of families, after him. When the 
 family becomes the nation Moses receives a dis- 
 tinct commission and becomes a prophet to publish 
 God's Word, and be a shepherd unto God's people. 
 When the work becomes too heavy for him, seventy 
 elders are selected to assist him, and we read that 
 " the spirit rested upon the seventy elders, so that 
 they prophesied and did not cease." Afterward we 
 find Samuel and all the prophets; we find the 
 schools of the prophets, which seem to have been 
 gathering places of pious and gifted young men, 
 with noted teachers at their head, instructing them 
 in the religion and worship of Jehovah. They 
 were the Theological Seminaries of the Old Testa- Their training. 
 ment Church. In them were trained pastors for 
 God's people. And so we find the line of God's 
 ambassadors running down through the days of 
 Israel's apostasy to the captivity, into the captivity, 
 and after the captivity. 
 
 The priestly oflfice also had its pastoral side. Its 
 
20 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 ritual and sacrifice were for instruction, as well as 
 for atonement. Through object lessons the priest 
 at the altar taught the people concerning sin and 
 ^Ldlerr redemption. The priest's lips were to "keep 
 knowledge." They were also to " teach the chil- 
 dren of Israel all the statutes which the Lord had 
 spoken unto them by the hand of Moses." The 
 people were to "seek the law at his mouth." Those 
 were dark days when Israel was " without a teach- 
 ing priest and without law," when " the priest and 
 the prophet had erred," when the priests taught 
 "for hire." Both priests and prophets were there- 
 fore God's pastors and teachers. Both offices were 
 of divine appointment Both classes were called, 
 sent, and commissioned of God. The pastoral 
 office is not a creation or an invention of man. It 
 was not made by the church. In its essence it is 
 not something entirely new in the New Testament. 
 Its roots lie back in the Garden of Eden. It comes 
 from God. 
 
 From the beginning it existed for the sake of the 
 
 Word. Its one great function was to bring God's 
 
 The Hunistr)' -^/^ord to man, and thus to bring about reconcilia- 
 
 for the sake of ' ° 
 
 the Word, ^-jqjj between God and man. Through the same 
 Word the reconciliation was to grow into sanctifica- 
 tion, be manifested and furthered by it. In propor- 
 tion as the Old Testament ministry remained faithful 
 to the Word, it was efficient, powerful, and blessed. 
 
THE pastor's office. 21 
 
 In proportion as it neglected, perverted, or departed 
 from that Word was it weakened, disgraced, and 
 ruined. Let us not forget that even the Old Testa- 
 ment shows us the dignity and glory of our office. 
 It also shows us its solemn responsibility. It is full 
 of awful warnings for the faithless, the false, and 
 the worldly. 
 
 But the Old Testament was, after all, only pre- 
 paratory. The law occupied a prominent place. 
 The law could not give life. But the Old Testa- ^Smen?.'** 
 ment is not all law. The very first Revelation, 
 after the fall, contained a promise which had in it 
 the essence of the Gospel. Noah was a preacher of 
 righteousness. The covenant with Abraham was a 
 covenant of promise. It was a preparatory Gospel. 
 Moses, as a prophet, was a type of Christ, the 
 prophet whom God would raise up. The whole 
 ceremonial law was prophecy in picture, a shadow 
 of good things to come. The Old Testament saints 
 died in the faith. Their book of worship, the 
 Psalms, is the out-breathing of penitence and faith. 
 Their Scriptures had in them enough power and 
 life to be able to save the soul. The revelation that 
 God gave, that priests followed and taught, that 
 prophets preached, made wise unto salvation by 
 bringing sinners to repentance for sin and faith in 
 a Redeemer that was to come. Thus it was all 
 anticipatory and preparatory. The fulfillment came 
 
22 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 in Jesus Christ. In Him the prophetic and priestly 
 Jesus the first offices Were combined and perfected. In His 
 
 New _ _ ^ 
 
 Testament mediatorial office He was the shepherd, the good 
 
 pastor. 
 
 one, the perfect one. As the great shepherd and 
 bishop of souls, He is the first New Testament 
 pastor. In Him the office has its perfect personifi- 
 cation. He is its crown and its model. He applied 
 to Himself the prophecy : " The spirit of the Lord 
 is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach 
 the Gospel to the poor ; he hath sent me to heal 
 the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the 
 captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set 
 at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the 
 acceptable year of the Lord " (Luke iv. i8, 19). All 
 this He fulfilled mainly through His prophetic 
 office. He not only preached the Word, but He was 
 the Word, the Word made flesh. His spoken Word 
 was a constant, progressive, and ever deeper mani- 
 festation of His inner self. It revealed the content 
 of His personal spirit. His public ministry was a 
 and meaus of preparation for His specific, priestly work of atone- 
 ^^'^*^' ment. Those among whom He taught and minis- 
 tered were thus prepared for the understanding and 
 application of His priestly sacrifice. For the more 
 personal application and appropriation of the grace 
 thus purchased. He instituted the further means of 
 grace, the two sacraments. These are dependent 
 on, conditioned by, and effective through that same 
 
THE PASTOR'S OFFICE. 23 
 
 Word which had been the medium of God's com- 
 municated grace from the beginning, and which 
 was manifested in Christ. Thus Word and sacra- 
 ment become the channels through which the grace, 
 purchased by our great High-priest, is to be brought 
 into the hearts of men. Through this written, 
 spoken, and sacramental Word, He still carries on 
 His mediatorial work. He still preaches and works 
 through those who preach His Word. Through it 
 His priestly work still becomes effective in those 
 who allow the means of grace to work in them, and 
 are thus made to know, by blessed experience, the 
 power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His 
 suffering. Those who were baptized into Jesus 
 Christ were baptized into His death, buried with 
 Him by baptism into death : that, like as Christ was 
 raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, 
 even so they also should walk in newness of life 
 (Rom. vi. 3, 4). 
 
 In the Lord's Supper He giveth us His body to 
 eat and His blood to drink. We are made partakers sacramental 
 of that living and life-giving Christ. He who gave 
 Himself for us, here gives Himself to us. He 
 mediates to us His sacramental grace and life. We 
 appropriate, rest in, and live by His dying for our 
 sins and His rising again for our justification. We 
 become members of His body. The mystical union 
 is eliected. Christ is in us and we in Him. " We 
 
 Ills 
 
His reign. 
 
 24 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his 
 bones" (Eph. v. 30). And so, in a sense, the 
 priestly office of Christ is carried forward through the 
 means of grace in that through them He mediates 
 to believers the personal application of His pur- 
 chased grace, so that they are crucified with Christ, 
 rise in Him, live in Him, and are one with Him. For 
 them He is ever making priestly intercession, and 
 on them He is pronouncing priestly blessing. They 
 receive all through the means of grace. 
 
 As king He leads, governs, directs, and protects 
 His church. He is her Lord and Head, All power 
 is given unto Him, both in heaven and in earth. 
 He is with her alway, even unto the end of the 
 world. This kingly office also He exercises through 
 His Word. Through it the church is led forward. 
 By it He rules and governs. It is her rule of faith 
 and life, her final authority. With it He directs her 
 way, so that she cannot go astray, be lost and 
 ruined. He makes good His promise that the gates 
 of hell shall not prevail against her. 
 
 Through the Word, then, the individual is brought 
 into personal and saving relationship with Christ ; 
 through the Word he is brought into personal union 
 with Christ ; through the Word he is built up and 
 more and more perfected in Christ ; and through the 
 Word the whole body of believers, the church, is 
 gathered, edified, and kept unto the end. Wherever 
 
THE pastor's office. 25 
 
 the ministry of the Word is, there the mediatorial Through the 
 work of Christ is continued. Through the ministry '^"^JdChril'J*' 
 Christ carries on His prophetic, priestly, and kingly *^^^^ °". ^'^ 
 office. The ministry preaches His Word ; the min- work, 
 istry offers eucharistic sacrifices, intercessory pray- 
 ers, and pronounces His blessing ; the ministry 
 catches men, perfects saints, and edifies the body 
 of Christ " For the obtaining of this faith the 
 ministry of teaching the Gospel and administering 
 the sacrament was instituted," (A. C, Art. V.) 
 Through the same Word Christ also exercises the 
 office of the keys by His ministers. " For the 
 power of the keys .... is a power, or command- 
 ment from God, of preaching the Gospel, of re- 
 mitting or retaining sins, and of administering the 
 sacraments." (A. C, Art. XXVHL) 
 
 Let it, then, be clearly understood that the office 
 of the ministry is the office of the Word ; that it was 
 exercised by Christ Himself ; that He is the origin 
 and source as well as founder of the New Testament 
 office ; that the minister of the New Testament is 
 in an important sense a successor of Christ ; that 
 Christ carries on His official work in the church 
 through the Gospel ministry. 
 
 Behold, then, the dignity of the office. Truly, 
 " if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth 
 a good work" (i Tim. iii. i). 
 
 With Paul the true minister may say : " I mag- 
 
26 THE IvUTHERAX PASTOR. 
 
 nify mine office" (Rom. xi. 13). Behold, also, its 
 responsibility. To carry on the work of Christ ! 
 *' Who is sufficient for these things? " (3 Cor. ii. 16). 
 
 " 'Tis not a work of small import 
 
 The pastor's care demands ; 
 But what might fill an angel's heart 
 
 And filled a Saviour's hands. 
 They watch for souls for which the Lord 
 
 Did heavenly bliss forego, 
 For souls which must forever live 
 
 In rapture, or in woe." 
 
 HOW CHRIST CONTINUED HIS WORK. 
 
 We have seen that the New Testament office of 
 
 the ministry has its root and ground in Christ ; that 
 
 His present jj^ ^^^ Himself the first minister of the New Tes- 
 
 work. 
 
 lament ; that as He was the Word, so He exercised 
 the office through the Word ; that He instituted the 
 two sacraments, which are never without the Word, 
 become effective through the Word, and are there- 
 fore a visible Word ; that it was His purpose that 
 His work should be carried on through the written, 
 spoken, and sacramental Word. 
 
 Through the preaching and teaching of His Word 
 Jesus gathered about Himself a band of disciples. 
 They formed a congregation, but this was not yet 
 the official Christian Church. It was still in its 
 germinal or formative state. When in Matt, xviii. 
 .15-17 the Lord speaks of the eKK\qaiaj the church, 
 He either uses the Word in the most general sense as 
 
THE pastor's office. ^^ 
 
 a local religious association, or, what is more likely, 
 
 in a prophetic sense of a future church. When contin^ed^ 
 
 Peter makes that clear and full confession, Jesus 
 
 says I will build My church (Matt xvi. 16-19). 
 
 The followers of Jesus were a band of learners whom 
 
 He was training to become the church. From 
 
 among them He selected twelve to be His apostles 
 
 (Mark iii. 13-19; Luke vi. 13-17). These twelve 
 
 were His daily companions. During His whole 
 
 public ministry He had them in training. Day 
 
 after day He instructed, developed, and moulded 
 
 them. Thus He fitted them to be His witnesses 
 
 and to carry on His work (John xv. 27). For 
 
 them and for their work He prayed that wonderful 
 
 high-priestly prayer recorded in John xvii. After 
 
 He had thus trained them, after they had done 
 
 some preaching under His supervision (Matt. x. 5 £f ; 
 
 Mark vi. 7-13 ; Luke ix. i). He gave them their 
 
 final commission. Before His resurrection they had 
 
 been sent to preach to the Jews only ; they had 
 
 preached that the kingdom of heaven was at hand ; 
 
 that men should repent. But now they were to 
 
 " make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into 
 
 the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
 
 Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things 
 
 whatsoever He had commanded them." For the 
 
 carrying out of this great commission there were 
 
 given to them extraordinary gifts and powers. And 
 
Their ofiSce. 
 
 28 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 thus did Christ Himself make them able ministers of 
 the New Testament. They had their office directly 
 from Christ. They were to exercise it in and for 
 His church. 
 
 Their office was in some respects peculiar and 
 extraordinary. They had been chosen and trained 
 directly by Christ. They were witnesses of His res- 
 urrection (Acts i. 22 and ii. 32 ; i John i. 1-3 ; 3 
 Peter i. 16). These founders of the church were 
 endowed with special gifts and powers and had a 
 general commission to preach and labor everywhere. 
 In these respects they have had and can have no 
 successors. But in as far as they were Christ's min- 
 isters of the Word they were the predecessors of all 
 true ministers, and all such are their successors. 
 All the New Testament offices of the church have 
 grown out of the apostolate or are modifications of it. 
 What are these New Testament offices? They 
 ^''"ncw ^^'^ are all a ministry. There are two forms of this 
 ministry. One is the ministry of the Word, the 
 other is the ministry of mercy. The former is set 
 forth in the New Testament under a number of 
 names, forms, and activities. Part of these pertain 
 to the ordinary ministry and part to the extraordi- 
 nary. The former are permanent and are in the 
 church to-day. The latter are temporary and were 
 needed for the church in its infancy. (See i Cor. 
 xii. 28 ; Eph. iv. 11.) 
 
 Testament 
 ministry. 
 
pastors. 
 
 THE pastor's office. 29 
 
 We have already seen that the apostolic office Extraordinary 
 was m many respects extraordinary. The same is Testament 
 true of the 
 
 NEW TESTAMENT PROPHETS, 
 These were men needed, like the apostles, for 
 that age of founding and forming the church when 
 as yet there were no New Testament writings. 
 They were men, like the apostles, directly inspired 
 by the Holy Spirit. Their revelations and in- 
 structions were not limited to prediction. They 
 also explained present events, the secret decree of 
 God, and disclosed the secrets of men's hearts. (See 
 I Peter i. 10 ; Luke i. 6, 7 ff ; Eph. iii. 5 ; i Cor. 
 xiv. 24, 25.) To this class belonged Judas and Silas 
 (Acts XV. 32), Agabus (Acts xi. 28 and xxi. 10-12), 
 the daughters of Philip (Acts xxi. 9), and others. 
 As far as their above-named functions are con- 
 cerned, their office was extraordinary, and they have 
 no permanent successors. But in as far as the pub- 
 lic declaration of God's revealed will is concerned, 
 every pastor is a prophet, every sermon in which 
 God's pure truth is declared out of a heart con- 
 strained by the love of Christ is a form of prophecy. 
 In like manner we find as an extraordinary New 
 Testament office, that of the 
 
 EVANGELISTS. 
 We find only Philip, who was also one of the seven 
 deacons (Acts xxi. 8), and Timothy (2 Tim. iv. 5), 
 
30 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 thus designated. Others, however, were In the same 
 work and calling. The evangelist, like the apostle, 
 was a missionar}^ Meyer, on Acts xxi. 8, calls these 
 men "assistant missionaries, who, destined exchi- 
 sively for no particular church, either went forth 
 voluntarily or were sent by the apostles and other 
 teachers of apostolic authority, now here and now 
 there, in order to proclaim the evayyeXiov of Jesus 
 Christ." "They were the oral bearers of the Gos- 
 pel before written gospels were in existence." Phil- 
 ippi says (Glandensle/ire, v. 3) p- 277) : " The apos- 
 tles were the principal missionaries in whose fellow- 
 ship and under whose authority the voluntary and 
 the directed evangelists labored ; wherefore Pelagius 
 correctly says : ' All the apostles were evangelists, 
 but all the evangelists were not apostles.' " They 
 were thus distinguished from the apostles in that 
 they were not directly called by Christ, did not pos- 
 sess the specifically apostolic charismata, were not 
 called so much to lay the doctrinal foundations as to 
 missionate. Loehe says {Aphoj'ismen ucber die neit- 
 leslafnentlichen Aeinter^ p. 48 ) : " The distinctive 
 ofhce of the New Testament evangelist was limited 
 to the apostolic time. He was a forerunner, a 
 helper, an attendant of the apostle. He was some- 
 times left to finish a work begun by an apostle' 
 The evangelist's office was therefore also peculiar 
 and extraordinarv. He has no successor in the 
 
THE pastor's office. 3 1 
 
 church to-day. Nevertheless he who preaches the 
 Gospel, fishes for men, perfects saints, and edifies 
 the body of Christ, thus does the work of an evan- 
 gelist. It needs no argument to show that the 
 modern, so-called, self-appointed " evangelist " is no 
 successor of the bearer of this New Testament office, 
 and cannot claim him as a prototype. 
 
 Apostles, prophets, and evangelists, then, had the 
 extraordinary forms of the New Testament minis- 
 try. The last two are closely related to the first. 
 All could claim divine authority for their office and 
 work ; all were ministers of the Word ; all exer- 
 cised their office through the Word. 
 
 Passing now from the temporar}^ and extraordi- 
 
 . . Onlinary New 
 
 nary ministr}^ of the Word we come to the perma- 'icstament 
 nent and ordinary. For this we find many names, 
 but it is one oflBce. The bearer of this office is 
 sometimes called pastor, at other times teacher, 
 then presbyter or elder, and again episcopos or 
 bishop. These are different names for the same 
 office. (See Eph. iv. ii ; i Cor. xii. 28, 29 ; i Tim. 
 ii. 7 ; 2 Tim. i. 11 ; Acts xiv. 23 : xx. 17 : xxi. 18 ; 
 I Tim. V. I, 17, 19; Tit. i. 5; Jas. v. 14; Phil. 
 i. I ; Tit. i. 7, et al.) That the names elder and 
 bishop are convertible and therefore different desig- 
 nations for the same office is evident from a com- 
 parison of the following passages : Acts xx. 1 7 and 
 28 ; Tit. i. 5-7. In Phil. i. i, Paul sends greetings 
 
 pastors. 
 
32 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 to the bishops and deacons. If the elders had held 
 a separate office he certainly would not have omitted 
 them. Paul gives the necessary qualifications for 
 those who bear the church's offices. He mentions 
 bishops and deacons and exchanges the names bishop 
 and elder. (See i Tim. iii. 1-13: v. 17-19 ; Tit. i.5-7.) 
 
 The office of elder was a familiar one among the 
 Jews. Every synagogue had a number of elders. 
 It seems to have been taken as a matter of course 
 that a New Testament congregation must also have 
 the office. We are not told when or by whom it 
 Elders. was first instituted. It is first mentioned in Acts 
 xi. 30. In Chapter xiv. 23 we find Paul and Bar- 
 nabas ordaining them elders in every city. After- 
 ward we find elders mentioned in divers and fre- 
 quent passages. (See Acts xv. 2, 4, 6, 22, 23 : xvi. 
 4: XX. 17: xxi. 18; I Tim. v. 17, 19; Tit. i. 5; 
 Jas. v. 14 ; I Pet. v. i ; 2 John i.; 3 John i.) 
 
 These elders were the pastors of the congregations. 
 They were over the churches, ruled them with the 
 Word and by a godly example, in the spirit of love 
 (Acts XX. 28; I Thes. v. 12 ; i Tim. v. 17; Heb. 
 xiii. 7, 17). They were to shepherd their flocks — 
 i.e.^ to feed, to guard, to lead, to heal (Acts xx. 28 ; 
 I Cor. ix. 7 ; i Pet. v. 2 ; i Thes. v. 1 2 ; i Tim. iii. 
 i-ii ; Tit. i. 7-10; Jas. v. 14). 
 
 These pastors or elders were appointed by the 
 apostles or by other elders designated by the apos- 
 
THE PASTOR'S OFFICE. ^^ 
 
 ties. (See Acts xiv. 23; i Tim, iii. 1-15; 2 Tim. 
 ii. 2 ; Tit. i. 5 £F.) Those who placed these elders 
 were to exercise the greatest possible care in select- 
 ing only men of the right character, spirit, learning, 
 ability to teach, and of sound faith. This is clear 
 from the passages just referred to. In order to make 
 no mistake those who made the appointments would 
 naturally consult the members of the congregations 
 from among whom and for whom the elder or bishop 
 was to be selected. This point will be further con- 
 sidered later on. We refer to it here merely to show 
 that the office of the New Testament minister of the 
 Word is of divine appointment. 
 
 Before we proceed with the ministry of the Word 
 we must briefly consider the other branch of the 
 office, viz., the ministry of mercy, or the 
 
 DIACONATE. 
 
 The infant church was permeated with a spirit 
 of love. From love and not from law " they had d]S»nL' 
 all things common " (Acts ii. 44). From love they 
 " distributed to the necessity of the saints." The 
 saints looked upon the necessities of other saints as 
 their own and found it a joy to satisfy such needs. 
 Therefore, it "pleased them of Macedonia and of 
 Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor 
 saints that were at Jerusalem " (Rom. xv. 26). A 
 beautiful picture of this Koiveovia is presented in 
 3 
 
34 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 Acts iv. 32-37. The possessions were laid at the 
 apostles' feet. The apostles were the administra- 
 tors of the common fund. But it was too much for 
 them. In the multiplicity of their labors, in the 
 rapidly growing church they found that they could 
 not look properly after the daily ministration. Com- 
 plaints were made that the Hellenistic widows were 
 not treated as well as the widows of the Jerusalem 
 Jews. The apostles called the multitude of the dis- 
 ciples together, proposed the selection of seven fit 
 men, and afterward ordained those elected. Thus 
 Deacxjns. was the ministry of mercy separated from the min- 
 istry of the Word. The qualifications for the office 
 of deacon are laid down in Acts vi. 3 and i Tim. 
 iii. 8-1 1. The office seems to have been general 
 in the apostolic church (Phil. i. i). To look after 
 and minister to the poor was the work of a deacon. 
 From the fact that both Stephen and Philip 
 preached, some have concluded that the New Tes- 
 tament deacons combined the ministry of the Word 
 with the ministry of mercy. But the masterly ad- 
 dress of Stephen before the Sanhedrin was not so 
 much a sermon as an answer to and a defense 
 against the charges preferred. Philip began to do 
 the work of an evangelist after the congregation at 
 Jerusalem had been scattered, and there was no 
 longer room for the service of a deacon. The office 
 was a noble one. It was instituted by the apostles. 
 
THE PAvSTOR'S OFFICE. 35 
 
 It took a part of their work upon itself. It was one 
 of the church's vital " helps." It ministered to 
 Christ's poor in His name. Would that the churcli 
 had kept it as a ministry of mercy in the congrega- 
 tion. In our time of poverty, social unrest, and 
 alienation from the church among the lower classes, 
 the New Testament diaconate is a piiim desideriuni. 
 
 The first deacons were men. But as the work of 
 mercy among women was often misuited to men, 
 pious women assisted the deacons. Ere long we 
 find woman deacons. In Romans xvi. i Phoebe 
 is called 17 Skikovo^. She was " a deacon of the 
 church which is at Cenchrea." As an officer of the ^deaconesses, 
 church at Corinth she was ever ready to aid Paul in 
 his labors among the poor and neglected, and was 
 a " succorer of many." 
 
 In I Tim. iii. 1 1 we find the necessary qualifica- 
 tions for a deaconess, or woman deacon. This office 
 also was one of great blessing in the Early Church. 
 It became perverted and lost as the church grew 
 worldly, corrupt, and unsound. Let us be thankful 
 that the New Testament office of deaconess has 
 been restored in our day. It is a coming glory and 
 power for our Church. She has a place for conse- 
 crated women who desire to give their whole life 
 to Him who first loved them. Let every pastor 
 master the subject of Diaconics and then win can- 
 didates for this blessed work. 
 
from Christ. 
 
 36 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 We see, then, that the female diaconate grew out 
 of the male diaconate, and this again was insti- 
 tuted by the apostles,* and assumed a part of their 
 work. The ministry of the Word then comes di- 
 rectly from the apostolate, which comes directly 
 from Christ. The ministry of mercy comes also from 
 the apostles, and likewise continues a work of Christ. 
 
 It is clear, therefore, that the Lord Jesus insti- 
 tuted the office of the New Testament ministry, 
 even as He Himself was its first bearer. The office 
 comes not from man, but from Christ. The church 
 The ministry ^as never been without it. The Epistles every- 
 where present it as an existing divine institution, 
 which mediates the Divine Spirit. (See 2 Cor. iii. 
 6-1 1 : V. 19-21 ; Gal. iii. 2-5 ; i Tim. iv. 16.) These 
 and kindred passages cannot be restricted to the 
 apostles. (See i Cor. iii. 5 : iv. i ; i Tim. iv. 6.) 
 The important passage, Eph. iv. 11, shows clearly 
 that not only the apostolate, but also the branches 
 that grow from it are a gift of the glorified Christ. 
 In I Cor. xii. 28, the office is ascribed to the Father ; 
 in Eph. iv. II, to the Son ; in Acts xx. 28, to the 
 Holy Spirit. The Triune God then is the founder 
 of this office. 
 
 How important to bear this in mind. The 
 
 * For a full and clear discussion of the female diaconate, see 
 article by Dr. H. E. Jacobs, Lutheran Church Review, January, 
 1S92. Also printed in pamphlet form. 
 
THE PASTOR'S OFFICE. 37 
 
 minister has his office not from man, but from God. 
 The consciousness of this fact was the constant and 
 abiding ground of comfort with Paul. No matter 
 what the suffering, what the opposition, what the the mie" 
 discouragement and disappointment, he always falls °^ 
 back on his divine calling. (See Acts xvi. 10 ; Rom. 
 i. I ; I Cor. i. i : ix. 16 ; Heb. v. 4.) Therefore could 
 he say: "I magnify mine office" (Rom. xi. 13). 
 And this is the assurance that every true minister 
 needs to-day. Too many pastors have a low view 
 of their office. Therefore they lack in assurance 
 and confidence. They are ready to apologize for 
 whatever does not please men. They feel and act 
 as if they were the mere servants of men. They 
 are frightened by the least opposition, and are ready 
 to resign, run away, and lay down their office. We 
 can scarcely conceive of anything more sad, repre- 
 hensible, and guilty than that one who has been 
 called of God and ordained to this most holy calling 
 should thus coolly lay down his office. Surely such 
 an one either did not understand his high calling in 
 Christ Jesus, or he did not heartily respond to the 
 call. L,et such an one ponder earnestly what our 
 Saviour says in Luke ix, 62 ; also i Cor. ix. 16. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE pastor's call* — THE INNER OR PREPARA- 
 TORY CALL. 
 
 We have seen that the office of the ministry is of 
 divine institution. We have noticed the importance, 
 dignity, and blessedness of the pastor's calling. 
 The question then naturally arises : Who is rightly 
 
 Who 
 
 is called ? called to the exercise of this holy office ? Our 
 Church teaches " that no one should publicly in the 
 church teach or administer the sacraments except 
 he be rightly called " (Augsburg Confession, Art. 
 XIV. What, then, is a proper call to the ministry ? 
 Or how can anyone know that he is rightly called ? 
 Who has a right to desire the office of a bishop ? 
 Who should prepare himself for this work ? Who 
 should enter upon it ? 
 
 An important and necessary preliminary ques- 
 tion is : 
 
 What is the call to the ministry ? 
 
 Without clearness on this point, there is a two- 
 
 * In these cliapters on the call and ordination we quote freely 
 from the important and scholarly article on " The Lutheran 
 Doctrine of the Ministry," and from the Lutheran dogmaticians 
 there cited, by Rev. Dr. H. E. Jacobs, Lutheran Quarterly 
 Review, October, 1874. Also published in pamphlet form. 
 
 (38) 
 
THE pastor's call. 
 
 39 
 
 fold danger. First, some may fail to recognize a 
 true call, or may fail to respond. A second danger 
 will be, that some will put themselves into the 
 office whom God has not called. Only he who has 
 the assurance that he is rightly called can appro- 
 priate to himself such comforting and encouraging 
 passages as Isa. xlix. 1-3 : lix. 21 ; Luke i. 16 : x. 16 ; 
 I Cor. XV. 58 : xvi. 9 ; 2 Cor. ii. 12: xiii. 2 ; i Tim. 
 iv. 12. 
 
 " The certainty of a divine call to the ministry is 
 also profitable to this end, that the ministers may 
 fulfill their office with greater diligence, faith, and 
 zeal, and be less easily deterred. This doctrine 
 concerning the call also excites in hearers true 
 respect and obedience to the ministry " (Chemnitz, 
 Loci Theologici, De Ecclesia iii. 7-20). 
 
 In the Holy Scriptures we read how God often 
 called His messengers and servants directly. He 
 spoke to them audibly or through dreams and 
 visions. This direct call through outward revela- 
 tion is no longer given. 
 
 *' The immediate call is when one is called to the 
 ministry, not by men, nor through men, as ordinary 
 means, but immediately by God Himself, and 
 through God Himself. ... In an immediate 
 call, God Himself either appears or speaks imme- 
 diately to those whom in this manner He calls. 
 
 " Thus, without doubt, the prophets and apostles 
 
 Importance 
 
 of this 
 question. 
 
 The 
 
 innucdiale 
 
 call. 
 
40 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 were called. Thus God immediately calls Moses 
 from the burning bush (Ex. iii. 4). Thus the call 
 of Aaron is immediately confirmed by God (Num. 
 xvii. 8) whilst his rod buds. The call of Matthias 
 also was immediate (Acts i. 26), as God revealed 
 His will through the casting of lots. So Paul (Gal. 
 i. i) describes his call, that it was not of men, 
 neither by man " (Chemnitz, Loci Theologici, ib. 
 vii. 21). 
 
 " But if anyone should ask," Chemnitz con- 
 tinues, " whether an immediate call is to be 
 expected also in our time, I believe that we ought 
 to reply : : That whilst it is true that we ought not 
 to be ready to prescribe anything to the will and 
 infinite power of God, vet we have no command 
 
 The . . " . . ■( 
 
 immediate call pertaining to US to cxpect an immediate callg 
 
 not given . , - . - ^ ^ . , "' * 
 
 now. neither have we any promise that God wishes, at 
 this time, by an immediate call, to send laborers 
 into His harvest. But through the apostles He has 
 delivered and committed to the church a certain 
 form as to how He now desires to send and call 
 ministers, namely, through a mediate call. Nor is 
 there any necessity now for an immediate call. For 
 God wishes the ministry to be bound until the end 
 of the world to that declaration of doctrine which 
 was received from the Son of God, and immediately 
 delivered to the church by apostles who were imme- 
 diately called (Gal. i. 8 ; 2 Tim. i. 14 ; Heb. i. 12). 
 
THE PASTOR'S CALL. 41 
 
 Therefore no new doctrine whatever is to be 
 received, even though some should rise up who 
 would boast of an immediate call, and, in addition, importance of 
 would produce stupendous wonders, and would distinction, 
 teach an entirely new and different doctrine from 
 that of Christ and the apostles ; yet we ought not to 
 believe them. For Christ predicted that anti- 
 Christ would arise, who would produce such 
 miracles, so that, if it were possible, even the elect 
 would be deceived into error ; and Paul testifies of 
 the coming of the son of perdition, after the work- 
 ing of Satan with all power and signs and lying 
 wonders (2 Thes. ii. 9). 
 
 " The advantage of this distinction between the 
 immediate and the mediate call must also be 
 noted. . . . For the prophets and apostles, 
 inasmuch as they were immediately called, have the 
 witness of the Spirit and of miracles that they did 
 not err in doctrine ; so that other ministers in the 
 church might be obliged to derive their doctrine 
 from the prophets and apostles, and prove it thence, 
 or be accursed. Neither was their ministry restricted 
 to a definite place, but they have the command to 
 teach everywhere. But those who have not an 
 immediate call cannot claim these two things for 
 themselves, nor ought they to be allotted to them." 
 (See also Gerhard, Loci Theologici De IVIin. Ecc, 
 § 79-81.) 
 
The claim of 
 
 an inner 
 
 revelation. 
 
 42 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 With these positions all our great dogmaticians 
 agree. It was necessary, indeed, for our Reform- 
 ers to oppose this so-called immediate call, be- 
 cause it was claimed by the Anabaptists and other 
 fanatics. But we, too, have such fanatics, who 
 claim direct revelations as the ground of their call 
 to the ministry. 
 
 Closely related to this theory of a call by a direct 
 outward revelation was the claim to a call on the 
 ground of an inner revelation by the Holy Spirit. 
 This was the theory of the Weigelians, the 
 Schwenkfeldians, and certain mystics. It is also 
 essentially the position of the Friends, or Quakers. 
 (See Barclay's Apology, Propositions II. and X.) 
 
 By rejecting this inner revelation or inspiration 
 
 our theologians do not, however, reject the so-called 
 
 Yet there is in^et call. Dr. Tacobs says (The Lutheran Doc- 
 
 an inner call. 
 
 trine of the Ministry-, p. 26) : "All our theologians 
 insist upon a close adherence, in judging the quali- 
 fications for the ministry, to the rules laid down in 
 the Pastoral Epistles (i Tim. iii. 1-6 ; Tit. i. 6-9), 
 which clearly forbid entrance into the ofiice for any 
 other reason than devotion to the Master. They 
 recognize also a true movement of the Holy Ghost 
 upon the mind of the individual in leading him, 
 through the study of the outward Word of God, to 
 the conviction that it is his duty to seek the holy 
 office.'' 
 
THE pastor's call. 43 
 
 Chemnitz, on i Tim. iii. i, says: "To desire the 
 office of a bishop is not without a lawful call to 
 take upon yourself ministerial functions. But he 
 who understands the foundations of heavenly doc- 
 trine, and is to a certain extent endowed with the 
 gift of teaching, in offering his labor to God and 
 the church by this very act seeks for nothing else 
 than that God by a lawful call may declare whether, 
 when, and where He wishes to use His ministry in 
 the church," 
 
 Gerhard (L. T. De Min. Kcc, § 75) : " We grant 
 that God, by an inner impulse and inspiration, 
 breathes into some this disposition to undertake the 
 ministry of the church without regard to dangers 
 or difficulties ; to which belongs also that mysteri- 
 ous impulse by which some are drawn to the study 
 of theology. We also grant that this is absolutely 
 required of the minister, that he be not lured either 
 by ambition or avarice, or any other wicked desire, 
 but that, induced by the pure love of God and the 
 desire of edifying the church, he should accept the 
 ecclesiastical office offered. And if any desire to 
 apply, in a proper sense, the name of secret call to 
 these dispositions we do not greatly object ; yet we 
 give the warning that in order that the doors be not 
 opened to the disturbances of the Anabaptists or the 
 revelations of the enthusiasts, no one, by reason of 
 this secret call, ought to take upon himself the 
 
 Its nature. 
 
44 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 duties of the ministerial office, unless there be 
 added to it the outward and solemn call of the 
 church." 
 
 Our Lutheran theologians did not reject or deny 
 the inner call. They were careful properly to de- 
 fine and guard it. They wanted it put in its proper 
 place and relation as to the outward, official call. 
 They regarded it as preparatory, as a call to prepare 
 for the ministry, in distinction from the call to enter 
 upon its work. It may sometimes seem to us that 
 Why our they did not give it sufficient prominence or attach 
 
 theologians 
 
 did not to it the proper weight and importance. But we 
 
 emphasize the . . , , , ,, - 
 
 inner call, must bear lu mind that they were called upon to 
 guard the doctrine of the call against two threaten- 
 ing dangers. On the one side was the Roman 
 Hierarchy, with its claim that the Pope and Bish- 
 ops had a special, divine inspiration, and that, there- 
 fore, to them alone belonged the right and power 
 to select and ordain ministers. On the other side 
 were the Anabaptists and kindred fanatical sects, 
 who believed that the Holy Spirit immediately 
 calls and qualifies men for the ministry. In this, 
 as in so many points, extremes meet. Rome joins 
 hands with the fanatics. Upon our reformers and 
 theologians, therefore, devolved the special duty to 
 bring out and make clear the doctrine of the call of 
 the church. 
 
 But we believe that this necessity thus laid upon 
 
THE pastor's call. 45 
 
 them has been misinterpreted, if not abused. The 
 doctrine of the inner call has been neglected and 
 almost lost sight of, if not denied, by later Luther- 
 ans. We believe that the church has suffered for 
 this. Men have been received by our beneficiary 
 boards, have been admitted into our theological 
 seminaries, recommended and ordained by our syn- 
 ods, whom the Lord never called. We believe with 
 Quenstedt (iii., p. 467): "The outward call is the 
 
 We need to 
 
 means and organ of the inner call, and through this emphasize the 
 
 _. - . ~, . . , , r i> ' TTT 1 inner call. 
 
 God is efficacious m the hearts of men." We be- 
 lieve that an outward call without the preceding 
 inner call is not in the full sense the Lord's call. 
 It is true that the efficacy of the means of grace 
 does not depend upon the heart of him who admin- 
 isters them. God will honor them even when ad- 
 ministered by hypocrites and evil men. But this 
 by no means proves that God wants and calls such 
 men to administer His means. (See i Sam. ii. 15- 
 19; Isa. Ivi. 10-12; Ez. xxxiv. 2, 3; Isa. vi. 5-8; 
 Luke X. I, 2 ; John xxi. 15-18 ; Acts xx. 24 ; Rom. 
 xii. 5-8 ; 2 Cor. iii. 4-6 ; i Tim. iii. 7 : iv. 12.) 
 
 Who, then, has the inner or preparatory call? 
 Who has a right to desire the office of a bishop ? 
 Who ought to enter upon a course of study prepara- 
 tory for the holy office? How can he know that 
 God wants him in the ministry ? These are vital 
 questions. If the church at large will be clear on 
 
46 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 these points ; if she will answer these questions 
 according to sound Scriptural principles ; if she will 
 conscientiously carry out such principles, many 
 unworthy and injurious men will be kept out of the 
 ministry. She will not in the future be scandalized 
 and crippled by so many church-killers. She will 
 Illness." become more and more the salt of the earth, the 
 light of the world, the joy of the whole earth. We 
 are more and more convinced, as the years pass on, 
 that the church has suffered more from an improper 
 ministry than from any other cause. That, under 
 God, her prosperity and power depend more on the 
 right kind of a ministry than on anything else. If 
 our Lutheran Church, with that clear, consistent, 
 and complete system of Bible doctrine, which she 
 has beyond any other church ; with a spirit, a 
 worship, and a life in harmony with her matchless 
 doctrine, can be furnished with a sufhcient number 
 of the right kind of ministers, she will be a power 
 that nothing can resist. Given such a ministry, she 
 will yet occupy that front rank among the people of 
 God to which her history, faith, and genius entitle 
 her. Only because she has had too many wrong men 
 in the ministry she has not had and held it long ago. 
 We recur, then^ to the question : What are the 
 qualifications and indications to show that God 
 wants a person in His ministry ? Or what are the 
 
 Marks of 
 
 the inner call, marks of the inner or preparator)' call ? 
 
THE PASTOR'S CAI.L. 47 
 
 We believe that God desires the most perfect 
 types of manhood in this, the highest office in the natural 
 world. There should be natural endowments and ^^^ ' ^'^ ""^ 
 there should be spiritual endowments. 
 
 Among the natural endowments we mention : 
 
 First. A sound body. We do not believe in the 
 idea of the old farmer, shared by many others, who 
 had a number of boys, one of whom was feeble and ' {^^\^^ 
 of uncertain bodily health. " This one," he said, 
 " does not seem to be fit for the farm or the work- 
 shop, so we'll make a preacher of him." 
 
 This was not God's idea in the selection of men 
 for the Old Testament priesthood. (See Lev. xxi. 
 17-21.) We do not forget that this was an Old 
 Testament requirement, and that the Old Testa- 
 ment priesthood was temporary and typical. But 
 we also remember that the above passage is an 
 expression of God's will. It requires, indeed, a good 
 bodily constitution to go through with the long and 
 arduous strain of study required in a proper prepara- 
 tion for the ministry. How many break down 
 during their college or seminary course, and are 
 obliged to quit. The duties of the pastorate also 
 are becoming more and more exacting, especially in 
 the city. It requires a robust and vigorous body 
 properly to meet and endure the demands made by a 
 large city congregation. If a boy is puny, weak, 
 and predisposed to disease ; if his heart, lungs, eyes, 
 
48 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 or voice are weak, or his hearing dull, he should 
 not study for the ministry. 
 
 A second and even more important natural 
 endowment is a strongs vigorous mind. In order 
 to fit himself for the important office and work of 
 the ministry, a high order of native intellect is 
 necessary. The student for the ministry is to 
 gTapple with and master the deepest and the highest 
 subjects of thought. He is to be a student as long 
 2. A vigorous j^s he lives. Unless he has a mind able to think 
 
 and well- 
 trained mind, clearly and to reason logically, he will never be 
 
 strong as a student, a preacher, or a pastor. He is 
 
 to become a teacher of others. He is to expound 
 
 and make clear the loftiest truths. He is to be a 
 
 moulder and leader of public thought. He is to 
 
 lead and govern his church. How important, then, 
 
 to have vigor and strength of mind, quickness and 
 
 grasp of apprehension, and sound judgment ! 
 
 Having these natural gifts, they must be developed, 
 
 educated, and disciplined. It is not necessary in 
 
 our day, and especially in our Lutheran Church, to 
 
 prove that a minister ought to be a well-educated 
 
 man. Where there are no natural gifts, or where 
 
 there is no possibility of obtaining an education, 
 
 there is no call to the ministry. 
 
 Rev. Dr. M. B. Hope says : " A well-educated 
 
 ministry of religion has always been the ordinance 
 
 of heaven, from the earliest records of histor}' to the 
 
THE pastor's CALI^ 49 
 
 present hour. The educational provisions of the 
 Tribe of Levi, the schools of the prophets, the 
 scribes and doctors of the law among the Jews, the 
 personal training which Christ gave His apostles, 
 the celebrated schools of the Early Church, and the 
 universities and colleges of later and present ages, 
 all of which were expressly founded and designed 
 for the suitable education of ministers, and often in 
 the face of almost incredible difficulties, bear a most 
 remarkable and unbroken testimony to the settled 
 judgment of the church on this point in all its 
 dispensations." 
 
 Rev. Dr. L. A. Gotwald (Lectures on the Augs- present-da 
 burg Confession, p. 480) says : " Ours is an age of needs. 
 more than ordinary intelligence among the masses ; 
 an age of intense mental activity ; an age of inquiry 
 and investigation ; an age of skeptical assault upon 
 the very foundations of Christianity ; an age in 
 which unsanctified genius and scholarship are massed 
 in deadly hostility against every essential doctrine 
 of our most holy faith. At such a time especially, 
 therefore, is a talented and learned ministry an ab- 
 solute necessity. Now, when liberty all over our 
 land is tending to licentiousness, and when infidelity 
 and every possible system of false religion are stalk- 
 ing abroad and are impudently challenging the cre- 
 dentials and faith of the believer, it would surely be 
 more than folly, it would be a crime, to entrust the 
 4 
 
50 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 defense and propagation of the faith to any othei 
 class of men than men of clear, strong, well-trained 
 and well-furnished minds." 
 
 Whoever, then, has not the capacity for a liberal 
 education or the ability to obtain it is not called to 
 the ministr}\ A full college course or its equiva- 
 lent and a full seminary course are necessary for 
 proper preparation. Gifts and attainments are in- 
 dications as to one's calling. (See Rom. xii. 6, 7 ; 
 I Cor. xii. 4 ff.) 
 
 As a third native endowment for the ministry we 
 mention commoii sense. This is that natural in- 
 3. Common sight iuto thiugs, that intuitive understanding of 
 men and situations which at once discerns what not 
 to do or say and what, if anything, to do or say. 
 It is knowing how to adapt oneself to the various 
 circumstances of life, with calmness and patience to 
 avoid or remedy dijfficulties, and to know how to 
 deal practically with all sorts and conditions and 
 combinations of men. The man of common sense 
 thinks before he speaks or acts. He is cool, delib- 
 erate, and firm. He understands the place and 
 value of silence. He says the right thing, but not 
 at the wrong time. He exercises good, prudent, 
 practical judgment. The minister needs a large 
 fund of it. He needs it in the pulpit ; he needs it 
 still more in dealing with his people. The Ger- 
 mans call it Pastoral Khigheit. He who is mani- 
 
THE pastor's call. 5 1 
 
 festly devoid of it lacks a very important qualifica- 
 tion for the ministry. He may be an otherwise 
 good and pious man, but will constantly blunder 
 and make trouble for himself and the church. It 
 requires knowledge, patience, skill, and adaptation 
 to be a good fishennan. How much more to be a 
 successful fisher of men ? How sad to cast the net so 
 clumsily as to drive off instead of drawing in the fish ! 
 
 Dr. Gotwald strikingly says : " There are fools j^^ ^^ 
 in the theological seminaries of our land and fools importance, 
 in the ministry-, .... men not necessarily devoid 
 of talent nor scholarship, nor even of piety, but 
 sadly destitute of practical judgment and of that 
 simple mother-sense which will suggest to them 
 what is the wise and fitting and right thing to do 
 and what ought to be left unsaid and undone, upon 
 which success in the ministry so much depends and 
 without which, have whatever else he may, no man 
 is worthy to be enrolled, either as a student of the- 
 ology or in the ranks of the ministry." 
 
 Old Dr. John Brown, of Aberdeen, once said to 
 his theological students : " Young gentlemen, three 
 things are necessary to the ministry : grace, learn- 
 ing, and common sense. If you have not grace, 
 God can give it to you ; if you have not learning, 
 man can give it to you ; but if you have not common 
 sense, neither God nor man can give it to you, and 
 you will be fools forever." 
 
courage. 
 
 52 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 Our Saviour demands of his ministers that they 
 be "wise as serpents and harmless as doves " (Matt. 
 X. 16). One of the greatest difficulties that meets 
 us here, however, is the sad and strange fact that 
 he who lacks common sense is generally the last 
 one to realize or to admit the lack. But others can 
 soon discover it, and no one ought to encourage any- 
 one to study for the ministry who has this lack, 
 
 A fourth native endowment, very important for a 
 pastor, is moral courage. Some persons seem born 
 without it. They apparently have no will-power, 
 no moral backbone, no resolution of character. They 
 *^^yj^ are void of strong conviction, have no fixed pur- 
 pose, lack in energy and perseverance. They shrink 
 from opposition, fear to take a positive stand, and 
 are ever ready to retreat. Like Israel's cowardly 
 spies, they see and fear the giants that will oppose 
 them. Like Gideon's host, they tremble and are 
 afraid when the enemy is in sight. Such men are 
 generally indolent. They are too lazy to make a 
 strong and persistent effort to surmount obstacles. 
 
 Now, such men can never make the ministry a 
 success. The minister, like Joshua and all of God's 
 eminent servants, must be strong and of good cour- 
 age, neither afraid nor dismayed. (See Josh, i, 9 ; 
 also, Neh. iv. 14: vi. 11 ; Daniel iii. 16-18: vi. 10, 
 II. Elijah, I Kings xviii. 18; Acts vi. 13: v. 20, 
 25: xix. 30: xxi. 12, 13; Gal. ii. 14.) 
 
THE pastor's call. 53 
 
 The minister must often meet with hardship, diffi- 
 culty, contradiction, and opposition. 
 
 He needs to be a good soldier, to endure hardness, 
 to be ready to suffer. He dare not fear the face of 
 man. Like Nathan, he must be ready to face the 
 king and say, " Thou art the man." Like John the 
 Baptist, he must be willing to reprove a Herod and 
 say, "It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother 
 Philip's wife." Like that eminent band of worthies 
 enrolled in Heb. xi., he must be a hero of faith. 
 The boy who lacks courage, will-power, energy, and 
 resolute perseverance should not study for the min- 
 istry. 
 
 Closely allied to moral courage is activity. A boy 
 who is inactive, who does not like to bestir himself, 5- EarMst 
 
 activity. 
 
 who prefers to loll and lounge about, who is a drone 
 in the home, on the play-ground, and in school, will 
 scarcely make an active minister. 
 
 The minister is called to labor. Like Paul, he 
 must be in labors abundant. But there is this dif- 
 ference between his labors and those of other call- 
 ings : Most occupations have their labors portioned 
 out according to time. Each day, each hour, has 
 its duties assigned. Not so with the laborer in 
 Christ's vineyard. His time is at his own disposal. 
 He can put much or little time on his general study 
 or on his sermons. He can do much or little pas- 
 toral work. Each day and hour do not bring par- 
 
54 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 ticularly defined duties, i The sainted Dr. C. P. 
 Krauth once said to a class of theological students 
 that " the undefined responsibility of the pastor is 
 the greatest burden of his calling. f' Here is great 
 temptation to shirk duties, to i3le away time and 
 opportunity, and thus to become guilty of the loss of 
 "^K^tOT ^ souls committed to one's care. / The church suffers 
 from lazy pastors. We have too many who are noth- 
 ing more than respectable loafers^ They lounge and 
 fritter away precious hours and opportunities. Too 
 lazy to apply themselves in their study, or to go out 
 after those who need them, they rust out and be- 
 come dead weights on their congregations. These 
 are the men who soon reach the " dead-line." No 
 one wants them, and then they complain about an 
 ungrateful church and about congregations that pre- 
 fer and call young men instead of themselves. 
 
 He who is constitutionally lazy is not wanted in 
 the ministry. He had better enter upon some calling 
 where the work will constantly drive him. He may 
 do well in feeding a machine which will tell on him 
 if he misses a move. God does not call idlers into 
 the most responsible calling on earth. He wants 
 men who have a mind to work, who love their work, 
 and find it their greatest joy to be diligent in their 
 business — ^serving the Lord. They must be ready 
 to spend and to be spent, to be instant in season and 
 out of season, to serve and to sacrifice for Him who 
 
THE pastor's call. 55 
 
 was so devoted to His calling that He often had not 
 time so much as to eat. (See Matt. ix. 36-38 ; 
 Luke xxii. 26-28; John iv. ^^, 34: ix. 4: xvii. 
 4, 5 ; I Cor. XV. 10 ; 2 Cor. v. 9.) 
 
 As a final important natural endowment we men- 
 tion a tender and sympathetic spirit. There are ' \^^ " 
 some boys who seem to be without fellow-feeling. 
 They have no bowels of compassion. The sorrows 
 of others do not touch them. Some seem to de- 
 light in inflicting pain and sorrow. They torture 
 the lower animals and their own fellows. The 
 sight of pain and distress does not move them. 
 They are hard-hearted and unsympathetic. Per- 
 sons with such hearts ought never to enter the 
 ministry. The minister, like the Saviour, is ever 
 to have a heart for others' woe and is to be touched 
 with a feeling of others' infirmities. He needs a 
 refined, delicate nature that enters into even the 
 seemingly little afflictions of others, so that he can 
 rejoice with those that do rejoice and weep with 
 those that weep. Without a large measure of this 
 sympathy in his nature no one can be fully success- 
 ful as a pastor. All classes and conditions will look 
 to him for sympathy. The distresses even of the 
 unworthy are to appeal to him. He is to know 
 how to approach them and how to enter into their 
 troubles. Only then, when he has real o-ui/-7ra^o?, 
 real con-patior^ can he be a real comforter and coun- 
 
cations are 
 relative. 
 
 56 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 selor; only then can he bring the same comfort 
 wherewith God also comforts him in all his affliction. 
 Let the cold, selfish, and hard-hearted remain out of 
 the sacred office. They are not fit for it. They 
 cannot, with such natures, be true pastors. They 
 are not called. 
 
 We would not, however, be understood as if the 
 above qualifications are all absolutely necessary, or 
 must all be present in the same measure in all. We 
 know that few men have all the natural virtues in 
 an equally full measure. Some are strong in cer- 
 These qualifi- tain oues and weak in others. If they know where 
 they are weak they can cultivate and strengthen 
 those weak points, and still become useful in the 
 holy office, if they have the following more impor- 
 tant qualifications. We also fully recognize that 
 divine grace can overcome and change much that is 
 natural. Yet if any one of the above-named serious 
 defects is prominently present, it is at least a strong 
 indication that there is no call to the ministry. 
 
 It goes without saying that anyone having a nat- 
 ural or an acquired bias or tendency to a particular 
 vice, anyone given to an immoral practice, is not fit 
 for the ministry. The boy given to solitary or sexual 
 vice, the boy who has an inherited craving for strong 
 drink, who is habitually deceitful, dishonest, and 
 untruthful, who finds pleasure in the company of 
 the coarse, the vile, and the vicious, is not the stufE 
 
THE pastor's call. 57 
 
 that makes a good minister. True, again, divine 
 grace can change even such a nature. But that 
 does not prove that such men are wanted in this 
 high and holy calling. It is clearly the duty of 
 the church to choose out of the ranks of her 
 youth the best material. It is well, also, to look 
 into the family pedigree. Timothy had a noble 
 ancestry, not of what the world calls nobility, but 
 nobility in the kingdom of God. (See 2 Tim. i. 5.) 
 Therefore let the church avoid the ministry from a 
 low-lived and sin-exhausted stock. The taint of 
 impurity goes down through the generations follow- 
 ing. We want the sons of Levi, the Samuels, the 
 Jeremiahs, the John the Baptists, the Timothies. 
 
 We have looked at some of the more important 
 natural qualifications and disqualifications for the modify, 
 pastoral office. He who has the proper qualifica- 
 tions viay be called. If anyone has them not, or 
 has them only in an inferior degree, the presump- 
 tion is that he is not called. But we cannot lay 
 down an absolute rule. God can use and has used 
 men feeble in body, of mediocre talent and attain- 
 ment, but of a high order of earnestness, consecra- 
 tion, and application. By the latter gifts and graces 
 they have in a measure overcome the drawbacks of 
 the former. But these are exceptions. The rule 
 still stands that God wants men of the superior 
 bodily and mental attainments. Divine grace can 
 
 Grace can 
 
58 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 change and has changed men lacking in courage, 
 sympathy, snap, and vigor, and even those inclined 
 and addicted to certain grievous sins. Some such 
 have made good and useful ministers. But these 
 also are exceptions. The church in selecting and 
 encouraging the youth to prepare for this high call- 
 ing dare not build on possibilities and exceptions, 
 but nmst adhere to the standard which we have 
 seen to be that of the Divine Word throughout. 
 
 s ■ tuai ^^ come now to the more important spiritual 
 
 qualifications, qualifications. By these the inner call is more 
 clearly emphasized and recognized. Among these 
 we mention, first, a livitig^ deep^ and fervent piety. 
 We expect true piety in all the members of the 
 church. We are not content with anyone until we 
 are satisfied that there is present within him a true 
 evangelical, heartfelt repentance toward God, and a 
 
 I. Living real, trusting, living faith in our Lord Jesus Christ 
 
 piety. 
 
 To this end we labor, instructing, warning, and be- 
 seeching everyone. For this we preach and teach 
 the law and the Gospel, publicly and from house to 
 house. This is the end of our catechising, our 
 preaching, and our pastoral work. 
 
 But how much more is this piety to characterize 
 him who is to become an ambassador for Christ, 
 who is to beseech men in Christ's stead to be recon- 
 ciled to God ? This personal and experimental re- 
 lation to his Lord, whose innermost life-nerve and 
 
THE pastor's CAI.U 59 
 
 bond is faith, is absolutely necessary' for him who 
 would be a true witness for Christ. He must have 
 in his own heart an abiding sense of sin, sorrow 
 for it, hatred of it, and longing for victory over it. 
 He must have that trusting, resting, abiding, peace- 
 bringing faith in a Saviour who has forgiven him 
 all his sin. He must know by experience the bless- 
 edness of that inner peace which passeth all under- 
 standing. His heart nnist be so warm with per- 
 sonal love to the Saviour that he can look up and 
 say, " Lord, thou knowest all things. Thou know- jj^ supreme 
 est that I love thee." In all this he is to be an '"portance- 
 example to others. (See i Cor. ii. 12, 13; i Tim. 
 iv. 12, 16; Tit. ii. 7 ; i Pet. v. 3.) 
 
 Gregory Nazianzen says : " We must first be pure, 
 then purify others ; be taught, then teach others ; 
 become light, and then enlighten others ; draw 
 near to God ourselves, and then draw others ; 
 sanctify ourselves, and then make others holy. " 
 
 Vilmar says {Pastoral Theologie^ p. 41) : " What 
 we wish to teach others must first be our own pos- 
 session, otherwise it is only a vehicle of untruth. 
 Be silent concerning that which you have not your- 
 self experienced. It is of the greatest importance 
 for the evangelical pastor that he be able to bear 
 witness concerning the certainty of salvation. He 
 must have experienced justification by faith alone. 
 One cannot teach justification without having it 
 
6o THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 The hearer will quickly feel it if the teacher does 
 not have it." 
 
 This statement of Vilmar is not happily worded. 
 It might be understood in a donatistic sense. But 
 it shows us how deeply some of these earnest, ortho- 
 dox fathers felt the need of a ministry that has 
 experienced the grace that is preached. 
 
 Whoever, then, does not have this root of the 
 whole matter in himself, whoever is not a living, 
 loving, and consecrated believer in Christ, is not 
 called to prepare for the ministry. 
 
 But it does not follow that every true or even 
 every eminent young believer is called. True piety 
 is necessary. But in itself it is not the inner call. 
 No one is called of God without it. But not all 
 who have it are called. 
 
 Something further is needed. What is it ? It is 
 a clear mid heartfelt conviction that it is God''s will 
 that he should serve Him in this holy office. This 
 does not mean simply a consent to study in order to 
 please a parent, pastor, or friend. One may have 
 piety and be thus urged into the holy office by 
 others without being called of God. 
 
 This true inner call is more than a mere prefer- 
 ence of the profession of the ministry to other pro- 
 fessions. There are those, and they may be true 
 believers, who carefully consider the various avoca- 
 tions open before them. They compare them with 
 
THE pastor's call. 6 1 
 
 each other ; they look at the advantages and dis- 
 advantages of each. They see an attractive side in 
 the ministry. They may think it an easy life. 
 They believe that it affords much opportunity 
 for literary pleasure and culture. They conceive of Mere prefer- 
 it as a position of great honor. The esteem in sufficimt 
 which their pastor is held, the respect so generally 
 shown him, the honorable place he occupies in their 
 community — these are attractions. They are look- 
 ing only on the surface. They have no conception 
 as yet of what it means to be a true servant of 
 Christ. They know not the exactions, the toils, the 
 cares, and the responsibilities of an earnest, a 
 Pauline, a Christ-like ministry. But on the above 
 superficial basis of comparison and proportion they 
 come to prefer the calling of the ministry. If there 
 is no more than such a preference, it is no mark of 
 an inner call, and not a sufficient reason for prepar- 
 ing for the ministry. 
 
 We go further. There may be not only an intel- 
 lectual preference, not merely a conclusion, a judg- Earnest desire 
 
 , , . . . ^ . , , r • °o^ decisive. 
 
 ment, that the ministry is a desirable profession ; 
 but there may be also an earnest desire to become a 
 minister. One may feel moved and drawn toward 
 this work. This feeling and desire may become so 
 strong that it takes possession of the whole man. 
 This emotion and desire are regarded as a divine 
 call to preach. And yet it may be but a temporary 
 
62 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 emotion, a passing excitement, a delusion. Persons 
 who depend on this are often not willing to 
 enter upon a long and thorough course of training. 
 If willing to study at all, they j)refer the short cut, 
 and will select such schools as will put them into 
 the office in the shortest possible time. The ques- 
 tion asked by many beneficiary boards and examin- 
 ing committees, " Do you feel yourself called to 
 preach the Gospel ? " ought not to be decisive. 
 Subjective impressions are transient and often 
 deceiving. The qualifications mentioned in this 
 chapter must be present. There must also be provi- 
 dential indications and openings. The way must 
 be open for the procuring of a thorough preparation. 
 There must be a willingness to labor, to save, and 
 Beneficiary ^o sacrifice for the sake of such preparation. We 
 believe that great injury has been done by our 
 methods of beneficiary education. We believe that 
 every beneficiary student ought in some way to earn 
 the money he receives. Then it should not be a 
 loan. The student should not be compelled to 
 enter into the ministry burdened with a heavy debt, 
 and so be prevented from starting or serving a poor 
 mission, but be necessitated to look for and demand 
 a large salar)^-. 
 
 But we digress. We demand more than a mere 
 desire to legitimate the preparatory call. The fact 
 is, that those whom God undoubtedly called often 
 
 aid. 
 
THK pastor's call. 63 
 
 had no desire at all for the work, but rather shrank 
 from it. Neither Moses, Jonah, nor Jeremiah had a 
 burning desire for the work for which God wanted 
 them, (See Ex. iv. 10 ; Jer. i. 6 ; Jonah i. 1-3.) 
 A.nd such humility is indeed one of the prominent 
 characteristics of that personal piety which the true 
 pastor needs. (See Acts xx. 19 ; Rom. i. 14 ; i Cor. 
 iii. 5, 6 : xv. 9 ; 2 Cor. ii. 16.) Bishop Simpson 
 says (Yale Lectures) : " There is not an instance in 
 the Holy Writ where a true man was ever anxious 
 to bear the divine message. He alwa)'s shrank 
 from it, hesitated, and trembled." 
 
 True there must be a willingness to undertake 
 the work. There must be, in a sense, an earnest 
 desire. But this willingness and desire do not A divinely 
 
 wrought 
 
 spring from mere impulse or emotion. Neither are conviction, 
 they inspired by any worldly motive. They are 
 rather the outgrowth of a conviction wrought by 
 the Holy Ghost. This conviction that the Lord 
 desires and demands that he who has it give his 
 life to the work of the ministry presupposes that 
 personal relation to the Lord described above. He 
 is made to realize that that Lord who loved him and 
 gave Himself for him, and so drew him unto Him- 
 self that a responsive love was enkindled in his 
 heart, now needs him as an ambassador in His king- 
 dom. He has not of himself chosen this service, 
 but his Lord has chosen him (John xv. 16). The 
 
64 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 Holy Spirit has wrought it in upon his conscience. 
 It is an abiding conviction and demand of conscience 
 which he cannot throw off without the loss of in- 
 ward peace. He is made to feel that it would en- 
 danger his soul's salvation and be disloyalty to God 
 to refuse. Having in his heart a deep and an abiding 
 love to Christ, and with that love of Christ constrain- 
 ing him he says : " Here am I, send me " (Isa. vi. 8 ; 
 I Cor. ix. 1 6). He is now ready to say, " Thy will 
 be done." All his worldly desires, plans, and am- 
 bitions are laid upon the altar of his Lord. He is 
 ready now to go on through evil report or through 
 Comfort in. good report, through poverty or through plenty, into 
 the lowest or into the highest place, as his Lord may 
 list. Such an one will make or find a way to get 
 an education. He is willing to wait as well as to 
 labor, and to labor while he waits. He has a right 
 to believe that he has the preparatory or inner call. 
 He may confidently and joyfully enter upon a course 
 of preparation. He is in that frame of heart and 
 mind that he cheerfully leaves the when and the 
 where of his entrance upon the work to his Lord. 
 And should no final, external call come, he will 
 willingly serve the Lord as a private Christian in 
 the church, believing that, after all, he was mis- 
 taken, and that the Lord does not now need him. 
 
 Such a conviction of conscience, then, coming to 
 one who has all the other proper qualifications is the 
 
THE pastor's call. 65 
 
 surest indication of an inner call. How is this con- 
 viction brought about ? Not by special revelations, whence and 
 voices, visions, nor dreams. It is not immediate. It ^°^ '' comes, 
 is wrought by the Holy Spirit through the Word of 
 God. It may come suddenly, but more generally it 
 is a growth. The Word may come to the boy or 
 youth through a sermon, a Sunday school lesson or 
 talk, or in catechetical instruction. It may be an 
 earnest private word from parent, pastor, Sunday 
 school teacher, or friend. It may be a word that 
 makes him see as never before the value of the soul 
 and the greatness and solemnity of its destiny. He 
 may get a new and clearer conception of what it 
 cost the Son of God to redeem man. The truth 
 that it is God's plan that salvation is to be brought 
 to man by man may deeply impress him. The 
 great need of laborers in the great harvest-fields 
 may move him. The Holy Spirit may use these 
 or other divine truths to awaken and deepen the 
 conviction that it is his duty to give his life to the 
 ministry. As this conviction grows, and he yields 
 himself to it, he also sees the attractions of the 
 work. Having the love of Christ in his heart, he 
 must, of necessity, also have the love of souls re- 
 deemed by Christ. He will count it a privilege to 
 serve Him whom he loves, even in the lowest place. 
 He will count it an honor to be called as an ambas- 
 sador of Christ, a minister of reconciliation. He 
 5 
 
Such a convic- 
 tion gives 
 assiirance. 
 
 66 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 will count it a joy to be permitted to spend his life 
 in feeding Christ's lambs and sheep. He will esteem 
 it the highest privilege possible to mortal man to 
 be anointed to " preach good tidings to the meek, 
 to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to 
 the captives, and the opening of the prison to them 
 that are bound, .... to comfort all that mourn ; 
 to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy 
 for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit 
 of heaviness" (Isa. Ixi. 1-3). 
 
 But the desire has come after the conviction and 
 the joy after yielding to the conviction. Much fear 
 and trembling may have preceded the desire and 
 much heaviness the joy 
 
 Let such an one then enter earnestly upon a 
 course of preparation. Let him ever bear in mind, 
 that his Lord and Master has Himself exercised the 
 office of the ministry. Let him take the ministry 
 of Christ as his ideal. Let his great aim and ob- 
 ject be to follow in His footsteps, to be as his Mas- 
 ter. Let this be the end and aim of all preparation. 
 Let him learn how Paul and other eminent minis- 
 ters of Christ followed Him. And in all his prepa- 
 ration let the same mind be in him that was also in 
 Christ Jesus. Let him beware lest the diversions 
 and temptations of student life quench his love and 
 dampen his ardor. Let him avoid unchristian com- 
 panions and amusements. Let him not neglect the 
 
THE pastor's call. 67 
 
 private devotional study of his Bible, and of the 
 devotional books in which our Church is so rich. forfeited. 
 Let him from the beginning be a man of prayer. 
 Unless he follows these directions there is danger 
 that he may lose his first love, and that having begun 
 in the spirit he may end in the flesh. One may have 
 had the inner call, but have lost it, and so, after all, 
 may enter into the ministry as a hireling. 
 
 And let the church again lay the proper stress on 
 the inner, preparator}' call. Then will there be 
 better days for our Zion, Then will the beauty of 
 the Lord our God be upon us ; then will He estab- 
 lish the work of our hands upon us. Yea, the work 
 of our hands, He will establish it. 
 
 In this chapter we have considered the inner 
 or preparatory call. We have noticed that its 
 presence requires and presupposes certain natu-^J^^^I^'^'^J^^" 
 ral and spiritual qualifications. We have further '''^^^ *^'ii^ 
 seen that while the absence of the qualifications 
 argues for the absence of the call, the presence of 
 the qualifications does not necessarily prove the call. 
 And, still further, that even where there seems to 
 be the greatest possible certainty, the call to the 
 ministry is not yet complete. It is at best a call 
 to prepare. It is preparatory to the external 
 or church call. It does not entitle anyone to 
 enter upon the work of the ministry'. For this 
 the call of the church must come. And if this 
 
68 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 does not come, there is no full call to the min- 
 istry. 
 
 But while we admit and emphasize this as the 
 
 true doctrine of the call, we still insist just as 
 
 firmly that, where no inner call precedes, the 
 
 church's call is a mistake. It is not in accordance 
 
 ^ ^ with God's will. It does not make the one called 
 
 Danger from 
 
 its absence, a man after God's heart, an able minister of the 
 New Testament. God will still honor and work 
 through His own means of grace, correctly admin- 
 istered, even by a bad man. But God did not call 
 him for the edifying of the body of Christ. God 
 may sometimes send lying spirits and lying proph- 
 ets as a judgment upon an apostate church or people. 
 (See I Kings xxii. 22, 23; 2 Chron. xviii. 21, 22.) 
 But we are not speaking of a ministry sent as a 
 judgment, but of a ministry of reconciliation. In 
 this God does not want blind leaders of the blind, 
 thieves, robbers, hirelings and wolves. And if the 
 church calls such she makes a sore and grievous 
 blunder for which she will certainly have to suffer. 
 
The 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 The external or official call. 
 
 Having considered the inner or preparatory call, 
 ■we come now to the external call. This is the 
 Lord's call' to enter upon the work of the ministry. 
 Again, we ask, How does this call come ? "Who is 
 properly called to take upon himself the work of 
 the holy office ? And how can he know that he is 
 thus called of God ? 
 
 Here again different answers meet us. 
 
 Here, on the one hand, is the hierarchical idea, hierarchical 
 
 ' ' theory. 
 
 According to this, the ministry perpetuates itself. 
 
 Only those already in the office can put others into it. 
 In the Church of Rome, and also in the Church of 
 England, this power and prerogative are entirely 
 in the hands of the bishops. They select, examine, 
 and ordain all ministers. They claim to be the suc- 
 cessors of the apostles. No one is a true minister 
 of Christ, no one can have the authority or power 
 of a minister, unless he is in this apostolic succes- 
 sion. And to be in this, it is necessary to be or- 
 dained by a bishop. Whoever has not been thus 
 episcopally ordained is not a minister, but a mere 
 layman. 
 
 (69) 
 
'JO THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 Somewhat akin to this hierarchical idea, though 
 holding fast to the parity of ministers, is the doctrine 
 of a self-perpetuating ministry as held by certain 
 IfUtheran teachers, e.g.^ Loehe {Aphorisrneii ueber 
 die Geistlichen Aeniter) ; Muenchmeyer i^Das Ami 
 des Neuen Testaments) ; Vilmar {Die Lehre vo?n 
 Geistlichen Amte). (For the Romish position, see 
 Moehler's Symbolism, Eng. Trans., p. 299. For 
 the Anglican, Percival on Apostolic Succession, p. 
 7. Both quoted in Jacobs' on Doct. of Luth. Min- 
 istry, pp. 6, 7.) 
 
 On this idea of an outward succession, Dr. Jacobs 
 says, p. 7 : " We cannot help but acknowledge that 
 there is a fascination about the idea of an outward 
 The true succcssiou, and that the thought, which involun- 
 tarily presents itself on witnessing an ordination, of 
 the long line of hands reaching backward from 
 those on the head of the candidate, is a very pleasing 
 one. So, too, is the outward succession of a long 
 line of pious ancestors. Yet that the establishment 
 of the claim to mere outward succession carries with 
 it no weight, the New Testament repeatedly teaches 
 (Matt. iii. 9; John v4ii. 37-39; Rom. iv. 12-16), 
 The necessity of an outward succession is an Old 
 Testament idea ; the New Testament requirement 
 is that of an inward succession, i. e.^ a succession of 
 faith and doctrine (Rom. iv. 16 ; Gal. i. 8). Hence 
 the distinct statement of the Augsburg Confession, 
 
 succession. 
 
THE pastor's call. 7 1 
 
 Art. VII., that the only marks of the Church are the 
 pure preaching of the Gospel and the right adminis- 
 tration of the sacraments, and its ignoring of an 
 outward succession of ministers as any test what- 
 ever of the true church." 
 
 Chemnitz says (Loci Theol., iii., p. 132) : " For as 
 there will always be a church, so there will always 
 be pure teachers. But these promises are not bound 
 to any certain persons, to any certain succession, or Not cxtemaL 
 to any certain place. For Paul siiys to the elders 
 of Ephesus (Acts xx, 30 f)." Chemnitz's argument 
 in support of this position is very full, and alto- 
 gether unanswerable. (See his Locus De Ecclesia^ 
 pp. 129-133; Jacobs, p. 7.) 
 
 Gerhard {^Loci Theologici De Eccl.^ Sec. V., 
 § 190) : " The succession of places and persons is 
 an outward and mutable accident, nor is it of any 
 importance without a succession of doctrine. . . . 
 Those are to be regarded true successors of the 
 apostles who sincerely embrace the doctrine and 
 faith of the apostles as contained in their writings, 
 even though they have not that outward and local 
 succession. ... As the apostles appealed from 
 the local and outward succession, in which Caiaphas 
 could have boasted, to a doctrinal and inner succes- 
 sion, when they publicly protested that they taught 
 ' none other things than those which the prophets 
 and Moses did say should come,' and did not seek 
 
72 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 ordination of Caiaphas : so also to-day in the Evan- 
 gelical churches we justly appeal from a local and 
 personal succession to a doctrinal succession." 
 
 lb. {^De Ministerio in Ecclcsiastica^ Sec. IX., 
 § 129) : " We must distingnish between a personal 
 and a doctrinal succession. The latter succession 
 alone is necessary and sufficient to a lawful call." 
 So also Quenstedt {Theo.-Did.-PaL, Part IV., p. 410 ; 
 Jacobs, p. 8.) 
 
 These quotations from Dr. Jacobs, and the dogma- 
 ticians cited by him, suffice to show that our Church 
 repudiates a hierarchical and external succession. 
 The only succession she acknowledges is a succes- 
 sion in the doctrine, work, and spirit of the apostles. 
 In rightly administering the means of grace, and 
 thus exercising the power of the keys, the minister 
 is a successor of Christ and of His apostles. But 
 this does not make the ministry a self-perpetuating 
 order. God does not call the minister through the 
 ministry alone. 
 
 Directly opposite to this hierarchical view is the 
 
 one that identifies the ministry with the spiritual 
 
 The theory priesthood of believers. Dr. Jacobs (Doc. of Minis- 
 developed '^ 
 from the try, p. 8) says : "As extremes often meet, so the 
 
 priesthood of • . • • r j 
 
 believers. Romish and Anabaptist theories unite m confound- 
 ing the ministry with the priesthood ; the former by 
 establishing a hierarchical order of ministers who 
 are regarded as the only priests, and the latter by 
 
THE pastor's call. 73 
 
 asserting that the whole community of spiritual 
 priests are ministers. Thus the Anabaptists, at the 
 period of the Reformation, insisted (from i Pet ii. 
 5, 9 ; Rev. i. 6) that all believers have the right to 
 exercise the public ministry of the Word, and that 
 no further call to the office was necessary. This 
 opinion the Augsburg Confession, in Art. XIV., 
 plainly condemns." 
 
 "But the kindred idea that the spiritual priesthood 
 confers upon every individual believer the right to 
 exercise the ministry, yet that for the sake of good 
 order this right should not be assumed by all, but 
 only by a limited number, to whom the rest would 
 
 . The 
 
 delegate these their rights, has caused some con- transference 
 
 fusion in the discussion of this subject. Nothing 
 can be clearer than the antagonism of our great 
 Lutheran divines to this position, nor anything be 
 more convincing than their arguments against it." 
 \ The doctrine here combated is the so-called 
 "transference theory." German, ^^ Uebertragu^tgs- 
 lehre?'' It makes the office of the ministry origi- 
 nate in the congregation. It grows out of the con- 
 gregation, and is only a function of the congrega- 
 tion. Every believer is a priest. As such he has 
 a right to preach, administer the sacraments, and, 
 in general, exercise the office of the keys. This 
 view was held, with more or less consistency, by 
 Luther. Dr. Jacobs (ib., p. 4) says that Luther's 
 
 theory. 
 
74 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 language is "not guarded with the same care as 
 that of the later dogmaticians. He quotes Daniel 
 (Codex Liturgicus Eccl. Luth., p. i) thus : " All 
 who have diligently studied Luther's books know 
 that it is difficult to explain clearly what that great 
 man thought concerning every subject." 
 
 J. Paludan-Mueller, in Der Evangelische Pfarrer 
 und seifi Ami^ p. 31 ff, says: "Luther's expres- 
 sions concerning the office of the ministry are 
 very uncertain — sehr schivankend — though, as a 
 matter of course, he expresses himself in his usual 
 decisive manner according to the occasion which 
 calls forth his words. At one time he says : ' The 
 
 Mueller on 
 
 Luther. preacher who does not preach is no more a preacher 
 than a painted man is a man.' At another time he 
 says : ' A true preacher is made such by God, goes 
 out from God, and stands before God.' Again 
 he says, ' All Christians are preachers, and all 
 preachers are Christians.' The universal priest- 
 hood is ever emphasized in speaking of the ministry 
 of the Word. Jesus is the first New Testament 
 priest. All who are baptized are made partakers of 
 his life, and are, therefore, priests. Upon them de- 
 volves the right and the duty to exercise the work 
 of the ministry. They are to preach, to administer 
 the sacraments, to use the keys, to offer sacrifice and 
 intercessory prayer, and to judge all doctrines and 
 teachers." 
 
THE pastor's call. 75 
 
 " Luther is right in rejecting the Romish doctrine 
 of the priesthood, which severs the ministry from 
 the body of the church, makes a sacrament of ordi- 
 nation, and thus brings a dualism into the idea of the 
 church. He is right also in insisting that the 
 special priesthood or ministry is within the general 
 priesthood of believers, and has no indelible char- 
 acter. He is also right in claiming that in an ex- 
 ceptional case, im nothfall, any Christian may per- 
 form ministerial acts. But beyond this we cannot 
 admit him to be right. He can make no clear dis- 
 tinction between the office of the ministry and the 
 universal priesthood. And, therefore, his views on 
 the ministry could not maintain themselves." Such 
 is, freely translated, Paludan-Mueller's estimate of 
 Luther's doctrine of the ministry. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. J. A. W. Haas says of Luther's idea 
 of the ministry (see his paper on Ordination, in First Ha^on 
 General Conference of Lutherans, p. 234) : " This 
 realism of a divine gift was apparently not held by 
 Luther. From his treatise ' To the Christian No- 
 bility' (1520), and his 'Babylonian Captivity' 
 (1520), through the tractate, 'Das eine chrl versaml. 
 od. Gemeinde Recht n. Macht habe alle Lehre zu 
 urtheilen u. Lehrer zu benifen,' and his 'De insti- 
 tuendis mmistris ecdesuF^ etc., sent to the Senate 
 of Prague (both 1523), to the polemic ' Von der 
 Winkelmesse u. Pfaffenweihe ' (i533). and often else- 
 
7^ THE I.UTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 where, he declares the right of all believers to the 
 ofi&ce, because of the spiritual priesthood, (Erl, Ed., 
 xl. 170 fif: xlvii. 161), and sees the consecration 
 {weihe) in the call. ' Ordo est ministeriu7n et 
 vocatio ministronnn ecclesicz? . . . Nevertheless 
 Luther emphasizes the divine institution and call 
 (Erl. Ed., xxxi. 219 : xl. 171). In part this counter- 
 balances his combative position against the hier- 
 archy, in which as well the ministry as ordination 
 received a low value in the transference theory. 
 But the truer constructive thought of Luther 
 appears most fully in his Ordination Formular, 
 which is the basis of most later orders (Erl. Ed., 
 Ixiv. 290 ff)." 
 Seckendorf on Seckendorf , in his History of Lutheranism, says : 
 
 Luther. , . ,. 
 
 " If Luther here and there expresses himself very 
 freely, he does this to counteract the presumptuous 
 claims of the Romish clergy with its boast of 
 divine sanction, and withal a corrupt life. Those 
 radical expressions of his were, however, so under- 
 stood, explained, and modified, that they created no 
 serious offense." 
 
 For a good collection of the most important pas- 
 sages from Luther on the Minister's Office and Call, 
 see Pastorale Lutheri^ gathered and edited by M. 
 Conrad Parta, pp. 3-44 ; also Walther's Pastorale^ 
 pp. 23-58 ; also Kostlin's Luther's Theology, Vol. 
 II., pp. 84-98 ; and Clerical Office, Index. Luther's 
 
THE pastor's call. 77 
 
 transference theory then is the theory that the ^ 
 
 ^ •' Consequences 
 
 ministry is nothing more than an exercise of the of ^^ 
 
 transference 
 
 rights and powers which belong originally to the theory, 
 universal priesthood, which rights and powers that 
 priesthood has delegated to the minister, merely y&r 
 the sake of order ^ becaiise it would cause disorder 
 and confusion if all exercised them. The minister 
 thus becomes a mere mouthpiece of the congrega- 
 tion. He is its servant, and amenable to it for all 
 he does. It is but a short step from this position to 
 that of those church members who say : " We hire 
 our minister by the year." 
 
 Well does Dr. Haas, in the excellent paper 
 quoted above (p. 231), say : " The transference 
 theory has been developed in antithesis to Rome, 
 and in it Lutherans have agreed with the Reformed. 
 But in its baldness and lack of connection with the 
 means of grace, it becomes essentially Reformed, 
 makes the ministry an organ growing out of the 
 congregation, which ill befits the divine origin of 
 the ministry, and ought consistently allow only 
 sacrificial service. In it the main accent is placed 
 on the vocation, of which ordination is the attesta- 
 tion. Apparently it is in harmony with the Augs- 
 burg Confession (Art. XIV). But the call is there 
 used in a wider sense to include ordination, which 
 is used interchangeably with call by Luther and 
 Melanchthon before 1535. (Erl. Ed., xxxi. 348 ; 
 
78 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 C. R., iii. 236 : xxi. 103.) The adherents of the 
 doctrine of transference should have the ordination 
 performed, as ordered in the Eighteenth Article 
 of the Second Helvetic Confession, namely, by the 
 lay elders of the congregation, for whose Lutheran 
 legitimacy Walther contended. This would be the 
 attestation of the spiritual priests properly and 
 directly, though it is not the practice of the Luth- 
 eran Church, and never has been. Its constant 
 usage of ordination by the ministry alone increases 
 the incongruity of transference with the central 
 place of the means of grace in the Lutheran 
 system, particularly in the doctrine of the Church, 
 which is so closely bound up with that of the 
 ministry'." 
 
 The transference theory here opposed is advo- 
 cated with more or less consistency and modifica- 
 tion, among others, by Schleiermacher, Hoefling, 
 of the Harless, Thomasius, Palmer, Achelis, Luthardt, et 
 theory"*^^ «/. In the United States it is held, among Luth- 
 erans, by Dr. Loy and most of the Ohio Synod ; 
 Dr. Walther and the Missouri Synod. It was not, 
 however, the doctrine of the Lutheran dogmati- 
 cians of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. 
 We select only a few lines from those quoted by 
 Dr. Jacobs, pp. 8-15: 
 
 Chemnitz, Loci Theologici (Locus, De Ecclesiaj 
 Cap. iv., p. T 19). " They also object, but Christ has 
 
THE pastor's call. 79 
 
 made all believers priests (Rev. i. 6 : v. lo ; i Pet. 
 ii. 9), and the office of priest, among other things, dogmaticians. 
 is to teach the church (Lev. x. 10, 11 ; Mai. ii. 7). I 
 reply : Paul (i Cor. xii. 7, 8, 9, 29) expressly writes 
 that God does not give to all the gift of explaining 
 the Scriptures, but that for the advantage and 
 edification of the church He distributes in different 
 ways the gifts of His spirit. So in Eph. iv. 11. 
 Peter also explains his own words, that all Chris- 
 tians are priests ; not that all should promiscuously, 
 without a peculiar call, discharge the duties of the 
 ministry, but that they should offer the spiritual 
 sacrifices which aie described (Rom. xii. i and 
 Heb. xiii. 15, 16). . . . But to administer those 
 things which belong to the public ministry of the 
 Word and sacraments is not commanded to all 
 Christians in general ; as those two passages (i Cor. 
 xii. 7, 8, 9, 29 and Eph. iv. 11) above cited clearly 
 show. Nor is the general call, which all believers 
 receive in baptism, sufficient for the ministry, but a 
 peculiar call is required, as has been already shown 
 (Jas. iii. i). But it is of advantage to consider 
 why it is of so much importance that the minis- 
 ter of the church should have a lawful call. For 
 we must not think that this happens from any 
 human institution, or only for the sake of order. 
 But the reasons are of the greatest importance, the 
 consideration of which teaches us many things." 
 
8o THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 Gerhard (Loci Theologici, Locus xxiii., Cotta 
 xii. 2, 65, Preuss vi. 43) : " Spiritual priests offer 
 
 spiritual sacrifices Such are prayers 
 
 (Ps. cxli. 2 ; Rev. v. 8 : viii. 4) ; giving of thanks 
 (Heb.. xiii. 15); alms (Phil. iv. 18; Heb. xiii, 16); 
 mortification of the old man (Rom. xii. i) ; martyr- 
 dom endured for Christ's sake (Phil. ii. 17 ; 2 Tim. 
 
 Spiritual irr-11111 
 
 priests not all IV. 6). Such sacnfices can be offered by all the 
 
 pious, as by spiritual priests Although 
 
 indeed the preaching of the Gospel belongs also to 
 spiritual sacrifices (Mai. i. 1 1 ; Rom. xv. i6), yet 
 from the appellation of spiritual priests, ascribed to 
 all the pious, it cannot be inferred that to all belongs 
 this spiritual sacrifice^ namely^ the preaching of 
 the Gospel in the public congregation of the church, 
 inasmuch as the reason for the name is derived 
 from the spiritual sacrifices which all can offer, but 
 not from that which is in no way common to all 
 (i Cor. xii. 29) ; all believers are spiritual priests, 
 and yet all are not on this account teachers or 
 prophets, since not all are instructed in the gift 
 of prophecy or called to the ministry of the church 
 (Eph. iv. 11). Therefore, as not all are prophets 
 or apostles, so also not all are pastors and teachers. 
 Nor is there any force in the objection that Peter 
 adds that the pious are a royal priesthood, etc. For 
 we must distinguish between {a) the general com- 
 mand and call, which all the pious receive at their 
 
Ministers 
 
 THE pastor's CALT.. 8 1 
 
 reception of Christianity, and by which it is re- 
 quired of them to proclaim the praises of God, to 
 repay Him by whom they have been called to the 
 fellow^ship of the church, by words and deeds to con- 
 fess Him, privately to instruct their owni families in 
 true piety (Deut. vi. 7) ; to be careful that the 
 Word of God dwells in them richly in all wisdom, 
 and that they teach and admonish one another in 
 psalms and hymns and spiritual songs (Eph. v. 19 ; 
 Col, iii. 16) ; and that they comfort each other by 
 the Word of God (i Thes. iv. 18, etc.) ; and (b) the must have a 
 
 ^ , ^ ' ^ ' ^ ^ special call. 
 
 special call by which it is demanded that the min- 
 istry of the Word and Sacraments be administered 
 in the public assembly of the church, according to 
 the public consent of the church, by certain per- 
 sons fit for it ; and that this call is not common to 
 all Christians is evident from i Cor. xii. 29 ; Eph. 
 iv. II ; Jas. iii. i. 
 
 " To this special call belongs the administering of 
 the sacraments, as is inferred from i Cor. iv. i. 
 Now the mutual administering of the sacraments is 
 nowhere either commanded or permitted to all be- 
 lievers. Therefore, the public ministry' of the 
 Word also does not pertain to all." 
 
 Hollaz {Exanien Theologicum, De Ministerio 
 Ecclesiastico) answers the Anabaptists thus : " (i) 
 We make a distinction between priests, so called 
 by reason of their ecclesiastical office, and by rea- 
 
82 
 
 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 Transference 
 theory- not 
 Scriptural. 
 
 son of spiritual sacrifices. All Christians are priests 
 by reason of spiritual sacrifices, such as prayers, 
 praises, alms, mortifications of the body ; but not 
 all are priests by reason of the public ecclesiastical 
 office. For to women also belongs the priesthood 
 with respect to spiritual sacrifices, but not by rea- 
 son of the ecclesiastical office (i Tim. ii. 12). (2) 
 Christians are called not only priests, but also kings 
 before God. If, therefore, even when there is no 
 case of necessity, Christians are permitted, on ac- 
 count of their spiritual priesthood, to perform acts 
 belonging to the ecclesiastical priesthood, it follows 
 that the same persons, on account of their spiritual 
 kingship, can equally, even when there is no neces- 
 sity, perform acts pertaining to a political king- 
 dom, from whence execrable anarchy would result." 
 For further discussion of this point, see Chemnitz, 
 Gerhard, and Hollaz, as quoted by Jacobs, pp. 1-12, 
 It is clear from these citations that this transference 
 theory is not held by our older theologians. Neither 
 have we been able to find any ground for it in Holy 
 Scripture. Where is there a single proof that the 
 congregation, made up of believing priests, does on 
 that account possess the right to exercise the ordi- 
 nary functions of the ministry ? Where is the 
 proof that the ministr}' is created by the congrega- 
 tion? Where is it written that the minister is 
 amenable to the congregation? If the congrega- 
 
THE pastor's call. 83 
 
 tion of laymen alone makes the minister, then it 
 can also unmake or depose him from his office. 
 The whole theory is unscriptural and unhistoric. 
 Only the fanatical sects which have a low view of 
 the means of grace can, with any consistency, hold 
 such a view. 
 
 But, as is clearly seen from the many proof pas- 
 sages cited above, the ministry is a life-vocation of 
 certain qualified men, who are called out from the 
 general priesthood into this holy office. 
 
 True it is, as Loehe says (Neue Aphorismen, p. 
 43) : " Doubtless, in those early times, all who had chwjT" 
 breath preached, and, by virtue of the universal 
 priesthood, declared the wonderful works of God. 
 But in advance of all, and at the head of all, stood 
 the apostles and official preachers. The whole 
 ocean of light waved around them. There were 
 incitements and awakenings without the official 
 ministers. But no sooner were these movements 
 effective than the official ministry took the lead." 
 
 Dr. Th. Harnack (Praktische Theologie, Vol. L, 
 p. 93) says : " Office and officehood (Amt und 
 Amtsthunt) are confounded essentially in the col- 
 legial or transference theory, which gives the office 
 an existence for the sake of external order and finds 
 its origdn in the congregation. . . . But, in thus bas- 
 ing the office on mere human order, we really learn 
 nothing of the office itself, what it is in itself or 
 
84 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 whence it comes. A purely human right to officiate 
 in a given congregation might be thus established. 
 But the church's office is something essentially dif- 
 ferent. If the transference theory is correct, then 
 does ordination become in fact the robbing of the 
 many for the benefit of the one. But we contend 
 that the believing church member forfeits nothing 
 at all of his right or privilege as a priest. On the 
 contrary, the office of the ministry is intended to 
 Congregation jjgjp j^ji^ ^q attain to an ever fuller appropriation 
 
 not prior ^ x x j. 
 
 to office. and enjoyment of his rights and privileges. For 
 the ministry is given for the edifying of the body 
 of Christ, and so of each individual in that body 
 (Eph. iv. II, 12). The congregation may have a 
 right to erect an office, but it has no right in itself 
 to give power to administer the grace of God. . . . 
 Though the office demands qualifications, yet we 
 cannot admit that it only exists for the sake of an 
 orderly exercise of these qualifications. Neither do 
 we admit that the church existed before the office. 
 The office and the church originated together. The 
 gifts were not given to the church that she might 
 create the office with them, but that she might ef- 
 fectively exercise the office already established b}' 
 her Lord . . . 
 
 " The church really has an office, not because she 
 has persons qualified for its exercise, but because 
 she has the means of grace and the command of 
 
THE pastor's call. 85 
 
 the Lord to administer them. . . . The office does 
 
 not presuppose the church, nor does the priesthood 
 
 of believers presuppose or originate the office. 
 
 Rather this priesthood presupposes the qualifications 
 
 for the proper administering of the office. For he 
 
 who would be a trul}^ fit bearer of the office must 
 
 be a real and living member of the body of Christ. 
 
 Only in this character and condition, only by virtue 
 
 of the church, called and authorized by her, can he 
 
 exercise a right which belongs not to him but to the 
 
 church." * 
 
 \ A mediating position between the hierarchical 
 
 and the transference theory is the one that claims given by the 
 
 that the call is given by the church.^ 
 
 We are speaking of the external call. We do 
 not forget that God instituted the office, that He 
 selects and inwardly calls men into this holy office. 
 Those thus elected by God are made willing. They 
 
 * The whole discussion of the ministry by Harnack (pp. 
 87-100, Vol. I., Praktische Theologie) is well worthy of careful 
 study. For an exhaustive discussion, from a strictly confessional 
 standpoint, see Philippi Glaubenslehre, Vol. V. 3, pp. 48 f, 122 f, 
 132 f, 139 f, 149, 203 f, 223 f. In fact, the 292 pages of this 
 little volume are a storehouse of information on the true doctrine 
 of the church and her ministry. They collect, arrange, and dis- 
 cuss about all that is said in the New Testament, in the Confes- 
 sions, and by our theologians. Philippi himself agrees in the 
 main with the position of the dogmaticians cited above, as to 
 the call. The call does not come through apostolic or hierarchic 
 succession. Neither does it come by the general priesthood 
 giving up certain rights and privileges, and, for the sake of 
 order, delegating them to the ministry. 
 
 church. 
 
alone. 
 
 86 THE I<UTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 offer themselves to prepare for the work. If God 
 has really called them inwardly, there must and 
 will follow an outward call. 
 
 This does not come from the ministry alone, as 
 
 Not by the -^ ' 
 
 ministry we have Seen above. Neither does it come from the 
 laity alone, as we have also seen. It must come 
 from the church. But the church is neither the 
 ministry without the people nor the people without 
 the ministry. The Constitution of the General 
 Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in 
 America, in its Principles of Faith and Church 
 Polity, says (Of Ecclesiastical Power and Church 
 Government, IV., V.) : " The primary bodies 
 through which the power is normally exercised, 
 which Christ commits derivatively and ministe- 
 rially to His church on earth, are the congregations. 
 The congregation, in its normal state, is neither the 
 pastor without the people nor the people without 
 the pastor. 
 
 " In congregations exist the right of representa- 
 tion. In addition to the pastor, who by their 
 voluntary election is already, ex officio^ their repre> 
 sentative, the people have the right to choose repre- 
 sentatives from their own number to act for them, 
 under such constitutional limitations as the congre- 
 gation approves." 
 
 Christ then exercises His power to call men into 
 the ministry through the church. The church may 
 
THE pastor's call. 87 
 
 exist either in the congregation or in the represen- 
 tative church made up of ministers and lay repre- 
 sentatives of congregations. Either the congrega- 
 tion, as defined above, not without a pastor, or the 
 representative body, made up also of pastors and 
 people, has the right to extend the outward call. 
 That this is good Lutheran and Scriptural doctrine 
 will appear from a few citations from our theolo- 
 gians. 
 
 The call comes not from the ministry alone. 
 Chemnitz {Examen De Sacramento Ordinis, Pr. chemnitz. 
 485) : " The question in this place is, by whose 
 voice and suffrage ought the election and call to be 
 made so that it can be determined to be divine, i. e.^ 
 that God Himself, through these means chooses, 
 calls, and sends laborers into His harvest ? In Holy 
 Scripture there are certain and clear examples per- 
 taining to this subject." He then refers to the 
 election of Matthias in the place of Judas (Acts i.) ; 
 to the election of the deacons (Acts vi.) ; to the 
 appointment of presbyters in every church, by 
 Paul and Barnabas (Acts xiv). He claims that 
 X.€ipoTovT]cravr€'i there used means election made by 
 vote, as also 2 Cor. viii. 19. He also cites the selec- 
 tion of Barnabas and Saul as commissioners to the 
 church of Antioch. 
 
 Chemnitz (L. T., De Ecclesia, iii. 123) : " Inas- 
 much as the ministers are not the whole church, 
 
88 THE I.UTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 but only a part of it (Eph. iv. ii), neither are they 
 Lords of the church, but helpers and overseers 
 (2 Cor. i. 24 ; i Peter v. 3) ; therefore, they neither 
 can nor ought to assume the mediate call to them- 
 selves alone, the remaining members being ex- 
 cluded." 
 Baier. Baier (Comp. Th. Pas., De Min. Ecc., § iii. {c) ) : 
 
 " If we consider that the church is a republic, and 
 that the ministers of the Word are as it were the 
 magistrates or managers of the public business, on 
 whom the entrusted care of the whole State rests, 
 it is easily understood that the power of appointing 
 these resides, in itself and by its own nature, in the 
 entire churchy neither does it belong to any part 
 unless transferred to a certain part by the common 
 consent of all." 
 Quenstedt. Quenstedt (Theo. Div. — Pol., De Min. Ecc, q. 
 
 ii.) : " The power of electing and calling ministers 
 of the Word by divine right is not in the power of 
 the priests or ecclesiastical order alone." 
 Hoilaz. Hollaz {Exainen De Min. Ecc, q. vii.) mentions 
 
 the following argument of the Papists, and replies : 
 " ' The apostles appointed bishops without the vote 
 of the magistracy and people, e. g.^ Paul appointed 
 Titus bishop in Crete (Titus i. 5), therefore bishops 
 and pastors are at the present day to be called with- 
 out the vote of the people.' " We reply : " There 
 is a distinction between a church which is to be 
 
THE PASTOR'S CALL. 89 
 
 planted^ or first established, and one which has been 
 planted and established. When a church was first 
 to be planted and established among the heathen, 
 the vote of the people was not to be expected, and 
 the authority of an unbelieving magistracy was not 
 to be regarded. When the apostles seftt bishops atid 
 pastors to people who were yet to be converted the 
 consent of the hearers was not required ; but wheit 
 the church had beeti planted and established^ they 
 did not send forth ministers to the churches without 
 the consent of the people (Acts i. 24 : vi. 3 : xiv. 
 
 23)." 
 
 Neither does the call proceed from the people 
 
 alone. Chemnitz {Examen De Sacramento Ordinis, lai^ afone? 
 ut supra) : " But they " (/. e., the apostles) " do not 
 renounce the care of the call, and leave it to the 
 blind and confused pleasure of the common people or 
 multitude^ but they are as it were the directors and 
 controllers of the election and call ; for they give 
 the doctrine and rule, according to which the latter 
 should elect." 
 
 Chemnitz (L. T., De Ecclesia, iii., p. 123) : " It is 
 certainly and clearly evident, both from the com- 
 mands and examples of Scripture (Titus i. 5 ; i 
 Tim. iv. 14 ; 2 Tim. ii. 2 ; Acts xiv. 22), that those 
 who are already hi the ministry and profess the 
 sacred doctrine should be e77tployed whenever 
 through a mediate call the nmtistry is C7itrusted to 
 
whole church. 
 
 90 THE LUTHERAN PASTOn. 
 
 anyone. .... Therefore, the election and 
 call of ministers of the church should not be sub- 
 mitted either to the ministers alone 
 
 or to the ignorance and inconsiderateness of the 
 promiscuous multitude alone," 
 
 Gerhard (De Min. Ecc, § 86) : " In general, we 
 say that neither to the presbytery alone nor to the 
 magistracy alone, much less to the judgment of the 
 prom,isctious and ignorant multitude^ is the appoint- 
 ment of ministers to be submitted, but the right to 
 Bnt by the g^vc the Call bclougs to the whole church." So 
 also Quenstedt and Hollaz, passim. (See Jacobs, 
 
 PP- 3033-) 
 
 Further quotations are made by Dr. Jacobs from 
 
 our theologians to show that the whole church, both 
 ministers and people, properly calls men into the 
 office. Where Church and State are united devout 
 Christian rulers also have a voice in the selection. 
 This at least has been and is the custom. But, 
 while they can show examples from the Old Testa- 
 ment for State authority in the church, there is none 
 in the New. And it does not seem to be in har- 
 mony with the nature of the church to have civil 
 officers interfere in her work. The civil sphere is 
 altogether distinct and separate from the ecclesias- 
 tical. Christ's kingdom is not of this world. 
 
 To show that both ministry and people have a 
 part in extending the outward call, and that all 
 
THE PASTOR'S CALL. 9I 
 
 should be done according to a definite order, we give 
 a few more citations from pp. 33-40 of Dr. Jacobs' 
 Tract 
 
 Chemnitz {Examen De Sacramento Ordinis, Pr. 
 485) : " It is useful to observe this fact in the his- Chemnite. 
 tory of the apostles, that the ministers and the rest 
 of the church sometimes concurrently elected those 
 whom they judged suitable, as Acts i. Some- 
 times the church proposed and selected them, and 
 the election was submitted to the judgment of the 
 apostles for approval, Acts vi. But often the 
 apostles, who could judge better concerning these 
 matters, proposed to the churches those whom they 
 judged to be suitable for the ministry, and when the 
 vote and consent of the church were added, the call 
 was ratified. Thus Paul sends Timothy, Titus, 
 Sylvanus, etc., to the churches. Thus in Acts xiv. 
 elders are proposed to whom the church agrees, 
 XeipoTovia. Sometimes also some offered their 
 work to the church (i Tim. iii. i). Yet always in 
 the time of the apostles the consent of the church 
 and the judgment and approval of the presbytery 
 accompanied and were necessary to a lawful call. 
 Thus Titus was appointed to govern and direct the 
 election of elders in Crete, so that this might be 
 done in a proper way, and that he might confirm 
 the election properly made. For in reference to the 
 appointment of elders, Paul (Tit. i.) uses the same 
 
92 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 word which is found in Acts xiv., where mention is 
 made at the same time both of Xeiporovia and the 
 appointment of elders. And he commands Titus 
 to rebuke those sharply who are not sound in the 
 faith and do not teach what they should, z. e., as he 
 more clearly says (i Tim. v. 22). 
 
 " These examples of apostolic history clearly 
 show that the election or call belongs to the whole 
 church in a fixed manner, so that in the election or 
 call both presbyters and people may have their own 
 parts. . . . 
 
 " But where in the time of the apostles the priests 
 were idolatrous, the magistracy impious, and the 
 people walking in darkness, there in the beginning 
 the ministry could not be established through such 
 an election, but either the apostles went thither, or 
 sent others elsewhere properly chosen, in order that 
 these might first lay the foundation. Thus (Acts 
 xiii.) Paul and Barnabas are sent to the Gentiles, 
 and (Acts xi.) the Gospel is thus spread to Phenice, 
 Cyprus, and Antioch. Thus Paul had many per- 
 sons about him whom he sent hither and thither to 
 the churches. But when the churches had been for 
 some time founded, the ministry was established in 
 the manner which we have stated (Acts xiv.)." 
 
 Gerhard (L. T., De Min. Ecc, § 86) proves that 
 Gerhard. the laity also should participate in the call : 
 
 " I. From the Scriptures, (i) The delivery of 
 
THE pastor'vS call. 93 
 
 the keys to the whole church. (Compare Matt. x\'i. 
 19 with xviii. 17, 18 ; i Cor. v. 4, 5 ; 2 Cor. ii. 6). (2) 
 From the testing of the teachers. Whoever is 
 charged with the duty of distinguishing teachers 
 from seducers, of testing sound doctrines, of distin- 
 guishing the voice of Christ, the chief Shepherd, 
 from the voice of false shepherds, of following no 
 other but fleeing from him, of anathematizing 
 those who preach a Gospel other than that which Teaching of 
 was preached by the apostles, has the duty assigned Testament 
 him, in his own manner and order, to call ministers 
 of the church. But by the force of the divine com- 
 mand, all the former duties rest upon the sheep of 
 Christ or hearers (Matt. vii. 15 ; John v. 39 : x. 27 ; 
 Gal. i. 9; I Thes. v. 19, 21 ; i John iv. i ; 2 John 
 10, 11). Therefore the latter dare not be denied 
 them. (3) From the name of ministers. They are 
 ministers of the church, and therefore the church 
 must have the right to call them (i Cor. iii. 21, 22 ; 
 2 Cor. i. 24 ; i Pet. v. 2, 3). (4) From the advan- 
 tage of the hearers. If the minister is to have a 
 good report of those that are without (i Tim. iii. 7), 
 how much more necessary' is it that he should have 
 this report of the church over which he is to pre- 
 side. ... (6) The calling of ministers with the 
 consent and by the vote of the church over which 
 they are appointed cherishes mutual concord be- 
 tween hearers and pastors, and removes dissension. 
 
94 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 II. From the practice of the apostles (Acts i. 23 : 
 vi. 3 : xiv. 23). Each of these passages is explained 
 at great length, and the exceptions of Bellarmine 
 against their application in this connection are re- 
 futed. III. The practice of the primitive church 
 is proved from : (i) The decrees of the councils. 
 (2) The sayings of the fathers. (3) Approved ex- 
 amples of a lawful call." 
 
 Chemnitz (L. T., De Ecclesia, iii. 123): " Inas- 
 The order of much as God is not a God of confusion, but of 
 ^^^^' order (i Cor. xiv. 2,3)- In order that all things be 
 done decently and in order, the matter of the elec- 
 tion and call of ministers, both in the time of the 
 apostles and since their times in the older and purer 
 church, was always transacted in a certain order dy 
 the chief members of the church in the name and by 
 the consetit of the eiitire church. Thus (Acts i. 22) 
 Peter presents a description of the character of the 
 person who should be chosen ; and afterward the 
 apostles, together with the church, make the choice. 
 Acts vi. 3, the apostles propose the election of 
 deacons to administer the external affairs of the 
 church ; they also describe of what character these 
 persons should be, and, according to that rule, the 
 church elects. But afterward they submit those 
 whom they have elected to the judgment of the 
 apostles, who confirm the election by their ap- 
 proval. Often the apostles also proposed suitable 
 
THE pastor's call. 
 
 95 
 
 persons to the church. Thus Paul sent Titus, 
 Timothy, Sylvanus, and others ; and the church 
 afterward approved this election by its vote and 
 consent (\cts xiv. 23; 2 Cor. viii. 19). Titus is 
 proposed with another to convey alms to Jerusalem, 
 and the church agrees. Thus nevertheless the elec- 
 tion was made by the church, but yet in a definite 
 order." 
 
 Ouenstedt (T. D.— P., De Min. Ecc, IV., p. 402) : 
 *' To avoid confusion in the election of bishops and 
 presbyters there have been established church con- 
 sistories or presbyteries, composed of honored eccle- 
 siastical and political men, who represent the 
 church and are charged with the duty of furthering 
 the business of the church, and inquiring into the 
 studies, the life, and the character of those who are 
 to be ordained." 
 
 Page 403 : " Bishops or teachers cannot alone 
 represent the church, since the hearers also are in- 
 cluded in the definition ; but the presbytery can 
 represent the church to which belong not only those 
 who labor in the Word, but also the elders, /. .?., very 
 highly respected members of the church set over 
 the business of the church, who, together with the 
 ministry, constitute the presbyter>', or, as we at 
 present call it, the Consistory. So also Baier (De 
 Ecclesia, § 30, XXX.). 
 
 We are not yet done with the external call. 
 
 Through 
 consistory, 
 presbytery, 
 
 or synod. 
 
96 THE IvUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 I Our theologians also insist and agree that the call 
 
 Tlie call must . . . . , - 
 
 be to a certain must be to a certain place. This point indeed seems 
 so self-evident that it ought to require no proof. If 
 the church calls a man, the call must be to a defi- 
 nite work. We cannot conceive of a definite work 
 without a specified place. To call one into the 
 ministry in order that he might exercise that voca- 
 tion at large, wherever he lists or can find a tempo- 
 rary hearing, would be to put an end to all order. 
 Then would every pastor have the right to come 
 into the parish and interfere with the work of every 
 other pastor. It would mean to encourage disaffec- 
 tion, division, and strife. It would mean a whole- 
 sale sanction of personal interference and proselyt- 
 ism. It would put an end to authority and dis- 
 cipline. The call must be to a certain work in a 
 certain, definite place. Let us hear a few citations 
 from our theologians : 
 
 Chemnitz (L. T., De Ecc, iii., 124): "What we 
 have above said concerning the call of the apostles, 
 that it extends itself to the whole earth, we cannot 
 now say also concerning those who have been medi- 
 ately called. For teachers {doctores)^ pastors, bish- 
 ops, presbyters are called to certain churches, and 
 have not absolute power of teaching everywhere or 
 in all churches (Acts xiv. 23 ; Tit. i. 5). And thus 
 God, through a special call, is accustomed to show 
 in what place He wishes to use the services of any- 
 
THE pastor's call. 97 
 
 one. Therefore, by virtue of this call, they do not 
 have the power to teach in other churches to which 
 they do not have a special call. Hence in the 
 Council of Chalcedon (Canon VI., and, according to 
 Gratian, Canon XVI.) there was a statute that no 
 one ought to be absolutely ordained, unless to a 
 certain work and a certain church." 
 
 Gerhard (L. T., De Min. Ecc, § 138) : "A mediate 
 call is to a certain place, since, among other points 
 of difiference, the immediate call of the apostles is 
 commonly thought to differ from the mediate call 
 of presbyters, pastors, and teachers in this, that the 
 former receive absolute power, yea the command to 
 preach everywhere (Matt, xxviii. 19 ; Mark xvi. 15 ; 
 Rom. X. 18 ; Col. i. 28). But the latter had a cer- 
 tain flock committed to them in a certain definite 
 place. Thus Acts xiv. 23 ; Tit. i. 5 ; i Peter v. 2." 
 
 The call must further be unlimited in time. 
 This is a very important point for us. In many of *^^" ™»^* ^ 
 
 unlimited in 
 
 our country parishes the very reprehensible custom tt™«- 
 of calling a pastor for a year, and then recalling 
 him, or refusing him at the end of the year, is still 
 in vogue. 
 
 The custom undoubtedly could arise only where 
 there is a low view of the ministry. If the pastor 
 is a mere creature and servant of the congregation ; 
 if the congregation has the right and power to make 
 and to immake him ; if the retention and dismission 
 7 
 
98 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 depend only and entirely on the whims, notions, 
 and tastes of the people ; if he is merely the " hired 
 man," " hired for a year," then of course the question 
 still heard occasionally in country churches : " Shall 
 we hire our preacher for another year ? " is quite 
 pertinent. But what a low view is this of the pas- 
 tor's office and calling. How can a pastor, under 
 such conceptions and conditions, labor with any 
 measure of confidence and joy ? Is he not degraded 
 to a mere man-pleaser ? Must he not be ever on his 
 guard that his preaching offend no one ? Will he 
 not naturally make the tastes and desires of his 
 people, instead of their needs, the standard for his 
 preaching? Will he not cater to the rich and influ- 
 ential ? Will he not wink at their sins and short- 
 comings? Such a condition must needs degrade 
 the office, the work, and the efficiency of the min- 
 istry. But such things cannot be where there are 
 proper and Scriptural views of the ministry. 
 
 Note a few quotations given by Dr. Horn (Evan- 
 Dr. Walther gcHcal Pastor, pp. 54-58) : Dr. Walther says : "A 
 
 oa a time-call. . . , ,- - 
 
 congregation has no right to give such a call, and 
 a preacher is not justified in accepting it. Such a 
 call is not valid before God, nor is it legitimate. 
 First of all, it is in conflict with the divine source 
 of the call to the ministry in the church, which is 
 amply witnessed in the Word of God (Acts xx. 28 ; 
 Eph. iv. II ; I Cor. xii. 28; Ps. Ixviii. 11 ; Isa. xli. 
 
THE pastor's call. 99 
 
 27). For it is God Himself who calls ministers; 
 the congregations are only instruments to separate 
 the persons for the work to which the Lord has 
 called them (Acts xiii. 2). This having been done, 
 the minister is henceforth in God's service, and no 
 creature can depose or dismiss God's servant from his 
 office until God Himself has deposed or dismissed 
 him (Jer. xv. 19. Cf. Hos. iv. 6), in which case the ,]/;'<•;,[' o^ 
 congregation only carries out God's deposition and 
 dismissal. If, nevertheless, the congregation does it, 
 it makes itself mistress of the office of the ministry 
 (Matt, xxiii. 8. Cf. 2 Tim. iv. 2, 3), lays hands on the 
 prerogative of God, whether it has before the call or 
 with the call made arbitrary conditions or subse- 
 quently attempts to make such. And the preacher 
 who gives a congregation the authority to call and 
 dismiss him at will makes himself a hireling, a ser- 
 vant of men. Such a call is not at all the call to 
 the ministry which God has ordained. It is not a 
 call of God through the church. It is a contract 
 between men. It is no calling, but a transient func- 
 tion outside the divine order, an arrangement made 
 by men, contrary to God's arrangement, and there- 
 fore it is grievous disorder. It is therefore, as we 
 have said, null and void. One called in that way 
 is not to be looked on as a servant of Christ and of 
 the church. 
 
 " In the second place, such a call conflicts with the 
 
Further 
 atguments. 
 
 lOO THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 relation in which pastor and people ought to stand 
 to each other, according to the Word of God. It is 
 in conflict with the honor and obedience which His 
 hearers owe to the divinely appointed ministry of 
 the Gospel (Luke x. i6 ; i Tim. v. 17; i Thes. v. 
 12, 13; I Cor. xvi. 15, 16; Heb. xiii. 17). For if 
 the hearers really had that authority it would be in 
 their power to withdraw themselves from the duty 
 of showing that honor and obedience which God 
 requires. 
 
 " None the less is every sort of temporary call con- 
 trary to the faithfulness and steadfastness unto 
 death which God requires from preachers (i Peter 
 V. 1-4; I Tim. iv. 16; i Cor. iv. if), and incom- 
 patible with the account which they as watchers 
 over souls must give of those committed to their 
 charge (Heb. xiii. 17). 
 
 "Finally, a temporary call is contrary to the praxts 
 committed to the apostles by the Lord, and ob- 
 served by them, according to which they, t. e., the 
 Holy Ghost through them, did not leave it to their 
 hearers to decide how long they should remain with 
 a congregation (Luke ix. 4, 5) ; and it is contrary 
 to the praxis of the church in those times in which 
 doctrine, life, order, and discipline were yet incor- 
 rupt. It needs no argument to show that so long 
 as that sort of a call is usual the church never is 
 rightly cared for, ruled, exercised in sound dis* 
 
THE PASTOR'S CALL. 
 
 lOI 
 
 cipline, established in faith and godliness, and spread 
 abroad ; such a call opens the door to all disorder, 
 confusion, and harm through gainsayings and men- 
 pleasing and men-fearing servants of the belly." 
 
 Hieron^'mus Kromayer (Professor at Leipzig, d. 
 1670) writes : " The office of the ministry cannot 
 be conferred by a call which, after the manner of a 
 contract, is limited to a certain time, or reserves the 
 liberty to dismiss the person freely called, because 
 God has not given the authority to make such con- 
 tract, nor does He permit it ; and therefore neither 
 the one called nor those calling dare consider such 
 a vocation and dismissal to be divine." 
 
 Ludwig Hartmann (Pastorale Evang., p. 104) 
 says : " We are servants of God, and this is God's 
 office to which we have been called, through men 
 indeed, yet by God Himself. This holy work must 
 accordingly be treated in a holy way and not as 
 men please. A shepherd or a cowherd may be 
 hired for a certain time, and when the time is up 
 (yet not whenever you please), if they have not 
 given satisfaction, they may be discharged. But it is 
 in no man's power to do so with a shepherd of souls, 
 and a minister of the Gospel himself dare not accept 
 the holy office in that way unless he is willing to be 
 a hireling. They who have been called after that 
 fashion certainly will not be industrious and faith- 
 ful, but will be flatterers, saying what the people 
 
 Kromayer. 
 
 Hartmann. 
 
I02 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 wish to hear ; or, if they be faithful, they will be in 
 constant expectation that they will be dismissed." 
 
 A call, limited in time, is not therefore a right 
 call. No true pastor ought to accept such a call. 
 If the matter be properly explained, the people will 
 generally see the reasonableness and consistency of 
 the true position. 
 
 It does not follow from this, however, that a 
 Can a call be congregation may never terminate a pastor's ser- 
 terminated? yjce. If he provc uusouud in faith, or immoral 
 in life, then it is not only a matter of privilege, but 
 a matter of duty, that the failing be brought to the 
 attention of the proper officials in the synod and 
 disciplinary measures be employed. In such cases, 
 however, the constitution of the congregation and 
 of synod must be scrupulously followed. But what 
 if it be merely a matter of inefficiency ; if it is evi- 
 dent to all that the church instead of growing is 
 constantly declining ; if, either from laziness or 
 from inability on the pastor's part, the church is 
 dying, what then ? Can the pastor still plead the 
 divine call ? Must the church members who love 
 their church be utterly helpless and see it slowly 
 die ? We believe not But the most conscientious 
 care must be exercised. The officers of synod or 
 conference should by all means be consulted. It 
 must be morally certain that the fault lies in the 
 pastor. It may lie elsewhere. 
 
THE pastor's call. I03 
 
 Is a congregation ever justified in asking the 
 
 rf Should a 
 
 pastor to resign ? If the proper officers agree pastor ever b^ 
 with the congregation that the welfare of the resign? 
 church demands a change, the pastor ought to be 
 so informed, and ought to resign. The welfare of a 
 congregation ought always to be abo\'e the comfort 
 and preference of the pastor. A church should not 
 be sacrificed for a maji^\"We do not believe that 
 God calls men to kill congregations, unless it should 
 be as a judginent. The right to ask a pastor to 
 resign cannot be absolutely forbidden a congrega- 
 tion. 
 
 But, on the other hand, neither can a pastor bind 
 himself to remain with a congregation for life, or 
 even for a definite period. He is, above all, the 
 servant of His Lord. The Lord has called him to 
 his present field, if indeed he has been rz'^e vocatiis^ 
 and the Lord can call him away. The Lord may 
 need him elsewhere. He may have had a special 
 work to do where he is and it may now be done. 
 And now the Lord may need him for a special work 
 elsewhere. The great consideration is that he be 
 called, and that he follow the Master's leading. But 
 of this, more later on. Here we would only indicate 
 that, as a servant of his Lord, the pastor must ever 
 be at that Master's beck and call, ready to abide or 
 to go as He may direct. 
 
 Such then is the Lutheran doctrine of the call. 
 
I04 THE I.UTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 Clearly this is the doctrine of the Divine Word. It 
 is of the most vital importance that every pastor be 
 clear on this point. There is nothing so helpful, 
 comforting, and encouraging as the certain convic- 
 tion : "I am here because the Lord called me." 
 
 But the question still remains : How is this doc- 
 trine of the call put into practice ? The call must 
 come through the church ; not from the ministry 
 alone, nor from the people alone, but from both. 
 How is this idea carried out among us ? 
 
 The young man has finished his studies. He is 
 How a person ready to enter upon his life-work. There is a 
 
 is called. ^ ^ 
 
 vacant church. The candidate wants work, the 
 congregation wants a worker. The two must be 
 brought together. The proper officers of confer- 
 ence or synod are informed that the young man is 
 ready. They have also been informed that the 
 congregation wants a pastor. They bring the two 
 parties together. The people have a right to know 
 about the man who is to become their pastor. They 
 get the testimony of the ministry in seminary and 
 synod. The people have a right to see and hear 
 him. They want a " trial sermon." They have a 
 right to this. 
 
 Gerhard (Loci Theologici, De Min., § 86) says : 
 " The people, from their catechetical instruction, 
 can give some judgment concerning his purity of 
 doctrine, from the trial sermon^ some judgment as 
 
THE pastor's call. 105 
 
 to his g^fts, and from conversation or the report of 
 others some judgment as to his character." 
 
 Trial sermons can be and often are abused. A Trial sermons, 
 candidate may use a sermon largely copied, or 
 otherwise beyond his ordinary ability. He may 
 use the arts of the politician to secure votes. In so 
 far he vitiates the divinity of the call. But where 
 properly recommended by the officials he is after- 
 ward duly elected, his call is orderh', and, as far as 
 man can see, divine. He has been called by the 
 church, not by the ministry alone, nor by people 
 alone, but by ministry and people. 
 
 A number of normal congregations may also del- 
 egate their rights to a synod or to a mission board. ^j^^ ^^j 
 Such a body, beingr a representative church, has the .°^. '^^ 
 
 -' ' ° ^ ' missKxiary. 
 
 right and authority to call men to labor in foreign 
 or home mission fields, where there are no estab- 
 lished or self-supporting congregations. If they 
 call anyone to preach the Word and administer the 
 sacraments, this also is a proper call. But in all 
 these cases, where there is a scheming, a bid- 
 ding for votes, a seeking for the place, the call is 
 vitiated. A pastor cannot have the assurance, com- 
 fort, and encouragement in his work if he is con- 
 scious of having used or sanctioned such methods 
 to secure his place. The judgments of God upon 
 the false shepherds, upon those whom He has not 
 sent, will certainly follow. 
 
work. 
 
 Io6 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 Whenever a call comes properly, and is recog- 
 
 Froposing . ■,■, f ^ ^ • ^ i c i 
 
 oneself for nized as a call of God, it dare not be reiused. 
 
 But may a candidate not propose himself to the 
 proper authorities ? As God works through human 
 instruments, and man is not omniscient, those who 
 have the right to recommend and call must be in- 
 formed of those ready for work. From Isa. vi. 8 
 and I Tim. iii. i, we have already learned that it is 
 right, under the influence of God's Spirit, to desire 
 and be willing to enter on the work of the office. 
 Within the proper conditions it may therefore be 
 perfectly proper for one to propose himself. But 
 let such an one carefully examine himself and 
 make sure that he is not doing it from selfish 
 motives, but only for the glory of God and out of 
 love for Christ and for souls. If a proper call 
 comes upon such self-proposal, there need be no 
 doubt as to its divinity. 
 
 When a candidate has now been rightly called, 
 and is persuaded that the call is God's call through 
 the church, he should at once apply to the proper 
 officers of synod for ordination. 
 
 He needs to have clear conceptions of the signi- 
 ficance of that high and holy rite. In the next 
 chapter therefore we shall consider the subject of 
 ordination. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ORDINATION — AND THE CALL FROM ONE FIELD OF 
 LABOR TO ANOTHER. 
 
 On this subject also there are different views in 
 the church. The view of ordination is naturally 
 dependent on the view of the ministry. Those 
 who hold to the hierarchical theory of the ministry 
 necessarily exalt ordination. With Rome it is one 
 of the seven sacraments. The validity of the 
 ministry is determined by the ordination. The 
 true church is such by virtue of its properly or- 
 dained priesLliood. 
 
 In J. A. IMoehler's Symbolism (Robertson's Trans. , ordinatioa 
 p. 299; quoted by Dr. S. A. Repass, in Article on r'U^r 
 the Christian Ministry-, Lutheran Church Review, <-hurch. 
 October, 1890) we read : " An ecclesiastical ordi- 
 nation, originating with Christ, the fountain-head, 
 and perpetuated in uninterrupted succession, so 
 that as the apostles were sent forth by the Saviour, 
 they, in their turn, instituted bishops, and these 
 appointed their successors, and so on down to our 
 days. By this episcopal succession, beginning 
 from our Saviour and continued on without inter- 
 ruption, we can especially recognize, as by an out- 
 
 (107) 
 
Io8 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 ward mark, which is the true church founded by 
 Himy 
 
 With Rome, the episcopate is the continuation 
 of the apostolate, and Peter's primacy is continued 
 in the pope. This hierarchical succession condi- 
 tions the true church. There can be no true 
 church, no true sacraments, no assurance of salva- 
 tion outside of this succession. Episcopal and sac- 
 ramental ordination is the corner-stone of the true 
 church. 
 In the Church The Anglican view of ordination comes danger- 
 
 of England. 
 
 ously close to the Romish. Though ordination is 
 not a sacrament, yet it initiates into a priestly order. 
 The validity of the sacraments is conditioned by 
 the validity of the succession. 
 
 Says Dr. Repass in the aforenamed article : 
 " High church Anglicanism lacks the pope to make 
 it self-consistent. Sacramental grace is as certainly 
 confined by it to the episcopate as in the Romish 
 view to the primacy of him who is for the time the 
 successor of St. Peter. The church and the grace 
 of the sacraments are without validity and reality 
 except there be episcopal ordination. This is es- 
 sentially Romanism." 
 
 Dr. Repass quotes thus from Goodes' Divine 
 Rule of Faith and Practice, Vol. II., p. ^2>'- " 1"^^^ 
 consecration of bishops by bishops is so essential by 
 divine and apostolic ordinances to render them 
 
ORDINATION. IO9 
 
 capable of perfonning the duties of the episcopal 
 function as to ordination and church government, 
 and, by consequence to the succession of orders of 
 any kind in the church, that wherever the chain of 
 successional episcopal ordination is lost, there are 
 none duly qualified to preach the Word or admin- 
 ister the sacraments ; and that those who are not in 
 communion with a ministry so constituted form no 
 part of the church. And that sacramental grace, 
 or the grace of the sacraments, flows only through 
 ministers who have received such episcopal ordina- 
 tion, and that through them only we can maintain 
 communion with Christ. They hold the exclusive 
 virtue of the sacraments as ordinary means to their 
 respective graces." 
 
 What a wonderful efficacy in the finger-tips of a 
 bishop ! 
 
 " We are aware that not all Episcopalians hold 
 these high views. But such are simply inconsistent 
 with their church." 
 
 Approaching more or less nearly to the episcopal 
 theory is that of certain Lutherans who make the 
 ministry the divine self-perpetuation of the pastor's 
 office. Thus Vilmar, who is the highest exponent ^^^* 
 of this view, consistently gives to ordination a high 
 sacramental character. In his Pastoral Theology 
 (P- 38 f), he says : " Ordination imparts special 
 gifts which can be obtained in no other way ; with 
 
no THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 it we receive powers which no other calling has. 
 Ordination separates us from the world." He makes 
 it indeed a kind of an opus operatttm when he says : 
 "After receiving ordination, even the coarse and 
 narrow candidate feels its efficacy, realizes that 
 something peculiar has taken place in him, and 
 that he has become a changed man." 
 Ordination ^^ ^^^ oppositc extreme is the view of those who 
 ^^"fereucc ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ above-described transference theory of 
 theory. ^^^ miuistrj''. As with them a specific ministry 
 exists merely for the sake of order, so also ordina- 
 tion is a ceremony of the church, useful only for 
 good order. It really imparts nothing. Its whole 
 meaning and use consists in this that it publicly 
 attests and ratifies the validity of the call. (See 
 Jacobs' Art., Lutheran Doctrine of the Ministry, pp. 
 41, 42.) He there quotes Chemnitz (L. T., De Ecc, 
 iv. p. 126); Gerhard (L. T., De Min. Ecc, § 139); 
 HoUaz {Ex. De Min. Ecc, q. ix., Prob. A.). 
 
 As we have already shown that the transference 
 theory is unscriptural and not consistent with the 
 Lutheran doctrine of the means of grace, we need 
 not delay with its superficial and unsatisfactory view 
 of ordination. The Rev. Dr. J. A. W. Haas, in his 
 paper on Ordination in First General Conference of 
 Lutherans (p. 231), says : " The adherents of the doc- 
 trine of transference should have the ordination 
 performed, as ordered in the Eighteenth Art. of the 
 
ORDINATION. Ill 
 
 Second Helvetic Confession, namely, by the lay 
 elders of the congregation, for whose Lutheran 
 legitimacy Dr. Walther contended. This would 
 be the attestation of the spiritual priests properly 
 and directly, though it is nowhere the practice of 
 the Lutheran Church and never has been. Its con- 
 stant usage of ordination by the ministr}^ alone 
 increases the incongruity of transference with the 
 central place of the means of grace in the Lutheran 
 system, particularly in the doctrine of the church 
 which is so closely bound up with that of the min- 
 istry." This view of ordination, like that of the 
 advocates of the hierarchical system and of the 
 Lutherans that border on that view, is therefore 
 unsatisfactory. We do not believe that it is Scrip- 
 tural, and therefore it cannot be truly Lutheran. 
 
 There is another view held by many Lutherans 
 which certainly is more thoroughly Scriptural and '*!^ ?^ 
 
 <^ •' -^ ordinatioD. 
 
 also more in harmony with the Lutheran doctrine 
 of the church and her means of grace. This view 
 is fully and clearly stated by the Rev. Dr. J. A. W. 
 Haas, in the paper already referred to. (See First 
 Gen. Conf. of Lutherans, p. 232 fP.) We cannot do 
 better than quote Pastor Haas at this point : " The 
 mediate position emphasizes the separateness of the 
 office at its connection with the means of grace over 
 against the Reformed, as well as its purely adminis- 
 trative cJaaracter >r ' its perpetuation by the elec- 
 
 The Lutheran 
 
112 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 tion of the whole church in all its members over 
 against Rome. This accords most fully with the 
 Smalcald Articles (Power and Primacy of the Pope, 
 ii., 66 fif), which, properly understood, claim ordi- 
 nation as the prerogative of the whole church. 
 ' Where there is therefore a true church, the right 
 to elect and ordain ministers necessarily exists.' 
 And the words of Peter, ' Ye are the royal priest- 
 hood,' are applied thus : ' These words pertain to 
 the true church, which, since it alone has the priest- 
 hood, has the right to elect and ordain ministers.' 
 Their office as divine is not injured by the democ- 
 racy of an atomistic spiritual priesthood, nor by the 
 aristocracy of a self-generating priestly order. Or- 
 Definition of diuation will then be the public approval of the call 
 of the church, but it will also include the separation 
 for the ministry with invocation of blessing and 
 consecration under divine approval. These feat- 
 ures form a sufficient reason why ordination is not 
 repeated, without gravitating in the least to any 
 character indclebilis^ or leaving it actually unex- 
 plained and inconsistent, as does the theory of 
 transference. 
 
 " The Scriptural basis of ordination cannot be 
 derived from any institution or act of Christ. His 
 breathing upon the apostles (John xx. 22) was a 
 special transmission of His Spirit and an actual proof 
 of the forgiveness of sins in Him to fit the apostles 
 
ORDINATION. II3 
 
 for their special foundation work. As the ministry- 
 is no continuation of the apostolate, so this afflation practiced by 
 has no bearing on the rite of ordination. This is '^^ apostles, 
 simply an apostolic institution, and was used as 
 well for the seven (Acts vi. 5), as for Barnabas 
 and Saul (Acts xiii. 3), when separated for their 
 call, and also for Timothy (i Tim. iv. 14 ; 2 Tim. 
 i. 6). In the same manner Paul and Barnabas ap- 
 pointed elders upon the vote of the church (Acts 
 xiv. 23). Here, as in Acts xiii. 3, fasting marked 
 the importance and solemnity of the occasion. It 
 was prepared for by prayer (cf. Mark ix. 29), but 
 was no integral part of the act. The accompanying 
 rite was the laying on of hands with prayer. Lay- 
 ing on of hands was an Old Testament and general 
 religious form to express the imposition, imparta- 
 tion, and communication of something, e. g.^ sin 
 and transgression (Ex. xxix. 1 5 ; Lev. iv. 4 and 
 xvi. 21 ; Num. viii. 12), guilt (Lev. xxiv. 14), 
 thanksgiving (Lev. iii. 2), blessing (Gen. xlviii. 14), 
 life [in burnt offerings] (Ex. xxix. 15; Lev. i. 4 ; 
 Num. viii. 12), office (Dent, xxxiv. 9). Christ uses it 
 at times (Mark vi. 5 : viii. 23 : x. 16 ; Luke iv. 40 : 
 xiii. 13), but not often, nor always when requested 
 (Mark v. 23), perhaps because it was sometimes 
 conceived of magically, and not as by the mothers 
 (Matt. xix. 13), combined with prayer. Blessing, 
 healing, life, were expected from Christ by laying 
 
114 THE I^UTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 on of hands. The value was that of Christ's per- 
 son, and the action symbolized a real gift imparted 
 by the Word. 
 
 " What Christ did, God did. His power in Christ 
 was presupposed when Christ gave the laying on of 
 hands for healing to His disciples (Mark xvi. i8). 
 Paul thus uses it (Acts xxviii. 8), as did also Ana- 
 nias upon special divine commission (Acts ix. 12, 
 17). The apostles can also give charismata with it 
 (Acts viii. 1 7 : xix. 6). Thus the charisma of Tim- 
 othy, given by prophecy, with (meta) the laying on 
 of hands, as the accompanying rite, is also spoken 
 of as imparted through (dia) laying on of hands 
 (i Tim. iv. 14 ; 2 Tim. i. 6). This agrees with 
 Christ's mode, the Word and symbol are together. 
 The divine j^ jg ^his reality of the divine gift through the 
 ordination. Word which justifies the remark of the Apology : 
 ' But if ordination be applied to the ministry of the 
 Word, we are not unwilling to call ordination a 
 sacrament. For the ministry has God's command 
 and glorious promise (Rom. i. 16). " The Gospel is 
 the power of God unto salvation to everyone that 
 believeth." Likewise (Isa. Iv. 11): "So shall my 
 Word be that goeth forth out of my mouth ; it shall 
 not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish 
 that which I please." If ordination be understood 
 in this way, neither will we refuse to call the impo- 
 position of hands a sacrament ' (Art. XHI. 1 1), 
 
ORDINATION. 
 
 T I 
 
 " Chemnitz {Exmncn Decret. Cone. Trid., III. 3) 
 approves of this, and explains that sacrament is 
 here used in a wide sense. He is thus not in con- 
 flict with Gerhard (Loci. XIL, 159), who thinks of 
 the sacraments in the proper and limited sense, 
 when he says of the laying on of hands, ' Not as 
 though it were any sacramental symbol instituted 
 by Christ' Frank (Sys. der Chrl. Wahrheit II., p. 
 308) is in line with Chemnitz when he holds that 
 a real blessing is given in the la}'ing on of hands. 
 ' But not according to the manner of the proper 
 sacraments is the impartation of the gift bound to 
 the outward act. He,who rightly called, and belong- 
 ing to the gifts which the exalted Christ promised 
 His church (Eph. iv. 8), extends His hands in 
 prayer to Him, who has called him, will not remain 
 unblessed if perchance the laying on of hands 
 would not be given him when entering into office. 
 Many of these acts, as this appears most clearly in 
 absolution with laying on of hands, are only special 
 combinations and applications of the effect, which 
 takes place generally through the Divine Word, in 
 a single significant action instituted for this pur- 
 pose. From this effectiveness of such actions they 
 can be better conceived of.' 
 
 " This realism of a divine gift was apparentl}' not 
 held by Luther. From his treatise, *To the Christian 
 Nobility' (1520), and his 'Babylonian Captivity' 
 
 Chemnitz 
 
 Gerhard. 
 
 Frank. 
 
 Lather. 
 
His 
 
 Il6 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 (1520), through the tractate, ''Das eine chrl. versaml. 
 od. Gemeinde Recht u. Macht habe alle Lehre zu 
 urtheilen u. Lehrer zti berufett^ and his '■De insti- 
 tuendis ^mnisiris ecclesics^ etc., sent to the Senate 
 of Prague (both 1523), to the polemic ' Von der 
 Winkelmesse u. Pfaffenweihe ' (1533), and often else- 
 where, he declares the right of all believers to the 
 office, because of the spiritual priesthood (Erl. Ed., 
 xl. 170 ff : xlvii. 161), and sees the consecration 
 {weihe) in the call. ' Ordo est ministeriunt et 
 vocatio tninistronim ecclesice.'' 
 
 "Ordination because of the prayer and the prom- 
 ise (Matt, xviii. 19) is effective, but it is only like a 
 ordination notary's Seal or the confirmation of marriage by a 
 
 formulary. 
 
 pastor (Kostlin, Luther's TheoL, 2539). Neverthe- 
 less Luther emphasizes the divine institution and call 
 (Erl. Ed., xxxi. 219 : xl. 171). In part this counter- 
 balances his combative position against the hier- 
 archy, in which as well the ministry as ordination 
 received a low value in the transference theory. 
 But the truer constructive thought of Luther 
 appears most fully in his Ordinations Formnlar^ 
 which is the basis of most later orders (Erl. Ed., 
 Ixiv. 290 ff). It begins with the invocation to the 
 Holy Spirit and a collect. Then the word of prom- 
 ise (i Tim. iii. i ff ; Acts xx. 28 ff), which is sacra- 
 mental, is read, followed by a short statement of the 
 duties of the office, ending with the question to the 
 
ORDINATION. II 7 
 
 candidate and his reply of acceptance. Thereupon 
 the sacrificial prayer, which seeks sacramental bless- 
 ing, is recited with laying on of hands. The office 
 is then given and the ordinand dismissed with the 
 benediction : ' Bcncdicat vobis Dominus^ tit facialis 
 fructum multum? . . , 
 
 " Melanchthon at first, in opposition to Rome, Meianchtko^ 
 holds it possible to enter the ministry without ordi- 
 nation (C. R., iii. 184), but later he accepts its neces- 
 sity as a public confinnation of the call (C. R., 
 xxviii. 524), and, like Luther, will allow it to the 
 episcopate if this be evangelical (C. R., v. 585, 596). 
 But it is not to be placed with the sacraments insti- 
 tuted by Christ (C. R., iv. 422). In the Loci (third 
 stage), Melanchthon, in consonance with his posi- 
 tion in the Apology, gives ordination a sacramental 
 import, and says : " Christ the priest places His 
 hands on them (the ordinands), /. ^., chooses them 
 by the voice of the church, blesses them and 
 anoints them with His gifts, as it is written. He 
 ascended, gave gifts to men, prophets, apostles, pas- 
 tors, doctors, whom He adorns with the light of 
 doctrine and other gifts (C. R., xxi, 852. Cf. also 
 C. R., xxii. 52, the German transl. of the Loci)." 
 
 So far Pastor Haas. 
 
 All the passages cited in the above quotation de- 
 serve careful study. Taking those in the Book of 
 Acts, it seems impossible to evade the conclusion 
 
Il8 THK LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 that a certain efficacy was connected with the lay- 
 ing on of hands, and that this efficacy was not 
 confined to apostolic impositions, but was equally 
 effective in other cases. " Certain prophets and 
 teachers " laid their hands on Paul and Barnabas as 
 they started on their first missionary journey (Acts 
 xiii. I, 3). 
 
 An inferior may also lay hands on a superior, as 
 Ananias " the disciple" on Saul (Acts ix. 17), 
 
 The two principal passages that refer to the set- 
 ting apart for the office and work of the ministry 
 
 The sedes 
 
 docirin^ o{ are the parallels (i Tim. iv. 14 and 2 Tim. i. 6). 
 These verses might be called the sedes doctrincB of 
 ordination. 
 
 The former speaks of the bestowment of a " gift " 
 (^dpiaixa) in ordination. What is this gift? says 
 Dr. E. J. Wolf, in Lutheran Commentary : " With 
 K Ti». iv. 14. t^^^ exception of i Pet. iv. 10, the word (charism) 
 occurs only in Paul's Epistles, and always of ' a gift 
 emanating from the Holy Spirit,' a divine endow- 
 ment of free, undeser\'ed grace, used both generally 
 of the new life wrought by the Spirit, and specifi- 
 cally of every particular faculty given by the Spirit 
 for special Christian service. It never designates 
 an office, but equipment for an office. It was some- 
 thing within Timothy, m thee^ a special talent of 
 high value, corresponding to the needs of his unique 
 position. ... It was given through prophecy, by 
 
ORDINATION. 1 1 9 
 
 means of a prophecy. This was the medium 
 through which the spiritual gift was bestowed, the 
 word of promise proceeding from the Holy Ghost 
 (i. 18), God's Word being ever the vehicle of grace. 
 ... In close connection with the ' prophecy ' a 
 rite was observed, ' the laying on of hands,' a primi- 
 tive ceremony derived from the Old Testament. . . . 
 The presbytery, Bengel interprets as consisting of 
 * Paul and Silas, or others also.' " 
 
 In 2 Tim. i. 6, Paul emphasizes the fact that he 
 himself had laid hands on his son in the Gospel. 
 
 We conclude then that ordination is an ancient 
 and apostolic rite. It is a public declaration of the 
 legitimacy of the call. But it is also much more. 
 
 The ordination service includes the preaching of what is 
 an appropriate sermon. This is the " prophecy " ordination, 
 through which the " gift " is given. The prophecy 
 or word preached, as well as the word read in the 
 service, is directed especially and personally to the 
 one to be ordained. He is then commended to God 
 by the common prayers of the church. The hands 
 of the ministry are laid upon him. The hands con- 
 vey no grace, but they direct and individualize the 
 word that has been preached, the passages that are 
 read, the solemn words of the commitment of the 
 office, and the consecration in the name of the 
 Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 All this is accompanied by the earnest prayers of 
 
ordinand. 
 
 1 20 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 the whole church, i. e.^ the officiating ministers and 
 the people. The hands direct and, as it were, focus 
 the prayers upon the kneeling subject. In answer 
 to these earnest prayers the Holy Spirit imparts the 
 Xapia-fia. It is carried by the Word. The Word 
 is here, also, the means of grace. It conveys the 
 special grace needed for the special work of the 
 ministr)^ 
 
 It goes without saying that the candidate can 
 
 The mind 
 
 of the^ resist this grace also. The Holy Spirit will never 
 force His gifts and graces on anyone. The subject 
 must have yielded himself to the gracious saving 
 and sanctifying influences of that Holy Spirit. 
 When taking upon Himself this high and holy 
 office, he must himself earnestly pray for the needed 
 gift, yield himself entirely to the holy influences, 
 and so receive the fullness of the gift into himself. 
 Otherwise he cannot be a true minister of Christ. 
 The means of grace which he administers will still 
 be effective through their own intrinsic virtue. But 
 the personal element of his ministry will ever be 
 blunted, disabled, and deadened. In his own per- 
 sonality, and in the influence of that personality, 
 which is so important a factor in the ministry, he 
 will be a sad and ignominious failure. Having 
 preached to others, he himself will be a castaway. 
 Unless, of course, he truly repents and becomes a 
 new man in Christ Jesus. 
 
CALL FROM ONE FIELD TO ANOTHER. 121 
 
 The gift may also be imparted and be afterward 
 lost or left to decay. Therefore Paul exhorts Tim- 
 othy to stir up the gift that is in him. It needs 
 constant watching, fostering, nurture, and exercise. 
 Only thus can the man of God become more and 
 more perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good 
 works. 
 
 Whoever then has been rightly called, both as to 
 the inner and the outer call, and properly ordained, 
 may constantly comfort himself with his ordina- 
 tion. Whatever the hardships, the burdens, the 
 privations or sufferings may be, let him never for- 
 get his call and ordination. Let him unceasingly 
 stir up the gift, and so he will be sufficient for these 
 things. As there is a wonderful comfort in the 
 true doctrine of the call, so there is in the true 
 doctrine of ordination. 
 
 Before we leave this subject we may as well dis- The call from 
 
 '' _ ^ field to field. 
 
 cuss the oft-perplexing question of a call from one 
 charge to another. 
 
 We have already emphasized the importance of 
 the assurance that the pastor is in his present field 
 of labor because he has been rightly called, and be- 
 cause God placed him there. No matter where 
 that field of labor is, he will find trials, temptations, 
 and heavy burdens. He may expect to be misun- 
 derstood, misrepresented, and even slandered. 
 " The servant is not above his master," and " if they 
 
122 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 called the " master of the house Beelzebub, how- 
 much more shall they call them of his household." 
 
 The pastor is there to " declare the whole coun- 
 sel of God," to preach the law and the Gospel, to 
 " lift up his voice like a trumpet," to " cry aloud 
 and spare not," to "show the house of Israel his 
 sins." If he be faithful he is sure to make ene- 
 mies. "Woe unto you if all men speak well of 
 you." 
 
 In Horn's Evangelical Pastor, p. i66, the ques- 
 tion is asked : " What peculiarities of our own time 
 does Harnack enumerate, as requiring a pastor's 
 attention ? " The answer is : *' The dissolution of 
 national idiosyncrasies (Gen. xi. 4), opposition to 
 all authority, naked egotism, haste to get rich, ever- 
 extending pauperism." 
 
 These are the influences that surround and per- 
 meate every pastoral charge. They are most prom- 
 Surrounding 
 
 influences, incnt and effective in the city. But they are work- 
 ing their way also into the drowsy village and the 
 quiet farm-house. 'The secular press, especially the 
 Sunday paper, the cheap magazine, the popular 
 novel, the ubiquitous lecturer, the atmosphere of 
 many of our public schools, and the w^ould-be smart 
 talker, who has a smattering of general knowledge 
 and of light literature, as well as the socialistic and 
 labor agitator, are everywhere sowing the seeds of 
 doubt, unrest, and lawlessness. The secret society, 
 
CALL FROM ONE FIELD TO ANOTHER. 1 23 
 
 claiming for itself what God has given to His 
 church alone — ignoring the Lord Jesus Christ — 
 comprising Jews and Gentiles, Pagans and Chris- 
 tians, having a religion broad enough for all these, 
 running out into mere humanitarianism as ground 
 enough for salvation, is alienating our youth from 
 Christ and the church, and sowing tares in our 
 churches. All these unholy influences are deaden- 
 ing to that faith and life which should characterize 
 the Lutheran Church. They are a source of great 
 grief and vexation to the faithful pastor. 
 
 In addition to these influences from the world, in 
 almost every community there are distractions and 
 vexations from those who claim to have a superior 
 grade of piety. Because of . the skepticism that ^and'sei^* 
 permeates our atmosphere V because faith in 
 Christ, in His Word, His church, and His means 
 of grace, has been so utterly weakened, if not lost ; 
 because faith in man, in self, in one's own ability 
 to make himself acceptable to God, has grown to 
 such colossal proportions, therefore extremes meet 
 and fanaticism joins hands with rationalism. Im- 
 mersionists, revivalists, sanctificationists, Adven- 
 tists, and healers of every hue, name, and grade, are 
 abroad in the land.)j They invade the school-house, 
 the barn, and the woods. They spread their tents 
 on the common and on the vacant lot in village, 
 town, and city. Each one offers a new way of sal- 
 
 consciousness 
 
124 
 
 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 Pastoral 
 changes in 
 
 other 
 churches. 
 
 vation. All cry : " Lo, here is Christ," or, " Lo, 
 there." They all claim that the church which 
 teaches the old doctrines and walks in the old ways 
 is a failure. They unsettle the minds of the unin- 
 formed and the unreflecting. They bring heart- 
 ache and sorrow to the earnest pastor. 
 
 All this skepticism, uncertainty, and experiment- 
 ing has unfortunately unsettled only too many pas- 
 tors in the churches around us. These pastors 
 themselves have lost faith, more or less, in the 
 divinely ordained means of grace. They are cast- 
 ing about for new means and methods by which to 
 reach and hold men. They are experimenting 
 with all sorts of novelties and attractions. Their 
 churches and services are becoming more and more 
 places of entertainment. They try to outbid and 
 outdo each other in sensations calculated to draw. 
 And so the church, like Samson of old, is shorn of 
 her locks, and is degraded to make sport for the 
 Philistines of the world. No true Lutheran pastor 
 can stoop to such prostitution of his office and of his 
 church. But he suffers from the misdeeds of 
 others. His people are influenced by their sur- 
 roundings. Some are drawn away from him, others 
 make trouble in his own church. And so he is 
 caused to grieve for the hurt of Joseph, and sighs 
 " for the hurt of my people am I hurt " (Jer. viii. 21). 
 
 On p. i63f. of The Evangelical Pastor, the ques- 
 
Internal 
 
 CALL FROM ONE FIELD TO ANOTHER. 1 25 
 
 tions are asked : " With what peculiar difficulty 
 will a pastor meet ? " 
 
 Ans. " Many think themselves able to free them- 
 selves from all relation to the pastor and the 
 church, and thus to make it an impertinence in 
 him to admonish them." 
 
 " What sorts of persons will a pastor find in his 
 congregation ? " 
 
 Ans. " Hartmann (III., xxxi.) quotes Musaeus : 
 'He will find six sorts among his Beichtkindcr. 
 In the first will be ordinary siimers^ who, 
 while they are conscious of no gross sins, confess conditions 
 themselves guilty of human frailties and wish to be 
 at peace with God. In the second will be teynpted^ 
 afixious^ troubled souls of little faith, who worry 
 themselves about their sins too much. In the 
 third, coarse^ hard^ and determined sinners^ who 
 concern themselves about their sins too little. In 
 the fourth, i7iexperienced and simple folk^ who do 
 not understand the ground of their faith, and do not 
 thoroughly know about Christ and His redemp- 
 tion, or about the Holy Supper and the proper use 
 of it. In the fifth place, hypocrites ift faith. And in 
 the sixth, hypocrites in life? " 
 
 This mixture of classes, conditions, characters, 
 and spirits will try any true pastor. Especially 
 will the young pastor find himself displeased and 
 disappointed. It was not what he had expected. 
 
126 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 The condition of the people is not what he had 
 looked for. The result of his first work seems a 
 failure. Worldliness, selfishness, and apathy toward 
 the things of God, meet him on every hand. He 
 fears that it is growing worse instead of better. 
 He begins to think that his is the hardest and most 
 ungrateful of all fields. He fears that his people 
 have sinned awa}- their day of grace, and there is 
 no hope here. Or, if not that, then, at best, he can 
 do no more good. Perhaps someone else might. 
 He thinks of other pastorates. Distance lends en- 
 chantment to the view. Oh, if he could only have 
 such a charge ! He hears of vacancies. If only he 
 might get a call. As Van Oosterzee expresses it, 
 l^onging for " Unhappy the teacher who weekly enters the pul- 
 a change. pj|-^ j^^^ daily, in spirit, ascends the balcony of the 
 tower to watch whether he cannot see something 
 better coming. . . . Every heart has its natural 
 ambition, and often is this, especially in our time, 
 put to a severe test in the case of skillful and zeal- 
 ous ministers of the Gospel. It is not pleasant, 
 apparently, to stand written in the book of oblivion, 
 or to be outstripped and eclipsed by doltish, hot- 
 headed party champions, while, on the other hand, 
 the accepted sphere of labor, on closer acquaintance, 
 by no means corresponds to reasonable desires'* 
 (Practical Theol., p. 548). 
 
 And so the young pastor is tempted, falls in with 
 
CALL FROM ONK FIKLD TO ANOTHER. 1 27 
 
 the restless spirit of the times, and wants a change. 
 And now comes the temptation to use means that 
 heptrght not to use, in order to get another field. 
 
 [But has he no right to want to get away ? Strictly 
 speaking, no. The ideal minister has given him- desire 
 self entirely into the hands of his Master.. He has ^ '^^^• 
 immolated self and all self-interest. He is ready, 
 like Paul, to suffer as well as to serve. He accounts 
 it a blessed privilege to serv^e even in the lowest 
 and obscurest place. He finds his sweetest reward 
 in the fact that he is permitted to serve. Let him 
 only have the conviction that he is where his Lord 
 has placed him, that his own blunders and sins are 
 not responsible, and then will he gladly abide and 
 labor, though it be " by honor and dishonor, by 
 evil report and good report ; as deceivers and yet 
 true ; as unknown and yet well known ; as dying 
 and behold, we live ; as chastened and not killed ; 
 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing ; as poor, yet 
 making many rich ; as having nothing, and yet pos- 
 sessing all tilings " (2 Cor. vi. 8-10). As Paul loved 
 those fickle, wayward, and vexing Corinthians, so 
 does the ideal pastor love a weak, wayward, and 
 vexatious flock, if only assured that it has been 
 committed to him by God. (In this light, read 
 Paul's whole second letter to the Corinthians.) 
 
 Such a pastor will therefore resolutely fight 
 against and pray against that spirit of restlessness, 
 
128 THE I^UTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 which wants to get away from a hard and an unin- 
 viting field, into an easier and more attractive one. 
 Let it rather be his high and holy ambition to win 
 and transform those people over whom the Holy 
 Ghost has set him, even as Ludwig Harms did those 
 of Hermannsburg and Fritz Oberlin those of the 
 Steinthal. 
 
 His Lord and Master knows where he is and 
 where he is most needed. Let him only be faith- 
 
 The sure , . , ^ ,, , . ^^ .,- . - 
 
 promotion. lul, and in the Lord s good tnne He will certainly 
 hear the call, " Come up higher." iTliere can 
 scarcely be anything sadder than for a minister to 
 scheme and bid and seek for a soft place. He may 
 get the place ; but he certainly cannot have the 
 fullness of peace and blessing from the Lord. In 
 some way, at some time, he will certainly suffer for 
 his sin. 
 
 But, as we have already intimated, it may be pos- 
 sible that a pastor's usefulness at a certain place is 
 coming to an end. His work in that particular 
 place may be done. Let him not conclude this too 
 hastily. Let him make it a matter of earnest 
 heart-searching and prayer. Let him seek the 
 counsel of wise and holy men in the ministry. Let 
 him be sure that he is not desiring a place more 
 congenial to the flesh, but one in which he may do 
 more efficient service for the dear Master. Let him 
 assure himself that he is ready to take even a 
 
CALL FROM ONE FIELD TO ANOTHER. 1 29 
 harder and more unattractive field than he has, if 
 
 11 1 1 • • ITT' 1 1 When it is 
 
 only he can do more good in it. With such mo- right t<> 
 lives and purposes he may freely offer himself to change, 
 the proper authorities for another field, or accept a 
 call that comes unsolicited. 
 
 A call may also come unsought to one who is 
 content and prosperous where he is. How is he to 
 treat such a call? A categorical answer cannot 
 here be given. Each individual case will have to 
 be settled on its merits. We can only lay down 
 certain general principles. 
 
 -FzVj/. Let the pastor who receives such a call not 
 dismiss it too lightly. If it has come unsought 
 and through the proper channel, if it is not the 
 result of selfishness and scheming on the part of 
 others, then it deserves careful and prayerful con- 
 sideration. 
 
 Second. Let the pastor wrestle and pray for the 
 elimination of all selfish considerations. The sal- 
 ary dare not be the decisive factor. It may be a 
 duty to accept a smaller salary. It may be a duty 
 to accept even a larger salar\'. The comparative 
 congeniality or uncongeniality of the present and 
 proffered field of labor dare not decide. It may be 
 a duty to accept an unattractive field. The new 
 field may have every attraction, and yet it may be 
 a duty to accept. Only let not this be the decisive 
 factor. 
 9 
 
130 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 Third. Having, by the help of God, subdued self- 
 ish considerations, let him carefully consider both 
 fields. What is the condition of his present field ? 
 If it is just now in a critical condition, where it 
 needs that careful handling and leading which only 
 one acquainted with it can give, then there is a 
 most urgent reason to abide and help his people 
 over the hard place. If all is well and prosperous, 
 if, as far as he can see, someone else may be able to 
 do the work as well as he, if not better than he, then, 
 as far as this end is concerned, he might leave. 
 Now let him give the same unselfish, careful, and 
 prayerful consideration to the field to which he is 
 called. What is the work needed there? Can he 
 do the work? Can he do more good there than 
 here ? As to both fields, let him also seek the coun- 
 sel of wise, experienced, and godly brethren in the 
 ministry. If he is doing good work where he is, 
 the presumption is that he ought to remain. There 
 must be cogent reasons for leaving. The sainted 
 Dr. Passavant used to say : " Blessed are they that 
 stick, for they shall succeed." 
 
 The present congregation should also be con- 
 The final su Itcd. But here again all selfishness ought to be 
 
 decision. 
 
 put aside, and the only question ought to be. Where 
 does God want our pastor, where is he most needed, 
 and where can he do most good ? The final decis- 
 ion, however, cannot be left with the congregation. 
 
CALL FROM ONE FIELD TO ANOTHER. 13I 
 
 It is more unlikely that a whole congregation can 
 be brought to lay aside all selfish motives, than that 
 the pastor may do so. The final decision must be 
 left to the pastor. He must, in the end, solve and 
 settle the problem on his knees. For this kind of 
 self-seeking goeth not out except by fasting and 
 prayer. 
 
 Again we say, blessed is the pastor that is always 
 
 The prayer 
 
 ready to follow where the Master leads, to divine course. 
 His will, to abide, or to go as He directs. He will 
 ever work with the comfort, the confidence, and the 
 courage that ever come from the conviction : I am 
 here because the Lord put me here, and He will 
 stand by me, for He has promised : "As thy day, so 
 shall thy strength be." 
 
 We close with another quotation from Van 
 Oosterzee (p. 549) : 
 
 " High honor then to the faithful servant of the 
 good Master, who still perseveres in the belief that 
 there cannot possibly be injustice with his great 
 Sender, and, with twofold earnestness, sees to it 
 that the sacred fire is not quenched upon his own 
 forgotten hearth ! Faithful in comparatively few 
 things, he will one day be set over many things, 
 and, even here, receive his reward in the approba- 
 tion of his own conscience and the esteem of all 
 right-thinking people." 
 
PART II. 
 
 THE PASTOR AS A MAN. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 IN HIS PERSONAL CHARACTER AND IN SOCIE'TY. 
 
 In Speaking of the qualifications for the minis- 
 try we have, to some extent, anticipated what the The manly 
 ■' pastor. 
 
 pastor ought to be as a man, both in himself and 
 among his fellow-men. We have shown the im- 
 portance of intellectual culture. To this we shall 
 recur again. We have noted the supreme necessity 
 of piety. This also will come up again. ; We have 
 insisted that there should be moral courage, a sym- 
 pathetic spirit, energy, and common sense. 
 
 It is true that these are all qualities of the manly 
 minister. But they do not fill up the measure of 
 manliness. Some important elements are not in- 
 cluded, A pastor might have all these virtues and 
 yet come short of being a fully developed Christian 
 man. 
 
 . Manliness is such an important factor in the life 
 and work of the ministry that it well deserves a 
 separate chapter. 
 
 A true minister is a man plus all the power that 
 his special call and ordination give him. The 
 world, and much more the church, has a right to 
 
 (135) 
 
136 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 expect that he should be more than an average man. 
 If the Christian is the highest type of man, and 
 the minister ought to be the highest type of Chris- 
 tian, then he ought to be the manliest among the 
 manly. He is to be a shepherd, not a sheep. But 
 some pastors are very sheepish in character and 
 conduct. Someone has divided the world into men, 
 women, and ministers. Unfortunately there is, 
 judging by some ministers, a grain of truth in the 
 sarcasm. But where " 'tis true, 'tis pity, and pity 
 'tis, 'tis true." We need a virile ministry ; we want 
 a heroic ministry, a ministry that will compel the 
 respect even of the worldly. 
 
 We note a few of the more important character- 
 istics, in addition to the aforenamed, of the minister 
 as a man, 
 
 A minister must be scrupulously truthful. His 
 truthful. word must be as good as his bond, or rather so good 
 that he will need no bond. This means much 
 more than merely to refrain from deliberate lying. 
 It requires the most conscientious care in making 
 promises, and the most exact scrupulousness in car- 
 rying them out. 
 
 If unavoidably hindered from fulfilling even a 
 seemingly trifling promise the truthful minister 
 will make haste to explain and apologize. Such a 
 minister will not make promises hastily, or on mere 
 impulse. He makes few and breaks none. 
 
IN PERSON AL CHARACTER AND SOCIETY. 1 37 
 
 One of the most damaging tilings that can be 
 said of a minister is that he cannot be trusted. 
 Such an one has lost his influence, and is, to say the 
 least, crippled in his whole work. 
 
 Closely akin to truthfulness is honesty. The 
 manly minister is an honest man. Untruthfulness honest 
 and dishonesty are serious blemishes on any char- 
 acter. No one can be a true Christian while he 
 knowingly and willfully practices these vices. But 
 how much more serious are they in a minister. He, 
 of all men, is not to be reported as neglecting to 
 pay his honest debts. Some ministers seem to fall 
 into these vices unconsciously. They are not prov- 
 ident in the management of their finances. They 
 spend when they have no money, they live beyond 
 their income, they easily fall into the habit of buy- 
 ing on credit, of borrowing small sums, of promis- 
 ing to pay without knowing where the money to 
 pay with is to come from. Let the minister be 
 man enough to do without every luxur>^ that he 
 cannot pay for. Let him resolutely say No, to the 
 solicitor and the book agent when he has other 
 debts to pay. The man who is not strictly honest 
 is not a true man. His character and reputation 
 are lost. But how much worse if the minister be 
 dishonest. Better a thousand times live on the 
 plainest fare and wear the cheapest clothes than be 
 in debt And if perchance money must be bor- 
 
138 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 rowed, better borrow from an outsider than from a 
 member of his church. To be in debt to one of his 
 flock puts the pastor into humiliating relations 
 toward him. Everybody will respect a plain and 
 poor pastor, who is scrupulously honest. But no 
 one can respect the pastor who lives and dresses be- 
 yond his means and then fails to keep his promises 
 and to pay his honest debts. 
 
 Let the minister beware of going into any speai- 
 lation. He has no right to engage in any secular 
 himself busiucss. At the very moment of making choice of 
 ^hb^Jdring!*" t^^ ministry as his life-calling he ought to have 
 given up all thought of money-making. He can- 
 not serve two masters. He cannot attend properly 
 to his ministry, with its high and exacting demands 
 and duties, and at the same time follow some other 
 pursuit for gain. By such a course he must sac- 
 rifice his efficiency as a minister, and must sufEer as 
 a man. " If any man hath a ministry, let him wait 
 on his ministering." 
 
 " Give thyself wholly to these things." Oui 
 Church has suffered sorely from farmer-preachers, 
 preacher-politicians, ministerial-mechanics, doctor- 
 divines, etc. We hope the day for these unholy 
 combines is past. The true pastor ought to be an 
 unselfish man. Covetousness, which is idolatry, 
 ought not to be once named among ministers. 
 
 But, unfortunately, we have only too many who 
 
IN PERSONAI. CHARACTKK AND SOCIETY. 1 39 
 
 abound in this heathenish vice also. They are 
 greedy of filthy lucre. With them godliness is 
 gain. If not, like those named above, in other 
 business and speculation, they make a business of Mercenary 
 their calling. They perform ministerial acts for ™n'sters. 
 money. Some have fixed charges for baptisms, 
 funerals, and the like. "We have known some of 
 these servants of mammon actually to refuse to 
 bury a poor man until the widow, left almost with- 
 out a subsistence, paid five dollars in advance. 
 These are the men who will dicker and bargain 
 with their congregations as to the number of ser- 
 mons that are demanded. Instead of doing all they 
 possibly can, they will do as little as they can get 
 their people to put up with. They preach an extra 
 sermon unwillingly unless paid for it, because it 
 wasn't in the contract. They are hirelings, and not 
 good shepherds. 
 
 These are the men who are always whining and 
 complaining about the poor pay they receive. 
 They are semi-mendicants. They want all their 
 purchases below the regular price. They are 
 constantly hinting for presents and donations. 
 When visiting parishioners in the country' they 
 go most frequently where they expect some- 
 thing, and carry their sack and pail with them. 
 Surely these are not manly men. They cannot 
 command the respect of the community. They 
 
140 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 become more and more dependent, cringing, and 
 selfish. Such were the men of whom God com- 
 plained in Isa, Ivi. 10, 11: "His watchmen are 
 blind : they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, 
 they cannot bark ; sleeping, lying down, loving to 
 slumber. Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never 
 have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot 
 understand : they all look to their own way, every- 
 one for his gain, from his quarter." This was the 
 sin of Simon Magus, to whom Peter said : " Thy 
 money perish with thee " (Acts viii. 20. See i Tim. 
 iii. 3 : vi. 10, 11). 
 
 Let the true minister, who has in him the same 
 mind that was also in Christ Jesus, and who remem- 
 bers that Christ's whole life and work was a giving 
 of Himself, be ever glad and ready to give, to serve, 
 and to sacrifice. Let him, in this also, be an en- 
 sample to the flock. He ought to be the most lib- 
 eral giver in the parish. Only then has he a right 
 to expect his people to be liberal. And in all his 
 work among those whom he can reach, let his prin- 
 ciple ever be, " I seek not yours, but you " (2 Cor. 
 xii. 14). 
 
 Another grace, essential indeed to all healthy 
 
 humble P^^^y, but of Special importance to the minister, is 
 
 the grace of humility. Its opposite is spiritual 
 
 pride. Here is a special and peculiar danger for 
 
 the young pastor. If he is at all successful, he will 
 
IN PERSONAL CHARACTER AND SOCIETY. I41 
 
 be praised and flattered. Some will regard him as 
 an oracle and others will be almost ready, as at 
 Lystra, to do sacrifice to him. What watchfulness 
 and prayer, what an unceasing supply of grace is 
 needed to resist a temptation so powerfully rooted 
 in the selfishness of the natural heart. A season 
 of remarkable prosperity will often prove an hour 
 of fearful temptation and danger. Henry Martyn minister^ 
 used to say : " Men frequently admire me, and I am 
 pleased ; but I abhor the pleasure that I feel." 
 How few of us could say the same. How often we 
 seek our own, instead of God's glory. How easy 
 to talk about self and its wonderful experiences and 
 achievements. It is the self-righteous and proud 
 preacher who loves to say " I " in the pulpit, who 
 magnifies his own goodness and his own success. 
 This sin is often fostered in the church by expe- 
 rience meetings and public testimony. One reason 
 why the Lutheran Church discourages such services 
 is because they are so apt to train the Pharisee. 
 The Lutheran pastor ought to be an example in hu- 
 mility. Like the blessed Christ, who sought not His 
 own glor>' ; like Paul, ready to become a fool for 
 Christ's sake ; like all the great and good men who 
 have been signally honored and used by God, the 
 true minister is humble. But he never boasts of 
 his humility. 
 
 He makes no pretensions to piety, learning, or 
 
142 THE I^UTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 success. He does not imagine that lie can make 
 himself great by criticising and disparaging others. 
 He is always modest and deferential to his elders 
 and superiors. He speaks of the success of his 
 brethren rather than of his own. His humility 
 makes him a gentleman and a manly man. Let 
 every pastor examine himself often in the light of 
 these and other passages : Prov. iii. 34 and xv. 33 ; 
 Isa. Ivii. 15; Mic. vi. 8; Matt, xviii. 4; Luke ix. 
 46-49, xiv. 7-12, and xxii. 24-28; Eph. iv. i, 2; 
 Phil. ii. 3 ; Col. iii. 12 ; Jas. iv. 6, 10 ; i Pet. v. 5. 
 A further essential to the pastor in the commu- 
 ^. ^.'^ ',^ , nity is disunity. Many a pastor sacrifices his char- 
 
 dignined and o y j ± 
 
 cheerful. acter as a man by a lack of true dignity. He can- 
 not maintain his standing in the community unless 
 he maintains his Christian dignity. There is a cer- 
 tain dignity that belongs to true piety. The want 
 of it is specially hurtful to the pastor. The world 
 has no respect for the pastor who is known as a 
 clown in company. It is a poor compliment to 
 have it said : " That minister is the funniest man 
 that was ever in our house." We by no means 
 favor a stiff, formal, funereal deportment. The pas- 
 tor who is too solemn ever to enjoy a hearty laugh, 
 who has no sense of humor in his soul, who cannot 
 appreciate the ludicrous and funny things of life, 
 who frowns on a good story or joke, who says by 
 his whole demeanor : " Stand aside, for I am holier 
 
Clerical 
 
 IN PERSONAL CHARACTER AND SOCIETY. 1 43 
 
 than thou," will never have the respect and confi- 
 dence of the community. There are pastors who 
 are so cold and austere that the children will hide 
 from them, and young people will shun them. This 
 also is a sore evil. And yet, if we were compelled 
 to choose between the overly solemn and frigid type, 
 on the one hand, and the clerical clown, on the 
 other, we should prefer the former. But there is 
 no need of such a choice. There surely is a happy 
 mean. Let there be the simple, cheerful dignity of clowns, 
 one consecrated to the service of Christ, a teacher 
 of trust and of truth, to whom a serene and divine 
 elevation of purpose is natural. The writer knows 
 of pastors of scholarly attainments and of more than 
 ordinary abilities who ruined their work and them- 
 selves by their foolish talking and jesting, by their 
 coarse jokes, unseemly and oft irreverent stories. 
 Avoid especially the unclean jest or story, and any- 
 thing calculated to raise a laugh at God's Word : 
 a serious sin, of which many ministers are guilty. 
 * It is the trifling preacher that we find loafing on 
 the comer, sitting on the store-box, the hale-fellow- 
 well-met of the fellows of the baser sort. The light 
 and the lewd like the company of such men, and, 
 worse than all, the liking seems to be mutual. Well 
 does Van Oosterzee say (Practical Theol., p. 544) : 
 " Many a one has undone more in a single con- 
 yivial afternoon or evening than he had been able 
 
144 "^^^ LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 to build up in a number of weeks of preaching." 
 Again (p. 545) : "Do not forget that you may soon 
 be called to stand by the sick-bed or death-bed of 
 this or the other companion." 
 
 Surely it ought to be possible to be happy and 
 cheerful without losing one's dignity. The pastor's 
 disposition and conduct ought always to be bright 
 and cheery. If he is to be a sustainer and com- 
 forter of others, he should show that his own heart 
 is full of peace and comfort. How can he promote 
 a hopeful and cheerful type of piety among his peo- 
 ple, unless he be an embodiment of these graces in 
 himself? 
 
 So let the pastor go in and out, not only among 
 Christian ^jg own people, but in his community. Let him 
 
 gentleman. 
 
 ever show forth a kindly sympathy, a ready help' 
 fulness, a sunny countenance, and a cheering word. 
 So let him show himself to be the highest type of a 
 Christian gentleman. "A man of gentle soul and 
 manners, of the nicest justice, of simplicity in char- 
 acter and taste, of a collected spirit." * 
 
 " The nice observance of the Golden Rule, the 
 giving to each one what fairly belongs to him, the 
 rendering of simple justice to every man out of a 
 kind heart, seems to us to constitute the essence of 
 a gentleman. A gentleman cannot do a mean 
 
 * President Theodore Woolsey in New Englander, 1847, p. 
 481 ff. 
 
 He is a 
 
IN PERSONAL CHARACTER AND SOCIETY. 1 45 
 
 thing." * " A pastor should take pains to perfect 
 himself in the fornis of good society, since it is 
 quite certain that one who defiantly commits a 
 breach of etiquette can have little power with well- 
 bred people." t 
 
 Charles Kingsley says : " You will find out that 
 a man may learn from his Bible to be a more thor- 
 ough gentleman than if he had been brought up in 
 all the drawing-rooms of London." I 
 
 "Manners make the man." Let the pastor al- 
 ways be a man of gentle manners. The nearer his j^^ j^, ^ ^lan 
 religious character approaches the perfect model ^^^^^1 
 left by our Lord, the more he is filled with the 
 same mind that was also in Christ Jesus, the more 
 truly will he be a gentleman. A gentleman is 
 always considerate of the needs and wants of those 
 with whom he comes in contact. He will know 
 how to be helpful without being either ofiicious or 
 offensive. In helping the poor, he will not hurt 
 their feelings. In dealing with the depraved and 
 vicious, he will imitate the divine compassion. In 
 the social circle, he will be especially attentive to 
 the lowly and retiring. He will never monopolize 
 the conversation nor talk of self, nor be boisterous 
 or rude in tone or manners. 
 
 * Hoppin's Pastoral Theol., p. 199. 'f 
 
 t Ibid., p. 200. X Ibid., p. 201. — 
 We commend to all young pastors, Miller on Clerical Manners, I 
 NyPhiladelphia, 1852. J 
 
146 
 
 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 At the social meal he will never be intemperate. 
 
 He is . . . 
 
 temperate. He Will not vSliow his Special fondness for certain 
 dishes by over-indulgence, and will never eat or 
 drink what is harmful to him. Temperate in all 
 things, he will let his moderation be known to all 
 men. 
 
 And here the oft-perplexing question of amuse- 
 ments comes in. Jji what amusements and diver- 
 
 He is chaste sions may the pastor engage ? Has he a right to 
 
 in selecting 
 
 amusements, do as other men do? We answer, No. He stands 
 on a higher plane. His is a more serious vocation. 
 More is expected of him. The world rightly looks 
 to him for an example. " Noblesse oblige " is emi- 
 nently true of the pastor. His tastes and inclina- 
 tions should be higher. " No intelligent Christian 
 will be offended if he meets his spiritual guide at a 
 flower-show or exhibition of paintings, at a literary 
 lecture or a performance of sacred music (or of 
 high-class music in general). But certainly, if he 
 recognizes him in the club, in the theatre, or ball- 
 room, the reason may be easily divined " (Van Oos- 
 terzee. Practical Theol., pp. 544, 545). "Identifi- 
 cation with the world's gayety and fashion must 
 always defile a minister's garments. The fast horse, 
 the pleasure yacht, the dashing dog-cart, conspicuous 
 jewelry, attendance at ball, opera, or theatre — these 
 are unfailing marks of a minister low-toned in his 
 piety or eccentric unto uselessness in the service of 
 
IN PERSONAL CHARACTER AND SOCIETY. 147 
 
 that God, the love of whom is put by the Scriptures 
 in exchiding contrast with the love of the world- 1 
 (Dr. Howard Crosby, The Christian Preacher, p. 
 
 113)- 
 
 In all these things the pastor is to avoid the 
 
 appearance of evil, giving no offense in anything, 
 that the ministry be not blamed. Even amuse- 
 ments that are perfectly harmless in themselves 
 may become a snare and an injury to the pastor. 
 The pastor who is seen day after day on his croquet- 
 ground is setting an example of indolence, of tri- 
 fling with time and duty, that cannot help but 
 lower the office of the ministry in the eyes of the 
 community. Even so he who spends night after 
 night at checkers, chess, dominoes, or other inno- 
 cent games, does not show forth the earnestness and 
 devotion that belong to the true minister. 
 
 As to the pastor's use or non-use of intoxicating 
 drinks^ we can give only general cautions. 
 T The Lutheran minister will certainly not make 
 that sin, which God's Word does not condemn. ^f^""'^ 
 He cannot say that to drink a glass of wine or beer expedient 
 is a sin in itself. Neither will he, on the other 
 hand, brand all voluntary' abstinence as fanaticism. 
 While he allows that all things are lawful, he re- 
 members that all things are not expedient. He 
 knows, or ought to know, that many have an in- 
 born taste for liquor ; that to all such even moder- 
 
148 
 
 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 A pastor's 
 
 rules of 
 temperance. 
 
 The use of 
 tobacco. 
 
 ate drinking is dangerous, and that for them total 
 abstinence is not only advisable, but a duty. He 
 also knows that many are acquiring or have ac- 
 quired such a taste, and that the same principle and 
 rule apply to them. He knows also that the liquor 
 business is disreputable, that the saloon is an abom- 
 ination and the mother of abominations, suffering, 
 and crime. 
 
 It is sound and safe advice therefore that the 
 pastor observe the following : 
 
 1. Never patronize or favor the saloon. 
 
 2. If he have a natural or acquired taste for 
 liquor, that he totally abstain. Many a brilliant 
 pastor has been ruined by ignoring this advice. 
 
 3. That, because he never knows who, in any 
 group, may have a natural or an acquired taste, he 
 had better for example's sake never drink in a 
 mixed company, as at a wedding, a banquet, etc. 
 
 4. That he constantly instruct and warn the 
 young along these lines. 
 
 As to the use of tobacco we have no command- 
 ment. A generation ago it was considered quite 
 the proper thing for ministers to use it, and it was 
 rather the exception for one not to use it. But 
 times, views, and customs change. It is not so 
 now. We believe the time is fast approaching 
 when it will be considered out of place for the min- 
 ister to use it. And — aside from the extreme views 
 
IN PERSONAL CHARACTER AND SOCIETY. 1 49 
 
 of radicals, whose religion consists largely in self- 
 made rules and regulations on adiaphora, and who, 
 in their legalism and self-righteousness, are always 
 ready to condemn all who do not agree with them 
 — there are good reasons for this position. For, 
 first, its use is often injurious to brain- workers and 
 persons of sedentar>' habits ; and, second, its odor, 
 from the breath and clothing of the user, is often 
 offensive and even injurious to others. We there- 
 fore offer these cautions and counsels : 
 
 1. Let no one use it to excess anywhere. 
 
 2. Let everyone who knows or can know that its 
 use is injurious to his health resolutely give it up 
 and totally abstain. To injure one's health by 
 any indulgence is sin. 
 
 3. Let those who have acquired the habit, and 
 who can use it moderately and without injury to 
 themselves, carefully and scrupulously abstain, 
 where it might bring discomfort to anyone. Let 
 them carefully cleanse their mouth, hair, and 
 beard, and ventilate their clothing before making 
 pastoral calls, especially before making sick- 
 calls. 
 
 4. Let them not use it on the street or in public 
 places. 
 
 5. Let all pastors avoid chewing tobacco, which 
 is certainly the most unbecoming and obnoxious 
 use of all. 
 
 Cautions. 
 
T50 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR, 
 
 6. I^et those wlio have not acquired the habit 
 never do so. 
 
 7. Let all conscientiously examine themselves 
 whether the habit in any way interferes with their 
 usefulness as ministers of Christ. We recently 
 heard of a young man who gave it up when he 
 entered on the practice of medicine. He said he 
 did it out of love for his profession. Shall the min- 
 ister do less ? 
 
 The pastor s ^ £g^ words as to the pastor's dress. In the 
 
 dress. ^ 
 
 Lutheran Church it has been customary, when per- 
 forming ministerial acts, to wear the clerical robe. 
 This has, however, never been a law. It has 
 always been regarded as an adiaphoron. Dr. Jacobs 
 says (Lutheran Cyclopaedia, Art. Vestments) : 
 " Luther and his associates regarded clerical vest- 
 ments as adiaphora. It was neither a sin to use 
 them, nor a sin, without offense to the weak, to 
 abolish them. ' Pictures, bells, eucharistic vest- 
 ments, and the like I hold to be free ' " (Erl. Ed., 
 XXX. 372). This is followed by further quotations 
 from Luther. There are extremists on both sides of 
 the robe question. There are ultra-Lutherans who 
 judge a man's orthodoxy by it. They make it a 
 mark of sound doctrine (" ein Bekenntniss Zeichen "). 
 Others see in it nothing but a badge of Romanism 
 and a sure evidence of cold formalism. Both are 
 wrong. Luther is right. Where the robe can be 
 
 In pulpit. 
 
IN PERSONAL CHARACTER AND SOCIETY. 151 
 
 introduced without offense or trouble it should be 
 done. But to wear it on every possible occasion, at 
 every ceremony, in a private house, on the street, in 
 going to church, at the head of funeral processions, 
 or even on horseback, certainly savors of childish 
 fanaticism. 
 
 To rail against the robe in puritanic style is also 
 unreasonable. There are good liturgical, historical, 
 and practical reasons for its use. Dr. Howard Crosby, 
 an able Presbyterian, who, like many of his leading 
 fellow-presbyters, always wore it, says (The Chris- 
 tian Minister, p. 103) : " There certainly should be 
 gravity and orderly demeanor in the person of him 
 who delivers God's revealed truth to a waiting con- 
 gregation. ... It is on this ground of a pecu- 
 liar gravit}', due to the occasion, that the clerical 
 gown can be safely advocated, without any fear 
 of its bringing alb and cape and chasuble in its 
 far train. Certainly a sober and dignified gown is 
 more appropriate than an awkward or unseemly 
 habit." 
 
 Nathan Sheppard says (Before an Audience, p. 
 91) : "The gown ... is an auxiliary of so much 
 importance that it is sure to survive the ignorance 
 and fanaticism that lays it aside. . . . The gown's 
 justification is in its usefulness ... It is a phys- 
 ical accessor}' of positive importance. It conceals 
 the defects of the physique. It fills out a thin man 
 
 The clerical 
 robe. 
 
152 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 and thins out a fat man, lowers a tall man, height- 
 ens a short one, conceals awkwardness, promotes 
 gracefulness in gesture and attitude, and, withal, 
 has a friendly, warm, and genial look," etc. 
 
 The senseless opposition to the robe is dying out. 
 It will always be in place at the I^utheran altar and 
 in the Lutheran pulpit. 
 
 As to the eveiy-day dress of the pastor, tastes dif- 
 In eyery-day £gj- ^^^ there is uo law. There are those who wear 
 
 life. ' 
 
 and advocate the so-called clerical cut only. For 
 those who like to be known and noticed every- 
 where as ministers, this dress is the thing. But 
 such pastors must be specially on their guard 
 against unministerial deportment. It certainly ^ 
 seems out of place and liable to give offense to 
 see a clerically attired gentleman mingling in a 
 boisterous game, in a public place, looking on and 
 commenting on a horse-race, shouting at a baseball 
 match, riding in a smoking-car, or, in short, indulg- 
 ing in conduct or mingling in surroundings which 
 are so out of harmony with the sacred office. 
 While, therefore, the clerical garb has its advan- 
 tages, it also has these disadvantages. On the other 
 hand, a minister ought never to appear in gaudy, 
 flashy, or dudish dress. The bright-colored neck- 
 tie, the light-colored suit with the tan shoe, are not 
 becoming as he goes in and out among his people.^ 
 On a vacation. Exception, of course, can be made when he is out 
 
IN PERSONAL CHARACTER AND SOCIETY. 1 53 
 
 on his vacation. Then a light, negligee attire will 
 not be out of place. _j^ 
 
 t In general, let him wear neat, modest, well-fitting 
 olack clothing. The advice of Palmer (Pastoral The- 
 ologie, p. 155) is reasonable and good: "Let him 
 so dress that not everyone can see from afar * that is 
 a minister,' and that an acquaintance meeting him 
 would not say, ' He does not look like a minister.' " 
 But, above all, let him always be neat and clean. 
 The minister who appears in slovenly attire, with 
 unkempt hair, uncleaned teeth and nails, unblacked 
 shoes and soiled linen, degrades himself and his 
 office, and is not a Christian gentleman. 
 
 In considering the pastor in the community we -yhe pastor 
 must also have regard to his relation to the State and '" P°'''"^'^- 
 politics. By becoming a minister he certainly does 
 not cease to be a citizen. As a citizen he has his 
 responsibilities and duties. He cannot lay these 
 aside at will. There are ministers who excuse 
 themselves by saying that they are citizens of a 
 kingdom not of this world, and that their conver- 
 sation is in heaven. These ethereally minded per- 
 sons certainly do not understand their Lord. True, 
 He did not come as a political reformer. But He 
 did speak very plainly on the great duties of citi- 
 zenship. He taught the rendering to Csesar the 
 things that are Csesar's. He paid His taxes and 
 taught His disciples to do the same. Paul was a 
 
154 THE I.UTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 Roman citizen, and made use of the protection to 
 which this entitled him. His teaching on subjection 
 and obedience to the powers that be is very plain. 
 It is true that in our day and land there is much 
 corruption connected with politics. But, even at 
 its worst, it is not as bad as it was in Rome in the 
 days of Christ and of Paul. And yet it was to 
 Roman officials that the early Christians were to 
 render honor and obedience. Every privilege in- 
 volves a duty. , A minister enjoys the protection 
 and benefits of 'a citizen. He cannot then shirk or 
 neglect his duty as a citizen without incurring 
 moral delinquency. In this respect, there is no dif- 
 ference between the minister and the other citizen. 
 Whatever is the duty of the Christian man is the 
 ^vote?^ duty of the Christian minister. In a Republic like 
 ours, the common weal depends on the votes of the 
 people. If a good citizen excuses himself from 
 voting at the primary meeting or at the election 
 because politics is corrupt, he thereby helps to keep 
 it corrupt. So does the minister who neglects these 
 duties. We are speaking here of duties that pertain 
 to every citizen. The commonwealth cannot pros- 
 per unless all citizens vote. But it is not necessary 
 to the welfare of the State that all should bear 
 arms, or that all should hold office. From these 
 duties the minister is excused ; except in extreme 
 
 Shall he 
 
 hold office ? cases he ought positively to decline such service. 
 
IN PERSONAL CHARACTER AND SOCIETY. 1 55 
 
 Here he ought to plead the higher duties of his 
 higher office, and ought never to be willing to step 
 down from the pulpit even to a seat in Congress. 
 He would lower himself by so doing. 
 
 Let every minister then have his political convic- can he have 
 tions. Let him be ready to answer for them and to convict^ns? 
 vote them. But let him never become a noisy par- 
 tisan. Let him never take party politics into his 
 pulpit or into his pastoral work. He may, in a 
 quiet and dignified way, discuss these questions 
 with intelligent people. But he dare never allow 
 himself to wrangle, to be a participant in a politi- 
 cal parade, mass-meeting, or jubilation. Let him 
 be specially careful that he show no favoritism, on 
 political grounds, among his people. If a great 
 moral issue comes up in his community, let him 
 carefully consider the matter and be sure that he is 
 on the side of the right. Then let him use his in- 
 fluence, in such a dignified and Christian spirit, as 
 not to derogate from his duties to his office or from 
 his permanent influence for good. But to rush into 
 every proposed moral movement, as if convinced 
 that the church is a failure as a moral agency, 
 may be a cheap way of gaining a temporary noto- 
 riety among certain classes. It will certainly re- 
 act and will injure his church, his work, and his 
 power as a minister of Christ. Fesiina lenie in 
 every new movement. Coolness, calmness, delib- 
 
156 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 eration, and earnest prayer are needed at such 
 times. 
 
 The pastor cannot be the manly man in the 
 
 community that he ought to be unless he be the 
 
 The pastor at ricrht man at Jiome. In general, it is better that the 
 
 home. ** 
 
 pastor be a married man. True, there are excep- 
 tions. There may be special reasons for remaining 
 single. Many have served the Lord acceptably 
 without being married. Some have become eu- 
 nuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake, either for 
 a time or for life. Many have thus abstained from 
 marriage for a number of years, that they might be 
 able to ser\'e in mission fields, at home or abroad, 
 where the support was not sufRcient to maintain a 
 wife. All honor to them. Our Church could use 
 whole bands of such voluntary, temporary celibates 
 in the great Home Mission work that God has 
 given us to do. We look to our seminaries to fur- 
 nish them. 
 
 But we speak here of the pastor in his home 
 His wife. who is, or will be, the husband of one wife. How 
 important that the wife be a real helpmeet for the 
 man. Many a minister has had his life and work 
 ruined by a coarse, an illiterate, improvident, and 
 unspiritual wife. And, conversely, many an excel- 
 lent and efhcient Christian woman has had her life 
 blasted and her heart broken by being tied to a 
 coarse, improvident, and unspiritual husband. She 
 
IN PERSONAL CHARACTER AND SOCIETY. I57 
 
 married liim, trusting that because he is a minister 
 of the Gospel, therefore he will certainly be a kind 
 and good man. INIore's the shame for the minister. 
 But this is a digression. The minister's home should 
 be a model in the community. It should be the 
 
 1 -11 ^lis children. 
 
 abode of kindness, love, and peace. The children 
 should always be in subjection. They should be 
 ruled with kindl}- firnmess, with few words, and 
 with perfect co-operation between father and 
 mother. Their training should show itself. _in obe- 
 dience, truthfulness, and ready service. \ Family 
 strife and scolding should be unknown at the pas- 
 tor's fireside. The home and its surroundings should The fireside, 
 be attractive, orderly, neat, and clean, although it 
 may be modest in appearance and in furnishings. \ 
 In fact, it should never be extravagantly furnished. 
 There should be no effort at display, but taste and 
 beauty in simplicity. The pastor's family must 
 ever be ready to show hospitality and to entertain Hospiuiity. 
 strangers. There should always be a warm and 
 an unaffected welcome for all. Especially should 
 the poor, the troubled, and the tempted feel that 
 there is one home where they can always find a 
 welcome, with sympathy, help, and counsel. 
 
 Such a pastor's home, where every visitor realizes 
 that Jesus is here a constant guest, that here the 
 Word of God dwells richly, that here there is a 
 church in the house, is a power for good in any 
 
158 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 community. From it the saving and sanctifying- 
 influences of divine grace go out into other homes 
 and other hearts and other lives. Its influence will 
 tell for time and for eternity. 
 
 We close this long chapter on the pastor in the 
 community with quotations from Dr. Walther and 
 Th. Harnack. (See Horn's Ev. Pastor, pp. 233- 
 
 Dr Walther 236.) Dr. Walther says : "According to God's 
 Word a good pastor must give heed not only to the 
 flock entrusted to him and to the doctrine, but also 
 to himself (Acts xx. 28 ; i Tim. iv. 16). He must 
 not only be blameless in all his public and private 
 life (i Tim. iii. 2 ; Tit. i. 7), but must also be a 
 pattern to the flock (i Pet. v. 1-4). He must give 
 offense to no one, that his oflice be not blamed 
 (2 Cor. vi. 3), and he must adorn the doctrine (Tit. 
 ii. 10). He must give diligence, not only that the 
 virtues of a good minister of God, as they are enu- 
 merated in His Word (i Tim. iii. i-io; Tit. i. 6-9 
 and ii. 7, 8), shine forth from His life, but also that 
 his household in all its members, wife, children, 
 and dependents, exhibit the pattern of a truly 
 Christian family (i Tim. iii. 4, 5 ; i Sam. ii,; Ps. 
 ci. 6, 7). Therefore even in the choice of a wife he 
 must bear in mind this important requisite of a ser- 
 vant of Jesus Christ." 
 
 Th. Hamack. Th. Hamack says (Zoeckler, Vol. IV., p. 429) : "All 
 of a pastor's efflciency stands or falls with the man- 
 
IN PERSONAL CHARACTER AND SOCIETY. 1 59 
 
 ner of his own life and that of his household. ' The 
 pfarrhaus is the light of the village, to which all 
 look to see whether it burns clear and gives light.' 
 (Mueller, Die Pastorale Seelsorge, 1854) Vita deri- 
 corum liber est laicorwn^ or vita clerici evangeliutn 
 populi. (Cf. Braun, Die Bckehtimg der Pastoren 
 ii7id deren Bedeiitting fur die Amtswirksamkeit^ 
 1885.) If the pastor's conversation be not genuinely 
 spiritual, without affectation or pretense, his whole 
 official activity will be tame, he will fall into an ar- 
 tificial spirituality (Col. ii. 23), putting on a cler- 
 ical air and an affected unction. ' Let us keep our 
 life clean,' says Harms (Pastoral Theologie, iii. 34), 
 'that we may be able to speak freely.' We can- 
 not be to others what we are not to ourselves ; 
 there must be no difference in us between the 
 Christian, the pastor, and the man. This can be 
 only when in his inmost heart the pastor walks 
 with God. His own heart dare not condemn him 
 (i John iii. 21) ; therefore he will put limits to his 
 own freedom (i Cor. x. 23), and cannot lose himself 
 in public life. He must concentrate himself upon 
 his proper calling, avoiding all attempts to do too 
 much, even too much that is good — a fault to which 
 our time offers so many temptations. He must not 
 mix in foreign matters (i Pet. iv. 15) ; nor dare he 
 let himself be controlled by the opinion of others. 
 Therefore he needs publicity, and his office gives 
 
 Claus Harms. 
 
Loehe. 
 
 l6o THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 him enough of it ; but he also needs quiet in which 
 to collect himself. ^Nemo secure paret^^ says 
 Thomas a Kempis, ' nisi qui libenter latct? ' He 
 who does not go among the people will accomplish 
 little, because he does not know them and they do 
 not know him. He who is to be found wherever 
 anybody is, will not have the confidence of the peo- 
 ple. From duty to the study ; from study to duty 
 — that is the way of the pastor ; and, necessarily, 
 for he must first draw water who means to pour it ' 
 (Loehe, Ev. Geistl., 137)." 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 IN HIS STUDY. 
 
 The nature of the pastor's calling demands that The pastor a 
 
 life-long 
 
 he be a lifelong student. Too many are not. They student. 
 never become eminent in their profession. They 
 are, at best, mediocre. They do not permanently 
 influence the church ; they leave no lasting impress. 
 They rust out, are barely tolerated by a long-suffer- 
 ing church, and reach the dead-line while they 
 ouo-ht to be at their best. We don't want such lazy 
 drones in our Church. Next to pious pastors we 
 want studious pastors. Our Church has always laid 
 stress on an educated ministry-, and this means more 
 than to have been dragged through college and 
 seminary in some way or other. It means a life of 
 study. This has been emphasized already in speak- 
 ing of the necessary intellectual qualifications. But 
 it is still worthy of a separate chapter. 
 
 t It is important, first of all, that the pastor have nis study. 
 a study: Every proper parsonage or pastor's home 
 should have a separate and special room to be used 
 for nothing else. It should be on the second floor, 
 off by itself, as private as possible. It should be a 
 II Ci6i) 
 
l62 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 'large, bright room, with window to the south, 
 flooded with sunshine from without, and full of 
 sunshine within. If possible, have an open fire- 
 place or an open stove. 
 
 Let the necessary bookshelves be ample but 
 plain — better put the money into books than into 
 costly cases. It is well to have a centre table or 
 desk, with plenty of drawers and pigeon-holes. In 
 addition to this let there also be a desk for stand- 
 ing. It is highly commendable to get into the habit 
 of writing and reading on one's feet. If the desk be 
 high enough to prevent stooping, it is conducive to 
 general healthfulness. Have a comfortable, un- 
 cushioned chair or two, but no lounge, Let every- 
 thing in the room invite to work, and nothing to 
 loaf or sleep. The study is a workshop, and not a 
 drawing-room or parlor. 
 
 If visiting brethren, or other callers, are to be 
 entertained sometimes, let easy chairs be carried in, 
 and then carried out again. If there are a few pic- 
 tures, let them be such as will encourage devoiit- 
 ness, earnestness, and work. 
 
 Next to the student, the most important thing in 
 His library the study is the library. The worker cannot work 
 without tools and materials. Books are needed. 
 And there is no end to the number that are desirable. 
 Few men, especially among beginners, can get even 
 what they consider the necessary volumes. The 
 
IN HIS STUDY. 163 
 
 question of starting and growing a library is llicre- 
 fore a vital one. 
 
 Every graduate of a good Lutheran college and 
 seminary has a start. If he has not been foolish 
 enough to dispose of his college text-books, he has 
 something on every subject covered in his course. 
 If he has had the right kind of professors, he knows 
 the most important Bibliography on every subject, 
 as well as the best literature in general. In his 
 seminary course he acquired the nucleus of a Bib- 
 lical and theological library. He also knows, or 
 ought to know, the best Bibliography on every 
 course or subject that he has studied. He has a 
 start and know\s somewhat of what he needs. A 
 few hints may however be helpful. 
 
 We take for granted then that the young pastor 
 has a good, clear-type, well-bound Oxford Bible, a its nucleus. 
 Greek Testament, and a Hebrew Bible, with the 
 necessary grammars and lexicons. He needs a 
 good Exegetical Commentary. He does not need 
 a Pulpit or Homiletical Commentary'. It is poor 
 policy for a sound man to walk on crutches. \ Let 
 the pastor strengthen and develop his mental ap- 
 paratus by doing his own thinking. If he should 
 have any other commentaries or helps, let them be 
 aids to original research and arrangement, and not 
 substitutes for them. 
 
 Now let him procure a good Bible Dictionary. 
 
books. 
 
 164 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 If he cannot at once get a large one he may shift 
 for a time with a small one, as Davis', or Smith's. 
 He must have a good Bible History, Life of Christ 
 and of Paul, Having at least one good Church 
 History and a History of Doctrine, the most im- 
 portant works on Dogmatics, Jacobs' two volume 
 Book of Concord, he has a start. What he needs 
 next are works of reference. A good up-to-date 
 Needed Dictionary, e. g.^ The Standard ; a general Cyclo- 
 paedia, e.g.^ The New Johnson ; a Religious Cyclo- 
 paedia, e. g.^ Schaff-Herzog ; The Lutheran Cyclopae- 
 dia ; and, as soon as possible, Schaff 's Creeds of Chris- 
 tendom. Then let him increase as he can. Never 
 buy a book merely because it is cheap. Buy, at 
 first, only such as are needed, because they are 
 helpful in the study. Never spend money on 
 costly binding, but see that it is substantial. As 
 long as there is real need of books for work, do 
 not be tempted to get sets of fiction, or even of 
 the poets. Let Belles-lettres in general wait. 
 Get a Shakespeare, a Milton, and a few of the 
 best poets, as you can. Do not go into debt 
 for books. Beware of the book agent, unless 
 he has something that you really need. Keep 
 yourself supplied with catalogues of new and 
 second-hand houses. Remember that there are 
 many deeds that are dark and tricks that are 
 vain in the making and selling of books. Get 
 
IN HIS STUDY. 165 
 
 the advice of brethren of experience and judg- 
 ment. 
 
 Having a working library, let it be systematically its systematic 
 
 arrangement. 
 
 arranged. Let the books be classified according to 
 subject, lit is no credit to a pastor to have his 
 books set up promiscuously without order or sys- 
 tem. Let the library, even if small, be as carefully 
 arranged as a good catalogue. Then let each book 
 have its place, and be kept in it. An orderly pastor 
 can get the book he wants in the dark. 
 
 It is well also to have a private, well-arranged, 
 and carefully numbered catalogue. Then keep a 
 careful record of books loaned and returned. You 
 will find to your sorrow that there is an army of 
 book-borrowers and that book-keepers are not all in 
 offices and counting-houses. A careful record will 
 save you from some serious losses. 
 
 Next to books the pastor wants periodicals. And Periodicals. 
 these also may become either a help and a blessing 
 or a delusion and a snare. Here, too, a Spartan 
 severity in restraint is needed. There is so much 
 that is attractive, cheap, tempting, and good in its 
 place. There are so many alluring offers and in- 
 ducements. It is so natural and easy to persuade 
 oneself that this periodical also would be helpful. 
 What is the pastor to do with all the agents, the 
 circulars, tlie offers ? What ought he to take and 
 what resolutely to discard? If in reach of it, he 
 
1 66 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 ought to keep one good, clean daily for six days in 
 the week, not to read from end to end, but to 
 look over for fifteen minutes, or, at most, half an 
 hour. He, of course, will not want to read the de- 
 tailed accounts of vice and crime. The headings 
 will suffice.X But he ought to keep himself informed 
 on the great events and movements that occupy 
 men's minds and influence his age. He must know 
 Zfit-Gfist ^^^ Zeit-Geist. But if he cannot master himself 
 sufficiently to keep himself from putting an hour or 
 two on his morning paper, he had better courageously 
 discontinue it entirely. He will, of course, want 
 the best weekly of his own church. As he ought 
 to keep himself informed on the trend of religious 
 thought outside of his own church, he might also 
 allow himself the luxury of the Independent or the 
 Outlook. To keep abreast of the general thought 
 and interest of the day, let him take a weekly like 
 the Literary Digest. Now he has enough. And 
 it will require a rigid self-discipline to keep even 
 these from stealing the hours that ought to be 
 sacred for the closet and the study. He has no 
 time for literary monthlies. If he have a family, 
 they may read them. Of course, he will keep his 
 own theological review, and, perhaps, one general 
 theological quarterly. A good missionary review 
 is also commendable. 
 
 The subject of periodic literature is indeed a 
 
IN HIS STUDY. 
 
 167 
 
 serious matter. Oh, how much precious tune is 
 frittered away by it ! What waste; what smful 
 necrlect of duty, what intellectual dissipation does 
 it not cause ! Doubtless it has ruined many a good 
 pastor. Know the danger! Beware! Let your 
 moderation be known unto all men. 
 
 \nother question in this connection is as to the 
 disposal of periodic literature. It contains so much 
 that is good and valuable that it seems a sin to 
 throw it all away. But if an attempt is made to 
 preserve it, it very soon accumulates into formid- 
 able heaps. And then to find what is wanted is 
 almost a hopeless task, and yet the material that 
 has permanent value ought to be kept ; and kept in 
 such a way that what is desired can be qmckly 
 found. Scrap books are not advisable. They take 
 time, soon fill up, leave only one side of a clipping, 
 and are next to valueless for quick reference. 
 There is a multitude of devices for the saving of 
 useful clippings : some are good and some are not so 
 crood. If the pastor cannot get what he wants, let 
 him take an ordinary bookshelf. Cut pasteboard 
 five or six inches square. Mark on the right-hand 
 upper corner of each piece the letter or topic; set 
 the clippings on edge, put the pasteboards between, 
 and he has a cheap cabinet, that he can make lim- 
 itless in capacity, variety, and flexibility. But by 
 all means clip ; clip carefully, fold neatly with 
 
 Clippings. 
 
 A cabinet. 
 
1 68 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 t 
 
 title outside to the right, and file systematically. \ 
 By and by he will have the best encyclopaedia in 
 his shelves of clippings. It will help him out of 
 many a perplexity and bridge many an emergency. 
 All this of course does not refer to well-indexed 
 quarterlies, because these ought to be bound. 
 
 Strict order and neatness in the study must be in- 
 sisted upon. A place for everything, and everything 
 always in its place. Replace at once all articles 
 after using. Arrange all your manuscripts systemat- 
 ically. Keep your pamphlets assorted, classified, 
 and in order ; preserve and file all important letters 
 received. Take and keep copies of all valuable 
 correspondence. A study without system and order 
 is an immense waster of time. Order is the greatest 
 labor-saver ever invented. 
 
 The study is now in working order. How can 
 U-ingthe -^ ^^ 
 
 study. it be best utilized ? How get the greatest possible 
 
 good out of it ? 
 
 First of all, let it be clearly understood that you 
 
 cannot be what you ought to be intellectually, you 
 
 cannot grow as you ought to grow in efficiency and 
 
 power, without constant, persistent, and systematic 
 
 study. The true pastor is a student for life. There 
 
 is no discharge in this war. 
 
 Viimar. Viluiar says (p. 29) : " There is no other calling 
 
 in the world from which intellectual giving is so 
 
 constantly required as from the ministry. No one 
 
IN HIS STUDY. 169 
 
 ought to be a pastor who has not within himself a 
 rich and unfailing fountain from which he can con- 
 stantly draw The pastor needs a crea- 
 tive gift, a poetic element. This is needed not only 
 for sermonizing, but for catechising and pastoral 
 work. Whoever does not have such a fund within 
 him will become an empty comforter, a mere talker 
 
 {eiii Schwatzer\ a dumb dog Not to be 
 
 able to produce is the greatest agony that can be 
 conceived of." 
 
 Further on (p. 36) : " The pastor's calling and 
 
 To know 
 
 theology' touch every department of human life. general 
 The Word of God should penetrate them all. This 
 cannot be unless the pastor knows and understands 
 the world. He needs to know how every individual, 
 whom he would influence, stands in the world and 
 is influenced by it. He needs to know what food 
 these people feed on, the nature of what they read, 
 the forces that move the various classes. To this 
 end he needs to know even the popular books that 
 influence the religious thinking of the day. But in 
 this study of the world and of man he must care- 
 fully guard himself lest he pursue it for its own 
 sake. This would be un-Christian if not anti- 
 Christian. This knowledge he must seek for 
 the kingdom of God's sake ; to enable him to 
 find the souls that are fleeing from the Gos- 
 pel in their hiding-places. How can he do 
 
170 THE I.UTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 this unless he be acquainted with those hid- 
 ings." 
 ciaus Harms. Claus Harms (Pastoral Theologie, Vol. II., p. 
 29if) expresses these sentiments : " I have never 
 seen a household maintain itself where the outlay 
 exceeded the income. The end is bankruptcy. 
 Where the supply does not equal the need the end 
 is death. Many pastors give out, but do not take in. 
 They are hastening on toward literary death. 
 Therefore be watchful and strengthen the things 
 that remain that are ready to die. Let him espe- 
 cially who has much pastoral work be watchful. 
 The literary life depends on keeping fresh what has 
 been learned and in constantly adding to the stock. 
 According to Sirach (Chapter XXXIX.): 'Who- 
 ever would learn to understand the law of the Most 
 High must search out the wisdom of the ancients, 
 study the prophets, know the story of the renowned 
 men, ponder them, what they mean and what les- 
 sons they teach, learn the spiritual proverbs and 
 exercise himself in deep sayings.' Behold here an 
 encyclopaedia and a methodology, in a nutshell, for 
 our study. To this it is only necessary to add : ' Do 
 not neglect your contemporaries ; know what they 
 are doing, and what, that is of worth, they are pro- 
 ducing. For, truly, what grows in the land of the 
 living is not all straw, and in the nests of our day 
 the eggs are not all bubbles.' Another warning is 
 
IN HIS STUDY. 171 
 
 sometimes necessary : The student dare not, for the 
 sake of study, betray the pastor, the husband, the 
 father." 
 
 But why should it be necessary to show the need 
 and importance of study? Does not the divine 
 Word demand it? (See Acts vii. 22; Hos. iv. 6; 
 Phil. i. 17; Epli. iv. II ; i Tim. iii. 2 and iv. 15, 
 16; 2 Tim. ii. 2 and iv. 15.) Is not knowledge 
 everywhere power ? Are not ministers rightly sup- 
 posed to be leaders of religious thought ? Should 
 they not be in advance of the people to whom they 
 minister? Are they to be unable to answer the 
 questions and solve the problems of the high-school 
 graduates in their congregations? Is not Achelis Acheiis. 
 correct when he writes (Vol. II., p. 223): "An 
 acquaintance with science purifies and elevates the 
 faculties in a manner which is of the greatest utility 
 to the pastor. It makes him free from the small- 
 ness of spirit, from the trifling nature, from the 
 complaining which so easily asserts itself in the 
 general intercourse with men. It frees him from 
 the particularism of his own personality, from his 
 self-conceit. Science is a mental circumcision. It 
 lifts him into the element of the universal, the 
 objective, the needful. It frees him from what is 
 unbecoming in the masses, from concerning himself 
 with the individual alone while forgetting the 
 thing to be considered and from the tendency to 
 
172 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 gossip. It confers the spirit of calm consideration 
 in the judging of men. It saves from forming 
 hasty conclusions from isolated data, of whose inter- 
 relations he is ignorant. The more his calling 
 draws him into the rush and crush of humanity the 
 more does he need to refresh himself with draughts 
 from the region of pure thought. But let him be- 
 ware of the promiscuous reading of periodicals. 
 . . . Let him secure a small collection of perma- 
 nently valuable theological works. Better, by far, 
 to read one good work six times than to read six 
 good works once." 
 Vinet. Vinet forcibly urges : " We must study to excite 
 
 and enrich our own mind by means of other men's. 
 Those who do not study find their talents enfeebled, 
 and their minds become decrepit before the time. 
 In respect to preaching, experience demonstrates 
 this abundantly. Whence comes it that preachers, 
 much admired in the beginning, decline so rapidly 
 or remain so much below the hopes to which they 
 had given birth? Most frequently it is because 
 
 they did not continue their studies 
 
 Without incessant study and close application our 
 sermons will more and more resemble each other. 
 A preacher who pursues a course of solid thinking 
 will always be interesting." 
 John Wesley. John Wesley wrote thus to one who had fallen 
 out of the habit of regular, close study. "Youf 
 
IN HIS STUDY. 173 
 
 talent in preaching does not increase ; it is about 
 the same as it was seven years ago ; it is lively, but 
 not deep ; there is little variety ; there is no com- 
 pass of thought. Reading alone can supply this, 
 with daily meditation and prayer. You wrong 
 yourself greatly by omitting this. You can never 
 be a deep preacher without this any more than a 
 thorough Christian. Oh, begin ! Fix some part of 
 every day for private exercises. You may acquire 
 the taste which you have not. What is tedious 
 at first will afterward be pleasant. Whether you 
 like it or not, read and pray daily. It is for your 
 life. There is no other way, else you will be 
 a trifler all your days and a petty, superficial 
 preacher. Do justice to your own soul ; give it 
 time and means to grow ; do not starve yourself 
 any longer." 
 
 John Bright once said that it was a perfect mys- Empty 
 tery to him how a minister could preach even tol- 
 erably, on the same subject, week after week and 
 year after year. And here is where the indolent 
 fail. They become empty talkers or ranters. Their 
 Sunday talks and exhortations are made up of in- 
 coherent pious platitudes, common generalities, irk- 
 some iterations, anodynes that put their people to 
 sleep physically, mentally, and spiritually. Studi- 
 ous ministers will always outwear more popular 
 ones, who depend on their "gift of gab" and sup- 
 
What shall 
 
 174 THE I.UTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 posed brilliancy. Studious ministers will grow 
 themselves into popularity. It was Dr. Wayland's 
 rule that in order to increase the force of our men- 
 tal faculties we must use them to the utmost ; to 
 become thinkers, we must think ; to become rea- 
 soners, we must reason. 
 
 What should the pastor study ? This has been 
 
 he study? anticipated in part. To sum up : 
 
 His first and main study must ever be the Divine 
 
 I. Bible. Word. If he have time for only one book, this 
 must be the one. From this he is to preach, in- 
 struct, counsel, and warn. By it he must live him- 
 self; through it he must give light and life to 
 others. To be a workman that needeth not to be 
 ashamed, he must know how rightly to divide, ex- 
 pound, and apply its blessed truth. He cannot do 
 this aright unless he is thoroughly at home in the 
 contents of his Bible. He must know its history, 
 its geography, its archeology, its characters, and its 
 teaching. He needs to understand the root, mean- 
 ing, and the various uses of its principal words ; he 
 must know how to find and how to apply its true 
 analogy of faith. All this means study ; deep 
 study, devout study, daily study, lifelong study. 
 
 Others' books we can read and lay aside. We can 
 graduate in them, and say that we have learned all 
 that we can from them. Not so with this Book. 
 No one has ever exhausted it. It is inexhaustible. 
 
IN HIS STUDY. 175 
 
 It is not of this world. It has God for its author, 
 Christ for its subject, and salvation for its eivd. It 
 begins and ends with eternity. It is especially the 
 minister's Book. He is in particular the man of 
 this Book. He must come to it at every point 
 of his work. It is the Urim and Thummim from 
 which he is to know the mind of Jehovah. It 
 is the Sword of the Spirit with which he is to over- 
 come opposition. It is the hammer with which he is 
 to break the stony heart ; the fire with which to warm 
 its icy coldness ; the light to dispel its darkness, 
 and the living seed with which he is to start and 
 nourish the new life. It is the man of his counsel, 
 the guide of his life, the power of God unto salva- 
 tion. It is the inspiration, strength, hope, and com- 
 fort in the midst of a perverse and obdurate world. 
 
 The pastor is not to be satisfied with knowing 
 detached parts and passages. He is to know the 
 Bible as a whole. He needs to know every passage 
 in its connection. Oversight gives insight. It is 
 well frequently to read a book at one sitting, after 
 knowing the main points of its introduction. 
 
 Says Dr. J. W. Alexander : " To-day I took up 
 my Greek Testament, and, as I walked about the 
 floor, read the Second Epistle to Timothy, pausing 
 in thought on certain striking places. I saw many 
 new excellencies, had some rays of light, and was 
 more than ever convinced of the excellency of this 
 
 lis value. 
 
176 THE I.UTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 way of Scripture study ; especially when, after a 
 number of rapid perusals, one goes over the ground 
 with more and more ease every time." 
 
 This brings us to the importance of a regular 
 In the and systematic study of the original text. " Me- 
 
 original text. 1 /» . . . - 
 
 lanchthon recommended, as the first requisite m the 
 study of theology, ' a familiarity with the text of 
 the Sacred Scriptures, and, in order to do this, that 
 they should be read daily, both morning and even- 
 ing.' " 
 
 Luther declared that he would not part with 
 his knowledge of Hebrew for mines of gold. He 
 studied his Hebrew Bible and Greek Testament 
 daily. 
 
 Dr. Hoppin says (Past. Theol., p. 159): "The 
 study of the Hebrew language, though difficult, yet, 
 after the scholar has broken through the rind, is 
 not extremely difficult for practical purposes, and it 
 affords a lifelong banquet, for in the Hebrew we 
 seem to approach to the simplicity of nature, and to 
 the very words of God. Its antique grandeur and 
 unsoftened strength . . . lead us back to what the 
 Germans call the Ur-welt — to the elder hills and 
 plains, the shepherds, and the period when men 
 come near God in the fresh youth of the world . . . 
 On almost every point of Biblical criticism, the man 
 who is not a Hebrew scholar is entirely at the mercy 
 of the man who is." 
 
IN HIS STUDY. 177 
 
 Murphy (Past. Theol., p. i3if) elaborates these 
 arguments : 
 
 1. " The Bible cau be better understood through 
 the aid of this language than it can possibly be 
 
 .., J •. I, Murphy's 
 
 without It." arguments. 
 
 2. " We get nearer to the mind of the Spirit in 
 this way." 
 
 3. " Out of all the possible languages of the 
 world, these were the ones that were providentially 
 chosen for conveying the will of God to man." 
 
 4. ** It must be an unspeakable pleasure to get at 
 the very terms which were written by inspired pens, 
 the very sounds that were uttered by Jehovah and 
 heard from His lips by His highly favored ser- 
 vants." 
 
 5. "To be skilled in these languages gives one an 
 independence in interpreting the Scriptures and an 
 authority in expounding them, which cannot be too 
 highly valued." 
 
 6. " Some of the best modern commentaries on the 
 Scriptures cannot be used to full advantage without 
 a knowledge of these languages." 
 
 Some of the older pastors had little or no oppor- 
 tunity to become proficient in the sacred languages. 
 We are glad that our seminar}- courses have greatly 
 improved on these lines, and that he who has been 
 faithful in the seminary has a working knowledge 
 of Hebrew and Greek when he enters on his work 
 12 
 
178 
 
 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 With 
 
 exegetical 
 
 "XJinmentary. 
 
 2. Church 
 
 Fathers and 
 
 Luther. 
 
 as a minister. Now let liim only be faithful, per- 
 sistently and energetically faithful, in keeping it up. 
 One or two hours of hard study a week the year 
 round will not only hold what has been acquired, 
 but will make more and more proficient. 
 
 If rightly used, a good brief exegetical commen- 
 tary is helpful in the Bible study. We know of 
 one minister who studies his Bible every morning 
 with Bengel open before him. 
 
 The faithful Bible student will be the sound and 
 satisfying preacher and the safe pastor. His people 
 will not go home hungry, but will be so fed and 
 feasted that they will want to come next time and 
 bring their friends with them. 
 
 The faithful Bible student will have time also 
 for othei studies. Dr. Horn (Ev. Pastor, p. 44) 
 says : " In so far as literature, science, and the study 
 of history and human nature can serve him in his 
 especial stewardship, he is in duty bound to pursue 
 them in right proportion." We have already seen 
 how Vilmar recommends the study of humanity and 
 of the Zeit-Geist. 
 
 As special ministerial studies he recommends the 
 Church Fathers, and especially the works of Luther. 
 As side-helps, he recommends History and Philos- 
 ophy. 
 
 There is much truth in the saying of Pope : 
 "The proper study of mankind is man." 
 
IN HIS STUDY. 
 
 179 
 
 The pastor as a teacher, molder, and leader of men 
 must know men ; otherwise he will be beating the 
 air, preaching over the heads of his people, and fail 
 utterly to understand and properly to counsel them. 
 Let him faithfully study Philosophy, and especially 
 Psychology. Let him study books revealing the 
 human spirit and character. Next to the Bible, 
 Shakespeare will help him. Let him study him- 
 self, and also get into the hearts and the inner life 
 of his people. 
 
 As an interpreter and messenger of God, he ought 
 also to know the works of God. Not only books on 
 natural science, but nature herself in all her depart- 
 ment and moods ought to be studied. He ought 
 to know how to consider the lilies, to behold the 
 fowls of the air, to learn a parable of the fig-tree 
 and of all the trees, to discern the face of the sky. 
 To him the heavens should ever declare the glory 
 of God, and the firmament show His handiwork. 
 "An undevout astronomer is mad." The pastor 
 who loves and knows how to study nature can ever 
 find 
 
 " Tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, 
 Sermons in stones, and good in everything." 
 
 It has also been previously remarked that the 
 pastor needs to know the spirit of his time. What 
 do his people read, what do they think, what atmos- 
 phere do they breathe ? What is the trend and tone 
 
 3. Man. 
 
 4. Nature. 
 
 5. Current 
 thought. 
 
l8o THK LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 of the daily and weekly press, of the popular maga- 
 zines, of the platform lecture ? What are the daily 
 associations and environments of his people ? Who 
 are the chief priests, elders, scribes, Pharisees, Sad- 
 ducees, false prophets, antichrists of to-day? Of 
 what writer's, speaker's, or neighbor's leaven must 
 his disciples beware ? What is that insidious, sneak- 
 ing, secretly-working Zcit-Gcist^ that is constantly 
 baffling him and poisoning his people ? The pastor 
 must know it. He can do so by getting the confi- 
 dence of his people, having them open their hearts 
 and lives to him, look over their literature, and so 
 get acquainted with the spirit that haunts them. 
 
 As already said, it will be well for the pastor to 
 know the popular books that have an influence on 
 religion, e. g.^ a few jears ago, '* Robert Elsmere," 
 at present, " The Reign of Law," et id onine genus. 
 
 The intelligent, influential, and growing pastor 
 will want to know the best thought of the best 
 thinkers of all time. On this whole subject of the 
 pastor in his study we most earnestly commend a 
 careful reading Dr. Shedd's vigorous, virile, search- 
 ing and stimulating words in Chap. III. of his Pas- 
 toral Theology, p. 345. 
 ^'of stidy'"^ A few words as to the best method of study : 
 
 First. Let the pastor carefully lay down for him- 
 I. Regular gglf a coursc for every vear. For such system and 
 
 course. 
 
 selection a correspondence post-graduate course will 
 
IN HIS STUDY. l8l 
 
 be ven- helpful. ; From the catalogues for such 
 courses, with the aid of the professors in the insti- 
 tution that offers the course, let him make his 
 choice. Do not undertake too much ; do not be in 
 a hurry ; do not study with reference to a degree, 
 but to improve yourself ; self-improvement and the 
 greater efficiency for usefulness is reward enough 
 for all the labor. The labor itself ought to become 
 such a pleasure that it is its own reward. The 
 degree-hunter is often hasty and superficial, while 
 he who studies for his own good and because he loves 
 it is apt to be more thorough. 
 
 Having selected the course, let there be system in 
 following it up. Learn the value of time. Time, 
 of which eternity is made up, should be reverenced. 
 Much precious time is wasted, not by idleness 
 alone, but b}' lack of system. Let there be regular 
 study hours. The first hour, or at least half-hour, 
 for private devotion. Then study till breakfast 
 time. Then family devotions, and fifteen or twenty 
 minutes for the morning papers and the necessary 
 chores. Then conscientious study, not loitering, 
 lounging, flitting from book to magazine or from 
 book to book, but study, attentive, concentrated 
 study, till the noon-day meal.\ If breakfast is late, 
 one o'clock is early enough for this. Dr. Shedd 
 recommends five hours daily, three for sermonizing 
 and two for books. After five or ten years, three 
 
 2. System. 
 
1 82 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 for books and two for sermonizing. Let this system 
 be rigidly adhered to. Enter with promptness on 
 the work at the fixed minute. Dr. Alexander says : 
 " More than half one's time can thus be saved." 
 Cecil says : " Method is like packing things in a 
 box ; a good packer will get in half as much again 
 as a poor one." 
 
 Another important matter is that these hours be 
 . 3- No ^g £j.gg from interruption as possible. Let the con- 
 
 mterruptions. ^ ^ 
 
 gregation understand that the forenoons are for 
 study and the afternoons for the people. The 
 objectless visit of the idler, whose chief occupation 
 is to kill time, should be severely discouraged. 
 Even visiting brethren should not steal these 
 precious hours. Vinet, p. 124, tells how an aged 
 American minister once visited the Rev. jMatthew 
 Wilks in London : "After some moments, when 
 they had told each other the most important news 
 they had heard, the conversation dropped. Mr. 
 Wilks broke the silence by saying, ' Have you any- 
 thing more to tell me ? ' ' Nothing of special in- 
 terest.' ' Do you desire any further information 
 from me?' ' None.' ' Then it is best we should 
 separate. I am engaged in my Master's business. 
 Good-by, sir.' " 
 
 A classmate of the writer, one of the busiest men 
 in the church, was once visited by another class- 
 mate. They had not seen each other for years, but 
 
IN HIS STUDY. 183 
 
 the busy man said, " Charlie, I am glad to see you. 
 I'll give you twenty minutes, by the watch." 
 
 Let us have a generation of pastors who scrupu- Such pastors 
 
 . . needed. 
 
 lously and gladly keep their closet hours and their 
 study hours ; then will our ministry be powerful in 
 the pulpit, influential in the community, and richly 
 blessed in their pastoral functions. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 IN HIS CLOSET. 
 
 We have already suggested and emphasized the 
 need of spiritual qualifications in the pastor. This 
 is a matter that cannot be too deeply impressed. 
 On the spiritual-mindedness, earnestness, and per- 
 sonal consecration of the pastor, more than on any- 
 thing else, depends his success as a shepherd of 
 souls. It is not enough that he be an ordinarily 
 pious man. He needs a piety the degree of which 
 is above that of his people. He needs a more com- 
 plete conformity to the likeness of Jesus Christ, a 
 greater familiarity with the mind of the Spirit, a 
 nearer approach to the perfect man in Christ Jesus. 
 He is to be a leader in the spiritual host of God, 
 and needs to be in advance of others in spiritual at- 
 tainments. The one thought should ever be before 
 him : " Mine is no ordinary profession. It is some- 
 thing more sacred, more heavenly, more Christ-like 
 than the common callings of men, and therefore I 
 must be more holy." The development of personal 
 piety well deserves a separate chapter in Pastoral 
 Theology. It is a branch of culture sadly neglected. 
 *' The church is suffering from a cold, careless, un- 
 
 (184) 
 
IN HIS CLOSET. 185 
 
 spiritual, and selfish ministry more than from any • 
 other cause. Worldly-mindedness, mere profession- 
 alism, indifference, laziness, selfishness, and spirit- 
 ual atrophy in the parsonage are blighting our 
 churches. Our ministry is in danger. The cold, 
 careless, mammon-worshiping, pleasure-loving, and 
 skeptical atmosphere of our age is affecting our pas- 
 tors. The Zeit-Geist is dangerous. It has paralyzed 
 many a pastor who is not even conscious of his loss. 
 Gray hairs are here and there upon him and he 
 knoweth it not. His not knowing it, is his greatest 
 danger. 
 
 Murphy (Pastoral Theol., p. 38) well says : " This 
 eminent piety is before ever^'thing else in prepara- piety before 
 tion for the duties of the sacred office. It is before 
 talents, or learning, or study, or favorable circum- 
 stances, or skill in working, or power in sermoniz- 
 ing. It is needed to give character and tone and 
 strength to all these, and to every other part of the 
 work ... A man with this high tone of piet}^ is 
 sure to be a good pastor ; without it success in the 
 holy office is not to be expected. The first thing 
 for the young minister to consider is how he may 
 attain to the high degree of holiness in heart and 
 life." On page 53, Murphy quotes McCheyne thus : 
 " A heated iron, though blunt, will pierce its way 
 even where a sharper instrument, if it be cold, will 
 not penetrate. So, if our ministers only be ' filled 
 
1 86 THK LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 with the spirit,' wlio is like fire, they will pierce 
 into the hardest hearts, where the sharpest wits 
 cannot find their way. ... A loving man will 
 always accomplish more than a merely learned one. 
 ... It is not great talents that God blesses so 
 much as great likeness to Christ. A holy minister 
 is an awful weapon in the hands of God." 
 
 Says Dr. Bedell (in The Pastor, p. 28) : " Theory 
 is not enough. Without doubt, the devil is an able 
 theologian. But a clerical character which is to 
 The need of asscrt powcr must add to a mind furnished, trained, 
 and developed, a heart thoroughly placed under the 
 influence of these truths, and a will as thoroughly 
 ; sanctified. A minister whose character in the pul- 
 
 ' pit will move and hold men will have experienced, 
 in his own religious history, the power of the truth 
 
 ! which he applies. . . . One can never learn from 
 
 [ books the way in which truth deals with the soul. 
 
 1 Each teacher needs his own experience of it. We 
 need to have felt the influence of divine things. 
 We need to have known the power of the law in 
 exposing our sin, the depth of that sin, the entire- 
 ness of our depravity. . . . We need to have ex- 
 perienced the sweet compulsion of the spirit draw- 
 ing us, willingly, unwilling, toward the cross of 
 Christ. We need to have felt the inrush ing sense 
 of a Saviour's love and the outgushing rush of 
 affection and desire, and devotion and self-abandon- 
 
IN HIS CLOSET. 1 87 
 
 ment and self-consecration ; all mingling in the 
 single act of faith toward Him, by which we arc 
 forever bound to Him, by which we share His life 
 and become partakers of the life hidden with Him 
 in God. From our own blessed experience we be- 
 come able to apply such truths to the experience of 
 other men. . . . Words fall from a minister's lips 
 with power, when it is evident that they are uttered 
 as the experience of a spiritual man." 
 
 We most earnestly recommend to all pastors a 
 most earnest study of Baxter's " The Reformed Pas- 
 tor," of Spener's '■'■Theologische Bcdenken^'^- of James' 
 *' An Earnest Ministry-," and of " Ninety-five Theses 
 for Protestant Church Doors," by Rev. G. W. Sandt. 
 
 It is not enough that the young pastor had these 
 spiritual qualifications before or when he entered on 
 his work. There is always an imminent danger for 
 all Christians that they lose their first love, run 
 well for a season, wax cold, and, in time of tempta- 
 tion, fall away. 
 
 Ever>' believer needs a constant, diligent, and 
 prayerful use of the means of grace. All need to 
 watch and pray ; constantly to put on and use the 
 whole armor of God. With all, " the old Adam in 
 us is to be drowned and destroyed by daily sorrow 
 and repentance, together with all sins and evil lusts : 
 and the new man should daily come forth and 
 rise." 
 
1 88 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 Now the idea prevails, and young ministers easily 
 and unconsciously get it, that those in the holy 
 office are not in so much danger and do not need so 
 much spiritual watchfulness and self-culture. Are 
 they not, by virtue of their holy calling, constantly 
 about their Father's business? Are they not 
 always bearing the vessels of the Lord, study- 
 ing, expounding, and applying the Divine Word? 
 Are they not always instructing, admonishing, 
 warning, and comforting others along these lines? 
 Do they not associate with the very best Christian 
 people and spend their days in a superior and sanc- 
 tified atmosphere ? How could they be in danger ? 
 It ought to be a matter of course that they grow 
 wiser and better from day to day. No doubt these 
 are the devil's suggestions. Paul at least feared 
 lest, having preached to others, he himself might 
 become a castaway. 
 
 Now the truth is that no class of men stand in 
 such great and sore need of spiritual watchfulness 
 and self-culture as ministers. Their calling carries 
 with it special dangers. There is danger that, 
 while feeding others, they starve themselves ; that 
 in counseling and warning others they forget self ; 
 that their own spiritual life languish and their 
 official functions become professional and lifeless. 
 There are many diverse temptations peculiar to the 
 pastor. Says Vilmar (Pastoral Theologie, p. 60) : 
 
IN HIS CLOSET. 
 
 189 
 
 *' There is no true shepherd without temptation, 
 as even the Great Shepherd, Christ, was tempted. 
 The devil seeks especially, most frequently and 
 most powerfully, to tear the Word of God out of the 
 heart of that one who has it most really and most 
 completely. The pastor must contend against the 
 devil, not only for himself, but also for his congre- 
 gation Whoever knows nothing of 
 
 these conflicts, knows not that the principal object 
 of all the devil's attacks is the office-bearer of the 
 church of Christ, is not yet a true minister. The 
 minister must expect that the devil treat him just 
 as he treats the Lord Himself, and that for the 
 reason that he proclaims the Word of the Lord. 
 He not only casts doubt upon the preached Word, 
 but — and this is even harder to bear — he so per- 
 verts the very best of that Word that he turns it 
 
 into a snare or welds it into a deadly dart 
 
 So, for example, the minister is tempted by wan- 
 dering or absence of thought, by indifference, even 
 
 in the most holy acts Or in the midst of 
 
 these acts alien, silly, and irreverent thoughts rush 
 in, or there come inner and outer unrest, the feel- 
 ing of being desolate and forsaken, spiritual dearth 
 and weakness, vanity, pride, irritability, the flattery 
 of the newly awakened, or, worse }et, of the world 
 or of women. Then come special temptations to 
 doubt. The verv truths in which one felt the most 
 
ease. 
 
 190 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 firm the devil makes doubtful, and casts the min- 
 ister into serious conflicts. There is no other way. 
 The fight of faith must be fought through. Who- 
 ever knows nothing of this faith-conflict {Glaubens- 
 
 kanipf) is certainly a shallow nature 
 
 These conflicts can be fought through in no other 
 way than by prayer." 
 
 All this and more Vilmar embraces under 
 Luther's Teniatio. 
 
 There are constant temptations from love of 
 Love of ease, indisposition to self-denying devotion, and 
 false fear of uttering unpalatable truths. We 
 must often labor when our hearts are cold and lan- 
 guid. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Shepherd, of New England, writes 
 in his diary : " I saw on the Sabbath \i. e.^ the 
 Lord's day] four evils which attend me in my min- 
 istry. First, either the devil treads me down by 
 discouragement and shame, from the sense of the 
 meanness of what I have provided in private medi- 
 tations ; or, secondly, carelessness possesses me, 
 arising because I have done well and been enlarged, 
 and been respected formerly ; hence it is not such 
 great matter, though I be not always alike. Thirdly, 
 infirmities and weakness, as want of light, want of 
 life, want of a spirit of power to deliver what I am 
 affected with for Christ ; and hence I saw many 
 souls not set forward, nor Godward in my ministry. 
 
IN IIIS CLOSET. 191 
 
 Fourthly, want of success when I have done my 
 best." * 
 
 On p. 65, Bridges quotes from George Herbert's 
 Country Parson, Chap. II., thus : " The minister's Dirr.cuity of 
 aim and labor must be not only to get knowledge, preparation, 
 but to subdue and mortify all lusts and affections, 
 and not to think, that, when he has read the 
 fathers or schoolmen, a minister is made and the 
 thing is done. The greatest and hardest prepara- 
 tion is within. And indeed hie labor — hoc opus est. 
 To bring the heart to the work and to keep it there, 
 to exchange the indulgence of ease for labor and 
 self-denial, the esteem of the world for the reproach 
 of Christ and His cross, to endure the prospect of 
 successive disappointment and discouragement — 
 this it is that raises within the ' evil spirit ' of 
 despondency, which kind can come forth by noth- 
 ing but by prayer and fasting." 
 
 Vinet (Pastoral Theol., p. 67) thus refers to 
 another special danger : " Self-love is our most ter- seif-iove 
 rible enemy, because it is our nearest. Everyone 
 covets praise. . . . True humility is a miracle. A 
 supernatural grace is necessary to impart it to a 
 minister. Nothing but love can remove self-love 
 from the throne of his heart. . . . There is one 
 form of self-love which manifests itself in the min- 
 istry more than in any other profession. It is the 
 * Quoted in Bridges on the Christian Ministry, p. 24. 
 
192 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 love of authority. . . . The habit of commanding, 
 so easily formed, narrows and falsifies his view and 
 alienates those who cannot sacrifice their tastes to 
 his. Chrysostom (On the Priesthood) has devel- 
 oped with admirable force the dangers of self-love 
 in the ministry." Dr. Cannon, in Lectures on 
 Pastoral Theol. (p. 612), reminds the minister that 
 " the temper and habits of the world are opposed to 
 the process of religion. The rich and great and 
 fashionable are averse to practical godliness ; and 
 the wicked are anxious to free themselves from 
 every restraint which the divine law imposes upon 
 them as intelligent creatures. Hence ministers of 
 the Word are called upon to endure ' the contradic- 
 tion of sinners.' . . . But they have also to con- 
 tend with sin in their own hearts and are exposed 
 to particular assaults of the adversary. The flesh 
 tempts, at one time to slothfulness and laxity, at 
 another time to discouragement." 
 
 But, perhaps, after all, the most insidious and 
 the most constant danger to the pastor's spiritual 
 
 The 
 
 professional life is the oue of falling into the habit of regard- 
 ing and using spiritual things in a merely profes- 
 sional spirit. He uses his Bible as a text-book. He 
 is constantly seeking from it lessons and applica- 
 tions for others. 
 
 Bishop Simpson is qiioted in Murphy (p. 83) as 
 saying : "The ver}- Word of God that the minister 
 
 spint. 
 
Bible. 
 
 IN HIS CLOSET. 1 93 
 
 studies may do him less good than it does the non- 
 professional reader. Why is this? I take my 
 Bible ; my heart is sad and I seek some precious 
 promise. I bend over the page ; my heart leans for 
 a moment on that precious passage : ' Let not your j^^^^^^ ^^ 
 heart be troubled ; ye believe in God ; believe also 
 in me. In my Father's house are many mansions ; 
 if it were not so I would have told you. I go to 
 prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a 
 place for you, I will come again and receive you 
 unto myself,' and just as the heart is beginning to 
 grasp the sweetness and the fitness of the passage 
 there springs up the thought, ' That will be a fine 
 passage to unfold to my congregation,' and ere I am 
 aware I am preparing a sermon for my people, in- 
 stead of resting my soul upon the riches of the 
 promise." 
 
 What minister has not often felt the humiliating 
 truth of Bishop Simpson's words ! 
 
 Yes, verily, here is a great danger. If not real- 
 ized and guarded against, it will work havoc with 
 the pastor's devotional life. He will at length come 
 to use his Bible in no other way than as a lawyer 
 uses his law books, or as a physician uses his pro- 
 fessional books. \ Then will his Bible cease to be to 
 him spirit and life. He will no longer desire the 
 sincere milk of the Word that he himself may grow 
 thereby. He himself will not be sanctified by the 
 13 
 
194 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 truth. And so with his preaching, his pastoral 
 visits, his sick-calls, his catechising, and even his 
 service at the altar. All will be professional, per- 
 functory, mechanical, heartless, and lifeless. Woe 
 to the minister who goes through his round of 
 duties in such a spirit. Such an one cannot main- 
 tain that measure of spiritual life which alone 
 makes and marks the minister as a man of power, 
 a man of God. Truly there are peculiar dangers 
 for the minister. His vocation brings with it pecu- 
 liar trials, temptations, and perils. How much he 
 needs to cultivate his inner life and spirit. 
 
 But the minister has peculiar responsibilities as 
 "^ecuCe'-' well as peculiar dangers. He has a great work to 
 sponsibihties. ^^^ Bvcry day will bring with it something in 
 which he will need special grace and guidance. 
 During any day he may be sorely tried, tempted, 
 or called to bear unexpected and heavy burdens. 
 He must always be ready to minister to broken 
 hearts, in broken homes, to act as peacemaker in 
 the midst of strife and passion, to give the word in 
 season that is to save a young man or a young 
 woman from taking a step that may wreck a life or 
 a soul. Every day he must be prepared to meet a 
 soul at the parting of the ways : one made serious 
 by his sermons, halting between two opinions, 
 almost persuaded. The right word at the right 
 moment, in the right S2:)irit, may win that one. The 
 
IN HIS Cl,OSET. 195 
 
 ■wrong word, the untimely word, the impatient, 
 hasty spirit, the unsympathetic, reproachful tone, 
 may spoil it all. To-day it may depend on him 
 whether families, groups, or parties are to leave his 
 church or be won back to be true and to be blessed. 
 To-day perhaps he will unwittingly decide whether 
 his church is to go forward or backward. 
 
 Oh, yes, he has heavy burdens and responsibil- 
 ities to bear. They are undefined. No one can 
 measure them out for him. No book can tell him 
 what to say or what to do in each given case. He 
 needs a daily supply of that wisdom that is from 
 above, which, if any man lack, he is to ask of God, 
 who giveth liberally and upbraideth not. From r„.,iay's 
 the study and the closet he goes to his pulpit. To- 
 day's sermon may be a savor of life unto life or of 
 death unto death to someone. It may be the last 
 that someone will hear ; it may seal the weal or 
 the woe of some soul. To-day's catechetical or 
 Sunday-school lesson or talk to his young people 
 may make the turning point for someone. Surely 
 his is a great work, a responsible work, a work 
 fraught with tremendous possibilities and conse- 
 quences. 
 
 Who is sufficient for these things? No one in 
 his own strength. God pity the pastor who de- 
 pends on his own wisdom, wit, or tact for all this. 
 God pity the man who depends on his professional 
 
 destinies. 
 
196 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 forms, perfunctorily performed in all cases alike, 
 and then flatters himself that he has done his duty 
 as a pastor. No, no. The true soul-winners and 
 soul-feeders have always felt their own utter insuffi- 
 ciency. They have been men of prayer ; they have 
 realized the need of regular closet hours ; they have 
 been much alone with God ; they have constantly 
 found refreshment, strength, peace, and joy in their 
 still hours. Their inner, devotional life has had its 
 daily attention, nourishment, and furtherance. 
 They have always been busy men, but they always 
 had a regular time for their own sacra privata. * 
 For regular and fixed times for prayer we have 
 Fixed hi, urs ample Scripture warrant. (See Ps. Iv. 17; Dan. 
 
 for devotion. ^ ^ 
 
 vi. 10 ; Luke xviii. i ; Acts iii. i and x. 3, 9, 30.) 
 
 * The Roman Catholic Church has her Breviaries, i. e. , books 
 of devotion made up of Scripture lessons, hymns, and prayers. 
 These are arranged for all the days of the year and for the so- 
 called canonical hours of each day. These hours are the 
 Matins, at early morning ; Lauds, at nine o'clock ; Pro Pace, at 
 noon ; Vespers, at sun-down ; and Complines, before retiring. 
 Some Breviaries have hours also for the night. Now while 
 there is a great deal of legalism and self-merit in all this, against 
 •which the evangelical Christian must constantly watch, because 
 the natural heart is a Romanist, yet the idea of fixed forms 
 and fixed times for prayer is a good one, and can be used with 
 profit and blessing. 
 
 On this account an Evangelical Breviary has been published 
 in German, by Dieffenbach & Mueller. We commend it to all 
 pastors who can use the German. To those who cannot, we 
 commend the Sacra Privata, by Bishop Wilson, of the Anglican 
 Church. A brief evangelical Book of Devotions in English 
 for our Lutheran ministry is a.pium desideratum. 
 
IN HIS CLOSET. 197 
 
 True, ever)- Christian, and, above all, the minister, 
 is to pray without ceasing, /. <?., he is to have a 
 spirit always ready to pray ; he is to send up fre- 
 quent ejaculator)' prayers, not only in his closet 
 hours, but in his study, when dressing for church, 
 on the way, before starting on a pastoral visit, on 
 the way, and, in short, whenever he feels his insuf- 
 ficiency and need. If he is not a man of prayerful 
 spirit, if he is not on trustfully familiar terms with 
 his Heavenly Father, delighting to hold converse 
 and communion with Him, he can never attain to 
 great eminence in his calling. It goes without say- 
 ing that a true minister will have a family altar, 
 where he, as the priest of the house, will have reg- 
 ular, daily, family worship. 
 
 But, in addition to all this, he also needs his 
 
 regular hours for private devotion. 
 
 I' 
 It is an old and a good practice that the pastor 
 
 set apart especially the first hour of the day for un- The morning 
 
 interrupted communion with God. The mind is 
 
 then clearer and better fitted for true devotion. 
 
 There is less danger of being interrupted. It is then 
 
 that the pastor has his day's work and responsibility 
 
 before him. It is then that he needs fresh supplies of 
 
 wisdom, strength, and grace. David said : " My voice 
 
 shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord ; in the 
 
 morning will I direct my prayer unto thee." We 
 
 know how Luther used to say : " I have so much to 
 
198 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 do to-day that I need several hours for prayer this 
 Testimony of corning." Philip Henry, speaking of one of his 
 studying days, says, " I forgot, when I began, explic- 
 itly and expressly to crave help from God, and the 
 chariot-wheels drove accordingly. I^ord, forgive 
 my omission, and keep me in the way of duty." 
 Murphy says (Pastoral TheoL, p. j;^) : "A distin- 
 guished judge acknowledged his success in his pro- 
 fession as owing to the hour he daily spent with 
 God." General Havelock, though burdened with 
 the care of the army, during the terrible mutiny in 
 India, managed to keep sacred for prayer a long 
 time in the morning of each day. Other honored 
 names might be mentioned, as those of Bacon, and 
 the great astronomer, Kepler, and the historian, 
 DeThou, of whom it is related that every morning 
 " he implored God in private to purify his heart, to 
 banish from it hatred and flattery, to enlighten his 
 mind, and to make known to him the truth which 
 so many passions and conflicting interests had 
 almost buried." * 
 
 It is desirable, also, that the pastor have a special 
 place for his private devotion. In the University 
 of Upsala there is a private chapel or prayer-room. 
 A small room with a key inside, a little altar, on 
 which is a cross and a Bible, and before which is a 
 
 * See the prayers of Bacon, Kepler, and DeThou, quoted 
 in Vinet, pp. 353, 354. 
 
IN HIS CLOSET. 199 
 
 kneeling stool. Would that all our theological 
 seminaries had such a place for private prayer! 
 Every well-arranged parsonage ought to have a 
 closet for private devotion. If the pastor's study 
 is, as it ought to be, a private room with key on 
 inside, this would answer, only so there be a 
 strictly private place free from all intrusion. 
 Loehe recommends (Ev. Geistliche, p. 136): 
 
 " (a) Every house ought to have a prayer-cham- 
 ber, especially every manse. Since it is not so, the 
 study must become a closet. 
 
 " (d) The sacristy, or robing-room in the church, 
 oft a room for idle talk or for study, had better be. The 
 
 on account of its isolation, a place for private heart- 
 prayer, for prayerful preparation, for intercession 
 for the flock, and for all the needs of the church. 
 It should have a private key, have an altar and a 
 kneeling stool. One can pray without these acces- 
 sories, still they invite and assist. 
 
 "(c) Further inviting opportunities for heart- 
 prayer are the pastor's walks on his official errands. 
 Nowhere is he more alone than on these walks. 
 This ambulando-^x^y^x has a special charm. 
 Try it" 
 
 Vinet says (Pastoral Theol., p. 113): "Solitude 
 cannot fail to be useful to him who seeks good 
 from it, precisely because he seeks it What- 
 ever makes outward things vanish and silences the 
 
 robing-room. 
 
200 THE IvUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 noises of the world favors the interviews which we 
 
 wish to have with ourselves The truths 
 
 The blessings which concern the conscience here detach theni- 
 
 of solitude. 
 
 selves better from all those foreign accessories with 
 
 which they are otherwise overloaded Jesus 
 
 Christ did not despise external means. How often 
 is He represented in the Gospel as withdrawing 
 Himself and passing long hours away from men 
 and noise ! Would a means that was necessary for 
 Jesus Christ be useless to us ? 'I learn from St. 
 Augustine/ says Bossuet, ' that the attentive soul 
 makes a solitude for itself : Gignit eiiim sibi ipsa 
 inettHs mieniio solitudincm.'^ But let us not flatter 
 ourselves ; if we would keep ourselves vigorous in 
 the inward man we must know how to avail our- 
 selves of seasons of effective solitude." Vinet then 
 goes on to show at length that solitude is valuable 
 for a minister : i, to enable him to take an estimate 
 of his modes of life ; 2, to assist him in gathering 
 up the results of his experience ; and, 3, to aid him 
 in consulting God in prayer, 
 ; The pastor then needs his times and places for 
 private devotion. But it still remains to consider 
 how he can best employ these still hours so that 
 his inner life may be prospered and blest. 
 
 We have already referred to Luther's famous 
 saying : " Oratio^ Tentatio^ Meditatio faciiint Theo- 
 logum.''^ Luther himself explains Oratio as fol- 
 
IN HIS CLOSET. 
 
 20 1 
 
 ( )ratio. 
 
 lows : " Kneel in thy closet, and with real humility 
 and earnestness beg God that through His dear 
 Son He will give His Holy Spirit to you to 
 enlighten you, guide you, and give you understand- 
 ing ; as thou seest that David in the 119th Psalm 
 continually begs: Teach nie^ Lord; show tne ; 
 guide me ; instruct me^ and the like. Even though 
 he had the text of Moses, and well knew other 
 books and daily heard and read them, yet did he 
 wish to have the real Master of the Scripture also 
 that he might not be left to his own reason and be 
 his own teacher." 
 
 Of Tentatio he says : " As soon as God's Word 
 has free course through thee, Satan will visit thee 
 to make a real doctor of thee, and by means of 
 temptation to teach thee to seek and to love the 
 Word of God." 
 
 Dr. Horn (Ev. Pastor, p. 43) explains further 
 thus : " The word might be rendered by experi- 
 ence, taking this latter in two senses, as experience 
 which we have had and the experience we have^ 
 namely, knowledge, tact, skill, assurance and cour- 
 age gotten from discipline and practice." 
 
 We have given above Vilmar's excellent and 
 earnest explanation of Tentatio. 
 
 Meditatio is thus explained by Luther : " Not 
 only in the heart, but externally to study and ana- Meditatio. 
 lyze the spoken and the written Word, to read it 
 
 Tentatio. 
 
202 THE I^UTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 and to read it again, with, diligent attention and re- 
 flection, in order to discover the meaning of the 
 Holy Ghost in it." In other words, it means the 
 devotional study of the Divine Word. 
 
 Loehe says (Ev. Geistliche, p. 142) : " Whoever 
 ^'^prfvate °^ "^^^t always give, must always have ; and since he 
 devotions, cannot draw out of himself what he must give, he 
 must ever keep near the living fountain in order to 
 draw. Many a truth, when once appropriated, de- 
 velops itself in life, but the development is two- 
 fold and threefold richer when the inner and the 
 outer, the hidden and the public life are the same. 
 The Divine Word and the theological sciences can 
 become a devotional study, which is widely differ- 
 ent from that dabbling and smattering of science 
 which only estranges from the holy office and unfits 
 one for it. This devotional study, on the other hand, 
 fits, grounds, and strengthens for the work, clarifies 
 the understanding and the experience, and gives 
 ever new and ever deeper insight into the glory of 
 the Word that is to be preached. It protects the 
 pastor from the calamity of the indolent minister, 
 who grows weary of his work and performs it in a 
 half-hearted and mechanical manner, and confesses 
 to his intimate friends that Christianity does not 
 solve the deepest problems of life ; whereas his lips 
 could and should joyfully drop the honey of eternal 
 life Teaching is conditioned by ex- 
 
IN HIS CLOSET. 
 
 203 
 
 perimental learning. Comforting is conditioned by 
 noting and overcoming personal temptations. The 
 fullness and consecration of life is a praying heart. 
 Solitude is the fountain of all living streams, and 
 nothing glorious is born in public." 
 
 On p. i25fT, Loehe quotes thus from Calvor's 
 Heavenly Ladder of Devotion : " The Heavenly The blessed 
 Ladder of Devotion is the proper use of the Divine Word. 
 Word, as found in the Holy Scripture, and also in 
 the Catechism. This blessed use of the Divine 
 Word consists of three parts : First, of study ; second, study, 
 of application ; and, third, of prayer. In the first, I 
 take up a passage of Scripture, a stanza of a hymn, 
 a part of the Catechism, or a prayer. I examine 
 and take to heart ever}' single word ; I repeat and 
 consider the words slowl)*, with devout attentive- 
 ness ; I divide the passage or verse into certain 
 questions, as to the circumstances, the who, the 
 what, the where, and the why. I think of parallels 
 and consider these in my heart ; I consider what 
 doctrine, what admonition, what comfort I can 
 draw from them. 
 
 "As to application, I ask myself whether this 
 truth concerns me. This I find especially when Application. 
 I consider the persons concerned. If I belong to 
 them, then the passage belongs to me. I then 
 apply it altogether to myself, as if it had been writ- 
 ten especially to me. I again answer the above 
 
204 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 questions with reference to myself If 
 
 it is a passage of comfort, I do not apply it to my- 
 self unless I have become such a person as can ac- 
 cept such comfort. I therefore begin at once to 
 strive after spiritual improvement and pray God for 
 grace and for a deeper conversion. If the passage 
 is one that does not apply to me, if it is a sentence 
 of condemnation, I thank God that He has kept me 
 from the sin here condemned, and pray that He 
 may preserve me in the future and graciously for- 
 give my other sins and weaknesses. 
 
 " What I have now found by study and applica- 
 "^y"' tion I bring together before God in prayer. 
 
 " I then proceed thus in my heart devotion. The 
 virtues and graces of which I have been reminded 
 I use in holy contemplation for the peaceful and 
 blessed furtherance of my internal Sabbath. The 
 sins and vices which have been shown I condemn, 
 reject, and pray God that I may do this more and 
 more heartily, and that I may be so filled with 
 joy and love that I may have no more place for 
 
 these sins And so, when I have been drawn 
 
 away from what is evil and drawn nearer to what 
 is good, strengthened in the prayer of the heart 
 through the blessed movements of my soul, I go 
 forth gladly to my day's work and endeavor to 
 keep free from sin and to do the right. 
 
 " In this manner we should daily use the Holy 
 
IN HIS CLOSET. 205 
 
 Scripture, and so have in the devotional hours of 
 the inner life a foretaste of life everlasting. But 
 who does use the Holy Scripture after this manner ? 
 There is no mystery about it. What is easier than 
 such devout contemplation, application, and prayer ? 
 And what would make one wiser, stronger, and 
 more blessed in the good ? Thus can we taste the 
 powers of the world to come, which lie hidden in 
 the Word. Ah, 3-es, thus does the W^ord become 
 sweeter than honey and the honeycomb. It is 
 nothing new. But for many Christians the prac- 
 tice is new. Would to God that this heavenly 
 ladder of devotion, this devotional use of the Word, 
 were more common and more appreciated." 
 
 We have given this long quotation from a Saint 
 of the seventeenth century to show how our fathers ^^octrine and 
 
 piety. 
 
 appreciated and practiced private devotion. We 
 are too apt to forget that our doctrinal church is 
 also a mystical church. That there is a pure and 
 sound mysticism as well as a pure doctrine. That 
 the former is a proper outgrowth of the latter ; that 
 the latter without the former is a tree without fruit. 
 Let us be forever done with the heresy that there 
 is a contradiction between true orthodoxy and true 
 pietism. They belong together. They have flour- 
 ished together. Our Church is the church of the 
 greatest and soundest theologians — and for this we 
 cannot be too grateful. But she is also the church 
 
2o6 
 
 THE I.UTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 Communion 
 ■with God. 
 
 Intercession 
 for others. 
 
 of the deepest mystics. Her scholars have been 
 the teachers of the world, and her theologians have 
 looked deepest into the profound things of God. 
 But let it not be forgotten that her mystics have 
 drunk deepest from the wells of salvation and 
 bathed most freely in the ocean of divine love. It 
 is this side of our Church's life that our young 
 ministers need to study and imitate. From the 
 fathers of their own church let them learn to keep 
 the still hour, to hallow the closet, to hold con- 
 verse and communion with God, to draw sweetness 
 and strength from the living and life-giving Word, 
 to take a passage, and, as it were, chew upon it and 
 ruminate till they get out of it the rich juices of 
 life. 
 
 But the pastor in his hours of devotion is not 
 only to pray for himself, but like Paul, who could 
 say of his flock, " I make mention of you always 
 in my prayers," he must intercede for his people. 
 How tenderly the blessed Saviour pleaded for His 
 disciples and for all who should believe through 
 their word. The Great Shepherd and Bishop of 
 souls is indeed constantly pleading in His interces- 
 sion for us. Even as He prayed for Peter, when 
 Satan desired to have him, that his faith might not 
 fail, so He still prays for each one of His endangered 
 sheep. And so the true under-shepherd will pray 
 for his flock, collectively and individually. The 
 
IN HIS CLOSET. 207 
 
 intercessory prayer belongs peculiarly to the pastor. 
 If he is a true shepherd, he must pray for those for 
 whom he is so seriously responsible. 
 
 Massillon is quoted in Vinet, p. 355, as follows : 
 " But, my brethren, even if prayer were not as 
 indispensable as it is to the success of our functions, 
 do we not owe it to our people? Are we not 
 charged, in our character of pastor and of minister, 
 to pray for them without ceasing. Is it not even 
 the most essential duty of that priesthood, which 
 establishes us as mediators between God and His Massillon. 
 people ? On the prayer of the pastor God has made 
 to depend the grace which He intends to bestow 
 upon the flock. It is ours, my brethren, to present 
 to Him without ceasing the wants of our people, to 
 solicit for them the riches of mercy, to turn away 
 His wrath from the infliction of those scourges and 
 chastisements with which their provocations are 
 often punished. It is ours to deplore before Him 
 the vices with which we see our people infected, 
 and of which our care and our zeal cannot cure 
 them. It is ours to ask strength for the feeble, 
 compunction for hardened sinners, perseverance for 
 the righteous. The more boundless the wants of 
 our people, the more lively and frequent should 
 be our prayers. We should never appear before 
 Him, without having, like the high-priest under the 
 law, the names of the tribes written on our hearts, 
 
The pastor's 
 
 208 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 that is, the names of the people confided to us. 
 This should always be the principal subject of our 
 prayers." 
 
 There may be something of the Romish leaven 
 in this, but how much precious admonition for all 
 evangelical pastors. Would that all could take it 
 to heart. 
 
 Loehe (p. 137), tells us of Martin Boos, from 
 
 whose life, by Gossner, he says, we can learn many 
 
 things, even though he is not always a safe pattern. 
 
 duty to Boos says : " Behind the high altar in Wiggens- 
 
 intercede tor "^ 
 
 others. bacli I prayed down my faith and all the gifts and 
 graces with which God has blessed me." Of this 
 Loehe says : " What else were his prayers for gifts 
 and o-races than intercessions for his flock, in whose 
 service he wished to use them ? Even if there were 
 not such precious promises of answer to prayer, yet 
 the pleading for God's blessing on our work and 
 for the salvation of our people would be a necessary 
 consequence of true love to God, who desires such 
 prayer, and of true love to the congregation, that 
 needs it. Whoever does not pray for the flock is 
 not a true shepherd. Intercession is both a duty 
 of our office and a duty of love. It is an absolute 
 demand of a true shepherd-heart. The pious pastor 
 will often look over his church register to be re- 
 minded of those who need his special prayers. It 
 
IN HIS CLOSET. 209 
 
 will be helpful to select particular persous for his 
 still hours, that he may bring their wants and needs 
 
 before God." 
 
 Cannon savs in substance (Lectures on Pastoral 
 Theol., pp. Ill, 112): "The Christian pastor es- 
 pecially must engage in intercession. He is ex- 
 pressly commanded to do so (i Tim. ii. i). He 
 is to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and even for 
 them that despitefully use him and persecute 
 
 him 
 
 " I. General intercession should be made for all 
 classes and conditions of men ; for the nations that '^i^-es^ion! 
 sit in darkness; for the outcasts of Israel, and for 
 the whole church militant. Examples of such in- 
 tercessions are to be found in no small number in 
 Scripture Moses was a mighty inter- 
 cessor. Paul interceded much ' for his kinsman 
 according to the flesh.' 
 
 " 2. Particular intercession is made in prayer for 
 individuals, for those under temptation or persecu- 
 tion, for the bereaved, the sick, the needy, the 
 awakened in spirit, and those who are far off upon 
 the sea. The pastor in prayer must intercede for the 
 families and individuals under his oversight, for the 
 brethren in the ministry, for the missionaries at 
 home and abroad, and especially for those who 
 solicit his prayers. He should also constantly 
 
 14 
 
2IO THE IvUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 admonish the pious to bear up his arms while he 
 intercedes for sinners and prays for the prosperity 
 of Jerusalem." 
 
 The pastor's Still hours are thus to be given to a 
 devotional study of the Divine Word, which study 
 
 Eitudying and . , - . , ta 
 
 praying. is to be cvcr mmglcd with earnest prayer. For 
 prayer in itself is not a means of grace, but a 
 mighty help in the use of the divine means, and 
 in appropriating their grace. God must always 
 speak first to the heart. True prayer is the response 
 to God of the heart thus quickened by Him. A 
 cloud of God's witnesses, especially of those who 
 liave accomplished great things in the Master's 
 service, bear testimony to the benefit and blessing 
 oi such still hours given to meditation on the Word 
 and prayer. 
 
 Dr. Andrew Willet testifies that he followed the 
 godly advice of Cyprian to Donatus, to mingle fre- 
 quent prayer with diligent reading. " Sometimes," 
 he says, "speak to God and sometimes let God 
 speak to thee ! " And he professed to his friends 
 how much he had thereby improved his talent. 
 The commentator, Scott, bears the same testimony : 
 " A spirit of continued prayer, mixed with reading, 
 has been my help in all these things." 
 
 Quensel says : *' The minister must learn the 
 Scripture otherwise than by mere study. The 
 unction of the Spirit is a great master in this 
 
IN HIS CLOSET. 
 
 211 
 
 science, and it is by prayer that we become His 
 scholars." 
 
 We have already referred to the well-known 
 practice of Luther, It is not too much to claim 
 that the battles of the Reformation were first 
 fought out in Luther's closet. 
 
 And what Lutheran does not know now Francke, 
 as was said at his grave, " prayed up the walls of 
 orphanages and hospitals, prayed mission stations 
 into being and missionaries into faith. He prayed 
 open the hearts of the rich and gold from distant 
 lands." 
 
 Ludwig Harms prayed the Hermannsburg Mission 
 Society into being. Our own sainted Rev. Dr. 
 Passavant also wrought wonders by prayer, and his 
 eleven institutions of mercy, the crown jewels of 
 our American Lutheran Church, are constant 
 reminders and admonitions to our ministers to 
 continue instant in prayer. And that sainted 
 father's now sainted son, the Rev. W. A. Passa- 
 vant, Jr., cut off in the midst of his days, for whom 
 memorial services were held from New York to 
 Wisconsin, had also learned the power of believing 
 prayer. And this doubtless is the secret of the 
 great things accomplished in the few years of his 
 activity. 
 
 Space forbids us to tell of Chrysostom, of Augus- 
 tine, of Bernard, of the German Mystics, of Knox, 
 
 Francke. 
 
 Harms. 
 
 The sainted 
 Passavants, 
 
212 THE I^UTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 of Whitfield, of Zinzendorf, of George MuUer, of 
 Leighton, and a cloud of other witnesses, unknown 
 to men, but known to God, who through faith (nour- 
 ished on the Word and exercised in prayer) " sub- 
 dued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained 
 promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched 
 the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, 
 out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant 
 in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens, 
 .... of whom the world was not worthy." 
 
 Let the still hour in the morning then become a 
 Tke still hour, fixed habit of daily life. Then the ministry can- 
 not be barren. To a pastor who conscientiously 
 and gladly follows these counsels, even though he 
 be not among the specially gifted, the people will 
 always listen. They may not be able to tell why, 
 but they will be won and held and Impressed. 
 The secret of his Influence Is that he works with 
 God, and therefore whatsoever he doeth shall 
 prosper. 
 
 The influence of this morning hour of com- 
 munion with God will follow the pastor all through 
 the day. The presence of Christ and of the Holy 
 Spirit will accompany him to assist him in per- 
 plexity and save him from serious mistake. The 
 memory of that hour when his heart burned with 
 love will make him look forward with glad antici- 
 pation to the next. Someone has said : " The 
 
IN HIS CLOSET. 213 
 
 first act of the soul in early morning should be a 
 draught at the heavenly fountain. It will sweeten 
 the taste for the day. If you can have but ten 
 minutes with God at that fresh, tranquil, and tender 
 season, make sure of those minutes. They are of 
 more value than much fine gold. But if you tarry 
 long so sweetly at the throne, you will come out of 
 the closet as the high-priest came from the altar, 
 suffused all over with the heavenly fragrance of 
 that communion." 
 
 Our chapter has grown long. The pastor's closet 
 hours have not been sufficiently emphasized among 
 us. This neglect has weakened our ministry and 
 our Church. ]\Iay there be a change for the better. 
 God help us ! We conclude with a word from 
 Bernard, " Utilis lectio^ tc tilts eriiditio^ sed magis 
 necessaria iinctio^ quippe qiice docet de cnnnibus.'*'* 
 
 Its value. 
 
PART III. 
 
 THE PASTOR'S GENERAL WORK— GENERAL 
 SEELSORGE. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 TAKING THE OVERSIGHT — AS HEAD OF HIS 
 CONGREGATION OR PARISH. 
 
 We now have before us a pastor properly gifted, 
 thoroughly trained, rightly called, manly in char- 
 acter, a gentleman in deportment, diligent in his 
 study, and faithful in his closet. He now takes 
 the oversight of a parish or congregation ; he now 
 .has a people that he can call " my people ; " he has 
 his desires, his hopes, his plans ; he wants to make 
 his church what it ought to be ; he desires a con- 
 gregation in which the Lord Himself is effectually 
 present, as He promised, and was manifest in the 
 apostolic church (Acts i. I5f: ii. 4if: iii- 6f : iv. 
 3if : V. 1-16 : :i^. 33: xi. 21 : xv. 8-11). His church 
 is to approach the divine model, as the Body of 
 Christ (Eph. iv. 11-16) ; without spot or wrinkle or 
 any such thing (Eph. v. 27 ; cf. Rom. xii. 4-8 ; i Cor. The pastor's 
 
 _ ... aim in 
 
 xii. 27) ; the Temple of the Lord (i Cor. ui. 17 ; 2 his parish. 
 Cor. vi. 16; Eph. ii. 19-22); a spiritual house (i 
 Peter ii. 5). His congregation is to be grounded on 
 Christ and on His Word, which begets and nour- 
 ishes true faith. That faith must condition the life 
 
 (2 1 7) 
 
2l8 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 of the individual and of the body. That Word 
 must direct and regulate all the church's activities. 
 Under it all must bow. That Word of salvation 
 must beget a living experience, a fervent love, a 
 loving service. But let the sanguine and hopeful 
 pastor not forget that he, as the public bearer of 
 that Word, must bring it home and make it 
 effective. He is the organ of the Word, and 
 through it the embodied conscience of the congre- 
 gation. He can assume to be the spiritual guide — 
 to direct and even to discipline — only as bearer of 
 the Word. This alone gives him the right to be 
 the head of the congregation, to take the oversight, 
 to be a benefactor and father to his people. The 
 pastoral spirit is a spirit of paternity and solicitude. 
 (See Isa. Ixiii. 14 and Ixvi. 12 ; Ez. xxxiv. 16.) 
 This is the spirit that God enjoins (Jer. vi. 27 ; 2 
 Tim. iv. 2). The pastor's authority is entirely 
 moral. Its principal element is love. Its condi- 
 tion discreet thoughtfulness. Only such a pastor 
 may claim the obedience enjoined in Heb. xiii. 17. 
 He must see to it, first of all, that he have in him- 
 self and in his work the spirit and method of a true 
 shepherd, and not of a hireling, or of one who de- 
 sires to lord it over God's heritage. 
 
 The true pastor will desire to benefit and elevate 
 his people in every respect. Believing that godli- 
 ness is profitable unto all things, having promise of 
 
TAKING THE OVERSIGHT. 219 
 
 the life that now is, he will encourage and assist to 
 thrift and material prosperity. We are not speak- 
 ing here of charity for the poor, but of getting and 
 keeping people out of poverty and helping all 
 toward a better and more comfortable living. Such 
 ought to be the result of church affiliation. There 
 
 . ... , , His efforts foi 
 
 was much truth in the minister s answer when he his people's 
 was reproached for having no poor people in his ^go^? 
 church : " It is no reproach to the church," he said, 
 "if her people don't remain poor." Certainly the 
 religion of Jesus Christ ought to make people 
 thrifty, as well as good. Now the pastor who has 
 the welfare of his people at heart and is wisely 
 practical, can do much in this direction, without 
 hindering, but rather helping, his higher duties. 
 Read carefully the Life of Oberlin and of his won- 
 derful work in transforming the degraded people of 
 the Steinthal. Many an humble pastor, by his in- 
 fluence, encouragement, and direction, has changed 
 the face of a neighborhood, the homes, their grounds 
 and furnishings, as well as the appearance of the 
 people. Thrift, taste, and refinement have taken 
 the place of poverty, squalor, and stupid ugliness. 
 This will form part of the true pastor's ideal. (See 
 I Thes. iv. 11, 12.) 
 
 He will also make every endeavor to improve his 
 people intellectually. True Christianity has always 
 favored mental culture. Its very genius is opposed 
 
220 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 to ignorance. The church and the school belong 
 together. The pastor, as a cultured man, will en- 
 courage culture among his people. There is some- 
 thing wrong if a pastorate of five years does not 
 leave a community more intelligent and more ap- 
 intdiectuai prcciativc of knowledge.,, The sermons should 
 improvement, stimulate thinking, investigating, reading. The fire- 
 side conversations should create and increase a thirst 
 for knowledge The pastor should have a care of 
 what his people read. He knows the influence 
 and power for evil as well as for good of the printing 
 press. Let him warn his people against pernicious 
 literature — whether in the form of periodicals or of 
 books ; and also against buying from the book- 
 agent high-priced, poorly-bound, padded, compila- 
 tions, or veneered heresies. He should encourage 
 people to consult him about their reading matter 
 and gladly take the trouble to order these things 
 for them. To further stimulate reading he should 
 encourage and aid in securing congregational or 
 village libraries. It would be well also to assist in 
 organizing literary and debating societies, and even 
 to take part in them. 
 
 The Chautauqua reading circle is a most excel- 
 lent institution for those who cannot go to college. 
 It is also profitable for general review. It is a cap- 
 ital introduction to general knowledge, and cannot 
 fail to create a taste for and a habit of further literary 
 
TAKING THE OVERSIGHT. 221 
 
 pursuit and investigation. Let the pastor encour- 
 age and assist in the organizing and conducting of 
 such circles. 
 
 He mio-ht also give them an occasional instruc- 
 tive lecture, and encourage a winter series of lec- 
 tures. He should take an interest in the schools c^p^^jfi,, 
 that the children and youth attend ; encourage the suggestions, 
 parents to send them to their own Church schools, 
 academies, and colleges. He could often render valu- 
 able assistance to parents in helping them to get 
 their children into the proper life-callings. In every 
 legitimate way let him encourage in parents and 
 children a noble ambition to make the most of 
 talents that God has given them. In this connec- 
 tion he will ever be on the lookout for bright boys 
 and girls as candidates for the ministry- of the Word 
 and for the ministry of mercy. 
 
 As a matter of course he will strive to make his 
 people more and more intelligent as to the history, 
 doctrine, spirit, and work of their own Church. He 
 will use every endeavor to get all of his families to 
 read the best weekly of their own Church. He will 
 recommend and assist in procuring, without a per- 
 centage for himself, the best books for the home 
 
 library. 
 
 It well becomes him also to create a taste for art 
 by talks, lectures, exhibitions, etc. He should 
 encouracre the cultivation of vocal and instrumental 
 
222 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 music. In general, whatever favors and fosters true 
 culture and refinement, whatever cultivates the God- 
 given intellect ought to be encouraged. It is sinful 
 to neglect this precious gift of God. In every com- 
 munity there are boys, girls, and youths who might, 
 with adequate training, become powers for good ; 
 especially if they combine Christian character with 
 a cultivated intellect. What a blessed influence for 
 the kingdom of God they might exert in the world. 
 Often it needs only the timely word of encourage- 
 ment and counsel to start such persons in the right 
 direction. A failure to develop his people intel- 
 lectually is a discredit to any minister. 
 
 All this is closely connected with the social life of 
 the church. Church people should be encouraged to 
 to find their associates within their church. Let this 
 also receive the pastor's attention. Social gather- 
 ings, in which literature and art have their proper 
 place, are to be encouraged. It would be well, wher- 
 ever practicable, for the church to have a properly 
 equipped reading-room open every night in the 
 winter. Another room for music, innocent games, 
 and general social intercourse might also, with 
 careful oversight, be of much value. It would be 
 one way of discouraging dancing parties and other 
 promiscuous and pernicious gatherings that tend to 
 demoralize our youth. The so-called Institutional 
 Church is founded on a basis that has some truth 
 
estate. 
 
 TAKING THE OVERSIGHT. 223 
 
 in it. The trouble is, that on that basis an immense 
 structure of danger and falsehood is erected. Let 
 us recognize and utilize the truth and carefully 
 guard against the error and mischief. Let it alwa\s 
 be understood that these literary and social func- 
 tions are not a part of the essential mission of the 
 church. They are real helps to ward off real dan- 
 gers, to promote real worldly good, to make and 
 keep our youth accessible to the means of grace. 
 
 But, after all, the true pastor's chief desire and 
 his principal effort is for the spiritual estate of his 
 
 ... lor their 
 
 people. Above all else he has in view the spiritual spiritual 
 and eternal good of his members. He desires, as 
 we have seen, to have a congregation of believers. 
 The one end and purpose of all his efforts, of all 
 the church ordinances and arrangements, is to plant 
 and foster a living, sound, evangelical faith in their 
 hearts ; a faith that works by love. This naturally 
 implies the proper attitude to the church, as the 
 depository and dispenser of grace, to the public 
 services, the forms of worship, the Word and sac- 
 raments, in short, to all those orders and arrange- 
 ments of the congregation that are intended for the 
 preservation and strengthening of the life of faith. 
 Whoever assumes an unfriendly or indifferent atti- 
 tude to these thereby shows that he has no real 
 interest in the kingdom of God and to real, living 
 faith. But wherever this faith-life is normal and 
 
224 'I'HE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 active, no flagrant immoralities can flourish. A 
 right spiritual life presupposes and includes the 
 presence of a clean and true moral life. The con- 
 gregation will have a good report of them that are 
 without. 
 
 In this ideal congregation there will prevail a 
 For a churchiy churclily Spirit aud a churchly life. The Lutheran 
 spint and life. p^g^-Qj- (joes not expect a sound spirit and a sound 
 life, except as they grow out of a sound faith and a 
 Scriptural worship. He will therefore be ever watch- 
 ful that all the books aud literature used by the 
 congregation, in all its departments and activities, 
 set forth, breathe out, and foster the faith, spirit, 
 and life of the church's Confessions. The liturgy-, 
 the hymn books, the choir books, the catechisms, the 
 Sunday school and Luther League literature must 
 all be scrupulously sound in the faith. Dr. Walther 
 is thus quoted by Dr. Horn, p. 6i : " The preacher 
 who will look on quietly and allow it while his con- 
 gregation sing out of books, and his children are 
 taught out of books, which contain the poison of 
 false doctrine, is no shepherd, but a murderer of 
 souls." He further says : "If better books be not 
 at once procurable, he must at least point out the 
 errors which the books contain." He must often, 
 with a sad heart, bear for a while what he cannot 
 at once remedy. But with this, as with other evils 
 that are rooted in the past of the congregation, he 
 
TAKING THE OVERSIGHT. 225 
 
 must kindly and patiently show his people a more 
 excellent way. To try at once, without showing his 
 people, and getting them to see and acknowledge, 
 the evils in the present books and the superiority of 
 those that he desires to introduce, can only aggra- 
 vate matters and hinder the pastor's influence in 
 every direction. Festina leitte is here also a good 
 rule. Paul, the wise as a serpent pastor, was con- 
 tent to feed his people on milk until they were 
 prepared for the strong meat. There is a volume of 
 pastoral wisdom in our Saviour's words : "I have 
 yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot 
 bear them now." 
 
 In his ideal congregation the pastor will desire 
 that his people will learn first to show piety at For home 
 home. He would have a church in the house of religion, 
 everyone of his families. A home where the 
 religion of the blessed Saviour permeates the whole 
 atmosphere ; where the Word of God dwells richly ; 
 where there are altars of prayer and closets for 
 prayer and meditation ; where Jesus is a daily, a well- 
 known guest ; where the baptized into Christ are 
 nourished with the milk of the Word so that they 
 grow thereby, increasing more and more, growing up 
 into Him who is the head, even Christ. Here par- 
 ents and children kneel at one altar, as children of 
 one Father, with the same trust, the same hope, the 
 same Lord — hand in hand they go from the church 
 15 
 
226 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 in tlie house to the church of God in the public 
 congregation. * 
 
 In his endeavors to introduce family devotions 
 into all his households the wise pastor will not 
 merely admonish and urge the duty, but he will 
 realize that this is often a difficult undertaking for 
 the house-father. The pastor will therefore assist 
 in securing the proper books and helps. He will 
 show the father how to use them, f 
 
 The ideal church is to be a missionary church. 
 
 Y^y^. a The pastor knows that the work of missions is 
 
 missionary founded ou the Lord's last commission, and that it 
 
 spint. ' 
 
 is for every church not only a solemn duty but an 
 inestimable blessing. If every Christian ought to 
 be interested in missions, how much more the 
 pastor. He, above all, needs to be well informed on 
 the foreign, home, and inner mission work of his 
 own church. From him must come the informa- 
 tion and the inspiration that is to make his congre- 
 gation a missionary church. In this missionary 
 age of the church, when the Master's cause is, on 
 the one hand, advocated and promoted, and, on the 
 
 * See the author's Way of Salvation in the Lutheran Church, 
 Chapter VI. 
 
 t Among good devotional books in English we mention : 
 Arndt's True Christianity, Gerhard's Sacred Meditations, 
 Bogatzky's Golden Treasury, C. W. SchaeflFer's Family Prayer, 
 Green wald's Jesus Our Table Guest, Seiss' The Golden Altar. 
 For Lent, Miller's Way of the Cross. 
 
TAKING THE OVERSIGHT. 227 
 
 other hand, opposed and hindered as never before, 
 no true pastor, who is himself a child of the king- 
 dom, dare neglect this work. God has set him over 
 his congregation to make of it a missionary church. 
 He is to create and foster an intelligent, sympa- 
 thetic, and active interest in the hearts of his people 
 for this blessed work. Failing in this, he fails at 
 once to make his church a power for Christ in the 
 world, and to secure within it the fullness of life 
 which Christ intended that it should possess. 
 Achieving this, he enriches the whole life of the 
 church and builds a nobler and higher type of 
 Christian character. 
 
 The methods for accomplishing the end sought Methods, 
 may vary. The missionary pastor will preach a 
 missionary sermon at least a few times a year. The 
 pericopes and resolutions of synod will direct him in 
 this. He will make frequent reference to missions 
 and give many illustrations from the work in his 
 regular sermons. He will see that the matter is 
 kept before his Sunday school and Luther League. 
 He will have at least one good missionary organ- 
 ization. He will be the living spint, the power 
 behind the throne, in all of them. He will assist in 
 fostering an intelligent interest, by personal talks, 
 in these departments of his church, by his conver- 
 sation in his visits, and by introducing the proper 
 periodicals and manuals. His own library will 
 
228 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 contain a good selection of the best literature, 
 periodicals, manuals, and clippings. With these 
 he can materially assist and encourage the mis- 
 sionary spirit. To assist him in reaching his ideal 
 we recommend The Missionary Pastor, by Rev. 
 James Edward Adams. There is much in it that 
 he cannot use, but also a rich treasury of infor- 
 mation, suggestion, and direction that will be of 
 invaluable assistance, and that he can find nowhere 
 else in so short a compass. 
 
 Having his ideals and plans for the materia], 
 n^ental, spiritual, churchly, and missionary devel- 
 opment of his church, the pastor starts out to put 
 He must know ^^^ theories into practice. The first thing he needs 
 his people, jg ^q know liis people. The second, to get their 
 V confidence. He starts on a round of visitation ; he 
 desires to find every family, every communicant, 
 even the lapsed ones, every adherent, and all the 
 children of the church. He wants to know the 
 material, mental, and spiritual condition of each 
 and of all. He wants to know something of their 
 antecedents, their environments, companionships, 
 and associations. He will carry with him a book 
 to note down not merely the name, age, and address, 
 but whatever else may be of future use to him. 
 These notes, for private use, are not written down 
 in the presence of those concerned. 
 
 We are not speaking here of strictly pastoral 
 
TAKING THE OVERSIGHT. 229 
 
 visits, but of \'isits to form acquaintance and secure 
 confidence. The pastor is now merely feeling his 
 way, getting a clear view of the whole situation, 
 and getting ready for the real work. 
 
 What will he find in this tour of investigation ? 
 On page 125 we have quoted Musaeus as to the six 
 kinds of Beichtkiytder^ or parishioners, that he will 
 find. 
 
 Each one of these classes will furnish matter for 
 future sermons and pastoral work, so that he may 
 wisely give to each his portion in his season. He 
 will find manners and customs, modes of church 
 life and activity, associations and amusements that 
 will give much cause for earnest prayer, serious 
 thought, and prudent procedure. Immoral cus- 
 toms, sexual vices, loose ideas concerning betrothal 
 and marriage sometimes gain such a foothold in a 
 community that they no longer shock its moral 
 sense, and are readily palliated and condoned. 
 
 What pastoral wisdom is needed here ! What 
 patience, prudence, and pressure of love ! He can- 
 
 . . ^^ Pastoral 
 
 not sweep out these evils with a broom. The pub- wisdom 
 lie conscience must first be enlightened and quick- 
 ened. The sin must first be recognized in all \t^ 
 hideousness, then repented of, and then forsaken. 
 Not the persons, but their sins are to be exposed 
 and condemned, and all in the spirit of Him who 
 talked so tenderly yet plainly to that bad woman of 
 
230 THE I^UTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 Samaria that He won her from her wicked life ; 
 who allowed the great sinner to wash His feet with 
 penitential tears, and who said to the woman taken 
 in adultery : " Neither do I condemn thee ; go, and 
 sin no more." * 
 
 Next to heresies and immoralities that undermine 
 the church-life, the pastor will deprecate whatever 
 tends to loosen or degrade the sacredness of the insti- 
 tution of marriage. He knows that when this is jeop- 
 ardized, society, the State, and the Church are endan- 
 gered. He also knows the danger, the inexpressibly 
 Betrothal and sad results, of hasty engagements, alliances between 
 
 marriage. . . - , . c • 
 
 Christians and unbelievers, and of mixed marriages. 
 On all these points he needs to speak out in earnest 
 warning in the pulpit, in the homes of his people, 
 and, above all, in the catechetical class. Here the 
 Zeii-Geist is against him. Betrothal and marriage 
 have largely lost their erstwhile sacred aspect The 
 whole thing is considered a huge joke. Few take 
 to heart the solemn words of the marriage service : 
 
 " Holy wedlock is an honorable estate, and is not 
 to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but rev- 
 erently, discreetly, and in the fear of God." 
 
 Let the conscientious pastor who desires the 
 future welfare of his people do everything in his 
 power with earnest prayer that he may act wisely 
 
 * Even if the passage recording this incident is doubtful, it is 
 still a true exhibition of the Saviour's spirit. 
 
TAKING AN OVERSIGHT. 231 
 
 in this difficult and delicate matter, to prevent 
 hasty and dangerous engagements. He is never to 
 be a match-maker. This would be despicable, dan- 
 gerous, and degrading to his office. His work along 
 this line is to be mainly negative. He is to prevent, 
 as far as in him lies, ill-mated marriages and 
 matches fraught with peril for this life and for the 
 life to come. 
 
 In their church-life he may find his people pro- 
 vokingly unchurchly and irreverent. They may 
 have no conception whatever of the sacredness of 
 the sanctuary and its services. They do not know 
 how to behave themselves in the house of God. 
 
 Irreverence in 
 
 This may be the fault of former pastors. It is en- churcii. 
 couraged by contact with the non-liturgical 
 churches, especially the fanatical and revivalistic 
 sects. It is fed by sensational and would-be witty 
 preachers. Whole communities have thus been 
 ruined. The earnest Lutheran pastor has his heart 
 sickened and saddened when he comes into such a 
 community. He knows that without reverence 
 there can be no healthy piety. He feels that he 
 must make his congregation reverent. 
 
 Here also the greatest caution is needed. Habits 
 are not changed in a day. More harm than good 
 may come of undue haste and severity. Instruc- 
 tion and conviction are needed. Private admoni- 
 tion to the disturbers of the services, always given 
 
232 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 in a kindly spirit, will accomplish much. Let 
 there be no scolding from the pulpit or in private. 
 Sometimes an earnest but kindly word may be 
 necessary from the pulpit. More frequently a 
 pause and a steady, beseeching look at the offender 
 will do its work. This is especially effective where 1 
 the habit of getting up and needlessly going out 
 during service prevails. Stop the service or ser- 
 mon, look at the disturber till he has passed out. Al- 
 low no loafing outside of the country church during 
 service. Get the co-operation of the church council 
 and finnly insist on order in and about your 
 church. Before long the church tramps and sports 
 of the community will know that your church is 
 not the place to go for fun or for show. Your 
 church will be known as the church of reverence 
 and order. This will give your church standing 
 and influence in your community. 
 
 Closely akin to the spirit and habit of irreverence 
 Church is the reprehensible custom of church festivals and 
 
 entertain- 
 ments, amusements for making money. This also is the 
 
 spirit of the age.' It is un-Scriptural and un-Luth- 
 eran. It has been borrowed from the irreverent- 
 sects that have no scruple and see no incongruity 
 in mixing fun and religion. It does not fit into the 
 genius of our Church. It is responsible for a great 
 part of the laxity, levity, and lukewarmness of the 
 spiritual life. If not checked, it will grow like a 
 
TAKING AN OVERSIGHT. 233 
 
 noxious weed. Its frequent excesses ought to open 
 our eyes. It makes the church a laughing-stock 
 and a by-word in the minds of intelligent outsiders. 
 The church in this also becomes a Samson, shorn of 
 his locks, grinding for the Philistines of the world 
 and making sport for them. The whole business 
 effectually kills out the spirit of true benevolence, 
 blights all true Christian giving, and becomes an 
 offense that smells to heaven. 
 
 And yet the pastor may find this ruinous custom 
 rooted in his congregation. An indolent, timid, if 
 not unspiritual, predecessor has allowed it to grow 
 until it is as rank as a field of Canada thistles. What 
 is the poor pastor to do ? He can never have his 
 ideal church with this species of worldliness and 
 heathenism flourishing in its midst. Like a 
 deadly upas tree it will breathe its miasma over 
 the flock, and turn his field into a valley of dry 
 bones. Like a Boanerges, the pastor is tempted 
 to call down fire from heaven. But no, this is 
 not the spirit of the Master. The people are 
 not as bad as the practice. Many of them ver- 
 ily think that they are serving God ! They 
 have been miseducated. It is the custom of the 
 churches around them. They were never shown 
 that it is wrong. It would be folly to expect them 
 to give it up before they see that it is sin. Again, 
 instruction, patience, wisdom are needed. First he 
 
 Their evils. 
 
234 THE I^UTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 must have his people's confidence. Then he must 
 gently show them the wrong. He must bring the 
 Word to bear. Let him show from Matt x. 38, 
 39, what the spirit of self-denial is. From Matt. 
 XXV. 14-30, he can show what the Lord expects 
 from what He has first given, and from verses 31- 
 46 how we shall be judged- From Luke xviii. 
 18-23, ^^ ^^^ show how the selfish love of money 
 keeps the heart from giving itself to Jesus. From 
 the eighth chapter of 2 Corinthians he can clearly 
 set forth the true principle of giving. In i Cor. 
 xvi. 2, he can find the principle of system and 
 method, as well as in 2 Cor. ix. 7. 
 
 The objects of beneficence must also be worthy 
 of God's glory and the welfare of His people. To 
 build a grand church for the sake of rivalry or 
 show, and on this account to withhold from the 
 church's general operations, is sin. Every object 
 for which beneficence is requested should be fully 
 and frankly explained. People will not give and 
 should not give to what they do not understand. 
 A pastor who announces to his people that " synod 
 expects " or " demands," or " has taxed them " for, a 
 certain amount and that he must now ask for a 
 collection, stultifies himself and his synod. It is 
 no wonder that the people who know nothing of 
 synod, or of its general work, refuse to give. The 
 pastor has neglected a plain duty. Let him clearly 
 
TAKING AN OVERSIGHT. 235 
 
 set forth the work of synod in the field of general 
 beneficence, give concrete examples of its work of 
 beneficiary education, mercy, and missions. " My 
 people perish for lack of knowledge." Our people 
 will give when they understand. They are no more 
 stingy than others. He must thus show them 
 what true Bible beneficence is, and show that this 
 is a more excellent way. The right kind of pas- 
 toral leading will win in the end. And, by and by, 
 his people will thank him for their deliverance from 
 the spirit and method of the world, and the better 
 class of the community will respect his position. 
 The pastor may find the pleasures of sin abound- 
 
 _ . . . , Questionable 
 
 ing among his people. Certam forms of them run .nmusements. 
 and spread like epidemics. They alienate and ruin 
 many a promising youth. They crowd out true 
 interest in the church, grieve the Divine Spirit, and 
 quench the love of God. 
 
 As we have already seen, the Lutheran pastor 
 will be careful not to make that sin which God has 
 not made sin. Our Church is neither puritanic 
 nor legalistic. But she knows that certain indul- 
 gences and associations are dangerous to the spir- 
 itual life. They stimulate the lusts of the flesh 
 and foster the love of the world. There is no 
 better remedy against these evils than what 
 has been felicitously called " the expulsive 
 power of a new affection." Put in and nourish 
 
236 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 the new love — love to God in Christ, and love to 
 His Word and church, and the love of the world 
 dies of 'tself. This is far better, more effective, 
 and more Scriptural than powerful polemics and 
 disdainful denunciations from the pulpit. Always 
 and everywhere, in proportion as you preach the 
 love of Christ into the heart, the love of the world 
 goes out. This is a safe pastoral rule, and never 
 fails. This effort will naturally be accompanied with 
 kindly instruction and admonition given publicly 
 and from house to house, showing the inconsistency 
 and the danger of indulging in these doubtful, 
 worldly pleasures. 
 
 X Another serious hindrance to the ideal church is 
 the secret society, or lodge. This also is a wide- 
 Secret spread evil. It is found firmly established in city, 
 
 societies. ^_. . . 
 
 village, and hamlet. This institution makes great 
 claims. It professes to be the greatest available 
 assistant to the young man in the line of morals, 
 social standing, and material assistance in times of 
 need. It does not openly and officially claim to be 
 better than the church, but that this is a wide- 
 spread sentiment is freely expressed by its mem- 
 bers. Numbers of them resfard it as such a satis- 
 factory substitute for the church that they have no 
 use at all for the latter. 
 
 And right here is its greatest danger to the 
 church. We might easily show that the social 
 
TAKING AN OVERSIGHT. 237 
 
 status of its members is often, at best, questionable, 
 that its morals are far from sound, and its charity 
 narrow and selfish. But we pass this by. 
 
 We might easily show that the whole fabric is a 
 menace to the State and to the family. But this is 
 not the place for a discussion of these points. We 
 are here concerned with its attitude and influence 
 over against the church. We can barely touch on 
 the most vital points. 
 
 We do not find our chief objection in its financial 
 management, nor yet in its secrecy, nor even in its 
 oaths ; though all of these are open to serious mis- 
 giving and may well, if understood, raise earnest 
 scruples in a Christian conscience. 
 
 We find our chief objection in the religion of the 
 lodge. 
 
 We know that it is often claimed that the lodge, 
 as such, has no religion. But we might readily prove 
 by quoting from their own authorities and advo- 
 cates, that it has. If it has not, why should it have 
 temples, altars, official rituals, with hymns or odes, 
 prayers, consecrations, and benedictions ? Why 
 have High-priests, priests, chaplains, written and Evils of the 
 authorized forms for opening and closing its meet- 
 ings, for corner-stone layings and dedications, for 
 installations, for the burial of its dead and what 
 not ? Why the grotesque imitations and caricatures 
 of the church's forms, even to its sacraments ? 
 
238 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 The lodge has a religion. Its religion is false 
 and antichristian. It is a religion without the 
 Trinity and the Divine Christ, without a vicarious 
 atonement, without the necessity of penitence and 
 faith, without regeneration or conversion, without 
 the Bible doctrine of sin. Its religion claims to be 
 broad enough for the Mohammedan and the Jew, 
 for the Hindoo and the Buddhist, for the Christian 
 Its reiigiou. Scientist and the Unitarian. All may meet on its 
 official platform, bow at its altars, and use its official 
 ritual. We speak here not of the religion of its 
 members, but of the official religion authorized by 
 the grand lodges. If there are here and there ex- 
 ceptions in some of the minor orders, they are ex- 
 ceptions that prove the rule. On closer investiga- 
 tion even these will, in nearly every case, prove to 
 be based on the same general idea and permeated 
 with the same spirit. 
 
 Here, then, is a giant evil, undermining the foun- 
 dations of the church and honeycombing its life- 
 structure. Every Lutheran pastor ought to make 
 himself thoroughly acquainted with its principles 
 and forms. Their official constitutions and rituals 
 have been published and ought to be in the libraries 
 of all Lutheran pastors. 
 
 How is this mighty evil, so deeply intrenched, 
 so firmly established, so widespread, so powerful, 
 so threatening, and defiant, to be met ? How is the 
 
TAKING AN OVERSIGHT. 239 
 
 wise and conscientious pastor to deal with it ? It is 
 certainly opposed to the very genius of a church, 
 accepting so unreservedly, and built so firmly on 
 the Divine Word and its means of grace. A church 
 that makes so much of sin, of the divine-human 
 Redeemer, of His atonement, and of justification by 
 faith alone, surely cannot be friendly to the lodge. 
 The two are essentially antagonistic. The church 
 must, even on the ground of self-preservation, save 
 its people from the danger of this antichrist. 
 
 But how ? What is the pastor to do ? 
 
 As to the evil of the lodge and its danger to the 
 church, we do not see how there can be any differ- 
 ence of opinion, wherever the lodge is understood 
 and wherever there is an intelligent and living Lu- with, 
 theran consciousness. But as to the best methods 
 of meeting the danger, judgments may differ and 
 do diflFer. Some of the strongest, most strictly con- 
 fessional, earnest, and aggressive Lutheran synods 
 in our land have taken very positive positions on 
 this question of method. They claim that theirs 
 is the only method possible for a consistent Luth- 
 eran. They demand in their synodical and con- 
 gregational constitutions that all members of such 
 lodges be debarred from the communion of the 
 church. They measure all lodge members by 
 the same standard, consider all equally guilty, and 
 would remove the whole evil with a law. To us 
 
 1 low to deal 
 
treatanent. 
 
 240 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 this method seems unfair, overhasty, and unevan* 
 gelical. 
 
 In the first place there are many, perhaps a 
 majority of the whole membership, who do not 
 know, much less accept, the false religion of the 
 methods'of lodgc. They are in it solely for its pecuniary ben- 
 efits ; they look upon it as a cheap insurance 
 against financial loss in sickness and from accident ; 
 they regard it as a provision for their families in case 
 of their own death. As to the lodge's religion, they 
 have accepted its statement that it interferes with 
 no man's religion or politics, and have given it no 
 further thought. Now surely these are not equally 
 guilty with those who know and accept the religion 
 of the lodge and prefer it to the religion of the 
 church. 
 
 In the next place, no one ought to be expected 
 to give up any practice until convinced of its 
 wrong. He must first be instructed to see the 
 antagonism between the principles of the lodge 
 and those of the church. This requires time, 
 patience, and loving persistence. We all know to 
 our sorrow how hard it is and how long it takes to 
 give some people clear ideas of our teachings. 
 Jesus, at the end of a three years' course of instruc- 
 tion, sadly said : " Have I been so long time with 
 you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip ? '* 
 It is not in harmony with the patience of our 
 
TAKING AN OVKRSIGHT. 24 1 
 
 Heavenly Father, with the long-suffering of Christ, 
 to expect a man to leave an institution as soon as 
 the church constitution is presented to him ; espe- 
 cially when he sees all around him highly esteemed 
 men, even ministers of the Gospel, in the lodge, and 
 when he remembers that in his fatherland superin- 
 tendents, bishops, and pastors of his own church 
 belonged, and no one ever objected. Here let lov- 
 ing patience have her perfect work. 
 
 But, finall}', the method under consideration 
 strikes us as unevangelical. It is the spirit of 
 legalism. It would make men righteous by a law. 
 It would cure the evil with a church constitution. 
 Now this does not strike us as the mind and method 
 of Christ. It is not the spirit of our Church. It 
 would fit better into a Reformed constitution. It is 
 Moses rather than Christ. For Christ laid down 
 principles and instilled a spirit. He was not a new 
 lawgiver. 
 
 Our Church does not deal after this fashion with 
 other evils. She does not believe that the church 
 is made up of those already perfected. With how 
 much ignorance and sin do we not otherwise bear? 
 And why ? Certainly not because we sanction these 
 
 . Patience 
 
 evils, but because we hope that m the church, and required, 
 not out of it, they will be cured. It is our general 
 principle that the church is, in one a.spect, a hos- 
 pital in which sick souls are to be healed. Here a 
 16 
 
expels old. 
 
 242 THR LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 new life is implanted, nourished, and developed. 
 Here a spiritual hygiene is inculcated. Here the 
 patients are to learn what is good and what dan- 
 gerous for their spiritual well-being. So, it seems 
 to us, we must also deal with the lodge evil. The 
 imperfect, the ignorant and weak who are willing 
 to learn, are to be instructed and strengthened in 
 the church. In proportion as we succeed in preach- 
 ing the love of Christ into the heart, in that pro- 
 New love portion will the love of the lodge drop out. But 
 the dangers and evils must be carefully, clearly, 
 and patiently pointed out, in public and in private. 
 Not the people of the lodge, but its principles are 
 to be condemned. And when we have succeeded, 
 first of all, in subduing the mind to Christ and 
 implanting the new love, then we have something 
 to appeal to, then we can talk lodge, then we will 
 get a hearing. Let us not then begin at the wrong 
 end, aggravate the offender and expect him to give 
 up what he has looked upon as a blessing, instead 
 of a curse. Here also the expulsive power of a 
 new affection must come in. 
 
 We are persuaded that this is a more excellent 
 way. The writer has, in this way, been enabled to 
 get men out of the lodge whom he could not have 
 reached by a clause in a constitution or by appealing 
 to that. And then it must not be overlooked that 
 bv this evangelical procedure we do not alienate, 
 
TAKING AN OVERSIGHT. 243 
 
 drive out, and perhaps start toward perdition, the 
 members of the lodge-man's family. 
 
 We freely admit that it is sometimes necessary 
 to debar or to discipline. And for this the consti 
 tution should provide. When one openly and per- 
 
 The place for 
 
 sistently declares that he prefers the lodge to the discipline, 
 church, advocates its religion, and is unwilling to 
 be taught, he is not fit for the communion of the 
 church, and should not be permitted to come to its 
 altar. But we are persuaded that under the evan- 
 gelical procedure outlined above such cases will be 
 few and far between. 
 
 Let every conscientious pastor do all he can, with 
 the help of Almighty God, to preserve his people 
 from the pernicious power of the lodge. Preven- 
 tion is better than cure. Cure is better than sur- 
 gery. Surgery better than death. 
 
 We have tarried so long on this point because of 
 its vital importance to our Church. It is an evil 
 that the pastor will find, and with which he must 
 reckon before he can approach his ideal church. 
 
 In working for that church he needs all the help 
 he can secure from the people who are to form that 
 church. 
 
 He needs, first of all, a good, loyal, and willing 
 church council, with a sound and safe constitution jhe chnrdi 
 to guide it. The constitution is generally provided co«"«:il. 
 by his synod, or, if not, a model is easily procured. 
 
244 '^HE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 Now let the best men be sought out for deacons and 
 trustees. They need to be men " of honest report, 
 full of the Holy Ghost and of wisdom " (Acts vi. 
 3). In order that the best available men may be 
 elected the pastor needs to suggest and advise be- 
 „ forehand, where it will do the most p-ood. He is 
 
 How to ' ^ 
 
 secure a good often handicapped by men thoughtlessly nominated 
 or nominated to further some unwise or unchurchly 
 measures. Men are nominated also in order to get 
 their better financial support, or to get them to take 
 a more active interest in the congregation, without 
 the least regard to their fitness for the office. Now 
 this is wrong and hurtful to the church. The wise 
 pastor will take ever^^ legitimate precaution to pre- 
 vent such blunders. Having secured a good coun- 
 cil, let them meet regularly, at least once a month, 
 carefully consider all the interests of the congrega- 
 tion and of its members, plan and work for im- 
 provement and enlargement, and so further the 
 Master's work. Let the records be faithfully kept 
 and the finances be carefully administered and ac- 
 counted for. Happy is the pastor who has an effi- 
 cient cabinet of able counselors and aids, willing 
 not to advise only but to work also. The pastor is 
 ex-officio president of the council. 
 
 Next to a good council the pastor needs a suffi- 
 
 The Sunday ^ieut and an efficient corps of Sunday school 
 
 school. 
 
 workers. It is taken for granted that he is deeply 
 
TAKING AN OVERSIGHT. 245 
 
 interested iu the church's nursery. God pity the 
 pastor who has no love or care for the lambs of his 
 flock, absents himself from his Sunday school, and 
 takes but an unwilling and drowsy interest when 
 present. He lacks one of the important requisites 
 of a good pastor. 
 
 He should always have some of the most prom- 
 ising young people in training for teachers and 
 ofiicers ; should frequently and kindly counsel 
 with these and those already in office, encourage 
 and foster in them a love and efficiency for the 
 work, and should show his appreciation of their 
 service. He should constantly endeavor to make 
 his school attractive as well as efficient ; should 
 know and have a kind word for every boy and girl 
 in the school ; should, in fact, pay special attention 
 to the boys, as thev are hardest to hold and oftenest ^^"'^' *" ?*^™^' 
 
 •' ' - good 
 
 neglected. Happy is the pastor who knows how to teachers, 
 win and hold his boys. The pastor should have 
 regular meetings with his teachers wherever possi- 
 ble. At these meetings he should not merely 
 teach them the next lesson, as he would teach a 
 Bible class, but should teach them how to teach 
 this particular lesson to their various classes. He 
 should know how to help the primary teacher, the 
 teacher of restless boys, of giddy girls, of wayward 
 youths, and, in short, of all the varieties in the 
 school. To this end he needs a wise pedagogical 
 
246 
 
 THE IvUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 Societies in 
 
 the 
 cougregation. 
 
 talent and tact. With his teachers he should also 
 talk over all the interests, the perplexities, and the 
 difficulties of the school. As pastor of every lamb 
 in the flock he should know when one is in danger 
 or has gone astray, and aid the teacher in its recla- 
 mation. He should, as the ex-offi.cio pastor and 
 head of the school, see to it that the literature 
 and books used are all in harmony with the 
 doctrine and spirit of his church, that the teach- 
 ing is sound and thorough, and that the school 
 work hand in hand with his catechetical instruc- 
 tions. 
 
 He should encourage the parents and older peo- 
 ple to attend, and, whenever possible, should teach 
 the Adult Bible Class. It is always a pleasant sight 
 to see a spectacled class of aged saints, studying the 
 Word under their pastor. Such a Sunday school 
 will be a mighty force in the furtherance of the 
 church's work. 
 
 We do not believe in too many societies and 
 organizations within the congregation. We believe 
 that many a congregation has been over organized. 
 We fully accept and endorse the Lutheran position 
 that the congregation is the organization to pro- 
 mote and direct the churchly life and activity. And 
 yet we believe that with proper limitations and 
 due care this life and activity can be assisted by a 
 
The Luther 
 
 TAKING AN OV'^ERSIGHT. 247 
 
 rightful division of labor. An organization that is 
 of the church, by the church, and for the church 
 certainly ought not to hinder, but rather help to 
 secure the closest relationship, and be a most help- 
 ful agency in the life and work of the congregation. 
 Such is the Luther League. It is not a church 
 within the church. It does not arrogate to itself what 
 belongs to the congregation. It is nothing more 
 or less than a large committee of the congregation, 
 existing and working by authority of the congre- 
 gation, and subject always to its direction and con- League, 
 trol. Its first President, Mr. E. F. Eilert, says 
 (Lutheran Cyclopaedia, p. 296) : " It has been the 
 design of the leaders of the Luther League from 
 the beginning to keep the movement near the 
 church. In fact, it is the church working in and 
 through and for its young people. The relation- 
 ship is as intimate and vital as is that of the infant 
 department to the main Sunday school. No sign 
 of pulling away from the church has been observed. 
 Its motto carried out cannot fail to secure the closest 
 relationship and render the League a most helpful 
 agency in the work of the congregation." 
 
 Let the pastor then encourage and assist in the 
 forming and the guiding of a Luther League. 
 Let him be the inspiring and directing spirit in it, 
 and it will be a blessing to his church. 
 
24S THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 Dr. Horn (Ev. Pastor, p. i58f) says : "It will be 
 of use for the pastor to throw upon his young- 
 people, as early as possible, duties in the congrega- 
 tion. He should cultivate their unreser\^ed confi- 
 dence, to which a friendly cheerfulness on his part 
 pkcTfn''^ ^ ^^^^ contribute. He should not hesitate to warn 
 them against the temptations he may see besetting 
 them, or, if they fall into sin, he should restore 
 them in the spirit of meekness. He should encour- 
 age the formation of associations among them for 
 mutual assistance and for good works — in which 
 associations, however, he ought always have author- 
 ity and oversight. 
 
 " He should take a friendly interest in their pleas- 
 ures, directing them to useful books, giving them 
 social opportunities, and discouraging all doubtful 
 amusements, especially those in which young and 
 unmarried people only take part, to the exclusion 
 of their parents and elders. The parsonage may 
 be made a centre of wholesome influence." 
 
 In all this the Luther League will assist him. 
 The reading course will help him to educate them 
 in intelligent love and loyalty to their church. It 
 will also aid him in making his League an effi- 
 cient missionary agency. The topics will assist 
 him in directing the devotional life. He himself 
 should keep and read the Luther League Review. 
 He can and should make and keep his League 
 
TAKING AN OVERSIGHT. 249 
 
 acquainted with all the church's institutions and 
 activities. Thus his League will help him to have 
 an ideal congregation. 
 
 We have already intimated that the pastor needs 
 a good woman's missionary society. This also 
 should have his constant counsel and encourage- 50^1611^^7 
 ment. He should advise the good women as to 
 the best books and periodicals, should often attend 
 their meetings, read or relate to them missionary 
 news and stories.* He should also direct them as 
 to the disbursement of their funds. We scarcely 
 deem it necessary to advise against devoting any of 
 their funds to the use or support of their own church. 
 We have known pastors who advised the women to 
 vote their funds for the building of a porch or for 
 otherwise improving the parsonage. Others make 
 the excuse that their own church is poor and needs 
 all it can raise at home. Thus to use funds raised 
 for missions is false pretense, a pious fraud, and a 
 disgrace to the pastor who favors it. Let mission- 
 ary funds be sacredly set aside for missions away 
 from home, and for that alone. 
 
 The ideal congregation will take care of its poor. 
 For this also it needs the leadership, encourage- 
 ment, and direction of a wise and an earnest pastor. 
 
 * Guard against the idea that the missionary society monopo- 
 lizes the missionary interest of the congregation. Insist that 
 it is to leaven the whole church with missionary- zeal. 
 
Care for the 
 poor. 
 
 250 THE I.UTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 The congregation that does not take care of its poor 
 lacks one of the essential marks of an evangelical 
 church. (See Gal. ii. 9, 10 ; Acts vi. i ff : xi. 29, 30 : 
 xii. 25 : xxiv. 17 ; Rom. xii. 8, 13 ; i Thes. iv. 9, 10 ; 
 I Tim. V. 10 ; James i. 27.) Dr. Horn says, p. 191 : 
 " A pastor should see that his congregation provide 
 means for the relief of the needy ; and the distri- 
 bution of it should be through the hands of officers 
 of the congregation, who should personally meet 
 the misery they seek to relieve." 
 
 xls to helping those not of his church the Doctor 
 says, p. 192 : " His first duty is to the poor of the 
 household of faith. When others apply to him he 
 should first satisfy himself that by giving he is really 
 assisting them. For this purpose it is well to have 
 the assistance of women of experience, who will 
 look closely into the condition of those asking 
 relief. A registry of those assisted should be kept, 
 and nothing should be given to those who make 
 mendicancy a profession. A pastor in a town or 
 city should endeavor to become familiar with the 
 methods of the organized charities of our largest 
 cities." 
 
 In this also the pastor must be an example to his 
 flock. He must ever carry with him a warm heart 
 and an open hand, always glad and ready to dis- 
 tribute to the necessity of saints ; given to hospi« 
 tality. 
 
TAKING AN OVERSIGHT. 
 
 251 
 
 In a large city parish it is well to divide the 
 labor. Sometimes here also a special organization 
 is ver}' helpful. This may take the fomi of a 
 mutual aid society, with regular dues and system- 
 atic assistance. The congregations of the German 
 Iowa Synod have such organizations that might 
 serve as models. But in congregational benevolence 
 the helping of the needy should go before provision 
 for self. This is apostolic. This was the custom 
 of the Early Church. * 
 
 This beautiful and Christ-like trait of the Early 
 Church was one of the chief sources of its power in 
 overcoming the world. Could we bring back that 
 first love, that mind of the ISIaster, into all our 
 congregations, undoubtedly a large part of the 
 opposition to the church would die out, and she 
 would once more go forth conquering and to con- 
 quer. Could we have parish deaconesses and deacons 
 after the model of the Early Church, our poor would 
 be looked after and the alleged need of the benefi- 
 ciary lodge would drop out. Let it at any rate be 
 an accepted principle that it is a shame for a con- 
 gregation to let any of its members suffer, or be 
 driven to the lodge, or to the charity of the civil 
 authorities. The sainted Rev. Dr. Passavant once 
 met an aged grandmother on the train, on her way 
 to the poor-house. He found that she was a Luth- 
 
 * See Uhlhom's Christian Charity in the Ancient Church. 
 
 tional helps. 
 
 Passavant 
 
His 
 
 experiences. 
 
 252 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 eran, and was righteously indignant that a Lutheran 
 Church should allow a member to go to the poor- 
 house. At another time he received a gushing 
 letter from a young lady telling of a glorious 
 revival in her church — not a Lutheran Church. 
 At the close of the letter she gave some family 
 news and told how grandmother had again gone 
 to the poor-house, and that some other member 
 of the family was in a county hospital. It is 
 needless to say that Dr. Passavant took no 
 stock in that revival. At another time he was 
 met on the street in Pittsburg by a prominent 
 pastor of a large city church, who urged the Doc- 
 tor to go with him to a noon-day prayer meet- 
 ing. The Doctor answered : " Really you must 
 excuse me. I have so many sick of your church 
 in my hospital that it keeps me going to provide 
 for them. " * 
 
 But we must close this long discussion of the 
 pastor as the head of his church. He desires a 
 believing church and a working church. He is a 
 wide-awake and busy man himself. He is the 
 leader in every proper activity of the church. But 
 
 * Every Lutheran pastor should make himself familiar with 
 the " Inner Mission " work of the German church. We advise 
 a careful study of William's Christian Life in Germany, Steven- 
 son's Praying and Working, and Miss Sutter's A Colony of 
 Mercy. In German the literature is very rich. 
 
TAKING AN OVERSIGHT. 253 
 
 he has the art of setting his people to work and 
 keeping them at it. He knows that there is a vast 
 amonnt of latent talent in his church. He wants 
 to use it. He will be careful not to push forward 
 conceited people, or those who have wealth and 
 social standing. He will often find his best work- 
 ers in the humblest ranks. He will try to find 
 what each one is fitted for and then set him to 
 work. He wants to have them all at work, and 
 always at work. 
 
 He cannot have and keep his church w^ell in hand 
 unless he is careful in keeping the records. The '^'•^^^^^J.^^';'^'' 
 necrlect and slovenliness shown in some parish rec- 
 ords tell a tale on the pastor of which he may well 
 be ashamed. And they wall tell that tale for 
 years to come. They will tell his successors and 
 the future generations of his church what an unre- 
 liable and lazy man he was ! For your church's 
 sake, for your work's sake, for }our reputation's 
 sake, keep your records, keep them fully, accurately, 
 neatly. Carry a pocket record. Have the data of 
 every ministerial act written down before you per- 
 form it. Neglect here is dangerous. Then copy 
 regularly. We need not give detailed directions. 
 Many well-arranged and convenient Church Record 
 books are now available. Get the best and make 
 it a credit to yourself. It is well to keep also a 
 
254 THE LUTHERAN PASTQR. 
 
 record of pastoral visits with dates, of sermons 
 preached with dates, and of whatever it may be 
 useful to recall. All this will help to make yours 
 a well-organized church, which can be more easily 
 developed and led on toward perfection. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 GUARDING THE GOOD NAME AND THE ALTAR OP 
 HIS CHURCH — CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 
 
 Who shall be the communicant members of the 
 ideal congregation ? Who shall be admitted to its 
 rights and privileges ? Who shall continue to en- 
 joy them ? 
 
 In a Lutheran Church all the baptized children 
 are members, and are under the care of the pastor. 
 He is responsible for every such lamb of his flock, 
 but these lambs are not communicants until they 
 have voluntarily taken upon themselves the vows 
 and obligations of the church. Of this we shall 
 speak later on. 
 
 But an ideal church is not satisfied with taking 
 care of its own, but realizes its missionary vocation 
 to all the unchurched within its reach. The true 
 
 For whom is 
 
 pastor is not only a shepherd, caring for his own the pastor 
 
 nil 1 /.I 1 • ^ r ii responsible? 
 
 flock, but also a fisherman, catching men out oi the 
 worldly waters around him. Every unshepherded 
 and unchurched family and individual within his 
 reach is legitimate material for his parish. It is 
 
 (255) 
 
256 
 
 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 not only his right, but his God-given duty to use 
 every endeavor to gather all such into his fold. Let 
 us be forever done with the pernicious heresy that 
 only " Lutheran material " is to be looked after. 
 "What is Lutheran material? What is Lutheran- 
 ism ? Is it not the purest teaching of the Gospel ? 
 And is not the Gospel for all ? We verily believe 
 that the pastor who neglects and passes by these 
 lost sheep will one day have to render an account 
 for his criminal neglect. Let the pastor then find 
 out where and who these families and individuals 
 are. Let him persistently visit them, gain their 
 confidence, instruct them, and, if possible, win them 
 for his church. They are, as a matter of course, 
 not to be admitted to the church's communion 
 How outsiders until their hearts are drawn to Christ, and their 
 
 are to be ,..,,., 
 
 made uiinds enlightened as to what is involved in the 
 mem ers. ^^^^^ They are also to know, at least, the rudi- 
 ments of the church's distinctive doctrines. They 
 cannot all be measured with the same measure. 
 Allowance must be made for antecedents, circum- 
 stances, mental culture, and gifts. It stands to rea- 
 son that not all can commit even the necessary 
 parts of the Catechism. Not all can take a 
 full course in catechetical instruction, but they 
 must understand, at least, the most important 
 doctrines. The pastor must often be willing to 
 instruct them privately. They should read for 
 
GUARDI^-G THE GOOD NAME OF HIS CHURCH. 257 
 
 themselves, under his direction, and then talk over 
 with him what they have read. * 
 
 When such persons are ready to apply for full 
 membership in the congregation the pastor must 
 first make up his own mind as to their ripeness. 
 Then he must lay the application before his church 
 council, which must advise with him as to their ad- 
 mittance. They are then publicly received by 
 adult baptism or by confirmation, as each case may 
 require. 
 
 The Lutheran pastor is never to be a proselyter, 
 but to every true Lutheran pastor members of other 
 denominations will come, unasked, and request ad- 
 mission to his church. Let us have only the right 
 kind of preaching, life, and work on the part of our our church, 
 pastors, and multitudes of those who are dissatis- 
 fied and hungry, under the ignorant, rationalistic, 
 sensational, or fanatical preaching, and the worldly 
 spirit and methods of other churches, will find 
 that there is one solid, safe, and satisfying church 
 where they can always get real soul-food. They 
 will come more and more. The simplicity, clear- 
 ness, directness, and earnestness of our Biblical 
 preaching, our churchly worship and life, will at- 
 tract and hold them. It is our growing conviction 
 
 * The writer may be pardoned for saying that one of his ob- 
 jects in writing The Way of Salvation in the Lutheran Church 
 was to help this class. 
 
 Attraction of 
 
258 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 that, given the right kind of a ministiy, our dear 
 Church will in time win back more than she ever 
 lost to the less evangelical churches. 
 
 How shall such applicants be received ? 
 
 They should always bring letters of dismissal 
 
 where such can be had. Church comity should be 
 
 strictly observed. But what is the value or use of 
 
 Receiving letters from other denominations ? What do they 
 
 members from 
 
 other de- show or guarantee ? They show, at best, that the 
 
 nominations. 
 
 bearer has been a consistent member of a church of 
 another faith and spirit. But they neither show 
 nor promise anything as to the Lutheran member- 
 ship applied for. The letter then is not sufficient. 
 Instruction also is necessary. The applicants need 
 to understand the doctrines of the church which 
 they desire to enter. Here the same course recom- 
 mended above, for those not brought up in our 
 church, with proper modifications, is to be pursued. 
 Confirmation is not absolutely necessary. It is not 
 a divine institution, but a public confession of the 
 acceptance of the church's faith must be insisted 
 on. For this our Church still needs the proper 
 form. Till we get one, let the pastor call the ap- 
 plicant, of whose fitness he and the church council 
 have been satisfied, forward to the altar. Let him 
 in a few fitting words remind the applicant that, 
 while he has at some former time made a public 
 profession of faith in Christ, he now comes to make 
 
GUARDING THE GOOD NAME OF HIS CHURCH. 259 
 
 his spiritual home in this congregation. That, in 
 order that this congregation may know of his faith 
 and purpose, he do now answer whether he heartily 
 accepts the faith and practice of the Evangelical 
 Lutheran Church. Thereupon he may give the right 
 hand of official recognition and fellowship, and 
 publicly declare him entitled to all the rights and 
 privileges enjoyed by communicants of this church 
 so long as the faith and life shall correspond with 
 the professions now made. Then let the whole con- 
 gregation be asked to join the pastor in a special 
 prayer for God's grace and guidance for these new 
 members. Finally let them be commended to the 
 fraternal fellowship and love of all the other mem- 
 bers. 
 
 Dr. Horn (Ev. Pastor, p. 202) admirably sums 
 up the qualifications of persons to be received into received, 
 the congregation : " He must be a baptized person 
 (Eph. V. 25, 26 ; I Cor. xii. 13), who confesses his 
 belief that the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New 
 Testaments are the Word of God, and that the doc- 
 trine contained in the Confessions of the Lutheran 
 Church (viz., in the Augsburg Confession and the 
 Small Catechism, with which, especially the latter, 
 he ought to be well acquainted) is the true Chris- 
 tian doctrine (Gal. ii. 4, 5 ; Eph. iv. 3-6 ; 2 Cor. vi. 
 14-18; 2 John 10, 11). He must wish to be 
 a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church 
 
discipline. 
 
 260 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 (Matt. X. 32, ;^^ ; 2 Tim. i. 8). He must lead a 
 life without offense (i Cor. v. 9-13 ; Matt. vii. 6), 
 and he must not be under discipline in another con- 
 gregation." 
 
 So far the true pastor does his work with alacrity 
 and joy. But this is only one side of the work in 
 Church order to have a congregation of influence and power 
 for good. In order that his church, as a whole, 
 may be a salt of that part of the earth in which it 
 is situated, a burning and a shining light in the 
 midst of a crooked and perverse generation, holding 
 forth the Word of life, a community of living epis- 
 tles read and known of all men, a city set on a hill 
 whose light cannot be hid, he must keep it as pure 
 as possible. This brings us to the unpleasant sub- 
 ject of church discipline. Here also it is the duty 
 of the pastor, as bishop of his flock, to see that a 
 proper Scriptural discipline is introduced and car- 
 ried out. 
 
 Here, again, the caution against an untempered 
 haste and an unevangelical zeal is necessary. The 
 young pastor will often have his righteous soul 
 vexed. He feels like going to work vigorously to 
 pull out the tares. He would sometimes call down 
 fire from heaven. But, hold ! Patience ! Patience ! 
 What would Jesus do ? He would not break the 
 bruised reed nor quench the smoking flax. How 
 patiently He carried, how gently He dealt with a 
 
GUARDING THE GOOD NAME OF HIS CHURCH. 261 
 
 Philip, a Thomas, a Peter. He even carried Judas 
 for three years. He gently but firmly restrained 
 all hasty, overzealous, and legalistic reformers. 
 
 We quote again from Dr. Horn, p. 204f : " Dis- 
 cipline, however correct in principle, is not to be discipline" 
 enforced to the ruin of the church. ' Some,' says 
 St. Augustine, 'we bear with, whom we cannot 
 exclude or punish ; we cannot, for the chaff's sake, 
 give up the wheat, nor forsake the flock of Christ 
 because of the goats who will be separated at the 
 last day.' And Luther wrote in reference to a 
 complete ' Discipline ' prepared for the church in 
 Hesse in 1533 by the Synod of Homburg : ' It has 
 given me great joy to see your zeal for Christ and for 
 Christian discipline, but in this time, which is so rest- 
 less and so little prepared for it, I would not venture 
 to advise so sudden an innovation. We will have to 
 
 let the peasants drink for awhile It will 
 
 arrange itself, for we have no right to make laws. 
 So I would advise that you begin little by little, as 
 we do here, first to withhold the communion from 
 those who are known to deserve excommunication 
 (for this, which is called the less^ is the true excom- 
 munication), and afterward not to allow them to 
 act as sponsors in baptism.' " 
 
 Dr. Horn then quotes Dr. W^alther as follows : 
 " To introduce at once a thorough discipline into a 
 new and uninstructed congregation would not accord 
 
262 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 with the spirit of our Church. Here the preacher 
 must be guided by the maxim, Saliis populi suprema 
 lex. To wish to compel a congregation to the prac- 
 tice of a right discipline, before giving them thor- 
 ough instruction concerning it, would be to wish to 
 reap before the seed is sown. And would it not be 
 a great foolishness rather to imperil a congregation, 
 rather to put it in danger of losing the Gospel, than 
 to neglect that which, while it is not essential, per- 
 tains only to its well-being?" 
 
 Dr. Walther (Pastorale, p. 3i5f ) quotes further 
 from Luther, Jonas, Bugenhagen, Melanchthon, 
 Gerhard, Schmid, Meyfart, Meelfuehrer, Laelius, 
 Scriptural Andrea, Hartman, et al.^ in favor of a correct dis- 
 cipline. He bases it on the following passages of 
 Scripture: Matt, xviii. 15-17: vii. 6; Rev. ii. 2, 
 14, 15, 20; I Tim. i. 20: iii. 5 : v. 20 ; i Cor. v. 
 1-5, 9-13; 2 Cor. ii. 6-11 ; 2 Thes. iii. 14, 15." 
 
 The fundamental passage for discipline is Matt. 
 xviii. 15-17. Luther says (Large Catechism, Eighth 
 Commandment) : " The right way is to observe the 
 order set by Christ (Matt, xviii. 15). There thou 
 hast a precious and beautiful rule for the manage- 
 ment of the tongue, a rule worth noting because 
 of the wretched misuse of the tongue. And accord- 
 ingly take care that thou do not talk about thy 
 neighbor and backbite him, but rather admonish 
 him in secret for his benefit. And so if someone 
 
GUARDING THE GOOD NAME OF HIS CHURCH. 263 
 
 oring to thine ears that this or that one has done 
 thus or so, teach him to go himself and charge him 
 to his face there where he saw it done ; or, if he be 
 not willing to do this, let him hold his tongue." 
 This is good advice, both for the pastor and for an 
 offended church member. 
 
 Other confessional passages bearing on church 
 discipline are Augsburg Confession and Apology, 
 on Ecclesiastical Power, Art. 28 ; also Apol., on 
 Confession, Art. 11, and Smalcald Arts., III. 9. 
 
 It should not be necessary to caution the pastor 
 against lending his ear to the gossiper or tale- 
 bearer. Gi\'e to all such the advice of Luther in 
 Large Catechism quoted above. Never should a 
 pastor refer in a sermon to such gossip, whether 
 about himself or about someone else. 
 
 What kind of communicants then are proper Subjects foe 
 subjects for church discipline ? '^'^''^ '"*^' 
 
 1. Such members of the congregation only as 
 have been guilty of flagrant, public offense against 
 God's commandments, and whose guilt is clearly 
 established. Such was the case of the incestuous 
 person in the church at Corinth. (See i Cor. v.) 
 
 2. Such persons as persistently maintain funda- 
 mentally false doctrine after having had the error 
 patiently shown them so that they themselves see 
 that it is contrary to Scripture (Rom. xvi. 17; 
 Tit. iil 10, II ; 2 John 9-1 1). 
 
264 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 3. Such as have shown themselves unwilling to 
 learn or to improve, and maliciously endeavor to 
 lead others into their dangerous ways. 
 
 4. Those with whom the steps commended by 
 Christ, in Matt, xviii. 15-17, have been carefully 
 and repeatedly followed. 
 
 5. Such as have had a fair trial, according to the 
 constitution of the congregation, and have been 
 declared deserving of discipline by the church or 
 its proper representatives. 
 
 6. The pastor alone can neither exclude nor sus- 
 pend from membership in the congregation. In 
 special cases, known to him alone, where there is a 
 good reason for not yet informing the church coun- 
 cil, or where there is no time, the pastor alone may 
 refuse to administer the communion to the offender. 
 Of course he will inform the offender, privately, 
 before communion, of his decision. 
 
 We have known pastors, to their shame be it 
 said, who would strike the names of persons who 
 refused to support them, or against whom they had 
 a personal pique, from the church roll. They 
 should themselves be called to account before their 
 synod or conference. The pastor can no more 
 exclude than admit to membership in the congre- 
 gation. 
 Mode of ^g ^Q ^i^g mode of procedure : 
 
 procedure. ^ 
 
 I. See that Matt, xviii. 15-17 has been carefully 
 
GUARDING THE GOOD NAME OF HIS CHURCH. 265 
 
 kindly, patiently, perseveringly, and repeatedly fol- 
 lowed. 
 
 2. See that the constitutional provisions of con- 
 gregation and synod are carefully followed. 
 
 3. See that the accused be duly informed of the 
 time of trial and of the charges against him. Let 
 there be no undue haste. 
 
 4. See that the accused have every opportunity 
 to defend himself, and to bring proper witnesses in 
 his own behalf. 
 
 5. Let the whole procedure be conducted in a 
 spirit and manner becoming Christian brethren. 
 Let there be no personal spite, no bitterness or rail- 
 ing, but gentleness, kindness, a tone of sorrow, and 
 of an earnest desire to win back the erring. 
 
 6. In the decision better make a mistake on the 
 side of charity and leniency than on the side of 
 severity. 
 
 7. Finally, we repeat our most earnest advice : 
 Avoid public discipline as long as at all possible. 
 Consider patiently and prayerfully the salvation of 
 the offender's soul, and also the welfare of the souls 
 of his family and friends. Let discipline be the 
 final resort. As long as there is even a faint hope 
 of winning the offender by the Word and the power 
 of love, wait, work, hope, pray. One of two results 
 will often follow : Either the offender will be 
 brought to repentance and reformation or he will 
 
 Directions. 
 
266 THE I^UTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 announce his withdrawal, and thus exclude him- 
 self. In either case public discipline is avoided. 
 Hartmann's We Cannot forbear giving in full the eighteen 
 
 rules. 
 
 excellent rules of L- Hartmann, quoted by Horn, p. 
 2iiff: 
 
 " I. Brotherly correction must be so administered 
 as to further the glory of God and the salvation of 
 one's neighbor ; not in such a manner as to make 
 our neighbor an object of scorn, but that it may be 
 evident that it does not proceed from malice, hatred, 
 or vainglory. 
 
 "2. Every rebuke must be based on certain 
 knowledge of an actual transgression. 
 
 " 3. He who rebukes must always keep in mind 
 our common frailty, and so at the same time rebuke 
 himself. 
 
 " 4. He who reproaches another must be careful 
 not to be stained with the same or a like sin. 
 
 " 5. Secret sins, or those known to you alone, 
 or to but few, are not to be openly rebuked, but 
 privately between you and the transgressor alone. 
 
 " 6. Therefore whoever bring the secret sins of 
 their brethren before the congregation, without first 
 observing the steps which Christ prescribed for such 
 cases, shall not be heard, but shall be rebuked and 
 recalled to the laws of love. 
 
 " 7. Even open sins known to all are not in the 
 first instance to be punished openly. 
 
GUARDING THE GOOD NAME OF HIS CHURCH. 267 
 
 " 8. The reproach shall not be too cold and too 
 mild, nor too hard and stern, but shall be tempered 
 and weighed, that our brother may by it be led 
 through conviction of his sins and reflection on the 
 wrath of God with a contrite heart to true repent- 
 ance. 
 
 " 9. The mean is to be found, so that the gentle- 
 ness of the spirit may mingle with the bitterness Specifications, 
 of the rebuke. 
 
 " 10. An admonition will be fruitful, if he who 
 rebukes keeps in mind the disposition and condi- 
 tion of the offender. 
 
 " II. The rebuke ought to vary with the nature 
 
 of the sin. 
 
 "12. Reference must be had to time and place 
 (Prov. XV. II ; Sir. xxii. 6; i Sam. xxv. 36, 37). 
 
 '* 13. If the crime of which our neighbor is 
 guilty is of such a nature as to injure the church 
 or the State, or if there be danger in delay, that he 
 who knows and does not discover it may be con- 
 sidered an accomplice, then we should not wait to 
 admonish privately, but quite neglecting this duty, 
 or obeying it only so far as it befits the case, we 
 should make the crime known at the proper 
 
 place. 
 
 "14. If a purposed crime is greater and threatens 
 more than the good name of him who intends it, 
 then it is to be discovered at once, especially to 
 
The witnesses. 
 
 268 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 those who have power and authority to prevent it 
 (Acts xxiii. 13, 14). 
 
 "15. If your neighbor repents of his error or 
 crime, or if he amends without any rebuke, or if 
 others for whom we ought to have more regard 
 will suffer with him, he is either not to be rebuked 
 at all or very mildly. 
 
 "16. If it is quite evident that all rebuke is 
 vain, that it will be preached to deaf ears, then 
 admonition and rebuke may be spared. 
 
 *' 17. The witnesses in the second admonition 
 should be such as are likely to win the brother, 
 and at least should not be odious to him ; for if 
 they are quarrelsome or odious to him, or such as 
 cannot keep quiet, and whom he cannot endure, 
 there will be no good result, but out of shame and 
 hatred he will heap sin upon vice and harden him- 
 self. Therefore relatives or friends whom he trusts 
 should be chosen before whom the offender will not 
 be ashamed to confess his sin, and who in the right 
 way by their authority can move him to confession 
 and amendment. 
 
 "18. All the grades of admonition are to be re- 
 peated several times, and we should labor with a 
 penitent until he amends his life or until, through 
 contempt of all admonition, he evinces his obdurate 
 stiffness, for, in Matthew xviii., Christ shows the 
 order and grades of rebuke, but not how often they 
 
GUARDING THE GOOD NAME OF HIS CHURCH. 269 
 
 shall be used. That each is often to be repeated 
 will appear from the twenty-second verse, where 
 Christ teaches that our brother is to be forgiven till 
 seventy times seven." 
 
 So far Hartmann. These rules are good for the 
 pastor, for the church council or congregation as a 
 whole, and for the offended individual. They were 
 written for a State church, and a few expressions 
 would not fit into American free church life. There 
 might be a difference in judgment also as to when 
 an offense is such a serious injury to the church as 
 to justify the omission of the private admonition 
 commended in IMatt. xviii. 15. We commend for 
 special consideration the last two rules. 
 
 But suppose that the final sad step has to be 
 taken. A member has been suspended from the 
 privileges of the church that he formerly enjoyed. 
 The suspension has been publicly announced. How 
 is he to be treated ? Dr. Horn rightly says (Luth- 
 eran Cyclopaedia, p. 98) : " Ever}' sentence must 
 really be but a suspension, for the church must 
 welcome the repentance of the guilty, and, being 
 satisfied by its fruits of the reality of that repen- 
 tance, should receive him again to the communion 
 as publicly as she excluded him." 
 
 How is he to be treated in the meantime ? Should 
 the pastor and church members ignore him, refuse 
 to speak to him, and tr>' in ever}- way to humiliate 
 
 Suspension 
 and excom- 
 munication. 
 
 Treatment 
 
 of the 
 disciplined. 
 
270 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 him? This is the spirit of the unrenewed and re- 
 vengeful old Adam. It is not the spirit of Christ, 
 and should be unknown in the Bride of Christ. But 
 it is only too common. Not so. That fallen one 
 is to be pitied. The pastor and his church are to 
 show him every possible kindness. He ought to be 
 Tender cncouraged to come to the hearing of the Word. 
 The pastor, and his deacons especially, should fre- 
 quently visit him, and use every kindly endeavor 
 to bring him to repentance. And when he does re- 
 pent and is publicly restored there is joy among the 
 angels of God and in the hearts of all true children 
 of God. They welcome him even as the Father 
 welcomes the prodigal son 
 
 ireatment. 
 
PART IV. 
 
 THE PASTOR IN THE SANCTUARY. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 IN THE PULPIT — PREACHING THE WORD. 
 
 In considering the general work of the pastor, 
 viewed as the head or leader of the congregation, The pastor in 
 
 his public 
 
 we must give a special place to his public functions work, 
 in the sanctuar}-. It is here before the assembled 
 congregation that he stands forth as the episcopos, 
 the overseer and the spiritual leader and guide of 
 the whole flock. It is when performing his minis- 
 terial acts in public that his people look up to him 
 and see in him their shepherd. Here they realize 
 that he is the one whom the Holy Ghost has made 
 their overseer, to feed them, to lead them, to lift 
 them above earth's sins and sorrows. 
 
 The most important of all his public acts is the 
 preaching of the Word. It is here, in his pulpit, 
 that he can in a peculiar manner feel himself doing 
 the work of Him who was anointed " to preach 
 good tidings to the meek, to bind up the broken- 
 hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the 
 opening of the prison to them that are bound ; to 
 proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the 
 day of vengeance of our God ; to comfort all that 
 i8 (273) 
 
 Preaching. 
 
274 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 mourn ; to appoint to them that mourn in Zion, to 
 give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for 
 mourning-, the garment of praise for the spirit of 
 heaviness." 
 
 Here he stands as the commissioned ambassador 
 of Christ, exercising the ministry of reconciliation. 
 We need not delay here to show the important place 
 that Jesus and the apostles gave to preaching. Paul 
 spoke of the preached Gospel as the power of God 
 
 The import- 
 ance of unto salvation, and assures us that it pleased God 
 
 by the foolishness of preaching to save them that 
 believe. The Early Church, in those halcyon days 
 before she had lost her first love, set great store by 
 preaching. Tertullian is quoted as writing : " No 
 congregation in the primitive church separated 
 without being fed with holy sermons." Gregory 
 Nazianzen insists that " preaching is the principal 
 thing that belongs to us as ministers of the Gos- 
 pel." Augustine makes it the proper work of a 
 bishop. 
 
 In proportion as preaching declined did the 
 church grow cold and corrupt. The Reformation 
 was a reviving of the preaching of the Gospel. 
 
 Luther somewhere calls preaching the " greatest 
 and principal part of all worship." The Apology 
 to the Augsburg Confession, Art. 24, says : 
 " There is nothing that can keep the people to the 
 church but good preaching ; " and in Art. 25 it is 
 
IN THE PULPIT. 275 
 
 taught that the church can be preserved only as she 
 maintains right preaching and teaching. 
 
 Dr. Walther is therefore correct when he says waither. 
 (Pastorale, p. 76) : " The most important of all the 
 pastor's acts is his public preaching." And on the 
 following page he says : " A minister may be ever 
 so good as a liturgist, ever so gifted as a ruler of 
 his congregation, or in private pastoral work, but 
 all this can never take the place of right preaching." 
 
 True, we sometimes hear this denied. But it is 
 among those who sympathize with the High Church 
 Party of England. Bridges, himself an Episco- 
 palian, p. 175, Christian Ministry, quotes disapprov- 
 ingly from Advertisement of Vol. I., Tracts for the 
 Times,* thus: "The sacraments — not preaching — 
 are the sources of divine grace." Again, from 
 Tract 89 : " We would not be taught entirely to 
 depreciate preaching as a mode of doing good. It 
 may be necessary in a weak and languishing state ; 
 but it is an instrument which Scripture, to say the 
 least, has never much recommended." May such 
 sentiments never find an echo in our dear Church. 
 Let us rather hold with Loehe (Ev. Geistliche, Vol. Loehe. 
 II., pp. 5, 6) : " The minister is a ' pastor ' (shep- 
 herd) and 'teacher.' This shows us that it is the 
 end and aim of the holy office to shepherd the 
 
 * Tracts for the Times were the official organ and mouthpiece 
 of the leaders of the Oxford Movement, which led so many from 
 the Church of England to Rome. Historj- has its warnings. 
 
276 THE I.UTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 sheep, to lead them into the green pastures of 
 God's love and eternal life. But the designation 
 ' pastors and teachers ' also shows that the principal 
 
 TlieWotvl . . r sr 
 
 iiie principal means {^Haupttnittel) given them by God for the 
 
 means. 
 
 accomplishment of their work is the Divine Word. 
 By means of this the shepherd teaches and renews 
 the members of his flock. In fact, the pastor has 
 no official means except the Word. Whatever else 
 he may use or do becomes fruitful and helpful only 
 in so far as it is connected with the Word. Even 
 in the sacraments it is not the earthly element, but 
 rather the Word upon which all depends. ' It is 
 not the water, indeed, that produces these effects.' 
 * The eating and drinking, indeed, do not produce 
 them ; ' but the Word connected with the elements 
 makes out of them the bearers of heavenly treas- 
 ures, binds together the earthly element and the 
 heavenly good, prepares the souls for the proper 
 reception and for the appropriating of their bless- 
 ings. It is all through the Word. By it the Lord 
 made the world, and through it He renews and 
 sanctifies it. And the servants of the Lord accom- 
 plish everything that belongs to their office through 
 that Word." This is introductory to Loehe's treat- 
 ment of Homiletics. To see further how important 
 Lather. Lutlier regarded the preached Word, we need only 
 call to mind his explanation of the Third Com- 
 mandment : " We should so fear and love God as 
 
IN THE PULPIT. 277 
 
 not to despise His Word and the preaching of the 
 Gospel, but deem it holy, and willingly hear and 
 learn it." So he says: "The devil does not mind 
 the written Word, but he is put to flight wherever 
 it is preached aloud." 
 
 In his Ordnung des Goticsdienstcs in der Ge- 
 incinde he says : " Let it first of all be kept in mind 
 that the Christian congregation shall never come 
 
 together unless God's Word is preached It 
 
 is better to leave off everything except the Word, Word essential 
 
 lo a normal 
 
 and there is nothing better used than the Word, service, 
 for that this should remain uppermost among Chris- 
 tians is shown by the whole Scripture itself. There- 
 fore, where the Word is not preached, it is better 
 that we neither sing, nor read, nor come together 
 at all." 
 
 To this Achelis adds (Practische Theologie, Vol. 
 I., p. 195) : "This position of the preaching of the 
 Divine Word in the public service of the congrega- 
 tion has been recognized in the Evangelical Church, 
 with great unanimity, as specific of the Reforma- 
 tion." 
 
 This is not the place for a treatise on Homiletics. 
 We merely call attention to a few fundamental 
 principles that are of vital importance to the Luth- ""^'^ ^^' 
 eran pastor. 
 
 To the Lutheran the sermon, as the preached 
 
 A means of 
 
 Word, is a means of grace. Through it the Holy grace. 
 
278 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the 
 whole Christian church on earth. It is a constant 
 offer of pardon ; a giving of life, as well as a nour- 
 ishing and strengthening of life. In the Reformed 
 churches the sermon is apt to be more hortatory 
 and ethical. It partakes more of the sacrificial 
 than of the sacramental character. The individu- 
 ality of the preacher, the subjective choice of a 
 text, the using of it merely for a motto, the discus- 
 sion of secular subjects, the unrestrained platform 
 style, lack of reverence, lack of dignity, and many 
 other faults are common, and are not regarded as 
 unbecoming the messenger of God in His temple. 
 Where there is a properly trained Lutheran con- 
 sciousness such things repel, shock, and are not 
 tolerated. Dr. Spaeth says (Luth. Cyclopaedia, 
 Art. Homiletics) : " Lutheran preaching must be 
 Must present marked by a distinctively Scriptural, churchly, and 
 
 saving facts. 
 
 evangelical character. Its essence is the proclama- 
 tion of the saving /acts of the Gospel. It presents 
 Christianity as the great central historical fact, a 
 history of everlasting significance, applied to the 
 needs of the present time and to the individual 
 soul, with careful psychological discrimination and 
 with all pastoral wisdom and faithfulness." 
 
 Dr. Walther (Pastorale, p. 76) sums up the most 
 Requisites of important requisites of the sermon as follows : 
 
 the strraon. _ , , , . , , /-. i, txt i 
 
 " I. It should contain nothing but God's Word 
 
IN THE PULPIT. 279 
 
 clearly and purely set forth (i Peter iv. 11 ; Acts 
 xxvi. 22 ; Rom, xii. 7 ; Jer. xxiii. 28; 2 Tim. ii. 
 
 15)- 
 
 '' 2. That in it God's Word is rightly applied (2 
 
 Tim. iii. 16, 17). 
 
 " 3. That the whole counsel of God be declared to 
 the hearers for their salvation (Acts xx. 20, 26, 27). 
 
 " 4. That it be adapted to the special needs of the 
 hearers (Luke xii. 42 ; i Cor. iii. i, 2 ; Heb. v. 11 : 
 vi. 2). 
 
 " 5. That it be timely (Matt. xvi. 3). 
 
 " 6. That it be well arranged (Luke i. 3). 
 
 '' 7. That it be not too long." 
 
 Dr. Horn (Ev. Pastor, p. 78) quotes Dr. Walther 
 further as saying : " To purity of doctrine it is 
 necessary that the word of truth be rightly divided 
 
 I^w and 
 
 (2 Tim. ii. 15), that is, that the law and the Gospel Gospel, 
 be properly distinguished. He who takes away the 
 sharpness of the law by the Gospel and the sweet- 
 ness of the Gospel by the law ; he who so teaches 
 as to comfort and secure, and still more he who ter- 
 rifies those already terrified by their sins ; he who 
 directs those who have been convicted by the law 
 to prayer only, instead of directing them to the 
 means of grace ; he who so expounds the law, its 
 requirements, and its threats as to produce the im- 
 pression that God is satisfied if a Christian does as 
 much as he can, and overlooks frailties, or makes 
 
28o THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 the Gospel a comfort for the pious only ; he who 
 seeks to lead the unregenerate to good works by 
 means of the demands, threats, and promises of the 
 law, and requires of those who are still without 
 faith that they give up sin and love God and their 
 neighbor ; he who demands a certain degree of re- 
 pentance and comforts only those who have become 
 new creatures ; he who changes / caiinoi believe 
 into / dare not believe and the like ; such an one 
 does not rightly divide the Word of truth, but con- 
 fuses law and Gospel ; and though he preaches both 
 law and Gospel, his doctrine is false." 
 
 On p. 80 Horn quotes from Beck's Past. Theol., 
 , p. 61, thus : " He who takes all the people in 
 
 A warning to ■'^ ' ^ ^ 
 
 the careless, church or in a private meeting to be good Chris- 
 tians, and addresses them as if they were already 
 converted men, or members of Christ's body, while 
 there are yet among them the godless, the uncon- 
 verted, the dead, backsliders, the lukewarm, and the 
 indifferent — he who does not say this, and warn his 
 people of it, is responsible before God for all the 
 souls whom he lulls to sleep, or at least leaves un- 
 warned or unawakened by his silence regarding the 
 divine severity, and by his illusive pictures of the 
 Christian life." 
 A guide to the On the next page Dr. Horn says : " Every ser- 
 mon should contain so much of the order of salva- 
 tion that, if it were the only sermon a person could 
 
IN THE PULPIT. 281 
 
 hear, it would not leave him in ignorance of the way 
 of life. A sermon should not preach of faith without 
 showing how to obtain faith. The doctrine of good 
 works and of sanctification should not be over- 
 looked. But the Gospel ought to be preached prin- 
 cipally. No important doctrine and no common 
 duty but should receive attention in the course of 
 the year." 
 
 Another quotation from Walther, too good to be 
 
 The spiritual 
 
 omitted, is given by Horn (p. 82f) : " He who does preparation of 
 
 . .,^,, , the preacher. 
 
 not stand m daily communion with God, who does 
 not from his experience of himself know the de- 
 ceitful and bottomless corruption of the human 
 heart, nor has experienced and daily experiences 
 the manner in which the Holy Ghost operates on 
 his own soul ; he who does not pray when he ap- 
 proaches his text in order that, comparing it with 
 the condition of his hearers, he may find the very 
 matter to be treated, who does not pray when he 
 goes to develop it, who does not pray when he goes 
 to memorize, who does not pray when about to go 
 into the pulpit, who, in short, does not beg God to 
 give him the right sermon, and then rise to preach 
 anointed with the spirit of prayer, such an one can- 
 not preach a right sermon. It may be that after 
 a sermon, born and delivered as we have advised, no 
 one will cr}- out, What a sermon ! that hardened 
 hearts will go out of God's house silent, and rather 
 
282 
 
 THE I,UTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 Helpful 
 
 suggestions. 
 
 I. Faithful 
 preparation. 
 
 not Speak of it, yet so much the more feel driven to 
 speak of it with God ; but far from this being no 
 result, it is the very best result. Great praise is 
 often a suspicious sign ; and such praises often end 
 in — nothing." 
 
 To all this we would add six important sug- 
 gestions that will be helpful to all who will faith- 
 fully follow them : 
 
 I. Be conscientiously faithful in your preparation 
 for the pulpit. We have insisted on diligence and 
 system in study. We have shown that sermonizing 
 must occupy a goodly share of the study hours. 
 The pastor who does not labor faithfully in his 
 study has no right to count on the aid of the 
 Holy Spirit in the pulpit. It is an insult to 
 God for the lazy preacher, who has idled and trifled 
 away his time, to pray for divine assistance in preach- 
 ing. First do your own plain duty. Use the time 
 and the talents that God has given, and then you 
 may cheerfully and unhesitatingly ask and expect 
 the presence and blessing of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 Begin your preparation early in the week. It is 
 a good habit of some able and effective preachers 
 to read over next Sunday's text, when done with 
 this Sunday's work. Take it to bed with you. 
 Think it over devotionally, not critically. Don't 
 study it. Go to sleep on it. After a hard Sunday, 
 
IN THE PULPIT. 283 
 
 rest and recreate on Monday. But your text is 
 with you. Your mind is at work on it while you 
 are not aware of it. Unconscious cerebration is 
 going on. The text is, if the expression may be par- 
 doned, in soakage. Tuesday morning you will find 
 it pliable, you can get into it. Now work out your 
 plan or outline carefully. Put several hours a day 
 on it, till finished. Write out in full one sermon a 
 week for the first ten years of your ministry. 
 
 After the sermon is written, read over and care- 
 fully correct. Fix the outline of the thought in 
 your mind. Do not commit the words, but the 
 trend of thought. Go over this repeatedly, with- 
 out the manuscript. And then, if all has been 
 accompanied by prayer, as suggested above, you 
 are ready to preach. (See Quenstedt, quoted by 
 Horn, p. -]-].) 
 
 2. In choosing texts and subjects follow the 2. Follow 
 thought of the church year. Preach one or two ^ ""^^ ^^^' 
 years on the Gospel lessons at the principal service. 
 Then on the Epistle lessons. Then on the second 
 series of both, and then on the third, as provided 
 for in some church orders. This will obviate a 
 slavish adherence to the old Gospel pericopes, 
 which must of necessity result in either monot- 
 onous sameness and repetition or in an unherme- 
 neutical straining of the text. 
 
284 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 It will be far more profitable to pastor and people 
 to vary the text as suggested, while keeping in line 
 with the thought of the season. 
 
 This is meant to apply to the chief service. 
 Where there are two services in the same church, 
 the second service gives room for a free text. 
 During the festival portion of the church year this 
 also should be in harmony with the season. It 
 may be from the Old Testament, as provided for 
 on p. xvii. of the Church Book. It may be from 
 the Daily Readings or Lessons for Morning and 
 Evening Throughout the Year, Church Book, p. 
 xviii. It may be from the Sunday School Lesson 
 or Luther League Topic. 
 
 During the non-festival or Trinity season it may 
 be well to preach a series of expository sermons * 
 on a whole book of the Bible, or on Bible char- 
 acters. 
 
 3. While preparing your sermon have before 
 the people to your mind's eye the people whom you will address. 
 
 be addressed. 
 
 Prepare for and preach to the people before you. 
 Do not continually discuss the scribes and Phari- 
 sees and disciples of nineteen centuries ago. You 
 have scribes and Pharisees and disciples before you. 
 Have a message for them. Take the old Bible 
 truth and fit it into the hearts and lives of your 
 
 * We strongly advise the preaching of expository sermons at 
 all the Sunday evening services. 
 
IN THE PULPIT. 285 
 
 hearers. It was the repeated criticism and counsel 
 of the sainted Dr. Mann to his students : ''Das 
 schinackt zii viel vovi Seminar ! Greift dock ins 
 Lcbcn hincin ! " 
 
 Follow this, and you will give to each one his 
 portion in his season. You will have and give 
 strength to the weak, decision to the wavering, 
 courage to the faint-hearted, warning to the sin- 
 ning, help to the tempted, comfort to the sorrow- 
 ing, hope to the hopeless. To this end make your 
 applications as you go along. The old method of 
 bunching the applications and giving them together 
 at the end of the sermon ought to be out of date. 
 Let every point made be applied before the next 
 
 point is taken up. 
 
 4. We have already indicated that we do not 
 
 4. Do not 
 
 favor the reading of sermons in the pulpit.^ In read your 
 this we agree with Dr. Horn, who says (p. 77) : 
 " It is not the Lutheran method to read sermons. 
 The great peril of ' extemporaneous preachers,' the 
 danger of continual repetition, may be guarded 
 against by conscientious preparation, and by reso- 
 lutely confining ourselves to the particular text and 
 particular theme in each discourse. People may 
 be educated into tolerating the reader of sermons, 
 but the masses will always prefer direct address. 
 The man who has a message for the people sitting 
 before him, who will look them in the eye and 
 
 sermons. 
 
286 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 speak earnestly to them, has an immense advantage, 
 and will under God do much more good than if he 
 read before them." 
 
 5. We most earnestly advise that every student 
 and every preacher who needs it take lessons in 
 elocution. The preacher to be effective ought to 
 be a pleasing and an attractive speaker. Many a 
 good sermon is spoiled and its power for good lost 
 because of its wretched delivery. The pulpit ought 
 to be the throne of eloquence. Avoid the pulpit 
 tone. Do not imitate. Be yourself. Be natural. 
 Do not bawl and roar. This may do for the moun- 
 taineer and backwoodsman. It is out of place and 
 out of date among cultured people. vSpeak in a 
 conversational tone. But let it be earnest, ani- 
 mated con\-ersation, such as is used in tr^^'ing to 
 persuade men. 
 
 6. Use the simplest Saxon words. Put them 
 into short sentences. Too many preachers are not 
 understood by the common people, who ought to 
 hear us gladly. They do not understand scientific 
 and classic terms. They cannot follow long and 
 involved sentences. They have not been educated 
 as we have. This is of special importance to the 
 English Lutheran pastor. Many of his hearers 
 have only an elementary knowledge of English. 
 They know only the every-day language. We 
 must speak to them in the language of the street, 
 
IN THE PULPIT. 287 
 
 the shop, and the home. They do not understand 
 the language of the schools and of our theological 
 books. We cannot be too simple and direct for 
 this class. 
 
 7. Demosthenes said that the three main requi- 
 sites to good public speaking are : Delivery. Deliv- 
 ery. Delivery ! 
 
 Robert Hall said that the three most important 
 factors are : Preparation. Preparation. Prepara- 
 tion ! 
 
 We maintain that, without neglecting any of 
 these, the highest essentials to good preaching are : 
 Application. Application. Application ! 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 AT THE ALTAR — LEADING THE WORSHIP OF THE 
 CONGREGATION. 
 
 In the ordinary services of the sanctuary, i. e.. in 
 The pastor those services when the Holy Communion is not 
 
 leading the 
 
 worship. administered, the preaching of the Divine Word is 
 the most important function of the pastor. This 
 is the specifically sacramental part of such a ser- 
 vice. In and through it God offers and gives His 
 grace to us. 
 
 But this is not the whole of the public service. 
 The congregation is present not to hear only, but 
 also to worship ; not to receive only, but also to 
 give. This is the sacrificial side of the public 
 service. In this the whole congregation has a part. 
 The pastor does not worship alone. He does not 
 bring his individual and subjective confessions, 
 petitions, and thanksgivings before God. For this 
 the place is not in the church, but in the closet. 
 Neither is he the proxy of the congregation who 
 worships in its place. He is simply and purely the 
 leader of the congregation's worship. From the 
 
 pulpit he speaks to the congregation. At the altar 
 
 (288) 
 
AT THE ALTAR. 289 
 
 he worships with the congregation, and the con- 
 gregation with and through him. The congrega- 
 tion joins in and responds audibly. It is not indi- 
 vidual, but common worship. 
 
 Such worship of necessity requires a fixed order 
 and form. Some such order the church has always Worship 
 
 liturgical. 
 
 had. The O. T. Church had its ritual for taber- 
 nacle, temple, and synagogue. The first New Testa- 
 ment order was in part modeled after that of the 
 synagogue. True, Christ and the apostles did not 
 construct a liturgy ; they laid down principles 
 which the church, under the guidance of the Divine 
 Spirit, was to develop and formulate. But even in 
 the apostolic church we find traces of order, fellow- 
 ship, and responses. (See Acts ii. 42 : xv. 21 : 
 xviii. 7 : xx. 7, 20 ; i Cor. xi. 4 : xiv. 16 : xvi. 2 ; 
 Rom. viii. 15: xv. 6; Col. iii. 16; i Tim. ii. i.) 
 That the worship of the church triumphant is re- 
 sponsive is implied all through the Book of Reve- 
 lation. That the worship of the post apostolic 
 church was liturgical and responsive is clear from 
 the Didache and the writings of Justin, Irenseus, 
 and other early fathers. 
 
 As the liturgies became corrupted the church-life 
 did the same ; the Reformation purified the wor- 
 ship of the congregation ; rationalism again cor- 
 rupted it ; where the liturgy was kept pure the 
 church's faith and life survived. Vilmar says (Pas- 
 19 
 
290 THE LUTIIKRAN PASTOR. 
 
 toral Theol.j p. 76) : 'The liturgy- is necessary to 
 keep the balance over against the individuality of 
 the preacher, in order that the Word of God may 
 come to the congregation unhindered and unmu- 
 tilated. In the da^'s of the coarsest rationalism, 
 when nothing but unbelief and human speculation 
 were preached, how many pious souls have lived 
 on and edified themselves with the Gospel in the 
 liturgy, especially in Thuringia and Saxony." 
 
 The writer has often said that if the Episcopal 
 Church, with its liberalism and rationalism in the 
 pulpit, did not have its Book of Common Prayer 
 — drawn largely from Lutheran sources — she would 
 have been swamped in skepticism long ago. 
 (Query : What will become of the membership of 
 the non-liturgical churches when their pulpits be- 
 come secularized and rationalistic ? ) 
 Worship a The serv'ice for the congregation's worship must 
 
 be a common service. It miist voice the common 
 confessions, supplications, and thanksgivings ; it 
 must be Scriptural, not only in harmony with its 
 teaching, but permeated with its tone and language ; 
 it must be historic, voicing the aspirations of the 
 saints of the ages, hallowed with the fragrance of 
 antiquity, sacred with the memories of the past, a 
 holy bond, binding into one the glorious company 
 of the apostles, the goodly fellowship of the 
 prophets, the noble army of martyrs, the holy 
 
 common 
 service. 
 
AT THE ALTAR. 
 
 291 
 
 church throughout the world, and the present con- 
 gregation ; the church in heaven and on earth. While 
 fixed in its essential features it must be sufficiently 
 flexible to admit present and special wants and 
 thanksgiving. It should thus have room and en- 
 couragement for free prayer, which must always 
 bear the character of common prayer. The part of 
 the service preceding the sermon should lead up to 
 it and prepare for it. The part that follows should 
 be the appropriation and the response to the ser- 
 mon. We believe that our common service 
 answers all these requirements. 
 
 In order to have that service attain its highest Suggestions, 
 purpose we offer the following suggestions : 
 
 1. Wherever at all possible have a churchly sanc- 
 tuary. Let the building, the furniture, and especially 
 the chancel furniture and arrangement, be churchly. 
 See that everything reflects the beauty of holi- 
 ness and invites to reverence. If in doubt as to 
 construction, arrangement, or adornment, consult 
 someone who is good Lutheran authority. In this 
 church ha\^e free seats — the pew system is an abom- 
 ination, is contrary to the spirit of the New Testa- 
 ment, and is, in part, at least, responsible for the 
 alienation of the masses — and a hearty welcome for 
 all, with free books for the use of strangers. 
 
 2. Do not force the service on an unwilling con- 
 gregation. Prepare them for it by public and 
 
 I . Have a 
 
 churchly 
 
 sanctuaiy. 
 
 2. Introduce 
 
 service 
 gradvially. 
 
292 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 private instruction, by showing its Scriptural, his- 
 toric, and edifying character. For the benefit of 
 beginners and strangers announce the pages as you 
 proceed. This is objected to by some as disturbing 
 devotion, but we believe that it is far more annoy- 
 ing and distracting to have people embarrassed, 
 lose the place, and confusedly turn the leaves. In 
 ideal and constantly uniform congregations this 
 would not be necessary. But is there not some- 
 thing wrong in the congregation that attracts no 
 strangers ? 
 y j]^^^ 3, Do not go beyond the rubrics of the service. 
 
 rubrics. j)q ^q^ ^pg ^j^g High Church Anglican, Avoid the 
 spectacular, the merely entertaining, and whatever 
 detracts from the spirit of devout worship. 
 
 A. See that you are neat and clean in person and 
 
 4. Be present- t j j- 
 
 abie and act apparel. Come into the chancel at the proper 
 
 reverently. 
 
 moment. ^ Step slowly ; be dignified, quiet, and 
 reverential in all your movements ; deliberate, de- 
 vout, and distinct in utterance. Offer silent prayer, 
 standing with face toward the altar, on entering the 
 chancel. Guard your postures in sitting and in 
 standing. Above all, learn to put heart into every 
 part of the service without affectation, and do not 
 be content until your people put heart into their 
 part. Never forget that the old Adam is a for- 
 malist. There is some of that old Adam in you 
 
AT THE ALTAR. 
 
 293 
 
 and in yonr people. He knows how to use the 
 holiest things for injury. 
 
 5. Let every serv'ice be in conformity with the 5- Follow 
 
 cliurch year. 
 
 spirit and thought of the season of the church year. 
 . 6. See that there is harmony in the service ; that 5 Le^ p^^j^ ^f 
 hymns and anthems fit in. Encourage congrega- ^^^^^^^^ 
 tional singing. Beware of hired singers. Where 
 necessary they are generally a necessary evil. 
 Handle them with care. This applies, indeed, to 
 all choirs. If not kept in line, if given free rein 
 for personal whims and displays, if given to quar- 
 rel and strife, if lacking in churchly spirit and 
 taste, they may easily become a nuisance. /'Here 
 pastoral Khigheit is needed. Better have no choir 
 than a bad one. 
 
 7. True Christian giving is worship. Let the 
 congregation understand this. Let the offerings be 
 devoutly gathered, placed upon the altar, and the 
 blessing of the Lord invoked on them. 
 
 8. Be careful of your conduct after the service is 
 ended. It is well for the pastor to greet strangers 
 at the door and invite them to come again. But 
 this should not be done with the robe on. To 
 avoid this, have the doxology sung after the bene- 
 diction is pronounced — as is the custom in some 
 churches. During the singing the minister can 
 quietly lay off his robe and go to the door. Or 
 the congregation can be instructed to be seated 
 
 7. Christian 
 givinij is 
 worship. 
 
 8. Ganduct 
 after the 
 service. 
 
294 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 until the minister unrobes and goes to the door. 
 Either plan is better than to have the robed pastor 
 rush for the door to intercept the first departures. 
 Above all, let the pastor preserve a demeanor be- 
 coming the time and place, as v/ell as his office. 
 (* To see the minister who has just officiated at the 
 ^ altar and delivered a message from God going 
 about the church in his robe, or even without it, 
 cracking jokes and acting the clown, is a sin and a 
 disgrace. It ruins the whole effect of the service 
 and the influence of the pastor. Such conduct 
 ousfht not once to be named in the Lutheran 
 Church. 
 The mid- 9* -^ word, in conclusion, as to the mid-week 
 week service, ggj-vice. Have it whenever it is possible to gather 
 even a little band of worshipers together. It will 
 naturally be more free and informal than the Sun- 
 day service. It is not necessary to use the liturgy. 
 Free prayer and familiar hymns are in place. It 
 is a good time to have capable laymen pray. But 
 let it be understood that no one not accustomed to 
 pray in public will be called on without his pre- 
 vious consent. The writer does not object to lay- 
 prayers. He had several impressive lessons in his 
 early ministry. Sent for at midnight to drive ten 
 miles to see a sick woman, he found a number of 
 his church people in the sick-room. Among them 
 were several deacons. The sick woman said to the 
 
AT THE ALTAR. 295 
 
 pastor : " I am so glad you came, as I want some- 
 oue to pray with me, and not one of these men can 
 pray." The writer made up his mind then and 
 there that he would encourage his young men to 
 learn to pray in public. 
 
 At these services there should always be a lesson -Word an 
 read from the Scriptures, and familiarly expounded ^"^"^""^ P***- 
 and applied. We have found it a good and profit- 
 able custom to give opportunity for question and 
 remark on the lesson. 
 
 A book of the Bible, the Sunday school lesson 
 for the following Lord's day, or the Luther League 
 Topics may be thus expounded. To such a Luth- 
 eran prayer meeting there can be no objection. 
 With proper interest and preparation on the part 
 of the pastor it can be made attractive and profitable. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 BAPTIZING, 
 
 To conduct the regular church services does not 
 comprise all the public functions of the pastor in 
 the sanctuary. A number of ministerial acts belong 
 to his office. These we must now consider. We 
 shall take them up separately, and consider each 
 one by itself ; but neither in the foregoing nor in 
 what follows are we writing a treatise on liturgies. 
 We consider merely the most important points of 
 the pastoral side of these acts. We take up, first, 
 holy baptism. 
 
 To a Lutheran, Christian baptism is a holy act. 
 He realizes its importance and its preciousness. He 
 understands, as those of another faith cannot, its im- 
 
 Importance of , , , . ,^1 . , , , . . « 
 
 baptism. port aud blcssiug. The simple fact that it is not of 
 human institution, but that we get it from the 
 hands of the blessed Christ, invests it with a solem- 
 nity, a sacredness, and a value peculiar to itself. 
 Our Church knows, accepts, and bows under the 
 Bible doctrine of sin, so sad, so humiliating, and 
 so unwelcome to the natural man. Therefore 
 she also unhesitatingly, confidingly, and gladly ac- 
 
 (296) 
 
BArTIZING. 297 
 
 cepts the Bible doctrines of vicarious atonement, 
 universal grace, and means or channels of grace. In 
 fact, she is the only church that has a clear, con- 
 sistent, and complete conception of grace-bearing 
 means. The Word, and the sacraments, made and 
 conditioned by that Word, are her means of grace. 
 She understands, values, and appreciates baptism 
 as no other church can. Holy Baptism is one of 
 her God-given jewels. * 
 
 A mighty conflict has been and is raging round 
 the subject of infant baptism. Those who deny its 
 Scripturalness and its validity are bitter, hostile, 
 and aggressive. They are determined to banish it 
 from the whole church. They expect to accom- 
 plish their end. Outside of the Lutheran Church 
 they have succeeded to an alarming extent. Those danger of 
 who try to maintain and retain it, without under- undeamess. 
 standing and accepting the Bible doctrine of sin 
 and of baptism as a means of grace, are helpless 
 over against the violent onslaughts of the Bap- 
 tists. Against such the Baptistic sects have valid 
 ground and unanswerable arguments. The Paedo- 
 baptists of the Reformed Churches are fighting a 
 losing battle. They are being rapidly absorbed 
 by the Baptistic sects. Hence the remarkable 
 growth of the so-called Disciples or Campbellites. 
 
 * Read Chapters I. -IX. of The Way of Salvation in the Luth- 
 eran Church. 
 
398 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 This is also one cause of the slow growth, if not 
 retrogression, of some of the large Psedo-baptist 
 denominations. 
 
 Not so with the Lutherans. We have valid, 
 solid, and Scriptural ground for baptizing infants. 
 Wherever our doctrine is understood and accepted 
 the Baptists cannot harm. Dr. Krauth once said 
 that the final conflict among Protestants would be 
 between Lutherans and Baptists. He was right. 
 
 In view of all this, it is of the utmost importance 
 that the Lutheran pastor be thoroughly rooted and 
 grounded in the Lutheran doctrine of baptism ; 
 that he know, and understand the bearing of the 
 arguments against infant baptism ; that he be ready 
 to answer them, and enable his people to answer 
 them. The Lutheran pastor will gladly baptize all 
 infants for whom he can get a proper guarantee 
 that they will be brought up in the nurture and ad- 
 monition of the Lord. 
 
 But even in Lutheran communities he will find 
 !gnor^"e°ind much iguorancc and superstition. From lack of 
 superstition. pj-Qper teaching, or from defective teaching, many 
 crude notions have crept in, and many abuses have 
 been connected with this sacred rite. To some 
 it is a mark of respectability to have their children 
 baptized. They do not wish to be looked upon as 
 heathen. They owe it to their children to g^ve 
 them this badge of decency. This is all there is in 
 
BAPTIZING. 299 
 
 it for them. Others lay the stress on giving the 
 child a name. Further than this it means nothing. 
 Still others believe that it will make sick children 
 well, and keep well children from becoming sick. 
 It is a sort of a bodily charm. They have done 
 their whole Christian duty when they have had the 
 ceremony performed, complimented some old auntie 
 by making her sponsor, feasted their friends, and 
 feed the minister ! They have now done their part, 
 saved their reputation, and maintained their stand- 
 ing among their friends. Truly, the old Adam is a 
 formalist and a Pharisee. Oh, how much prayer- 
 ful, patient, and persistent instruction is often 
 necessary to purge out the old leaven of rationalism 
 and formalism ! 
 
 The administering of baptism is a ministerial 
 act. True, our Church recognizes lay baptism in 
 case of necessity. But it must be a real and not an 
 imaginary necessity. In real periculo mortis^ and 
 where it is impossible to secure a minister, a de- 
 vout layman may baptize. An unordained theo- 
 logical student has no right to baptize, except in 
 such an extreme case. In some communities lay 
 baptism is entirely too common. Excuses for it 
 are manufactured. It is too much trouble to go a 
 long distance for a minister, or it will cost some- 
 thing to have him come, or the danger is imagi- 
 nary, or an excuse is wanted for giving the 
 
 Lay baptism. 
 
300 
 
 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 Baptize in 
 cliurch. 
 
 When? 
 
 " honor " to someone. This is all wrong and directly 
 contrary to church order. In this connection let 
 Augustine's saying, adopted by Luther and the 
 greatest Lutheran theologians, be borne in mind : 
 "It is not the absence, but the contempt of the sac- 
 rament that condemns." 
 
 As to administration of the sacrament, we advise 
 as follows : 
 
 1. The proper place for baptism is in the church. 
 It is the reception of the child into its fold. Unless 
 there is an urgent reason to the contrary, let it be 
 administered at a public service of the congrega- 
 tion. Every public baptism is an object lesson, 
 a reminder, a sermon to the whole congregation. 
 It should be understood that infants can be baptized 
 at any morning service. As children may become 
 restless and noisy before the service is over, it is 
 advisable to baptize immediately before the hymn 
 preceding the sermon. See that the water and 
 napkin are at hand. The pastor should be notified 
 beforehand, should know who is to bring the child, 
 and should have a private record of all the neces- 
 sary data. Keep your people instructed on these 
 points. 
 
 2. Have them instructed to have their children 
 baptized as soon they can. As soon as the mother 
 can come to church is a good rule. The mother 
 should always be present. In case of serious sick- 
 
BAPTIZING. 301 
 
 ness the pastor should always be ready to go, by 
 day or by night, and administer the sacrament at 
 home. If the child is suffering, or far gone, shorten 
 the service. Use only the most essential parts in 
 extreme cases. 
 
 3. As to sponsors. The use of sponsors was 
 introduced in the days of martyrdom, when Chris- 
 tian parents did not know to-day whether their life 
 might not be demanded to-morrow. In time man}- 
 abuses came to be connected with this erstwhile laud- 
 able custom. In many places it has become an 
 abomination. It is a mere matter of compliment. 
 Some rich or popular relative or friend is invited in. 
 The sponsor may live at a distance, and rarely see 
 the child afterward. Some good grandmother may 
 become sponsor for scores of children. How can 
 she conscientiously take the vows and obligations ? 
 It is our conviction that the parents are the natural 
 sponsors, and should take the obligations for the 
 Christian training of their children, except where 
 the parents are unfit to take these vows. Where 
 it is necessan- to have someone in loco parentis^ 
 make it clear to such what the obligation means, 
 what a responsibility it involves, and that they are 
 really expected to see to the child's religious train- 
 ing. In case of the death of the parents, it ought 
 to be understood that the congregation is to see to 
 this. Where sponsors, other than the parents, are 
 
 Sponsors. 
 
Brief address 
 commended. 
 
 Fees. 
 
 302 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 insisted on, admit them as witnesses. But insist 
 on it that the parents answer the questions ; or, if 
 only one is a member of the congregation, then 
 that one must answer. 
 
 4. We earnestly recommend a brief address before 
 the baptism. This may be given before the parents 
 stand up. In a few chosen words explain the mean- 
 ing of the ordinance, its responsibility, and its bless- 
 ing. Remind the parents and the whole congrega- 
 tion of their own baptismal vows and of the vows 
 taken for their children. It need not take more 
 than five minutes. It will do good. Remember 
 that the old Adam is a formalist. The writer 
 knows of whole families who were brought into 
 the church by a few words thus fitly spoken. 
 
 5. Use the formula reverently, tenderly, impres- 
 sively, and distinctly. * 
 
 6. As to baptismal fees, customary in some places, 
 a caution is also necessary. Avoid, above all, the 
 appearance of selling the sacraments. We have 
 heard opposers of infant baptism say that Lutheran 
 pastors baptize babies because they are paid for it. 
 We believe that it would be better if no fees at all 
 were taken. But if this is too radical, then refuse 
 them at least in Baptistic communities, and refuse 
 
 * The writer does not believe in addressing the questions to 
 the child. See article on the Baptismal Formula in Church 
 Review for April, 1900. Also published in pamphlet form. 
 
BAPTIZING. 303 
 
 them always from the poor. We have known pas- 
 tors who made it a practice to put all such fees into 
 the treasury of the Woman's Missionary Society, 
 We have known others who refused to baptize 
 unless paid in advance. In this, as in other mat- 
 ters, the minister who everywhere leaves the im- 
 pression that he is always ready to render a service, 
 without a thought of reward, is the one who gains 
 power in the community. While the greedy, grasp- 
 ing preacher is despised wherever known. Do 
 everything in your power that the ministry be not 
 blamed. 
 
 Another abomination met with in some circles 
 and communities is the baptismal feast, accompanied 
 by revelry and intemperance. It is not necessar}- Feasts, 
 to advise a true pastor against countenancing such 
 a disgrace with his presence. He should earnesth' 
 waiTi against all such scandalous proceedings, show 
 that they are unbecoming, un-Christian, and utterl}- 
 out of place in connection with such a solemn ser- 
 vice of the church. 
 
 7. A careful record should be duly entered in the 
 church register, giving the child's name, date and 
 place of its birth, date of baptism, names of parents, 
 with dates and places of birth, and names of wit- 
 nesses. It is well also to give a baptismal certificate. 
 
CHAPTER Xin. 
 
 CATECHISING AND CONFIRMING. 
 
 Confirmation is not a sacrament. It is not a 
 divine institution. There is no " Thus saith the 
 Lord " for it. It has not always been practiced in 
 our Churcli. We cannot here go into its history. 
 For this we refer to the article Confirmation in 
 Lutheran Cyclopaedia and to Dr. B. M. Schmucker's 
 able articles in Lutheran Church Review, 1883, 
 pp. 89 and 230. 
 
 It is simply an ancient, honored, and very valuable 
 rite of the church. It stands in a certain intimate 
 relation to infant baptism. It does not add any- 
 thing to baptism, as that is complete in itself. As 
 we are about to consider it, it is rather intended to 
 foster, nourish, develop, and show forth the growth 
 and blessing of the life implanted in baptism. 
 
 We shall consider it in the comprehensive sense, 
 
 as including instruction, confession, and the laying 
 
 includes. Qj^ q£ hands. But we are not writing a system of 
 
 catechetics. We call attention merely to a few points 
 
 of vital importance in the pastor's public work. 
 
 The feeding of Christ's lambs ought to be one of 
 the most delightful and blessed of all the pastor's 
 
 (304) 
 
 What 
 confirmation 
 
CATECHISING AND CONFIRMING. 305 
 
 activities. The pastor who pleads that he has 
 neither taste, talent, nor tact for this work, who 
 considers catechising as an irksome task and a 
 heavy burden, thereby confesses that he lacks one 
 of the prime qualifications of a good pastor. It is 
 such pastors that have helped to bring confirma- 
 tion into discredit. 
 
 Like every other good institution, this one also 
 has been sadly abused. It has shared in the inevit- 
 able evils of the State church. The State having 
 made it compulsory-, it soon degenerated into a mere 
 formality that must be gone through with ; the 
 sooner and the easier the better. 
 
 Being necessary to citizenship, it also became a 
 badge of respectability and a mark of one's stand- 
 ing in the community. To neglect it was not only 
 a civil misdemeanor, but also a public disgrace. 
 " I am not a heathen, I want to have my children 
 confirmed," was and is a common saying in certain 
 circles. Confirmation with this class puts a mark 
 upon the child that does not mean much more than 
 the brand on the cattle of a western ranchman. 
 
 Up to confirmation the child must go to school and 
 church. Confirmation is a public graduation from 
 both, especially from the latter. The confirmant is 
 promised a new suit, a new dress, a watch, or both. 
 After confirmation there is a feast for those con- 
 firmed, and it is not unheard of that they have a 
 20 
 
 Abuses 
 
Catechisation. 
 
 306 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 social dance. The children naturally want to be 
 confinned that they may be through with the 
 drudgery of preparation and get the benefits that 
 accompany and follow the ceremony. 
 
 Happily these abominations, relics of rational- 
 ism and State-churchism, are becoming more and 
 more rare in our Church and in our land. They 
 should not be so much as named among us, as be- 
 cometh Lutheran saints. 
 
 The first step toward confirmation is catechisa- 
 tion. What is the end and aim of this instruction ? 
 The ready answer of a great many is that the chil- 
 dren may learn to recite the Catechism, as we have 
 elsewhere written : * "A mistake is often made 
 by those very pastors who profess to be the warmest 
 friends of the catechisation of every lamb in their 
 flock. Thus we find not a few pastors who cate- 
 chise their classes after the schoolmaster fashion. 
 They go through the exercise in a perfunctory and 
 formal manner ; they insist on the letter of the 
 text, and are satisfied if their pupils know the lessons 
 well by rote. To urge on the dull and lazy pupil 
 they will scold and rage, and even use the rod. The 
 Catechism becomes a sort of text-book ; the pupils 
 get out of it a certain amount of head-knowledge ; 
 there are so many answers and so many proof- 
 
 * On this whole subject read Chapters IX. -XII, in The Way 
 of Salvation in the Lutheran Church. 
 
CATECHISING AND CONFIRMING. 307 
 
 texts that must be committed to memory, and, when 
 all this is well gotten and recited by rote, the 
 teacher is satisfied, the pupil is praised, imagines 
 that he has gotten all the good out of the book, 
 and is glad that he is done with it ! 
 
 " Now we would not for a moment depreciate the 
 memorizing of the Catechism. It is of the most 
 vital importance, and cannot be too strongly urged. 
 What we object to — and we cannot object too 
 strenuously — is the idea that head-knowledge is 
 enough. There must, of course, be head-knowl- 
 edge ; the memory should store up the precious 
 pearls of God's truth that are found in the Cate- 
 chism ; the mind must grasp these truths and 
 understand their meaning and their relation to one 
 another. But if it stops here, it is not yet a knowl- 
 edge that maketh wise unto salvation. In spirit- 
 ual matters the enlightening or instructing of the 
 intellect is not the end aimed at, but only a means 
 to an end. The end aimed at must always be the 
 renewal of the heart ; the heart must be reached 
 through the understanding. To know aboitt Christ 
 is not life eternal. I must know about Him before 
 I can know Him ; but I might know all about 
 Him, be perfectly clear as to His person and His 
 work, and stop there without ever knowing Him as 
 heart only can know heart, as wj personal Saviour 
 and loving Friend, my Lord and my God. 
 
 End aimed &t. 
 
308 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 " Here we fear that many ministers make a sad 
 mistake. They are too easily satisfied with a mere 
 outward knowledge of the truth ; they forget that 
 even if it were possible to ' understand all mystery 
 and all knowledge ' — intellectually — and not have 
 charity, i. e.^ deep, fervent, glowing love to God in 
 Christ, springing from a truly penitent and be- 
 lieving heart, it would profit nothing. The true 
 aim and end of all catechetical instruction in the 
 Sunday school, in the family, and especially in the 
 pastor's class, should ever be a penitent, believing, 
 
 and loving heart in each catechumen 
 
 " The pastor should likewise use all diligence to 
 
 find out in whom, among his catechumens, the 
 
 germs of the divine life, implanted in baptism, have 
 
 Know hearts been kept alive, and in whom they are dormant. 
 
 of catecnu- 
 
 mens. Where the divine life, given in baptism, has been 
 fostered and cherished, where there has been an un- 
 interrupted enjoyment of baptismal grace, more or 
 less clear and conscious, there it is the pastor's 
 privilege to give clearer views of truth and grace, 
 to lead into a more intelligent and hearty fellow- 
 ship with the Redeemer, to deepen penitence, and 
 to strengthen faith through the quickening truth of 
 God's Word. 
 
 " Where, on the other hand, the seeds of baptismal 
 grace have been neglected, where the germs of the 
 new life lie dormant or asleep, or where there never 
 
and 
 conversion. 
 
 CATECHISING AND CONFIRMING. 309 
 
 has been any implanting of grace through word or 
 sacrament ; in short, where there are no pulsations, 
 no manifestations of the new life, there the pastor 
 has a different duty. He must endeavor so to 
 bring the acquired truth to bear on the conscience 
 and heart as to awaken and bring about a sense of 
 sin, a genuine sorrow therefor, a hatred thereof, a 
 longing for deliverance, a turning to Christ, and a 
 laying hold of Him as the only help and hope. 
 
 *' Thus the one great aim and object of the con- 
 scientious pastor, with each impenitent catechu- Catechumens 
 men, is to awaken and bring about genuine, heart- 
 felt penitence, and a true, trusting, clinging faith ; 
 in one word, he must labor for that catechumen's 
 conversion. Only those who give certain evidence 
 that they are in a converted state should be ad- 
 mitted to confirmation 
 
 " Whether these elements of the new life have 
 been constantly and uninterruptedly developed 
 from baptism, or whether they have been awakened 
 gradually by the Word, is not material. The one 
 important question is : Are the elements of the new 
 life now there — even though as yet feeble and very 
 imperfect — or, is the person now turned away from 
 sin to the Saviour? .... And this much, we 
 believe, should be demanded of each catechumen 
 before he is admitted to the rite of confirmation. 
 And it is largely because this has not been de- 
 
3IO THE I^UTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 manded as the only true and satisfactory result of 
 catechisation that this branch of the church's 
 activity has so largely fallen into disrepute. It is 
 doubtless because of carelessness on this point that 
 so many fall back after confirmation to the world, 
 the flesh, and the devil. They did not hold fast to 
 their crown because they had no crown." * 
 
 What, then, is it that we are to teach in order to 
 attain this end in the catechumen? To ask the 
 teach tiie^^ question seems superfluous. To a Lutheran it 
 catechumen? ^nswcrs itsclf. The Hviug and life-giving Word 
 must be taught. But we cannot teach the whole 
 Bible. We must select. Some truths of the Bible 
 are more important than others. We quote again 
 from The Way of Salvation, p. y^i: "It is cer- 
 tainly more important that the child should know 
 and understand the Ten Commandments than that 
 it should be familiar with all the details of the 
 ceremonial law. Certainly better to be familiar 
 with the Apostles' Creed than to know all about 
 building the Temple. Better be able to repeat and 
 understand the Lord's Prayer than to have a clear 
 knowledge of the elaborate ritual of the Temple 
 service. Better understand the meaning of Christ's 
 two sacraments than to be able to tell all about the 
 great feasts of the Jews. 
 
 * These convictions, published fifteen years ago, have grown 
 with the passing years. Oh, that every Lutheran pastor had 
 them and practiced them ! 
 
CATECHISING AND CONFIRMING. 311 
 
 " If anyone can know all about these other mat- 
 ters also, so much the better. The Catechism will 
 be a help instead of a hindrance to this end. But 
 if all cannot be learned — at least not at once — let 
 the most important be taught first. And for this 
 
 we have a catechism Here we have, in a 
 
 brief space, the most important teachings of the 
 whole Bible, systematically arranged and clearly 
 explained. . 
 
 " Let each one look for a moment at himself, and 
 then from himself into this little book. 
 
 " I come into this world ignorant, yet full of pre- 
 sentiments and questions. I learn my first vagfue "^^^ 
 
 ^ -' o completeness 
 
 lesson about myself and God. I naturally ask : For ^ °^ \*^5 
 
 Catechism. 
 
 what purpose has God put me here ? What does 
 He wish me to do ? The Catechism answers : 
 To do His will, to keep His commandments. 
 Here they are and this is what they mean. I 
 study them, and the more I study them the more 
 am I convinced that I never did and never can per- 
 fectly keep this law. 
 
 " I ask again : What shall I do ? My Catechism 
 tells me that I must have faith. I must believe. 
 But what shall I believe ? Answer : This sum- 
 mary of truth called the Apostles' Creed. It tells 
 me of my Creator — of His work and providence 
 and His gift of a Redeemer. It tells me of that 
 Redeemer and of His redemption ; of the gift of 
 
312 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 the Spirit and of His application of redemption. 
 It not only tells me what to believe, but, in the 
 very telling, it offers me help to believe. 
 
 " But I am still weak and more or less perplexed. 
 Whither shall I go for strength and grace ? My 
 Catechism answers : Go to the great Triune God. 
 Ask Him in prayer. Here is a model. It will 
 teach you how to pray, 
 
 " I learn what it is to pray. But again I ask : 
 
 How do I know that God will hear my prayer? 
 
 Its devotional ^^ He interested in me personally ? Has He any 
 
 ^' ■ other means besides His written Word to assure me 
 
 of His love and to give me, in answer to my prayers, 
 
 more strength to believe Him and to love Him ? 
 
 " My Catechism points me to my baptism. It 
 teaches me what it means, and how that in it I 
 have God's own pledge that He is my Father, and 
 that I am His child. Here then is a fountain to 
 which I can return again and again when weak 
 and perplexed, 
 
 " Further, my Catechism teaches me of my 
 Saviour's last legacy of love, before His death, for 
 me. His Holy Supper, In it He holds out to me 
 and gives to me, personally and individually, Him- 
 self and all His heavenly grace. 
 
 " Thus does this little Catechism meet me in my 
 perplexity, take me by the hand and lead me through 
 the labyrinth of the wonders of grace. Thus does 
 
CATECHISING AND CONFIRMING. 313 
 
 it tell me what I am, what I need, and where and 
 how to get what I need. It takes me to the wells 
 of salvation. It draws from them living water. 
 It holds it to my parched lips. It gathers the pre- 
 cious manna of the Word and feeds me when I am 
 faint and wear}-." 
 
 Such is the Catechism that we are to teach. Its 
 truths are to become a permanent possession of our ^ 
 
 ^ ^ Committing 
 
 youth. This is the pilgrim-bread with which we -"^"^ ,. 
 
 •' 0. o understanding 
 
 would supply these travelers at the beginning of the Catechism, 
 life's long journey. We are to accompany and 
 weave into our teaching as much Bible history and 
 Bible illustration as possible. It would be an in- 
 valuable benefit to our catechumens if we could get 
 each one thoroughly to commit to memory the 
 whole book, with the explanations and all the proof 
 passages. But this cannot always be done. With 
 some pupils lack of time and of talent for memor- 
 izing will make this impossible. With such we 
 must be satisfied if we can get them to commit 
 Luther's five parts and the most important Scrip- 
 ture texts. And even here there will be excep- 
 tions. We and our pupils must do our best. Let 
 us not be heartlessly severe on the backward and 
 slow. Paludan Miiller tells us in his excellent 
 chapter on Preparation for Confirmation (The Ev. 
 Pastor and His Office, pp. 149-172) that the timid 
 and seemingly dull child often has a better heart 
 
314 THE I.UTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 than tlie bright one, and that the catechist should 
 never allow himself to belittle the former and 
 praise and flatter the latter. If we can get even 
 the dullest to understand what sin is, what grace 
 is, how grace was purchased, and how it is applied, 
 let us be thankful. Often those who have the 
 quickest memory and can most readily repeat the 
 book answers have the least understanding of their 
 meaning. Mere reciting of words, important as it 
 is, is not the most important even of the intellectual 
 side of learning. Clear comprehension of what the 
 answers mean is more important. Drill the chil- 
 dren in giving answers in their own words. Draw 
 out of them their own ideas of the meaning of the 
 answers. 
 
 But this brings us to the manner of catechising. 
 
 We have in part anticipated this. Let the teacher 
 
 Manner of always be checrful without losing his dignity, kind 
 
 catechisiition i*ii: • 1 • 1^ 1 • t-ii 1 1 
 
 while nrm m his teaching. Perhaps nowhere else 
 does the personality of the pastor play so important 
 a part as when he teaches his class. He must be 
 prepared. Ever}'^ lesson ought to be carefully re- 
 viewed and considered before meeting the class. He 
 must be in love with his work ; he must love the 
 children ; he must show that he himself is inter- 
 ested in what he teaches, and that these truths are 
 precious to him. He must know how to be sim- 
 ple ; how to make everything clear even to the 
 
CATECHISING AND CONFIRMING. 315 
 
 dullest child ; how to illustrate, to interest, to gain 
 and hold the attention of the trifling, to speak into 
 the heart of ever>'one, and to make everyone feel 
 that the pastor is his dearest friend. 
 
 As to the conduct of the class, avoid stiffness, 
 coldness, and fonnality. After the roll-call, if the 
 pastor can sing and some of his pupils can sing, it 
 is well to open with a few verses of a hymn. Then 
 a brief, free prayer, in warm words, beseeching the 
 Holy Spirit's assistance for the lesson and grace 
 for the catechumens. Before the close, a very brief 
 reference to the next lesson, a few, very few, hearty 
 words of encouragement, and the Lord's prayer in 
 unison. 
 
 After the proper course is finished comes the ver}^ 
 important question : Who shall be confirmed ? 
 
 Whom to 
 
 Who is to decide ? Not the parent. True, this is confirm, 
 often done, and, as we have seen, frequently from 
 utterly wrong motives. Now a truly Christian 
 parent may and should advise, but not compel. He 
 may command attendance on instruction, but the 
 taking of the confirmation vows ought to be the 
 free and voluntar>^ act of the child. The pastor 
 may sometimes ad\'ise against it. He must some- 
 times refuse to confirm. If he is convinced that 
 the applicant is morall}' and spiritually unfit, he 
 dare not sanction the mockery of taking the solemn 
 vows. If, ou the other hand, he is convinced of 
 
motive. 
 
 316 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 the fitness for the solemn step, he has a right to en- 
 courage and counsel the child to take it. But he 
 dare not press it. The obligations must be volun- 
 tarily assumed, or they are worse than meaningless. 
 This would destroy the very essence of confinna- 
 tion. The baptism of the child was on its part in- 
 voluntary. At confirmation the child takes upon 
 itself the vows that others took for it at baptism. 
 How could this be without the consent and desire 
 of the child ? 
 
 But, again, as we have already seen, the child 
 may desire confirmation from false motives. We 
 The pure have learned what the proper qualifications are. 
 They are intellectual, moral, and spiritual. Are 
 they present to a sufficient degree ? Is there a sin- 
 cere and earnest desire to live henceforth in fellow- 
 ship and communion with the dear Saviour and to 
 follow in His footsteps ? Here the pastor and child 
 together must decide. His mind must be satisfied, 
 and then he can direct and encourage the timid. 
 And here we most earnestly advise a private inter- 
 view with each catechumen before deciding the 
 question. But here again tact, gentleness, and pen- 
 etration are necessary. If the pastor has won the 
 confidence and love of his pupil, then there will be 
 no difficulty : the pupil will freely open his heart to 
 the pastor and the pastor will know what are the 
 feelino-s and resolves of that heart. He will know 
 
CATECHISING AND CONFIRMING. 317 
 
 what is the personal attitude and relation to the 
 Saviour. The pastor will do well to kneel with his 
 catechumen and offer a brief, hearty, intercessory free 
 prayer for him. The young disciple will never 
 forget that interview. It will help him on his wa}- 
 and may recall him if he should go astray. 
 
 What about a public examination ? This is an 
 old custom, and is firmly rooted in some congrega- 
 tions. Where this is the case it is not advisable to 
 change it hastily. We freely and openly confess that 
 we do not like it. We believe that it fosters and 
 strengthens the idea that intellectual fitness is the 
 main thing. It gives out the idea that the brightest 
 and readiest child is best prepared for confirmation, 
 while the very opposite may be true. 
 
 It is, even as an intellectual test, unfair. The 
 bashful, modest, timid child may know the Cate- 
 chism and yet be so embarrassed as to fail utterly 
 before the congregation, while the bold child may 
 get far more credit than it deserves. 
 
 It necessarily distracts the pupils. Instead of 
 having their minds on the seriousness and solemnity 
 of the step about to be taken, the uppermost ques- 
 tion is. How will I stand the examination ? What 
 if I should fail ? The undeserved humiliations are 
 sometimes very sad. 
 
 Therefore we advise against the public exami- 
 nation. But where it must be held, let the pastor 
 
31 8 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 explain these points to his class and congregation, 
 and, by all means, let the anxieties and excitements 
 of this performance not come on the day of confir- 
 mation. 
 
 True, the parents and friends of the catechumens 
 have a right to know how well they know and 
 understand the Catechism. The pastor should en- 
 courage them to attend the class as frequently as 
 possible. When he has his final review, they and 
 the church council should be invited to be present 
 in the class-room. This ought to suffice for an 
 examination. 
 
 When the pastor now has his list of applicants, 
 Presenting the ^^ which he himself assents, let him call a meet- 
 °^hurch^^ ing of the church council and present the names, 
 council. ^Yie members of the council are to advise with him 
 as to those who are to be admitted to the communion 
 of the church. In nearly every case the pastor's 
 advice will be taken. In an experience of twenty- 
 five years we never knew a case to the contrary. 
 But the council should have its right of consulta- 
 tion and vote. 
 
 Let the pastor prepare himself thoroughly for 
 the solemnities of confirmation day. It ought to 
 ^""'d^'!*'"" be a day never to be forgotten. A festive solemnity 
 and a thankful seriousness should pervade the whole 
 service. Everything should be clearly understood 
 by the catechumens. No effort at dress-parade or 
 
CATECHISING AND CONFIRMING. 319 
 
 public display should be made. The girls should 
 come forward and kneel without hats. If any are to 
 be baptized they should be together at the end of the 
 row or near the font. All should be in the places re- 
 served for them in good time. The hymns, lessons, 
 and prayers should be suited to the occasion. The 
 sermon should breathe the spirit of loving solicitude 
 for the young disciples. It should contain most earn- 
 est and pointed warnings for those in the audience The service, 
 who have forgotten their confirmation vows. 
 Parents and friends should be admonished of their 
 duty to help the confirmed to remain true. All 
 the members should be exhorted to welcome into 
 their fellowship, to pray for and help these new 
 communicants. The formula should be read 
 slowly, distinctly, and impressively. Before the free 
 prayer for these particular youths, it would be well 
 to ask the whole congregation to pray also. Let 
 there be no haste. It is a high day in the lives of 
 these dear ones. It ought to be a high day for the 
 congregation. Ah, these confirmation days ! How 
 we recall their prayers and benedictions and tears ! 
 Shall they ever be forgotten? Should not the 
 memory- of them be like the ringing of heaven's 
 chimes to recall the wanderer? Let the pastor 
 make the most of them. 
 
 We conclude with a few directions : Helpful 
 
 directions. 
 
 I. If at all possible have two classes, or a class in 
 
320 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 two grades. Teach the younger class Bible story 
 classes. and Bible history. The books of the graded Sun- 
 day school course will prove very helpful. Let 
 them also commit to memory' as much of Luther's 
 five parts of the Catechism as possible. If impos- 
 sible to have two classes, have a two years' course 
 for the one class. Encourage the younger children, 
 as soon as they can read well, to attend. Do not 
 demand too much of these. They will get a good 
 deal from your explanations and applications. 
 Always have all of your pupils bring Bibles. See 
 that each one has a good Bible of his own. Teach 
 them the order of the books of the Bible. Get 
 them to look up the references. If you can make 
 the meetings of the class a pleasure to the children, 
 it will be all the better to have as many as possible 
 to begin early enough to take a double two years' 
 course. But do not make the same demands of all. 
 Make allowance for time, talents, and opportunity. 
 2. To gather a class, preach on the subject a few 
 weeks before starting your class. Then visit every 
 family that has children old enough to attend, 
 ^cfass.^'^ ^ Encourage all the neglected children of your 
 neighborhood, especially if they come to your 
 Sunday school. Enlist the interest of the parents. 
 Explain the course to them. Show them the ad- 
 vantage of having the children's minds stored with 
 Bible truth. Lay it on their conscience to have 
 
CATECHISING AND CONFIRMING. 32 1 
 
 their children attend regularly, and to see to it that 
 they learn every lesson. ]\Iake it plain to them 
 that they do not commit themselves to have their 
 children confirmed, and that you do not connnit 
 yourself to confirm them. That question belongs 
 to the end, and not to the beginning of the course. 
 As we have seen, it requires the free-will and desire 
 of the child together with the judgment of the 
 pastor. 
 
 3. Much depends on the impression you make at 
 the first meeting with the class. INIake out your ^p^e first 
 roll. Have a pleasant and encouraging word for meeting. 
 each one. Find out all you can about the home- 
 life, the taste, and character of each one. Draw it 
 out of them kindly. Open with an earnest and 
 simple prayer for God's blessing on the course 
 before you and on each member of the class. Talk 
 to them frankly and freely of the value of the les- 
 sons they are to learn. Show by examples how 
 the knowledge of the Catechism has proved an 
 inestimable blessing in after-life, and the sadness 
 and emptiness of a life ignorant of Bible truth. 
 Encourage them to begin, if they have not already 
 begun, regular habits of prayer. Explain to them 
 the object and end of the course, and call their 
 attention thus early, and again and again through- 
 out the course, to the true prerequisites for confir- 
 mation. Tell them that you want to have a real 
 21 
 
322 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 pleasant, as well as a profitable, time with them. 
 That you will do your part, and they must do their 
 part, by faithful preparation, prayer for God's bless- 
 ing, and order and attention in class. 
 
 4. This means, on your part, faithful preparation 
 of each lesson, cheerful conduct, and no scolding. 
 
 Preparing the 
 
 lessons. It means that you know each one, have his confi- 
 dence, and meet each one sometimes as a friend and 
 a companion. It means that you will cultivate 
 especially the backward and the wa^^ward. A 
 walk, a drive, an invitation to a social evening at 
 the parsonage will prove helpful. The tactful art, 
 on your part, will be to know how to be frank and 
 cheerful without losing your dignity. 
 
 5. Think often of each individual, of his needs 
 and dangers, and pray often for each one person- 
 ally and individually. 
 
 6. Draw out of each one gradually and tactfully 
 i^ r fk his individual attitude and relation to Christ. Do 
 
 Dealing with 
 
 ^^ this so gracefully that he does not know that you 
 
 catechumens. o ^ j 
 
 are probing his heart, but that he will open it 
 freely and fully. 
 
 7. In class, while always kind and cheerful, be 
 ever reverent, dignified, and firm. Insist on order, 
 attention, and decorum. Do not question in regu- 
 lar rotation, but at random. Spring questions on 
 the restless and inattentive. Be kind and gentle 
 
Written 
 review 
 
 CATECHISING AND CONFIRMING. 323 
 
 with the timid and dull ones. Never ridicule or 
 scold them. 
 
 8. Encourage proper questions from the class. 
 You are doing your best work when you thus draw 
 them out, and when they ask more of you than you 
 of them. Stimulate original thinking. Draw out 
 their own ideas in their own words. Give them a 
 question or two to take home and bring the answer 
 next time. 
 
 9. A few leading written review questions, at the 
 end of each of the five parts, to which they are to 
 bring written answers, is a capital exercise. But do 
 not make them too hard. You are not examining questions. 
 a class of theological students. 
 
 10. Fortify them especially on the disputed points, 
 on the points on which they will be opposed and 
 attacked by members of other denominations. 
 Drill them to answer the smart opponent. 
 
 11. Once more, though it has been alluded to 
 above, warn against false motives for desiring con- 
 firmation. Discourage anything like dress display. 
 We do not favor insisting on white dresses for all 
 the girls. It may become a burden on the poor. 
 It centers the mind on the clothing instead of the 
 solemnity of the service. Don't forget that the old 
 Adam is a formalist ! You will need to caution the 
 parents as well as the children. 
 
324 
 
 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 Confinnution 
 certificates. 
 
 After 
 confirmation. 
 
 12. As to confirmation fees, we give the same 
 advice that we gave on baptismal fees, insisting 
 especially that you never accept a fee from the 
 poor. Woe to the pastor who confirms for the sake 
 of the fee. He is a hireling, if not a wolf in sheep's 
 clothing. 
 
 13. As to a certificate, each one ought to have a 
 reminder of the solemn day and act. Some give 
 Bibles or church books. We believe that each one 
 ought to have both of these at the beginning of the 
 course, and to have become familiar with their con- 
 tents and use during the course. The congrega- 
 tion, or some society or individual, ought to present 
 these to the poor. We prefer a good book, one 
 that will supplement and keep alive the truths of 
 the Catechism, one that is simple, direct, and hearty, 
 that will foster a love for the Word and for the 
 church of the pure Gospel. The pastor loses noth- 
 ing by presenting to each one such a book. He 
 can write on the fly-leaf the name and date, with 
 his own brief sentiment of prayer and hope, 
 together with a special Bible verse for each one. 
 
 14. And, finally, the most difficult, if not the 
 most important point of all, how can the pastor hold 
 those whom he has confirmed ? Here we touch a 
 sore spot in our Church. If our Church had re- 
 tained, could even proximately retain, her con- 
 firmed members, she would to-day be the leading 
 
CATECHISING AND CONFIRMING. 325 
 
 church in the land. Our statistics on this point 
 are humiliating. Something is wrong. There is 
 sin somewhere. True, we need never expect to 
 hold everyone. The world, the flesh, and the devil 
 will always gain some. But win' should we lose so 
 many to other denominations ? What becomes of 
 our boast that we are the purest Church, that we 
 have the grandest history and the largest number 
 of communicants of any Protestant church in the 
 world ? Ought not the purest and strongest Church 
 to hold her children? Why, in spite of our in- 
 valuable and incomparable system of Christian 
 nurture and indoctrination, are we so helpless over 
 against the inroads of the less evangelical bodies 
 around us ? There must be a radical wrong. We 
 had better find it, repent of it, and remove it. 
 
 We can barely mention what we believe to be 
 some of the main causes of our loss. It cannot be 
 our doctrines. They have never yet been shown 
 to be false. It cannot be our system of instructing 
 our youth. This all thinking Christians admit to 
 be Scriptural and commendable. What is it? We Reasons, 
 believe it lies: In an unspiritual ministry. We unspiritual 
 
 ministry, 
 
 have had too much dead orthodoxism ; too much 
 lifeless formalism ; too much mechanical anil pro- 
 fessional schoolmaster work in the catechetical class. 
 Given a properly qualified, an earnest, spiritual 
 ministry in the pulpit, in the catechetical class, at 
 
 Our losses. 
 
326 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 the altar and in the parish, and our losses will rap- 
 idly decrease, and our gains from others will steadily 
 increase. 
 
 The vexed language question plays its part. We 
 would by no means rob the saints from the Father- 
 land of their mother-tongue in the sanctuary. It 
 would be a grievous sin to take this from them. 
 But, as we have affirmed above, the children and 
 ™. , children's children cannot have the same love for 
 
 1 he language 
 
 question. j-|jg ^j^j language. Their mother-tongue is English. 
 They should have their religious instruction in the 
 language which they best understand. It is a sin 
 against their souls to compel them to attend cate- 
 chetical instruction given in a language of which 
 they understand little or nothing. It does not help 
 the matter to instruct and confirm them in English, 
 witliout furnishing English Sunday schools and 
 English church services. Our Church has had les- 
 sons enough to open her eyes, but hundreds if not 
 thousands of Lutheran pastors are still blind. And 
 there are none so blind as they that will not 
 see. These pastors, who put language above faith, 
 certainly show no intelligent love for the Lutheran 
 Church. They seem to care not for her future. 
 They will have an account to give in the day of 
 judgment for the lambs they lost. 
 
 Let the ministry become right, and in the same 
 proportion the parents and homes of our people 
 
CATECHISING AND CONFIRMING. 327 
 
 will become right. And as they become right our 
 losses will decrease and our gains will increase. 
 With a faithful ministry we can yet regain more 
 than we ever lost. 
 
 We again call attention to what Dr. Horn (p. 
 I58f) recommends for holding our confirmed youth : 
 
 How to hold 
 
 I. Every effort should be made to keep them the 
 
 in Sunday school, first as scholars, and, when any 
 are fit, as teachers. 
 
 " 2. It will be of use to throw upon them as early 
 as possible duties in the congregation. 
 
 " 3. The pastor should cultivate the unreserved 
 confidence of his young people, to which a friendly 
 cheerfulness on his part will contribute. He should 
 not hesitate to warn them against the temptations 
 he may see besetting them, or, if they fall into sin, 
 he should restore them in the spirit of meekness. 
 
 " 4. He should encourage the fonnation of asso- 
 ciations among them for mutual assistance and for 
 good works, in which associations, however, he 
 ought always have authority and oversight. [The 
 Luther League is such an association.] 
 
 " 5. He should take a friendly interest in their 
 pleasures, directing them to useful books, giving 
 them social opportunities, and discouraging all 
 doubtful amusements, especially those in which 
 young and unmarried people only take part, to the 
 exclusion of their parents and elders. The par- 
 
 COlilll 
 
 med. 
 
A Ftrange 
 ciistom. 
 
 328 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 sonage may be made a centre of wholesome in- 
 fluence." 
 
 To this we add, that many pastors find it use- 
 ful to organize their classes, and have the classes 
 toofether form an association of the confirmed. 
 They have their officers, committees, and regular 
 meetings, with annual reunions. Where properly 
 organized, officered, and conducted, no doubt such 
 associations can become very helpful, but we believe 
 that, after all, more depends on the proper spirit 
 and method of catechising and confirmation than 
 on all else. 
 
 In conclusion we mention, as a curiosity, a cus- 
 tom we met with in the West. Those confirmed 
 are not considered members of the congregation. 
 For this they have to make special application at 
 some subsequent time. No v/onder that such con- 
 firmation is a mere formality, and that such con- 
 firmants are merely branded and left to run wild. 
 They don't know that they have taken upon them- 
 selves the church's vows. They have merely gone 
 through with a necessary, meaningless ceremony. 
 How they were catechised passes our comprehen- 
 sion. 
 
Soleiniiiiv of 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 CONDUCTING THE SERVICE PREPARATORY TO THE 
 HOLY COMMUNION. 
 
 We return now to the communicant membership 
 of the congregation, of which the newly confirmed 
 are a part. They have officially and publicly re- 
 ceived the right to join with the congregation in 
 the celebration of the Lord's Supper. But for this 
 solemn service special preparation is necessan'. To 
 a Lutheran the Lord's Supper is indeed a most im- 
 portant and holy sacrament. It is truly the most 
 sacred ot all the ordmances of the church on earth. t^^' J^^V 
 There is nothing beyond it— nothing so heavenly 
 as this feast this side of heaven. Nowhere else does 
 the believer approach so near to heaven as when he 
 kneels, as a communicant, at this altar, the Holy of 
 Holies, in the Church of Christ. 
 
 What a solemn act! What a privilege to ap- 
 proach this altar, to participate in its divine mys- 
 teries, to become a partaker of the glorified body 
 and blood of the Son of God ! Surely no one who 
 understands the import of this sacrament will dare 
 to approach hastily, thoughtlessly, or on the impulse 
 of the moment. There must be forethought and 
 
 (329) 
 
330 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 preparation. If there were no other argument, this 
 alone ought to be argument enough against a general 
 invitation to all who love the Lord, or who desire 
 to commune, to come forward now, even though they 
 had not thought of it before entering the church 
 door. It is not the pastor's table — if it were he might 
 do as he pleases with his own — but it is the Lord's 
 table, and what right has he to invite anyone except 
 on the condition which the Lord Himself lays down ? 
 He does this with his own people. Why should he 
 lay down different terms for those not of his own 
 flock? 
 
 Our Church has from the beginning realized the 
 importance and necessity of forethoup:ht and prepa- 
 
 PreparatTon ^ •' & jr r 
 
 necessary, ration. She has had, and still has, a special service 
 for those who intend to commune. Her prepara- 
 tory service precedes her communion service. St. 
 Paul lays down the divine rule when he says (i 
 Cor. xi. 28) : " Let a man examine himself, and so 
 let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup." 
 The Augsburg Confession, in harmony with this, 
 says (Art. 25) : " It is not usual to communicate the 
 body of our Lord except to those who have been 
 previously examined and absolved." Dr. Horn 
 says (p. 100) : " Nearly all the Kirchen-ordnungai 
 of the XVI. century require that everyone who 
 wishes to receive the sacrament shall personally 
 give notice of his wish to the pastor, who may then 
 
PREPARATORY TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 33 1 
 
 discover whether he needs special instruction, and 
 comfort him with the absolution. The normal 
 method was to have a service in the church on the 
 Saturday afternoon before the communion, after 
 which the communicant came to the minister ; and 
 often the service was appropriately closed after this 
 Beichle or confession." 
 
 Thus we see that private confession was the rule 
 and custom in our Church after the Reformation. 
 It is still so in a large part of the Lutheran Church. 
 It has its place and is explained in Part IV. of 
 Luther's Small Catechism. 
 
 In nearly all of our English Lutheran churches 
 in America, private confession has fallen out of use, 
 while public confession and absolution have taken its 
 place. It is an open question whether we have not 
 lost by giving up this old Lutheran custom. Where 
 properly conducted, by an earnest and conscien- confession, 
 tious pastor, we can easily see that it could be a 
 mighty power for good. Think of the advantage 
 to the pastor, in his care of the individual soul, if 
 he could have a private and confidential interview 
 with each communicant every few months on the 
 particular needs, trials, temptation, sins, and sor- 
 rows of that soul. If everyone would thus confid- 
 ingly and fully open up his heart and his private 
 thoughts to his pastor, what a help to the pastor 
 in administering the specially needed instruction, 
 
 Private 
 
332 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 reproof, warning, encouragement, and consola- 
 tion. 
 
 But there is an if in it. If we had all ideal pas- 
 tors, sincerely and prayerfully solicitous for the 
 spiritual welfare of every soul ; if we had always 
 that full and unreserved confidence between the 
 Its dangers, pastor and every communicant ; if every commun- 
 icant were prayerfully solicitous about his own 
 spiritual welfare, and would thus fully disclose the 
 state of his heart and life ; if, in a word, we could 
 always have on both sides that spiritual earnestness 
 and that realization of responsibility, yes, then, it 
 would be an unmixed blessing. Then, indeed, we 
 should neither need nor want a for^n for private 
 confession and absolution. The communicant 
 would not come and read a general confession out 
 of a book. He would want a private interview. 
 He would want to open up and speak of his own 
 particular, peculiar, and special needs, sins, per- 
 plexities, and burdens. 
 
 But, looking at man as he is, remembering that 
 the old Adam is a formalist, who likes to flatter 
 himself that when he has repeated a certain form 
 of words he has done his whole duty, it is easily 
 seen how private confessions may become a real 
 source of danger. That in cases and in communi- 
 ties without number it has been and is gone through 
 with by cold, impenitent, and worldly people, who 
 
PREPARATORY TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. ;^7,T, 
 
 know nothing experimentally of the broken and 
 contrite heart which God does not despise, will 
 scarcely be denied. Better have no private confes- 
 sion and absolution than such a sacrilegious mock- 
 er)^ It is perilous to the soul of the confessor and 
 leaves a fearful accountability on the pastor. 
 
 And yet the pastor ought to know, as far as pos- 
 sible, the spiritual condition of the inner life of his 
 communicants. How can he get this needed knowl- subsfiiute 
 edge? We believe that a real pastoral visit, an 
 earnest, tactful, private interview, can accomplish 
 all the good of true private confession and absolu- 
 tion. This demands, however, a true, seelsorger 
 spirit, unreserved, mutual confidence, and a true 
 estimate and regard for the pastor as a spiritual 
 helper and guide. The pastor, as a good shepherd, 
 should know all his sheep, every sheep and every 
 lamb; take heed unto all the flock over which the 
 Holy Ghost has made him overseer. He should 
 have the unreserved confidence and love of ever}'- 
 one. He should know who is in special need of 
 such a private interview, especially before com- 
 munion. There is one advantage in this over the 
 formal private confession, in that the pastor goes to 
 those who need it most and who would be least 
 likely to come to him. 
 
 But, in addition to all this, we still need the 
 public preparatory service. Its purpose is to urge, 
 
334 
 
 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 Nature of 
 
 Preparatory 
 
 Service. 
 
 Summary. 
 
 aid, and assist the communicant in his self-exami- 
 nation. It should make him realize his own sinful- 
 ness, deepen in him true penitence and longing for 
 pardon, and also aid him in appropriating and re- 
 joicing in the full and free forgiveness of all his 
 sins. The sermon at this ser^ace should always be 
 an earnest and a searching address on the nature 
 and need of true heartfelt penitence ; a loving, direct, 
 plain-spoken, and heart-searching warning against 
 formality, and an encouragement to faith out of a 
 penitent heart. The hymns, lessons, and prayers 
 should all be in harmony with this. 
 
 The formula for confession and absolution should 
 be read slowly, solemnly, feelingly. There should 
 be a marked difference of tone between the decla- 
 ration of God's pardon or the absolution, and the 
 retention. The former should be full of confidence, 
 breathing out peace and joy. The latter should 
 express the deepest sadness and the most earnest 
 solicitude. Yet they are often slurred over in the 
 same hasty, heartless, and perfunctory manner. 
 
 To sum up then : 
 
 I. Make much of your preparatory service. Lay 
 stress on its importance. Insist on the presence of 
 every communicant, unless there is a real providen- 
 tial hindrance. Instruct your people constantly to 
 this end ; instruct them also that, where it is really 
 impossible to be present at the public service, there 
 
PREPARATORY TO THE HOLY COMMUNION. 335 
 
 must be earnest private prayer and self-examina- 
 tion. Then they also may commune. To this 
 Luther agrees. (See Horn's Ev. Pastor, p. I03f) : 
 " Let not those be compelled (provided they have a 
 good report for faith and knowledge of the doctrine 
 of Christ), who wish to confess to God alone, and 
 thereupon take the sacrament. For each then 
 takes it upon his own conscience ; as St. Paul says : 
 ^Let a man exauiiiie hmiself.'' " 
 
 2. If at all possible, have a separate service. 
 
 Where the confessional and communion service are Suggestions, 
 combined, it is not possible to instruct, exhort, 
 warn, and encourage, as at a separate service. 
 
 3. Explain the service frequently. You cannot 
 warn too earnestly against a mere formal use. 
 
 4. Use it with the utmost solemnity. Make it a 
 solemn convocation. 
 
 5. Insist on reconciliation where there has been 
 strife and alienation ; speak earnestly and plainly on 
 this ; show that a heart full of bitterness cannot ap- 
 propriate forgiving grace. (See Matt. v. 23, 24 ; 
 also fifth petition of the Lord's Prayer.) It will be 
 a source of blessing and strength to the church if 
 your communion seasons are seasons of general rec- 
 onciliation. 
 
 6. Get the name of everyone who intends to 
 commune. Copy it carefully, with date, into the 
 church register. Announce beforehand that if 
 
336 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 strangers wish to commune they should come to 
 the preparatory service, and make their request 
 known to you personally. Then you can satisfy 
 yourself as to their fitness or unfitness. * 
 
 * For the position of the older Church Orders on Private Con- 
 fession, together with a brief history of the rite, see Horn, Ev. 
 Pastor, pp. 102-113. 
 
 For a defense of our Preparatory Service, see Way of Salva- 
 tion in the Lutheran Church, Chapter XVI. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 ADMINISTERING THE HOLY COMMUNION. 
 
 As we noticed above, our doctrine of this sacra- 
 ment makes its administration and reception a 
 most solemn and responsible act. The pastor needs 
 to exercise the most conscientious care that he may 
 rightly administer the sacrament of the body and 
 blood of our Lord. We have been much impressed by 
 the earnest and searching presentation of J. Paludan 
 Miiller's chapter on the Administering of the Sac- 
 raments, in the German translation of the Danish 
 work, " Der evangelische Pfarrer und sein Amt,'' 
 pp. 120148, from which we present a few quota- ^^;;|,^;i,°^;;': 
 tions: "Never should the Evangelical Lutheran ^^"^^^^^^^ 
 pastor have any doubt on this point, that, while he 
 speaks the words of the sacrament and performs 
 the act connected with the words, the Lord Himself 
 acts through him ; while therefore the pastor has 
 the intention to administer, he must give over his 
 whole person to his Lord, so that he acts as the 
 Lord's organ. This means that he must speak 
 with such a clear, unshaken, and conscious faith 
 that there is no shadow of doubt but that the Lord 
 
 Himself now speaks and acts Verily 
 
 22 {^n) 
 
338 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 this demands the straining of all the powers of my 
 soul. With the whole energy of my freedom I 
 must look away from my own person and attend to 
 the command of the Lord alone. It is the ex- 
 tremest obedience and reverence that is demanded 
 of me. I am to forget the imperfectness of my 
 faith, my weakness, and my besetting sin. I am 
 to look upon myself as good enough, strong and 
 clear enough in my faith to take the Lord's place 
 over against other sinners. Thus am I, as it were, to 
 interrupt the course of my life in order to carry out 
 the command of my Lord. For this is what He 
 desires, since He certainly laid the means of grace 
 into our hands and put us into our place to admin- 
 ister them. 
 Feneion. " So it can and should be, and it is a beautiful 
 
 word which Feneion puts into the mouth of the 
 Lord : ' Why do you mistrust me after I have en- 
 trusted myself unreservedly to you in my sacra- 
 ments ? ' This is precisely the proper word, which 
 expresses and declares how and why it can take 
 place, and whence the God-fearing boldness to do this 
 springs. It is the deep and heartfelt confidence in 
 the Lord that gives us this boldness. He is present 
 in His church and in us. He brings it to pass 
 according to His own will, and not by virtue of our 
 faith. . . . Confidence in Him makes us strong to 
 take upon ourselves the fear and trembling which 
 
ADMINISTERING THE HOLY COMMUNION. 339 
 
 come upon us when we administer His sacraments. 
 
 Otherwise we could never endure our position, for 
 
 we take a position in which we are the absohite 
 
 superiors in the church. Kings and princes must 
 
 bow before us. But this position can be taken 
 
 only on the personal condition which is a bitter 
 
 humiliation of all hierarchical ideas. We administer 
 
 the mysteries, conscious that in and of ourselves we 
 
 are the lowliest of the lowly, who must constantly 
 
 confess to ourselves that of ourselves we can do 
 
 nothing. . . . Woe unto him for whom these The lowly 
 
 holy acts have been lowered into dead and median- ^'"* needed^ 
 
 ical forms, and who never at the font or at the 
 
 altar feels himself more humbled and more exalted 
 
 than at any other place." 
 
 Miiller further speaks most earnest words on the 
 fact that while the means of grace are intended as a 
 savor of life unto life they can and do become, 
 through the resistance and unbelief of the recipient, 
 a savor of death unto death ; that here at the altar 
 there begins, with many a one, the division which 
 will be completed when the angels separate the 
 wheat from the tares. He reminds the pastor that 
 at the altar he stands in the Lord's place ; that he 
 has no right to narrow or change the Lord's condi- 
 tions, which are repentance and faith ; that the 
 Lord could stretch His grace to embrace a Mary 
 Magdalene and the thief on the cross, but would 
 
Tke bread. 
 
 340 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 not yield an inch to high-priest and Pharisee. He 
 insists that it is a prime obligation and responsi- 
 bility of the minister's activity to guard most strictly 
 the proper use of the sacraments. " Here," he says, 
 * ' lies the pastor's heaviest burden. What truly evan- 
 gelical pastor can refrain from a holy fear, as he 
 reminds himself that he must do everything in his 
 power that that which should bring heaven's richest 
 blessing bring not condemnation ? " 
 
 With all this we most heartily agree. With what 
 care and prayer should we not then prepare for and 
 fill up our communion days ! 
 
 Three things are necessary' to a proper celebra- 
 tion of the holy communion, viz., consecration, dis- 
 tribution, and reception of the elements. 
 
 The elements are bread and wine. Our Saviour 
 undoubtedly used unleavened bread. Our Church 
 has never insisted on this as necessary to a valid 
 communion. Where it can conveniently be had, in 
 convenient form, it is well to have it. Neither 
 does our Church consider the breaking of the bread 
 as essential. Our Saviour broke the bread in order 
 to distribute it. He could not have distributed the 
 passover-bread without first breaking it. To insist 
 on such an incident, as necessary to a valid com- 
 munion, strikes us as the height of formalism and 
 ceremonialism. 
 
 The most convenient form of unleavened bread 
 
ADMINISTERING THE HOLY COMMUNION. 341 
 
 is the wafer. Where the people are properly in- 
 structed they will rarely object to it. Where, how- 
 ever, there is serious objection, it is wrong to force 
 its use ; and so to interfere with the spirit of harmony 
 and devotion that ought to pervade the celebration, 
 is also formalism. It is un-Lutheran to make an 
 essential out of an adiaphoron. Where it is inexpe- 
 dient to use the wafer, any kind of bread may be 
 used. Better have common light bread than the 
 soggy, heav>', sweetened stuff often sold or pre- 
 pared as communion bread. 
 
 But, whatever kind of bread it is, see that it is in 
 convenient form for breaking off small pieces. 
 Narrow square strips are good. It may be well to 
 have it cut into small pieces beforehand, or to break 
 it into morsels while each table of communicants 
 comes forward. 
 
 As to the wine, it should be oho^^ not yXevico';.* 
 Our Church has never paid any serious attention to 
 the extreme, baseless, and unscriptural arguments of 
 the advocates of unfennented grape-juice. She does 
 not believe that this is wine, such as our Saviour 
 used. The assertion that the taking of a sip of 
 communion wine a few times in a year might lead 
 anyone to become a drunkard seems to her to border 
 on the blasphemous. That a means of grace, in- 
 
 * For an exhaustive and a conclusive discussion of the "Two 
 Wine Theory," see pamphlet by the late Dr. Howard Crosby. 
 
 The wine. 
 
The 
 
 eonsecratioii. 
 
 342 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 stitiited for the nourisliing and strengthening of the 
 weak, when rightly received, could become an 
 occasion or a cause of one's fall or ruin seems too 
 preposterous and irreverent to be named among 
 Lutheran Christians. 
 
 The proper element is real wine, the fermented 
 juice of the grape. But see that it is pure. The 
 alcoholic mixtures sometimes used are a disgrace. 
 We have heard of ministers procuring their com- 
 munion wine in saloons. Shame on them ! 3 
 
 Having procured the proper earthly elements, how 
 shall they be consecrated? Horn (p. 123) quotes 
 Chemnitz as follows : " The consecration of the 
 Eucharist consists in the words of the institution 
 spoken by the Son of God, through which institu- 
 tion He Himself consecrates and sanctifies bread 
 and wine, so that by divine grace and power they 
 get a name which they had not before, and are His 
 Body and Blood." This is followed' by a longer 
 quotation from Gerhard to the same effect. 
 
 The Communion Service of our Common Service 
 provides a proper form, with the necessary rubrical 
 directions. Let the minister familiarize himself 
 with this, not overlooking the rubrics. It is impor- 
 tant that a sufficient supply of both elements be on 
 the altar. Should the supply of either or of both run 
 short, it will be necessary to consecrate the new 
 
communing. 
 
 ADMINISTERING THE HOLY COMMUNION. 343 
 
 supply, using only the Lord's Prayer and the words 
 of Institution as found in the service. In fact, the 
 latter alone would suffice. 
 
 It oueht to be understood before the communion 
 service begins in what order the communicants are 
 to come forward, so that there may be no unbecom- 
 ing delay, haste, or crowding. A few quiet words The order of 
 will preclude embarrassment. We favor the custom 
 of families sitting together in the pew and coming 
 forward and communing together, though this is not 
 essential. We also greatly prefer kneeling to stand- 
 ing by the communicants, as more reverent and be- 
 coming for this holy act. But neither is this to be 
 suddenly forced on a congregation. Instruction and 
 persuasion must precede. Where customar}', let the 
 minister put the bread in the mouth of the com- 
 municant. This also is not essential. To insist on 
 it as essential is formalism. If the recipient is fit 
 to commune, he is not unfit to touch the elements 
 with his fingers. 
 
 Have the cup full, but not so full as to be in 
 danger of running over. Refill between tables. 
 Have a clean napkin at hand. If flies are very bad, 
 keep a napkin or a pall on the cup while you dis- 
 tribute the bread. Have a perforated spoon. Keep 
 turning the cup as you pass from one communicant 
 to another. Wipe the rim carefully before refilling. 
 
commvuiion. 
 
 344 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 Let the communicant help guide and tip the cup 
 with his hand.* 
 
 Use the words of the Common Service in the 
 distribution. Speak them deliberately, distinctly, 
 and reverently. Do not forget that it is at the 
 reception that the heavenly joins itself to the 
 earthly element. 
 
 Those who cannot, on account of bodily infir- 
 mity, come to the Lord's house, should not be de- 
 prived of the holy communion. They need it 
 Private even morc than those who are well and strong. 
 They should all be visited beforehand and informed 
 of the time when they also may partake of the 
 heavenly feast. They should be admonished and 
 instructed as to proper preparation, and encouraged 
 to trust in the dear Saviour. At the appointed 
 time the pastor should carry the elements to them. 
 If possible, have a private communion set. If the 
 communicant is weak, shorten the service. Use 
 
 * The individual cup has never seriously commended itself 
 among true Lutherans. Thinking people are not affected by 
 the senseless microbe scare. What we said above as to danger 
 in a means of grace applies here also. The individual cup is 
 unhistorical and unscriptural. It militates against the idea of a 
 communion. " For yve are all one bread and one body, even as 
 we are all partakers of this one bread and drink of this one 
 cup." 
 
 Cleanliness, on the part of the communicant, should, however, 
 be insisted on. To come with unrinsed mouths, with unwashed 
 and even tobacco-soaked moustaches, is an irreverent abomina- 
 tion. A few plain, kind words after the preparatory address will 
 generally cure the evil. 
 
ADMINISTERING THE HOLY COMMUNION. 345 
 
 the Service for the Communion of the Sick, p. 399, 
 Church Book. The second rubric says : " If the 
 sick person be so weak, or in such peril of death, 
 that the order here given cannot be fully observed, 
 it shall suffice to use the most essential parts, to 
 wit : the confession and absolution, the words of 
 institution, and the giving of the bread and wine." 
 To this we add : In case of great ner\^ousness or ex- 
 haustion, if the person is known to be a devout 
 
 How t» 
 
 Christian, even the form of confession and absolu- administer. 
 tion may be omitted. A Scripture passage assuring 
 of forgiveness to the penitent and believing, with a 
 word on the intent and blessing of the sacrament, 
 will suffice ; then the words of consecration and the 
 distribution. Let the prayers be very brief, free, 
 tender, and distinct. Depart with a cheerful word 
 of hope and blessing. Never weary the weak and 
 nervous. 
 
 As to elements left over, wafers may be preserved 
 for communion of the sick or for the next regular 
 communion. This is one argument in their favor. 
 If common bread is used, what remains should be 
 burned. Thus were the remains of the Old Tes- 
 tament sacrifices disposed of because they had been 
 separated to a holy use. Wine left over in the 
 flagon may be used, like wafers, for the sick, or 
 poured out, or preserved. 
 
 As to the frequency of communing, we know 
 
34^ THE IvUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 that in the apostolic and ancient Church some com- 
 muned on certain days of the week and some every 
 Lord's day. 
 
 There are those among us who argue from this 
 beautiful custom of the Early Church for a frequent 
 celebration of the communion among us. For an 
 ideal Church, made up of ideal Christians, it would 
 no doubt be meet, right, and proper. Such was the 
 Early Church in the fervency and fervor of her j&rst 
 love. It was the martyr Church. In such a Church, 
 at such a time, there would prevail such a tone of 
 spiritual life that there would be constant readiness 
 and fitness to come to the Lord's table. 
 
 But we do not live in such a time. The tone of 
 ^jequenc) of the Church's life is sadly different. Amid the rush 
 and the crush for pleasure and for gain ; amid the 
 cares of this life, the deceitfulness of riches, and the 
 lusts of other things, there is not a constant fitness 
 for communion. We are living on too low a plane. 
 It is hard enough to be lifted up and keyed up every 
 few months to a proper appreciation and a worthy 
 reception of the heavenly feast. Special preparation 
 and special effort are necessary. In this age of 
 irreverence holy things easily become familiar and 
 common. We have warning examples enough 
 around us. Among High Church Anglicans the 
 daily communion becomes largely a spectacular 
 ofiFering of the mass without communicants. Among 
 
 communion. 
 
ADMINISTERING THE HOEY COMMUNION. 347 
 
 the so-called Disciples or Campbellites the weekly 
 communion is often little better than a farce that is 
 not even solemn. It is hurried through and slurred 
 over without reverence or meaning. We, too, are 
 human. We are thankful if we can get our people 
 into the proper frame and spirit at our present 
 communion seasons. In the present state of the 
 church we do not favor a too frequent communion. \ 
 
 One question more. May or should a pastor ad- 
 minister the communion to himself? We agree Administenng 
 
 to one's-self. 
 
 with Dr. Horn, who says (p. 134) : " It is not wrong 
 for the pastor to give the Holy Supper to himself 
 al the comniufiio7i of his congregation ; and this is 
 necessary in this countr}', where ministers are few 
 and live far apart Yet it would be a great benefit to 
 every pastor to have his Beichivater \i. e.^ his special 
 spiritual adviser], from whom he could at right 
 times receive the absolution and the Holy Supper." 
 On page 135 Dr. Horn quotes from Hartmann and 
 Chemnitz in favor of the practice. Let the pastor 
 then, when all the rest have communed, kneel at the 
 altar and reverently administer to himself, and so 
 commune with the congregation of which he also 
 is a member. If, however, he can have the assist- 
 ance of a neighboring pastor, of his own faith and 
 confession, so much the better. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 PERFORMING THE MARRIAGE CEREMONY. 
 
 " Marriage is a holy estate, instituted of God, 
 and to be held in honor by all. It is well-pleasing 
 to God and has His blessing." 
 
 We have two remnants of Eden left to us. One 
 is a sacred seventh day, fraught with rest and re- 
 freshment for body and soul. The other is mar- 
 Importance of . 
 marriage. riage, with its Christian home. These are relics of 
 
 Paradise. The beauty and blessing of Eden ought 
 to be allied with matrimony. But, in our fallen 
 world, it is only too often the antipode of this. It 
 has been truly and forcibly said that the bonds of 
 matrimony may be the golden cords to draw us to 
 heaven or the iron chains to drag us to hell. What 
 momentous issues hang on the choosing and accept- 
 ing of a life-companion. It is the making or the 
 marring of peace and blessedness for the life that now 
 is, and often also for that which is to come. How 
 carefully this plant from the garden of Eden should 
 be fostered and guarded. The pastor has a solemn 
 duty here. Of this we have spoken above. He is 
 to do all he possibly can to prevent hasty and dan- 
 gerous engagements. It is the doctrine of our 
 
 (348) 
 
PERFORMING THE MARRIAGE CEREMONY. 349 
 
 Church, based on the Divine Word, that the essence 
 of marriage is in the consent of the parties. This 
 consent is given in a proper engagement or be- 
 trothal. It is here therefore where the fatal mis- 
 takes are made ; and it is here where the safeguards 
 must be applied. 
 
 The pastor is not to marr>' indiscriminately all 
 who apply to him. 
 
 I. The State has an interest in the matter. Self- 
 preservation demands that the State guard this in- 
 stitution. If left without any restrictions, the State 
 knows that it would soon have on hand a large 
 constituency of physical, mental, and moral degen- 
 erates. The State therefore has not merely the 
 right but the most sacred duty to hedge about and 
 regulate the marriage of its subjects. Every State 
 therefore has its own laws on the subject. Some of 
 these laws are sadly defective and bad. The laws 
 of different States in our land differ from one an- 
 other. This is the most serious drawback of all. 
 "We need a national code on marriage and divorce. 
 For this every pastor ought to labor and use his 
 influence in ever>^ proper way and at every possible 
 opportunity. 
 
 Meanwhile, every pastor must know and obey 
 the laws and regulations of the State wherein he 
 resides or officiates. He must be subject to the 
 powers that be. Ignorance is no excuse for trans- 
 
 The Stale 
 interested. 
 
350 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 gression. He has a right to decline to perform the 
 ceremony where the State allows it. But he dare 
 not perform the ceremony where the State forbids 
 it. 
 
 2. He should refuse to marry those who are too 
 
 Whom to 
 
 refuse. young, especially if they do not have the consent of 
 their parents. Parental authority and desire ought 
 always to be recognized and honored, except where 
 it conflicts with the principles of the Gospel. No 
 parent has a right to force a marriage where there 
 is no love, or for pecuniary and society reasons 
 alone. 
 
 3. As already remarked, the pastor should dis- 
 courage attachments and engagements between 
 those who differ in their faith and church connec- 
 tion. If they cannot agree to worship the same 
 God, in the same faith, in the same way, and in the 
 same church, they ought not to become engaged. 
 Their religion ought to be the most sacred bond of 
 their union, and in this there should be a hearty 
 agreement. But — Cupid never studied theology, 
 and the pastor cannot always forbid or prevent. 
 But where a believer desires to marry an outspoken 
 and positive unbeliever, the pastor must be bound 
 by the clear declarations of the Divine Word, " Be 
 ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers " 
 (2 Cor. vi. 14) ; " She is at liberty to be married to 
 whom she will, only it? the Lord'''' (i Cor. vii. 39). 
 
Difficult 
 
 counsels. 
 
 PERFORMING THE MARRIAGE CEREMONY. 35 1 
 
 If the pastor is persuaded that the one party is such 
 an unbeliever as is meant by Paul, he must refuse 
 to perfonn the ceremony. 
 
 4. If the pastor knows the one party to be heart- 
 lessly cruel, dangerously intemperate, or affected 
 with disease from lewdness, he should also refuse 
 to become a party to plunging the innocent into a 
 life of suffering. 
 
 5. He should also do all he can to prevent a 
 union with one who has a hereditary taint of mental 
 or seriously physical disease. 
 
 6. He should positivel}- refuse to marry one who 
 has been divorced on other than Scriptural grounds ; 
 as also the guilty party divorced on Scriptural 
 grounds. We believe that the ground given by our 
 Saviour, viz., adultery, is the only Scriptural 
 ground for divorce. On this point, however, Luth- 
 eran theologians differ. Let everyone be fully per- 
 suaded in his own mind. 
 
 7. He should refuse to marry those related to 
 each other within the degrees forbidden by God. 
 (See Lev. xviii. 1-20 : xx. 10-23 5 Deut. xxvii. 20- 
 23 ; Matt. xxii. 23-31 ; i Cor. v. 1-7.) We do not be- 
 lieve that Lev. xviii. 18 refers to a deceased wife's 
 sister, but to a living wife's sister. 
 
 Here are a few suggestions : 
 
 °^ Suggestions, 
 
 I. It is the bride's privilege to select the pastor to 
 perfonn the ceremon)-. If, for special reasons, she 
 
352 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 selects another pastor than her own, that pastor 
 should consult the pastor of the bride before he 
 officiates. 
 
 2. Encourage church weddings as much as pos- 
 sible. There is a peculiar fitness in this. The 
 taking of this most serious earthly step of life at 
 the church's altar throws around it a solemnity, a 
 circle of associations, and a divine halo not easily 
 
 weddin-js forgottcu. It also givcs opportunity for inviting 
 the whole congregation and all the friends. It 
 avoids the difficult and delicate matter of special 
 invitations, and the slights and hurts that are sure to 
 follow. It is also the easiest way of avoiding the 
 work and worry and expense of a wedding feast for 
 the friends. 
 
 3. In all this counsel simplicity. Caution against 
 the vulgar effort at display. 
 
 4. Make the ceremony brief and impressive. 
 Use the Church Service,* allowing yourself such 
 variations as do not touch the essential part and 
 for which you have good reasons. Offer a heart- 
 felt free prayer for the couple. 
 
 An address is not essential, as the formula (Rovers 
 all the important instruction, direction, and prom- 
 ise of the Divine Word. Where, however, an address 
 is desired, let it be brief, befitting, and full of en- 
 
 * We do not like to repeat the words, " Be fruitful and mul- 
 tiply and replenish the earth." We, therefore, leave them out. 
 
PERFORMING THE MARRIAGE CEREMONY. 353 
 
 couragement to a Christian home-life. It is our 
 experience that such counsel and encouragement 
 are far more effective in a quiet and earnest pastoral 
 talk in the new home. The nerv^ous couple at the 
 altar is not in the fittest frame to gi\'e heed to 
 public admonition. 
 
 5. If there is a wedding feast, and you are invited, 
 
 be careful of your deportment. Be cheerful, and pastor's 
 and do all }'ou can to make everybody feel at ease, deportment. 
 Avoid intemperance in eating. We have already 
 given our advice as to drinking. It is better not 
 to drink wine in a promiscuous crowd. Do not 
 allow yourself to be loud and boisterous. Guard 
 the dignity of your office. Discountenance any- 
 thing that is contrary to the Gospel of Christ. If 
 questionable amusements are started, leave quietly 
 for home. 
 
 6. Show no greediness for a fee. Give a good 
 certificate, worthy of a good frame. 
 
 7. Watch over all the couples that you marry as 
 far as you can. Do all you can to help them 
 establish and maintain a Christian home, and to 
 have them faithful members of your Church. The 
 very fact that you married them gives you access 
 to their heart and home. 
 
 8. Your advice and consent will sometimes be 
 sought for obtaining a divorce. Where the bond 
 has already been broken by adultery, you can freely 
 
 23 
 
354 'THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 advise a legal separation. But set yourself firmly 
 against a divorce on account of incompatibility, an 
 incurable disease or insanity. These are crosses 
 that the married must bear when they are laid upon 
 .Separation or ^hcm. lu such sad cascs there should positively 
 
 divorce. ^ •' 
 
 be no begetting of children. In case the husband 
 has become a willful and hopeless drunkard, in 
 case of brutality and cruelty, you can advise sepa- 
 ration, but not divorce. We do not believe that 
 God demands that a Christian woman should live 
 with a heartless brute, who endangers the life of 
 herself and of her children. But he is still her 
 husband and she is still his wife as long as they 
 both live. 
 
N eed of true 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 ./Ministering to the bereaved — burying the 
 
 DEAD. 
 
 ^We consider now the most delicate, difficult and 
 dangerous of all the pastor's public offices. 
 
 He is called upon to minister to the bereaved. 
 He is to be the counselor and comforter in broken --ympaUiy. 
 homes, to breaking hearts. 
 
 He is to go, as a messenger from God, to stand 
 between the living and the dead. As a man of ten- 
 der sympathy, he deeply feels for and with the sor- 
 rowing. He loves them with a compassionate love. 
 His heart yearns for them in their anguish. He 
 would mingle his tears with theirs and weep with 
 them that weep. 
 
 If, in the house of death, he has the well-grounded 
 conviction that the departed died in the Lord, then it 
 is easy. Then, with all his sympathy and compas- 
 sion, he carries a grateful joy that he is permitted to 
 go and bear comfort to God's people, to speak to the 
 heart of Jerusalem's children, to comfort them that 
 mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the 
 oil of joy for mourning, the gannent of praise for the 
 spirit of heaviness. It is indeed a high, a holy, and 
 
 (355) 
 
Difficult cases. 
 
 356 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 a heavenly privilege to go to the house of mourn- 
 ing, in the name and with the message of the God 
 of all comfort who comforteth us in our affliction, 
 that we may be able to comfort them which are in 
 any trouble, by the comfort wherewith he himself is 
 comforted of God. To know and to feel that the 
 comfort which he brings is the only comfort in 
 the world, without which all the money, friendship, 
 and the kindly offices of the world are at such 
 times a hollow mockery, that there is no other balm 
 in Gilead, no other physician there, this is indeed a 
 privilege that an angel might covet. 
 
 But, alas, for only too many it is not true that 
 for them to live is Christ, and to die is gain. They 
 have not lived in Christ, and Christ has not been in 
 them the hope of glory. They have not died in 
 the Lord. 
 
 To the bereft homes and funerals of these the 
 pastor is also called. For the sake of the living he 
 is ever ready to go. Ev^en if the day be bitterly 
 cold, the distance great, the roads bad, and the 
 storm-king abroad, the true pastor goes. He must 
 go. He could have no peace of conscience, could 
 not sleep, if, from selfish motives, he refused to go. 
 
 But what shall he say ? What ser^dce shall he 
 hold ? There is a conflict within him. His heart 
 prompts him to spare the living, to give them every 
 comfort that words can give, to please them in 
 
MINISTERING TO THE BEREAVED. 357 
 
 their sore distress. We do not like even to speak of 
 such pastors as endeavor to please and to flatter and 
 to give hope, where they have no Scriptural ground, 
 especially to the influential, the rich, and those from uetravinij 
 whom they expect a fat fee. These are traitors to *^"^''* ^^^^ 
 their conscience and to their God. They bring the 
 ministry and the church into contempt ; they are 
 the Judases among the Lord's apostles. We have 
 met with a number of shocking cases of this kind. 
 A rich man committed suicide, where there was no 
 reason for believing that he wa;s not in his right mind. 
 The funeral service was conducted in the church to 
 which he had belonged — not a Lutheran church. 
 The pastor announced the hymn, "Asleep in Jesus, 
 blessed sleep." The sermon was in the same key. 
 
 Another case. A young man, of a prominent 
 family, was converted, or claimed that he was, at a 
 revival and became at once a leader of young men's 
 prayer meetings, etc. He married an exemplary lady 
 of a prominent family in the same church. He 
 soon went back to his old ways, going rapidly from 
 bad to worse, and was finally murdered in a brothel. 
 His pastor, a high Mason, preached him into 
 heaven, and among other extravagant phrases said, 
 " I expect some day to range the plains of glory 
 with Brother Edgar on my arm." 
 
 One more, though we might multiply cases that 
 have come under our observation. 
 
358 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 A young man of a prominent Lutheran family 
 died. He was an Odd Fellow ; a wild and way- 
 ward youth, who did not belong to church. We were 
 invited to speak in English at the funeral, while his 
 pastor spoke in a foreign tongue. The Odd Fel- 
 lows were present, but took no part in the service. 
 Auothct We met the pastor before the service and told him 
 
 example. --. , • 1 
 
 that God gave us an opportunity to speak some 
 plain and needed truth. He said, " Yes, yes," but 
 when his turn came he preached the dead straight 
 into heaven, saying : " I not only hope, but I know 
 that he is in heaven." Well, we should not like to 
 render the account of these men in the day of judg- 
 ment It is a fearful thing to preach one Gospel 
 to the living and another over the dead. Whoever 
 does it thereby rocks the godless and worldly to 
 sleep in their sin. We have heard such people say : 
 " Well, if that person is saved, I need not worry, for 
 I am surely not as bad as he." We verily believe 
 that multitudes have been confirmed in their world- 
 liness by funeral sermons. 
 
 On account of this shocking and criminal abuse, 
 many earnest men have advocated the abolish- 
 ment of all funeral sermons. But we do not agree 
 with them. For the true pastor, the funeral ser- 
 vice is a God-given opportunity for doing much 
 good. In the country and small towns, especially, 
 multitudes go to church at a funeral who rarely go 
 
MINISTERING TO TUE BKREAVED. 359 
 
 at Other times. If they are ever serious, if they 
 
 Shall funeral 
 
 ever think of the uncertainty of this life and the sermons be 
 
 J 1 abolished ? 
 
 certainty of a future, it is now. Unbelief and skep- 
 ticism cannot look death in the face. They break 
 down at the coffin and the grave. Now preach the 
 truth, tenderly, but earnestly and plainly. Set 
 clearly before them life and death. Show them 
 plainly that there is only one way of salvation, 
 what it is, and that there is no escape for them 
 that neglect it. 
 
 As said above, even the true pastor is tried ; his 
 sympathies urge him one way, his conscience an- 
 other. What shall he do ? What about the burial 
 service? Where the pastor does not have good 
 ground for believing that the departed died in what scrv.c 
 Christ, he dare not give the impression that he be- 
 lieves it is well with him. Bear in mind the first 
 rubric of our " Service for the Burial of the Dead," 
 which says : " The Order of Service here following 
 is provided only for the burial of members of the 
 church, or those who depart this life in Christian 
 faith." Only for such can the fu.l service be used. 
 For others a service must be improvised. The 
 hymns, the lessons, and the prayers must then refer 
 to the living alone. Above all must the commit- 
 ment of the body at the grave with its hope of a 
 glorious resurrection be omitted. The same prin- 
 ciples apply to the sermon. It must be for the 
 
 to V 
 
360 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 living. It may comfort the mourners by directing 
 them to the source of strength and healing for their 
 own broken hearts. 
 
 Civil virtues of the dead may be mentioned, but 
 nothing of the welfare of his soul. Of course it is 
 . neither necessary nor advisable to inform the be- 
 reaved beforehand that you will use such a service. 
 
 There are three specially difficult classes of 
 funerals at which the pastor may be asked to offi- 
 ciate. They are lodge funerals, those of suicides, 
 and cremations. We have no commandment, but 
 give our own conviction and counsel. 
 
 First. As to the lodge. We have already given 
 our opinion of the lodge and of its false religion. 
 We have also given what we consider the best 
 method of dealing with the evil. 
 
 A lodge member dies. His family desires the 
 WTiere the church's burial and sends for you. The lodge de- 
 lodge IS sires to be present and to hold its service. What is 
 
 present. ^ 
 
 the minister to do ? Some say that he is bluntly to re- 
 fuse to have anything to do with the funeral, regard- 
 less of the feelings of the sorrowing or of the effect 
 of his conduct on them and on the members of the 
 lodge. He is to retreat with the truth and let error 
 have the whole field. Is this right and proper ? 
 
 Without doubt or question the minister of Christ 
 can in no wise countenance the false religion of the 
 lodge, nor recognize its right to conduct what has 
 
MINISTERING TO THE BEREAVED. 36 1 
 
 ever been and should ever be a Christian service 
 Neither dare he compromise the religion of his 
 Lord and of His Bride, the Church, by putting it 
 on an equality with the heathenism of the lodge. 
 He dare not have a union service, divided between 
 himself and the lodge chaplain. 
 
 What then can and should he do ? 
 
 First. Let him explain his position gently, kindly, 
 and firmly to the family. Then let either the 
 family or himself explain it to the officers of the 
 lodge, showing that he cannot consistently either 
 recognize or mix with their ceremony. Let him 
 show to both that, if Christian burial or the service 
 of a minister is desired, the church must have the 
 right of way. He cannot say who may come or 
 who may not come to the service. He cannot 
 dictate how those who come are to dress. If the 
 lodge desires to come, togged out in regalia, he 
 must suffer it. But he will utterly ignore their 
 presence, will preach most plainly and earnestly on 
 the only way of salvation, and the only institution 
 founded by Christ for mediating this salvation. He 
 must tell them plainly that no system of morals 
 and of charity, no man-devised system of religion, 
 no human institution, can save lost humanity. All 
 this without attacking or railing at persons, speak- 
 ing kindly indeed of them and to them, but firmly 
 opposing their false and pernicious principles. When 
 
 Advice to 
 pastor. 
 
362 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 through with the service, preceding the start for the 
 grave, let the minister say that this ends the service 
 at the church or at the house, as the case may be, 
 and that the service will be concluded at the grave. 
 If the lodge with the chaplain go to the grave, let 
 the pastor begin, at once, when the coffin has been 
 lowered, go through with his service, and pronounce 
 the benediction. Then let him withdraw. If now 
 the chaplain has another service, or if half a dozen 
 other services are held, the minister has nothing to 
 do with that, and is not responsible. The church, 
 through him, has done her part, without mixture 
 or connivance. If all this is explained and arranged 
 with tact and kindness, there will be no offense or 
 alienation. This has been our custom, and we can- 
 not recall a single instance where the family took 
 offense. This seems to us a more excellent way. 
 Second. As to the burial of suicides. Here also. 
 Suicides. QyQjj in our own Church, opinions divide. There 
 are those who firmly assert that the minister should 
 never be present, unless it was a clear case of 
 mental unsoundness and irresponsibility. 
 
 Now, we agree that, except in the latter case, a 
 suicide cannot be entitled to a Christian burial. 
 But, as we have seen above, the minister's presence 
 and service is not necessarily a Christian burial. 
 He can go and give a needed message to the liv- 
 ing, and pray for the living. But if he goes, he 
 
MINISTERING TO THE BEREAVED. 363 
 
 must be scrupulously careful that his presence or 
 words may not be interpreted as condoning the act, 
 giving hope for the deceased, or deeming him 
 worthy of Christian burial. The whole service 
 must be a most solemn warning to the living. It 
 must show that the Giver of life alone has a right 
 to take it, and that suicide, by a rational being, is a 
 fearful sin, for which there is no forgiveness, be- 
 cause there can be no repentance. All this must 
 be understood before consenting to go. And all that 
 is said must be said so earnestly and so tenderly that 
 all must feel that the minister seeks the good of the 
 living. Even in cases of doubt as to the mental re- 
 sponsibility of the suicide, it must be clearly stated 
 that, if he was responsible, he is not saved. All this 
 we do not lay down as law, but as personal convic- 
 tion. 
 
 Third. As to cremation. This is not a Biblical, 
 or Christian mode of disposing of the dead. The Cremation 
 Old and New Testament agree and take for granted 
 that as the body was taken originally from the 
 earth, so it is to return to the earth again. Burial 
 is the natural and Christian mode. There is a beau- 
 tiful symbolism in it. The whole terminology of 
 eschatology presupposes it. 
 
 Cremation is purely heathenish. It was the 
 practice among the Greeks and Romans. The 
 mass of the Hindoos thus dispose of their dead. It 
 
Suggestions. 
 
 364 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 is dishonoring to the body, intended for a temple 
 of the Holy Ghost and to bear the image of God, 
 It is an insidious denial of the doctrine of the 
 resurrection. 
 
 A Christian consciousness shrinks from it, and 
 can only shudder at the thought. And yet, in this 
 age of materialistic heathenism, it is rapidly gaining 
 ground. The Christian minister must warn and 
 protest against it. He cannot in any way give it 
 countenance. He cannot ojEHciate at a cremation. 
 This, at least, is our present conviction. 
 
 We add a few suggestions as to funerals and 
 funeral customs in general : 
 
 I. Keep your people instructed that they must 
 consult }-ou before they arrange for a funeral. 
 Show them that you might have another engage- 
 ment at the hour they fix without you. 
 
 2.\ Discourage Sunday funerals. They are gen- 
 erally desired to save time for labor, to get a larger 
 crowd, and to make a greater display,- Show that 
 Sunday is your busy day ; but that in case of neces- 
 sity you will serve them if they will settle with you 
 on the most suitable hour. 
 
 3. Be ready and willing always to serve your 
 people, regardless of your own ease or comfort. If 
 at all possible, go with them to the grave. If im- 
 possible, have a little earth at hand, and use the 
 full service for the grave in the house or church. 
 
MINISTERING TO THE BEREAVED. 365 
 
 4. Be ever ready and willing to serve all who 
 need and desire your service. As we have re- 
 marked before, the pastor gains in influence in pro- 
 portion as he is known as an unselfish man, ready 
 to serve and to sacrifice wherever he can do good. If 
 asked to conduct a funeral or to perform any pas- 
 toral act for one who belongs to another church, 
 show that his own pastor should be called. If there 
 is a special and valid reason for desiring you, be 
 sure to have an understanding with the other pastor. 
 Always observe the rules of professional etiquette 
 and churchly comity. 
 
 c;. Discouracre unnecessary expense and display. Discourage 
 
 ^ '^ . display. 
 
 In the city encourage private interment ; that is, let 
 all be invited to the church or house, but let only 
 the pall-bearers and immediate relatives go to the 
 cemeter>\ To hire a long line of costly carriages 
 for tlie promiscuous crowd is unnecessary, unbe- 
 coming, and no longer practiced by people of good 
 taste. 
 
 6. Encourage church funerals, especially for 
 church members. To these ever)body can be in- 
 vited. They avoid the crowding, the discom- 
 fort, and the standing out of doors necessitated by 
 the house funeral. In the church there is every 
 convenience for music, singing, and speaking. All 
 can hear and take part. See that the front seats 
 are reserved for the mourners. Discourage the 
 
366 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 foolish custom, in vogue in some country places, of 
 the men keeping on their hats during the service. 
 
 7. Discourage the old-fashioned and disreputable 
 wake, still popular in some out-of-the-way places. 
 If two of the neighbors or friends will sit up, while 
 the body is in the house and may need attention, 
 this will suffice. The family should go to bed. 
 
 8i Discourage the ugly custom of making a pub- 
 lic show of the dead in church. ' It ought to be 
 understood that all who desire to take a last look 
 Discourage should go to the house before the funeral. Advise 
 
 show of the 
 
 body. the mourners especially to take their last leave 
 alone, before the funeral. This grief is too sacred 
 to be exhibited before a curious crowd. Here the 
 heart knows its own bitterness, and a stranger inter- 
 meddleth not therewith. It has seemed to us re- 
 pulsive that the family should go through this 
 ordeal before a promiscuous crowd, staring and 
 commenting, and saying, " How did Mary take it ? " 
 " Why John didn't take on at all ! " Because for- 
 sooth his grief was too deep for tears or loud lamen- 
 tations. These things can generally be made clear 
 to the family, and they will gladly take their pas- 
 tor's advice. If the coffin must be opened in church, 
 announce that the family has already taken its last 
 leave. 
 
 io.| If the weather be very cold, let the pastor 
 keep on his hat and overcoat at the grave. The 
 
MINISTERING TO THE BEREAVED. 367 
 
 good Lord does not want you to contract catarrh 
 or pneumonia for the sake of liturgical fonn. j On 
 such occasions shorten the service, and use only 
 the essentials. Where it is customary for the people 
 to remain till the grave is filled up, kindly advise 
 them to disperse immediately after the benediction. 
 Or, better still, advise the women not to go into ^..^^i^or 
 the deep snow or driving sleet and biting wind at 
 the grave. Be thoughtful of the life and health of 
 the women and children, unless you want other 
 funerals soon to follow. It is cruelty to have ner- 
 vous and worn-out women and children, often not 
 properly clothed or shod, to stand for fifteen or 
 twenty, minutes in the snow and piercing cold. 
 
 II. In some places the after-funeral feasts, with 
 Shakespeare's "funeral-baked meats," are still in 
 vogue. This also is an abomination.^ This is not 
 the time for feasting. Besides it is expensive. We 
 know a case where a poor widow had her only hog 
 butchered for the funeral feasters, and her winter's 
 meat was gone. Set your face against it. It is a 
 relic of heathenism. 
 
 But here again a word of caution is necessar>'. 
 As we have said of other objectionable manners 
 and customs, you cannot sweep them out with a 
 broom. Speak of the abominations in the pulpit and 
 in the homes of your people ; show them the objec- 
 tionable features, show them a more excellent way. 
 
the 
 
 268 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 1 2. And, finally, do not fail to visit the bereaved 
 soon after the funeral, and visit them frequently for 
 a while. When the strain and excitement of the 
 funeral are over, when they are sitting alone in 
 bereaved, ^heir broken circle, in the bitterness of their grief, 
 then they will appreciate the comfort and strength 
 which the pastor alone can bring. Encourage them 
 out of the Divine Word. Read and pray with them, 
 it will do them good. It will do you good. 
 
PART V. 
 
 THE PASTOR'S PRIVATE WORK— SPECIAL OR 
 PRIVATE SEELSORGE. 
 
 24 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 SIGNIFICANCE — PRINCIPLES AND IMPORTANCE OF 
 PRIVATE SEELSORGE. 
 
 We now begin a new department of Pastoral 
 Theology. We have studied the pastor in relation 
 to his office and call, in his personal, intellectual, 
 and devotional life, his position in society and his 
 relation to Synod. We have looked upon him as 
 the builder, leader, and guardian of his church as a ^i^orge. 
 whole, and have seen him as he ministers in the sanc- 
 tuary, attends to his public functions, and performs 
 ministerial acts. All this has to do more especially 
 with his general position and work in and for the 
 church. It all has to do also with seelsorge. His 
 office, call, private and public life all look to seel- 
 sorge. His gathering, building, moulding, and 
 guarding his church is seelsorge. His work and 
 acts in the house of God are seelsorge. But it all 
 looks to and is more or less seelsorge in general, 
 seelsorge in regard to his parish as a whole. Even 
 those acts that have to do more directly with the 
 individual still pertain to the general work. When 
 he baptizes a babe, by the act and by his words he 
 instructs and admonishes all who are present ; so 
 (37^) 
 
373 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 when he confirms a catecliumen and administeis 
 the Lord's Supper. Even when he unites a cou- 
 ple in marriage it ought to be seelsorge, not only for 
 those who stand at the altar, and for whose souls 
 he will afterward care, but the ceremony itself is 
 an object lesson and a sermon for all. And so with 
 all his ministerial acts. They are blessings to 
 those on and for whom they are administered, and 
 solemn lessons for all who are present. 
 
 Seelsorge ! What a beautiful and expressive 
 term. We have nothing to correspond with it in 
 English. * 
 
 It means the cure and care of souls. Souls are 
 sick, sin-sick. They need to be cured and cared 
 for. This is what a pastor is for. He is a seel- 
 sorger. What an honor ! what a privilege ! what 
 a responsibility ! 
 
 But there is not only a general, but a special and 
 Special private seelsorge, i. c.^ a care for the individual 
 soul. It is this seelsorge in its narrower sense, 
 this individual soul-cure, that we shall now consider. 
 The pastor is not only the shepherd of the flock as a 
 whole, but also of every individual sheep and lamb 
 
 * The nearest to it is the noun "cure," derived from the Latin 
 curare, to care. A curate is one who cures or cares for souls. 
 Unfortunately the term, as in vogue in the Episcopal Church, 
 is there appHed to a lower order of the ministry, as to an 
 assistant of a vicar. 
 
 seelsorge. 
 
SIGNIFICANCE OF PRIVATK vSEELSORGE. t^-JT, 
 
 ill it, and to some extent of even-one that ought 
 to be in it. 
 
 This individual soul-cure has its foundation and 
 warrant in the Scripture. Not only that, but it is lis Scripture 
 
 basis. 
 
 there laid down as the minister's special and solemn 
 duty. As we have elsewhere written : " The 
 pastor as a fisher must go out to catch men (Matt, 
 iv. 19 ; ^lark i. 17 ; Luke v. 10). As a servant he 
 must go wherever he can reach outsiders and compel 
 them to come in (Luke xiv. 23). As a shepherd 
 he must know his sheep, feed them, and seek the 
 lost (John X. 3, 4, 14, 16, and xxi. 15-17 ; Luke xv. 
 4 ; Acts XX. 28 ; i Pet. v. 2). As a watchman he 
 must warn all who are in danger (Ez. iii. 17-21: 
 xxxiii. 7-16 ; Heb. xiii. 17). All this requires 
 personal elTort in interviewing all who need his 
 ministrations, have no other pastor, and are in his 
 reach. In this he must follow the footsteps of 
 Christ (Isa. xl. 11; John iv. 6ff : x. 3, 4, 14, 16; 
 Luke X. 38-42 and xxii. 31 ; IMatt. xxvi. 6). Thus 
 also did Paul (Acts xx. 20, 26, 31 : i Thes. ii. 11). 
 "The spirit and method of soul-cure will be 
 influenced and determined by ^.octrinal views. 
 What and for whom is the -.^urch ? What is the 
 ofRce and function of '::.^ ministry ? Is the Word 
 the organ of the Holy Spirit ? Are the sacraments 
 channels of grace ? What is the relation of baptized 
 
374 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 children to the church ? What is the relation of 
 conversion to regeneration, and how is conversion 
 brought about ? What is the nature of justification, 
 and what is its relation to sanctification ? The 
 peculiar, primitive, and Biblical doctrines of the 
 Lutheran Church on these and other subjects make 
 the seelsorge of the Luthean pastor differ from 
 that of a Reformed pastor. The Lutheran cannot, 
 therefore, learn his pastoral theology, or even his 
 seelsorge, from a Reformed author. But the Luth- 
 eran pastor should be all the more earnest and 
 diligent." 
 
 BurKCf. ^^- Horn quotes from Burger in Herzog (Ev. 
 
 Pastor, p. i59f): "The type of the pastor (seel- 
 sorger) first appears in Jesus Christ, the Good 
 Shepherd, who had been promised in Isa. xl. 1 1 ; 
 Jer. xxxi. lo ; Ez. xxxvii. 24 ; who made Himself 
 known in this Hisofl&ce (Johnx.); who always exer- 
 cised a spiritual care upon those whose bodies He 
 healed (Matt. ix. 35, 36); and who in the training and 
 preparation of His disciples (for instance, of Simon 
 Peter) was the model of a wise and patient guide 
 of souls, going to the roots of natural character and 
 keeping before Him the highest aim." He made 
 John xxi. 15-17 the basis of His pastoral commis- 
 sion. 
 
 Beck. Dr. Horn then quotes Beck on John x. thus ! 
 
 " It is such an application of the Word as shall be 
 
SIGNIFICANCE OF PRIVATE SEEL,SORGE. 375 
 
 the means of producing a knowledge and following of 
 Christ ; then a leading or guiding, which, however, 
 is joined with service and with self-sacrifice." He 
 then quotes Deyling (in Walther) thus : "An evan- Deyiing. 
 gelical pastor is bound not only to instruct his 
 hearers in public, but he must instruct them pri- 
 vately whenever he has an opportunity ; he must 
 bear each upon his heart, and, according to the dis- 
 position of each and the different circumstances, 
 apply to everyone entrusted to him what will fur- 
 ther his salvation. For the teachers of the Word 
 are called pastors, shepherds (Eph. iv. 11). There- 
 fore, they must take care not only of the whole 
 flock, but also of every sheep in it. If, then, one 
 of these has wandered, the shepherd seeks it with- 
 out delay, brings it back to the fold, strengthens it 
 and heals it The minister of the Word is stationed 
 by God to be a watchman for the church, after the 
 pattern of Ezekiel, Isaiah, and Jeremiah (Isa. Hi. 8 ; 
 Jer. vi. 17 ; Heb. xiii. 17). How could he be said 
 to watch if he did not keep an eye on every part^ 
 on every member of the congregation? Further, 
 a minister must give an account of the whole con- 
 gregation entrusted to him. He must carefully 
 inquire into the life of everyone, and instruct every- 
 one, both publicly and privately. Pastors again 
 are called bishops, /. <?., overseers, and are com- 
 manded to oversee the flock, as well singly as col- 
 
2>7^ 
 
 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 Chrysostoin. 
 
 Biigenhagen. 
 
 lectively (Acts xx. 28 ; i Pet. v. 2). They are 
 also called workers together with God. As now 
 God is concerned not only for our salvation in gen- 
 eral, but for the salvation of every particular man, 
 so His co-worker, the minister of the Word, is 
 bound to the same. Cowherds and shepherds know 
 everyone of their beasts and are interested in each ; 
 why should not the shepherd of souls bear on his 
 heart the souls bought with the precious blood of 
 Christ ? So Paul did not cease to admonish every- 
 one not only publicly, but specially from house to 
 house (Acts xx. 20, 31 ; i Thes. ii. 10). Such visi- 
 tation from house to house and such admonition is 
 part of the duty of a minister, John Chrysostom, in 
 his Thirty-fourth Homily on the Epistle to the 
 Hebrews, emphasiz'^s this, saying, ' Thou must give 
 an account of everyone entrusted to thee, men, 
 women, and children. Think in what peril thou 
 art ! It is a thing to be wondered at, if one priest 
 be saved.' " 
 
 Now we find that this special and private soul- 
 cure has not always been favored in the Lutheran 
 Church. Though Luther did not write any specific 
 and systematic treatise on this subject, he was yet, 
 in his spirit and practice, a model seelsorger. * 
 
 Bugenhagen, in his Bi^aunschiveiger K. O. 
 
 * Every Lutheran pastor ought to have and to study the ex- 
 cellent little manual, " Luther as a Spiritual Adviser." 
 
SIGNIFICANCE OF PRIVATE SEELSORGE. 377 
 
 (1528), restricts private soul-cure to the sick and 
 the imprisoned, but advises against visiting the 
 sick unless called by them. In the first Witten- 
 berg K. O. (of 1533), it is positively forbidden the 
 pastor to visit the sick uncalled. In the Bremer k. o. o. 
 K. O. (of 1534), it is advised that the sick who de- 
 spised the Word of God in their health shall now 
 be left without it, unless the pastor is requested to 
 come. The Hessian order also advises against vis- 
 iting the sick uncalled. * 
 
 Paul Tarnov, on the Sacred Ministry, knows no 
 special seelsorge outside of privat Beichte. The 
 same is true of Joh. Gerhard, and recently of 
 Steinmeier. Loehe and Paludan Miiller also favor ^^.^^jf ^,^ 
 the practice that the pastor go only where he is f^^or special 
 
 ^ i- o ^ seelsoi^e. 
 
 called. Both speak slightingly of general pastoral 
 visitation. This will suffice to show that the 
 Lutheran Church has not always favored private 
 soul-cure — unless it were at private confession. 
 This explains also why it has been and still is so 
 largely neglected. 
 
 There are some special reasons for this unfortu- 
 nate position among Lutherans. 
 
 Without question one cause is found in the large 
 parishes in Germany and Scandinavia. Where sev- 
 eral thousands of souls belong to one parish, it is 
 out of the question to carry on regular and system- 
 * See Achelis' Practische Theologie, Vol. II., p. i88ff. 
 
^yS THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 atic pastoral work. Another hindering cause is 
 
 the State Church. This has a tendency always to 
 
 make the whole church life official and perfunctory. 
 
 Reasons for Its influence on the pastoral idea and work is de- 
 
 this position. 
 
 moralizing. Religious duties of the people are 
 largely regulated by the State, whose paid official 
 the pastor is. He must carry out and see that his 
 people carry out the State's mandates. How nat- 
 ural to quiet the conscience and be satisfied when 
 this is done. How easy to say, " If the people need 
 me and the church, they know where we are. If 
 they don't send for me, I shall not run after them." 
 And so they are left to live and die in their sins. 
 What becomes of the true shepherd knowing his 
 sheep and seeking the lost ? 
 
 Again, the Lutheran view of the means of g^ace 
 may be made an excuse. Salvation is to come through 
 these, and it is enough if the Word is rightly preached 
 and the sacraments rightly administered. This is 
 theoretically correct. If people are to be saved at all, 
 it must be by using these means. But the practice of 
 depending on the public ministrations of the church 
 overlooks the very important fact that these will not 
 help the people who are not there, that man naturally 
 and easily becomes engrossed with the cares, the 
 riches, and the pleasures of this world and is prone to 
 forget and neglect these means. This theory over- 
 looks the sad but stubborn fact that these careless 
 
SIGNIFICANCE OF PRIVATE SEELSORGE. 379 
 
 ones need to be gone after, admonished, wooed, and 
 drawn to the church. And, further, even if the above 
 theory and practice would answer in a land where 
 everyone is bom in the church, must be baptized, 
 instructed in the Word, be confirmed and commune 
 in connection with his confirmation, where all thus 
 regard themselves as in the church, look up to the 
 minister as a public official who must look after them 
 when they need and notify him, it would still never 
 answer in our land where there is no State Church. 
 That it does not answer even in a State Church we 
 know to our sorrow. These Lutherans come to this 
 free land. Here there is no authority that can com- 
 mand them as to their religious duty toward them- Special 
 
 seelsorgt 
 
 selves or to their children. They feel themselves free needed in our 
 
 ... land. 
 
 and unrestrained. They have come here not, like 
 the Pilgrim Fathers, to better their religious condi- 
 tion. With the exception of the Lutherans from 
 the Baltic provinces and from Finland, our people 
 come here to better their worldly condition. This 
 is their great all-absorbing interest. How natural 
 and how easy to forget their higher interests. How 
 natural that their children should be imbued with 
 the idea and spirit that the one great aim and 
 object of life is to get worldly comforts and pos- 
 sessions. Shall they be left alone to degenerate 
 more and more and become a final prey to the 
 world, the flesh, and the devil ? 
 
380 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 And still further. This land is full of evangel- 
 istic, zealous, missionating, and proselyting sects 
 and denominations. They look after the new- 
 comers. They meet and greet and befriend them 
 on the incoming ship. They visit and show kind- 
 ness to them in their loneliness in a strange land. 
 The strangers are impressed with this unaccus- 
 tomed, warm-hearted, and seemingly earnest solici- 
 tude for their temporal and eternal welfare. The 
 best of them fall an easy prey, are drawn away from 
 their mother-church and become bitter against her, 
 when they constrasther indifference with the interest, 
 earnestness, and zeal of these people. Our Lutherans 
 do not always stop to consider doctrinal differences, 
 and soon feel at home among their warm-hearted new 
 friends. Why should their own Church not be even 
 more solicitous, interested, and helpful as to her own 
 people ? What of the responsibility and accounta- 
 bility of the Lutheran Church and ministry ? If 
 our ministers had been and were as much inter- 
 ested, as attentive, and as kind to these Lutherans of 
 the diaspora and to their children, who live around 
 our churches, as these proselyters of another faith 
 and another spirit are, we should not constantly 
 have to bewail our losses. As long as we as a 
 church do not do our duty, it will help us naught to 
 scold about others for doing what we neglect to do. 
 A far more effective method would be for all of our 
 ministers to realize their responsibility, and do 
 
SIGNIFICANCE OF TRIVATE SEELSORGE. 381 
 
 their duty by those of the household of faith. All 
 this applies also to those careless ones, nominally 
 in our churches, who become an easy prey to the 
 more evangelistic though less evangelical churches. 
 Why should not a Lutheran pastor be as diligent, 
 as warm-hearted, and as attentive to the families, 
 children, and individuals in his reach as these 
 others are? There is absolutely no ground and no 
 excuse for the difference in zeal for the individual. 
 It is high time that all our theological seminaries 
 lay more stress on a Biblical seelsorge, adapted to 
 our land and our mixed and endangered people. 
 We repeat what we have said before, give us a 
 generation of ministers as apt, earnest, zealous, and 
 active in private soul-cure, as they are sound in 
 faith and orthodox in the pulpit, and nothing will 
 be able to stand against our Church. No church 
 needs such active seelsorgers so much as the church 
 that has such a large diaspora. To assist in this 
 immense work we need parish deaconesses. New 
 Testament deacons, and all the machinery of the 
 German Evangelical Inner Mission work. To this 
 we have referred before. 
 
 As to the qualifications needed by the true seel- ^^^^^ 
 sorger, they are, in general, those that we have quaiificauous 
 enumerated as important for the minister. 
 
 A few of these, however, need to be emphasized 
 for the seelsorger : 
 
 I. He needs that calm, cool, comprehensive judg- 
 
382 THE I,UTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 ment that can take in every situation, and the rela- 
 tion of the seemingly simple to the important and 
 high. He needs a large measure of sanctified com- 
 mon sense. 
 
 2. He needs a warm, sympathetic heart, patience, 
 perseverance and a charity that "believeth all things, 
 hopeth all things, endureth all things." He needs 
 that true optimism that comes from an unbounded 
 faith in his Lord, in the Word, and in the divinity 
 of his own call. 
 
 3. He needs to understand human nature in all 
 its diversified forms and phases. And here a wide 
 
 Know human field of research opens to him. What is the influ- 
 nature. ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ body ou the soul, of the physical on the 
 psychical ? What is the influence of the soul on 
 the body ? What is the mutual influence of the 
 one on the other ? Of a strong mind on a weak 
 one? What untrodden fields, what unsounded 
 depths, what unsealed heights are here ! After 
 thousands of years of study man does not yet know 
 himself. How much allowance, if any, must be 
 made for heredity ? How much for environment ? 
 For temperament ? For sex ? Truly, as far as this 
 world and life are concerned, " The proper study 
 of mankind is man." 
 
 The seelsorger needs to be a lover of this study 
 and an adept in it. We once had a needed lesson 
 from a wise old retired pastor. Complaining to 
 
SIGNIFICANCE OF PRIVATE SEEI^SORGE. 383 
 
 him of the apathy, stolidity, and lethargy of a cer- 
 tain man in the church, named Penny, the old pas- 
 tor laughed and said : " You are unreasonable ; you 
 can only get a penny's worth from a penny. But 
 you are looking for a dollar's worth." A young 
 pastor in his zeal wanted to put a seemingly worth- 
 less and troublesome man out of the church. He 
 consulted an aged brother in the ministry, who 
 said : "Be patient, my brother ; the good Lord can 
 get along with a great many people with whom 
 you and I cannot get along." The seelsorger needs 
 an inexhaustible fund of gentle tact, unwearied 
 love, and undying hope. 
 
 4. He needs to know his Bible so well that he 
 
 can at once apply its teachings to the case in hand, ^^, ^ 
 and answer every question on the principles there 
 laid do\^Ti. 
 
 5. He needs to know not only the natural psy- 
 chology, but also the spiritual psychology of man. 
 He needs to understand something of the workings 
 of grace in the human soul, its permanent and its 
 variable phases, its modifications by constitutional, 
 hereditary, temperamental, and local peculiarities. 
 As a spiritual physician he must understand how 
 much law and how much Gospel to apply in each 
 given case. Right therapeutic treatment can fol- 
 low only where there has been a correct diagTiosis. 
 
 6. For all this he needs to pray constantly for 
 
384 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 ' that wisdom which, if any man lack, he must ask of 
 God, who giveth liberally and upbraideth not. His 
 laboratory must be his closet, and from his knees 
 he should ever go forth to cure his sin-sick patients. 
 Much more might be said of the vital import- 
 ance of this part of a minister's work. It has been 
 
 Isnjxjitance of 
 
 st^isotge. most signally recognized and blessed by the Great 
 Shepherd and Bishop of Souls. Model pastorates, 
 like those of Baxter in Kidderminster ; Oberlin, in 
 the Steinthal ; Ludwig Harms, in Hermannsburg ; 
 Dr. Cuyler, in Brooklyn ; Dr. John Hall, in New 
 York ; our own Dr. Green wald, in Lancaster,* and 
 of numbers of others known to God, were not built 
 up without diligent, constant, faithful individual 
 soul-cure. It is the face-to-face and hand-to-hand 
 work of the pastor that is the greatest help to his 
 pulpit ministrations. Dr. Doddridge once re- 
 marked : " My heart does not upbraid me for having 
 kept back anything that might be profitable to my 
 people. But I fear that I have not followed them 
 sufficiently with domestic and personal exhorta- 
 tions." 
 
 The godly Leigh ton said In his last retirement : 
 " Were I again to be a parish minister I must fol- 
 
 * Dr. Greenwald once went to synod, and on his arrival was 
 asked to join a pleasure party before synod would open. He 
 excused himself and said that he must hunt up a servant girl, 
 lately removed from his parish. 
 
Eminent 
 
 SIGNIFICANCE OF PRIVATF) SEKLSORGE. 385 
 
 low sinners to their homes and even to their ale- 
 houses." 
 
 Osterwald (Lectures on the Sacred Office, p. 
 242f) expresses his surprise that a Christian min- 
 ister can satisfy his own conscience without a dili- 
 gent parochial ministration. Matthew Henry ad- 
 vises young ministers : " Acquaint yourselves with 
 the state of your people's souls, their temptations, examples, 
 their infirmities. You will then know the better 
 how to preach to them." Again : " Rely on it, he 
 who hopes to discharge the duties of the pulpit 
 ably, appropriately, seasonably, and to the greatest 
 advantage of his flock, without being much with 
 them, entertains a hope which is perfectly unrea- 
 sonable and will certainly be disappointed." Philip 
 Henry observes, " That the true learning of a Gos- 
 pel minister consists not in being able to talk Latin 
 fluently or to dispute in philosophy, but in being 
 able to speak a w^ord in season to weary souls." 
 
 We have culled a number of these examples 
 from Bridges on the Christian Ministry, a mine 
 of information and inspiration. Many more might 
 be quoted, but these will suffice to show how men 
 owned and blest of God in winning and feeding 
 souls have estimated seelsorge. 
 
 But we must hasten on to consider the proper 
 methods of practicing this blessed function of the 
 holy office. 
 25 
 
IS not. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE PASTOR VISITING. 
 
 What is a pastoral visit ? It is not a social visit 
 Many pastors make only social visits, and try to 
 
 What a . 
 
 pastoral visit make themselves believe that they are making pas- 
 toral visits. They love to go into good societ>'. 
 They go where it is most congenial to their taste, 
 where they are generously and interestingly enter- 
 tained. They strive to become fine conversation- 
 alists, good story-tellers, ivttl of wit and worldly 
 wisdom. They are good on the croquet ground, the 
 tennis court, and at the golf links. They spend happy 
 afternoons and evenings, and go home without hav- 
 ing said one earnest word or started one serious 
 thought. They have certainly not made a pastoral 
 visit. True, a pastor may allow himself an occa- 
 sional social visit on a " blue Monday," or on some 
 special occasion. He cannot afford to do much of 
 it. His time is too precious. He needs to be about 
 his Father's business. He is also shorn of his 
 power and influence in the community if he appears 
 to be a gentleman of leisure, who delights in games, 
 in good company and good dinners. 
 [ Neither is a pastoral visit an inquisitorial visit, 
 (386) 
 
Common 
 
 THE PASTOR VISITING. 387 
 
 in which he comes to make an official investigation 
 into the family and private life. Snch visits some 
 of the stern old Calvinists and Pnritans nsed to 
 make. They came with a stereotyped set of ques- 
 tions and with the Shorter Catechism. Their face 
 and their mien were like a funeral. No wonder 
 that the children used to run and hide, and the 
 timid women were glad when the parson was gone. 
 They were formalists, and practiced formal private 
 confession and absolution, though they hated these 
 words as marks of the popish beast and of the scar- 
 let woman. It is not necessary that we warn m'siak 
 against such visits. 
 
 But, again, neither is a pastoral visit a cold per- 
 functor)'^ ofHcial call. Many such are made. The 
 pastor's conscience drives him out. He must per- 
 form the hated task. The quicker he can make 
 the round the better. He calls, inquires after the 
 health of the family, and asks, perhaps, why they 
 are not more regular at church. He gives a cold 
 reprimand, if he thinks it deserved, and after a few 
 commonplace remarks departs, to the great relief of 
 the family. Sometimes it is worse than this. He 
 has heard that the family is not living right, that 
 some member of the household is reported as guilty 
 of some misdeed, or that someone has talked about 
 himself. He is angry, and shows it. He scolds 
 roundly and soundly, and hastily leaves. What is 
 
388 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 the impression of such a visit? Ought not com- 
 mon sense to teach that it has done more harm than 
 good, has perhaps alienated a family or a youth 
 forever from the church ? We hope it is not neces- 
 sary to warn against such visits. 
 
 A true pastoral call has a pastoral aim. Its first 
 aim is to win the confidence and love of everyone vis- 
 ited, of the whole family, including servants, or of the 
 pastora" vi'sits. individual, if the visit is to him. The pastor knows 
 that, without the confiding love of those whom he 
 desires to benefit, he can do nothing. Neither can 
 he know his people before he has w^on their con- 
 fidence. His further aim is to do good to everyone 
 thus visited. With kindly, tactful treatment he 
 should lead them to open their hearts and their 
 manner of life to him. He should know their 
 spiritual estate, their personal relation to the 
 Saviour. He does not expect all this at the first 
 call. It may require many interviews : with some 
 more, with others less. He would give instruc- 
 tion, counsel, encouragement, or warning as each 
 case may require. Ever>' such visit ought to leave 
 behind inspiration, courage, and resolution for a 
 better life. After each pastoral visit the impres- 
 sion left should be that a man of God has been in 
 the house. 
 
 Such a visit need not, unless it be a special 
 case, take much time. If the family or person 
 
THE PASTOR VISITING. 389 
 
 called on is busy, the wise pastor will say a kind, 
 encouraging pastoral word, wishing God's blessing, 
 or repeating a suitable Scripture verse, and go on. 
 But even if there is no haste on the part of those 
 visited, the pastor need not spend hours at such a 
 visit, unless, again, it be a special occasion. It is 
 much easier to give a pastoral character to a short 
 call than to a long one. Long visits should be the 
 exception ; short calls the rule. 
 
 Let every call have a specific aim. Along what 
 line does this family or person need a pastoral 
 word ? If a family, get them together as soon as 
 you can. If the man or the men and boys are out 
 in the barn or in the field, go out and see them ^^^.^ needed, 
 there. Show all of them that you are interested in 
 their interests. Have a few encouraging words 
 with the women about their work, their interests, 
 and their children. A wise pastor once came upon 
 a woman at the wash-tub. She was embarrassed. 
 He said he was glad to find her engaged in such a 
 good work, reminded her of the value of the service 
 she was rendering her people, said he would leave 
 her a word to think while she made the soiled gar- 
 ments clean : " Wash me, and I shall be whiter 
 than snow," he said, and, without taking a seat, left 
 her, happy and edified. Have a word with the 
 men about their live stock, their work, their fields, 
 and their crops. It is a good thing if the country 
 
Dr. Cuyler. 
 
 390 THE IvUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 pastor can talk intelligently about these things ; can 
 show them how their work is serving not only the 
 family, but humanity ; how good the Lord is ; and 
 how their vocation should daily teach them 
 patience, trust, and gratitude. Give them an apt 
 passage of Scripture, and leave them. 
 
 Dr. Cuyler, in his How to Be a Pastor, p. 34, 
 gives two instances of tactful treatment. He tells 
 liow he once spent an evening in a vain endeavor 
 to bring a man to a decision for Christ. " Before 
 I left," he says, " he took me upstairs to the nursery 
 to show me his beautiful children in their cribs. 
 ' Do you mean that these sweet children shall never 
 have any help from their father to get to heaven ? ' 
 I said to him tenderly. He was deeply moved, and 
 in a month became an active member of my church. 
 For twenty-five years that man has been glued to 
 me ; infinitely better, he has glorified his Saviour." 
 
 Another instance : " On a cold winter evening I 
 made my first call on a rich merchant in New York. 
 As I left his door and the piercing gale swept in, I 
 said, ' What an awful night for the poor.' He went 
 back, and, bringing me a roll of bank-bills, said, 
 ' Please hand these for me to the poorest people 
 you know.' After a few days I wrote to him the 
 grateful thanks of the poor whom his bounty had 
 relieved, and added : ' How is it that a man who is 
 so kind to his fellow-creatures has always been so 
 
TIIK PASTOR VISITING. 391 
 
 unkind to his Saviour as to refuse Him his heart ? ' 
 That sentence touched him in the core. He sent 
 for me to come and talk with him, and speedily 
 gave himself to Christ. He has been a most useful 
 Christian ever since." 
 
 Never allow yourself to be burdensome. Do not 
 take anyone's time when work is pressing. You 
 may thus be hindered from carrying out your spe- 
 
 •r • -I , -ii ,1 r Where to read 
 
 cmc aim, but you will prepare the way for a more jj,,^] 
 opportune time, and you will do much to win con- 
 fidence and esteem. If you can get the family 
 together, it is a blessed help to your work if you 
 can read a suitable passage of Scripture and kneel 
 with them in a short prayer for their temporal and 
 spiritual welfare. But do not insist on this at an 
 inopportune time. We have known of legalistic 
 pastors who have called the family in to worship 
 when perhaps the woman had her hands in the 
 dough or bread in the oven that needed attention, 
 or when the children were hurr>'ing to get ready 
 for school, or the men were at some work that ought 
 not to be interrupted. It is needless to say that 
 such worship was not unto edification. But where 
 the opportunity is favorable, let it be understood 
 that you take pleasure in ministering, as a pastor, 
 at the family altar. Your passage of Scripture 
 should be determined on before you come, and suit 
 the needs and wants of the famih-. Happy are you 
 
392 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 if you can make such brief, running, and direct ap- 
 plications as will reach your specific aim. You 
 can thus let the Word give the needed counsels, en- 
 couragements, comforts, or warnings as are needed. 
 This is a true pastoral visit. It brings the church 
 into the house. Where discreetly and kindly con- 
 ducted, such a visit binds those visited to the pastor 
 and to the church as with hooks of steel. Such 
 visits are more difficult in the city than in the coun- 
 try, because in the city the family is not generally 
 together in the daytime. There you will have to 
 adapt yourself and do the best you can. You can 
 up a . ^j_||| i^g^^^g g. ■^Qj-(j from God with the women, chil- 
 dren, and servants. You will have to see the whole 
 family in the evening, and then you can have a 
 real pastoral visit. You will have to hunt up 
 many a man in his office or shop. Do not intrude 
 if you see that he is specially engaged. Give him 
 a warm hand-grasp, say that you will call again 
 when he is not so busy, and go. In the city your 
 calls will be even shorter than in the country. 
 Here you ought to average ten or more calls in 
 an afternoon and still leave a word fitly spoken, an 
 incitement for good, and a gleam of sunshine behind. 
 In the country you should average six or more in 
 an afternoon, and carry the same good into every 
 visit. Even a visit with worship need not take 
 more than twenty minutes or half an hour. 
 
visit. 
 
 THE PASTOR VISITING. 393 
 
 Whom should you visit ? You are to give heed to 
 all the flock over which the Holy Ghost has made 
 you overseer. The good shepherd knows ever}- sheep 
 and calleth it by name and leadeth it out. Every 
 sheep knows his voice and follows him. You need 
 not visit all alike. Some families and individuals 
 need you more than others. "What sinful mistakes whom to 
 and neglects are made here ! 1 How many pastors 
 visit chiefly if not solely the good, the well-to-do, 
 and the cultured^! They go where it is a pleasure 
 and a relaxation to go. The poor, the weak, the 
 wandering, the sad, and the erring are left to them- 
 selves. How often have we not heard such people 
 say : " Our pastor was never in our house ; or, he 
 was only here when we sent for him, in sickness — 
 and then he only came once for each request — or 
 at a funeral ! " How often have we not heard the 
 wayward and the wandering, or those who had been 
 gathered into a strange fold, say, " He never said a 
 word to me about my soul ! '' What if such an 
 one be suddenly cut off and the pastor be sent for 
 to bury him ? With what a fearful shock will the 
 question come, " Did I do my duty as his pastor? 
 Might it not have been different if I had ? Is he 
 lost? Lost through my neglect?" God pity the 
 pastor whose conscience will thus justly lash him 
 and will not spare. Better heed a pastorally trained 
 conscience in time. What of the account in the 
 
394 '^HE LUTHERAN PASTOR- 
 
 day of judgment ? What of those whom he did not 
 warn, who died in their sins, and will then face 
 him and say : "If you had spoken to me, warned, 
 responsibility, and tried to win me, I might have been saved ? " 
 The Lord says : " His blood will I require at thy 
 hands." " They watch for your souls as they that 
 must give account." The true pastor will spend 
 most of his effort and time with those who need 
 him most. If he really have not time to visit all, 
 the good will readily excuse him if they know that 
 he is going about where pastoral encouragement, 
 comfort, or warning are most needed. We have 
 already spoken of his duty to help the poor out of 
 their poverty. We here speak of their need of a 
 spiritual adviser and comforter. Of the sick we 
 shall speak more specifically hereafter. 
 
 But, as has before been shown, the pastor has a 
 ^outsidCTs^" ^"ty ^^^ t° outsiders, who have no pastor. He is 
 to sow his seed beside all waters. To be instant 
 in season, out of season, reproving, rebuking, ex- 
 horting, with all long-suffering and doctrine. He 
 is to visit all the outsiders in his reach as long as 
 he is permitted. In the country the line is easily 
 drawn. He ought to know every family within the 
 bounds of his parish, and all the unchurched oughi 
 to be sought out, and, if possible, gathered in. 
 This work faithfully pursued will bring the faithful 
 pastor some of his greatest joys. He is to watch 
 
THE PASTOR VISITING. 395 
 
 for special opportunities, when there is trouble, 
 sorrow, sickness, or death. Then he will be doubly 
 welcome, and find promising soil for the seed of the 
 Word. 
 
 It was our privilege during a summer vacation 
 from the seminary to assist the sainted Dr. Passa- 
 vant in looking after a neglected vacant country Dr. Passavant. 
 parish, and to work with him also in hewing out 
 a new parish in a religiously neglected township, 
 where there were no Lutherans, but many neglected 
 and degenerated sinners. We never passed a house 
 unless we knew that it belonged to another parish. 
 On the previous Sunday the Doctor had announced 
 that on a certain day he would be in a certain dis- 
 trict and preach in the evening in the school-house ; 
 on the next day in another corner, and so on until 
 the community was covered. This was his custom 
 before ever>' communion. Those visited would 
 nearly always come to the school-house in the even- 
 ing, and so the W^ord was doubly carried to those 
 who rarely came to church. In nearly every family 
 the Doctor would have worship. W^e shall never 
 forget his earnest personal talks to all sorts and 
 conditions of people, and his prayers of faith as we 
 knelt on broken floors and in cabins, where prob- 
 ably the voice of prayer was never heard before. 
 We were learning Pastoral Theology. There are 
 prosperous countr}- charges now in these regions. 
 
39^ THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 We know of other Lutheran Churches and charges 
 thus started. How many neglected township and 
 school districts could thus be visited and reached 
 if our pastors had the spirit of Dr. Passavant, w4io 
 did such work when burdened with the cares of his 
 many institutions of mercy and with his general 
 church work. His hair was silvery-white when we 
 threaded the ravines, climbed the steep and rugged 
 hills and high fences together, hunting up the out- 
 of-the-way cabins of the mountaineers. A few 
 )ears after this work was begun Dr. Passavant was 
 
 A striking 
 
 example. oncc met by a judge of the District Court, who said : 
 
 " Doctor, what has happened at Crow's Run? " 
 
 " Why do you ask me ? " said the doctor. 
 
 " Well," said the judge, " we used to have most of 
 the criminal cases, especially cases of seduction and 
 drunken brawls, from that corner of the county. 
 But for the last few years they have been becom- 
 ing beautifully less." 
 
 Dr. Passavant answered : 
 
 " Well, judge, we have taken the Word of God 
 in there and built a church." 
 
 Let our brother pastors go and do likewise, and 
 they will have a joy in their ministry which all the 
 wealth and honor of the world could not buy. 
 
 In the city such pastoral missionary work cannot 
 be so easily bounded, for the pastor cannot know 
 who all live in the bounds of his parish. But if 
 
THE PASTOR VISITING. 397 
 
 he has the missionary scent and zeal he can get on 
 the track of many an outsider, whom he will follow 
 up and often win. In this work, also, where there 
 is a will there is a way. 
 
 When is the pastor to do his visiting? In the 
 countr>^ he cannot be so systematic. It must be 
 well understood that he is ready to respond to any when to visit, 
 call, at any season, at any distance, and in any 
 weather. Even where not called, but where he 
 knows that he is needed, he ought to go in season 
 and out of season. 
 
 But as to his regular and ordinary visitations he 
 should wisely select the best times. He should 
 endeavor to see all, of whom he has reason to be- 
 lieve that they need him, before ever)^ communion. 
 Otherwise he should consult the season, the condi- 
 tion of the roads, the moon, and especially the com- 
 parative rush or leisure of his people. When the 
 weather and roads are most favorable and his peo- 
 ple are not crowded with necessary work, then let 
 him redeem the time and get over as much terri- 
 tory as he can, spending the night among his peo- 
 ple and the evenings in preaching in the school- 
 houses. But we repeat it. Let him not fritter 
 away his time by useless small talk or gossip. 
 Make calls that are pastoral, that are planned and 
 prepared for, that all have a direct aiui, that are 
 brief. Thus he can cover a large parish in a com- 
 
398 
 
 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 Rewards. 
 
 Suggestions. 
 
 paratively short time, and leave a trail of blessing 
 behind. 
 
 On the city all seasons are about equally good, 
 except the summer vacation season. The general 
 rule is, forenoons for study, afternoons for your peo- 
 ple. Be systematic and persistent, and you will 
 accomplish wonders. And do not forget that Dr. 
 Chalmers' saying is true : "A house-going pastor 
 makes a church-going people." 
 
 Such seeking soul-cure will always bring its rich 
 rewards. The pastor who is faithful in his closet, 
 in his study, and in his pastoral work, will not 
 preach to empty benches, he will not beat the air 
 and preach over the heads of his people. He will 
 be able to give to each one his portion in his sea- 
 son. His people will love him. They will have 
 confidence in his preaching. They will grow in 
 grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. The 
 congregation will be united and harmonious. The 
 people will be ready to give to every good cause — 
 as every such cause has been explained in public 
 and from house to house. They will have a mind 
 to work, and will follow wherever the beloved pas- 
 tor leads. Pastor and people will work in har- 
 mony and in hope and in happiness together. 
 A few closing suggestions and reminders : 
 I. You cannot learn how to visit from books. A 
 true pastoral spirit, a love for souls, an absence of 
 
THE PASTOR VISITING. 399 
 
 laziness, a living in constant communion with the 
 Saviour, and experience will make you a good pas- 
 tor. You will learn to visit by visiting — that is, if 
 you are that kind of a pastor. 
 
 2. Always carry a hopeful heart, a cheerful face 
 and manner, with a kindly tone. But by all means 
 avoid the professional, clerical smile. 
 
 3. Pay particular attention to the children, notice 
 them wherever you meet them, and among these 
 make special efforts to win the confidence and love 
 of the boys. Win the boys, and you will have the 
 men. Lose the boys, and your church will become 
 weak and feminine. Pay attention to visitors who 
 may be present Be attentive and kind to servants. 
 Invite them to church. Like }our Master, you 
 should be no respecter of persons. By these 
 little attentions you not only do the servant good, 
 but you teach many a family a needed lesson. 
 
 4. Never allow yourself to be in the way, to in- 
 terfere with the work or plan of anyone. If you 
 see that your call is inopportune, withdraw at once 
 — as advised above. 
 
 5. If you happen in at meal-time and your pres- 
 ence is embarrassing, then also withdraw grace- 
 fully. If extra preparation for you is proposed, 
 refuse it kindly, but firmly. Agree to stay if per- 
 mitted to sit down and eat what is on the table. 
 
 6. Discourage malicious gossip. If bad tales 
 
 Slight no one. 
 
400 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 about neighbors or other church-members are told, 
 ask the complainer whether he has followed the 
 Bible rule — gone to the offender and in a Christian 
 spirit tried to help him over his fault. Advise this, 
 and counsel prayer for the offender. This is a sure 
 cure for gossip. 
 
 7. If you have a special purpose with anyone 
 come to the point at once, unless there be a real 
 hindrance. 
 
 8. Never speak to anyone of his faults before 
 others. Let all reproofs and warnings be private. 
 Do not even inquire into anyone's spiritual estate 
 or give him religious counsel before strangers. 
 
 9. Never give room for the impression that you 
 like to get something for coming. We have, as 
 already noted, known country pastors who would 
 
 g^'"j5 carry their sacks and jars with them, and would 
 broadly hint for fruit, produce, or almost anything. 
 They are ecclesiastical beggars, and ought to be 
 ashamed of themselves. This, of course, does not 
 mean that you are to accept no gifts of kindness 
 when they are freely offered. To refuse favors is 
 also unkind. 
 
 10. If you remain over night, offer to conduct 
 worship before retiring. 
 
 11. Remember always that frequent short calls 
 will do far more good than rare long ones. Many 
 pastors cannot get over their parishes without steal- 
 
THE PASTOR VISITING. 401 
 
 ing their own study hours, because they do not 
 know the difference between a social and a pastoral 
 visit, and have never learned how to make a short 
 pastoral call. It ought to be a very rare and im- 
 portant occasion on which a pastor allows himself 
 to " come out and spend a day " or " an afternoon " 
 with a family. 
 
 12. It is well to keep a record of your visits and 
 to look over it frequently as a monitor. Then }'ou 
 will not forget the chronic invalid, the lonely 
 grandmother, that poor family in the cabin, that 
 recently disappointed, afflicted, or bereaved one. 
 
 Bengel says, on The Exercise of the Christian 
 Ministry: " In many the work of grace can be fully Beugd. 
 accomplished only by means of individual treat- 
 ment ; hence great importance should be attached 
 to private labors. The pastor often obtains more 
 fruit from his visits than from his preaching. He 
 should always show himself equally well disposed 
 to go wherever he is called, and those whose spirit- 
 ual necessities draw them to him should, by his 
 hearty welcome, feel themselves encouraged to open 
 themselves to him with perfect freedom." 
 26 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 VISITING SPECIAL CLASSES. 
 
 We have spoken of the pastor's general visiting, 
 which he is to do regularly and systematically. 
 
 But besides these there are many special visits 
 Where the whicli are also very important. We are not yet 
 needed Speaking of visits to the sick. There are many 
 others for which a pastor is not to wait till called, 
 but which his interest and love for his people is to 
 drive him to make in season and out of season. He 
 cannot know everything. He ought to be notified 
 when needed. But the fact always is that many of 
 those who need him most will not send for him. 
 They are not on that account to be left to them- 
 selves. The wide-awake overseer of his flock will 
 think out many ways of finding out who these are 
 and when they need him. In his regular rounds he 
 will meet them and know that they need a series 
 of special visits, or he will learn it from others. At 
 the church services and on the street he inquires 
 about this one and that one. His deacons and 
 other helpful members will be instructed to inform 
 him if they know of anyone who may need him. 
 And thus he will find out who belong to the fol- 
 
 (402) 
 
VISITING SPECIAL CLASSES. 403 
 
 lowing or other classes that need special attention. 
 We cannot name evety special class that may re- 
 quire such attention. Some Pastoral Theologies 
 have long lists of them. It is impossible to draw 
 a definite line between those for whom the ordinary 
 visits will suffice and those who need more. As 
 we have seen, ever>' visit ought to be special, ac- 
 cording to the nature, age, sex, temperament, char- 
 acter, history, surroundings, and condition of each 
 home or individual. The wise pastor studies and 
 adapts himself to each case. But there are still 
 special classes. We mention a few of the more im- 
 portant : 
 
 I. We mention first those who have been im- 
 pressed, made thoughtful and serious by the Word. 
 It may have been a sermon. It may have been a 
 warning from a friend, or a startling providence, or 
 an affliction that has made them think of the Word. 
 The soul is brought to the parting of the ways. 
 Two kingdoms are contending for that soul. Satan 
 and his agents are busy. Now the good shepherd 
 ought to know of that critical condition and be on 
 hand to enlighten, lead, and win for Christ. One 
 visit may decide the destiny of that soul for good. 
 It may require more. One neglect may decide for 
 eternal woe. Watch these crisis points. Where 
 the Word has taken hold, follow it up with the 
 needed private instruction, application, and prayer. 
 
 Those made 
 serious. 
 
404 
 
 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 New 
 
 Hiembers. 
 
 Tbe teaipted. 
 
 The ioubting 
 
 2. A second class that needs special attention is 
 those recently received into the communion of the 
 congregation. Of the newly confirmed we have 
 already spoken. They need and ought to have 
 special visits and special attention from their 
 pastor. Others recently admitted also need en- 
 couragement and strengthening. Give them spe- 
 cial attention until they have grown into the life of 
 the congregation. 
 
 3. There are those who are in danger of falling 
 into special sin. They are in bad company, are 
 being tempted, and know not the danger they are 
 in. Now if the pastor is on hand in time he may 
 save them. If not, it may be too late. This is 
 especially true when a thoughtless, inexperienced 
 young woman is in danger of falling or of throwing 
 herself away on a worthless man. Let the pastor 
 see the danger, give the earnest warning, and do 
 all in his power to avert the impending ruin. 
 Happy is the pastor who has the confidence of his 
 youth to such an extent that he can talk plainly 
 and warn and chide as a father without giving 
 offense. 
 
 4. Others are in danger of falling into unbelief 
 or error. The former need to be taken in time, be- 
 fore they become confirmed and willful skeptics. 
 There is not often any gain in arguing with 
 doubters. Appeal directly to their heart and con- 
 
VISITING SPECIAL CLASSES. 405 
 
 science. Set before tliein the law and the Gospel, 
 death and life. If they want to argue, turn ag- 
 gressor. Show them that their ideas are utterly 
 groundless ; that they leave the deepest questions 
 and the most pressing problems without an answer ; 
 whereas the Old Book, which they want to dis- 
 card, has an answer for every question that can 
 trouble an earnest and an anxious heart. That the 
 various systems of agnosticism, and of unbelief, have 
 not one ground of comfort for disappointed, saddened 
 lives, for breaking hearts and broken homes, no 
 hope beyond. Show them what they are giving 
 up, what a cheerless and empty existence they are 
 getting in exchange, and that, if they persist, they 
 are the most pitiable objects on the face of the 
 earth. 
 
 5. But there may be danger from a false faith. 
 The proselyter may be around. His oily unction and danger from 
 smooth, earnest words may have almost persuaded 
 one of your flock that there is more life and more 
 love in some revivalistic, baptistic, or holiness sect 
 than in the old Lutheran Church. The pastor must 
 keep a special watch in times of danger. He needs 
 to know those who might fall a prey to the error. It 
 will require careful procedure. Happy is the pastor 
 if his preaching and private intercourse have always 
 been warm and winning ; unhappy if the preach- 
 ing has been cold and intellectual and the private 
 
406 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 intercourse austere and forbidding. If the latter is 
 the case, he is now almost helpless. We must 
 fight fire with fire, and be even more earnest, 
 zealous and loving than the proselyters. Then it 
 will be easy to show the wavering that they would 
 lose much by leaving the mother-church ; that 
 whatever good there may be in the other system 
 they can get, in much clearer and purer form, in 
 the old church. The true shepherd will seldom 
 lose a lamb. 
 
 More difficult are the cases where persons want 
 to OTQ into another church for the sake of social 
 standing, influence, patronage, or marriage. In 
 these cases, too often there is no love of Christ, and, 
 therefore, no true love of the church. The church 
 has not become a spiritual mother. There is noth- 
 ing there to appeal to, and only too often we must 
 let such people go. Still ever>' effort ought to be 
 made, and made in time, to retain them. 
 
 6. In our day there are new forms of error abroad, 
 
 most subtle, insidious, persistent, and dangerous. 
 
 Speci:ii 'pj^g devil is about in the garb of an angel of 
 
 heresies. ^ ° 
 
 light. He comes under a bishop's robe, with a Bible 
 under his arm. He builds churches and preaches 
 and draws. He has his emissaries going about, 
 creeping into houses, leading captive silly women 
 and men often laden with divers lusts. He has 
 his printing presses, tracts, and " leaves of healing." 
 
VISITING SPECIAIv CLASSES. 407 
 
 It is a startling sign of the times to see how easily 
 and how fearfully men and women are duped and 
 doomed, how blandly they give up the very founda- 
 tions of all Christian truth, faith, and life, and still 
 make themselves believe that they are getting a 
 better religion. We cannot here enter into a dis- 
 cussion of Christian Science, Theosoph}-, Dowieism, 
 and what not. The first and last are most wide- 
 spread. All have enlisted numbers, talent, and 
 wealth. We meet some of them everywhere. No 
 home and no individual but what is in danger from 
 them. Every true pastor must study, know, and 
 be able to refute these antichrists. 
 
 On Christian Science we recommend from among 
 a library of books, pamphlets, and tracts, especially, 
 " A Way That Seemeth Right — An Examination 
 of Christian Science," by Dean Hart ; " Christian 
 Science and Other Superstitions," by Dr. J. M. 
 Buckley; "Faith Healing," by A. T. Schofield, 
 M. D. 
 
 The last will cover Dowieism also. It seems as if 
 this coarse, greedy, grasping money-king, John 
 Alexander Dowie, must soon end his course. His 
 vulgarity, blasphemy, and comedy in the pulpit ; 
 his unblushing demands for the money of his 
 dupes ; his latest sensational proclamation, that 
 he is the prophet Elijah come back to earth, ought 
 to suffice. Get a copy of Leaves of Healing. 
 
 Pastor must 
 know and 
 meet them. 
 
408 THE I.UTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 Any one number will suffice to expose the scur- 
 rility, pretentiousness, and absurdity of the man 
 and his system. 
 
 Watch your people ; watch their reading. Be in 
 time to warn them when in danger. Make no 
 polemical attacks. Admit any truth that may be in 
 the false system. Show that it was a truth ages be- 
 fore these people exploited it. Show that on this 
 truth they have built a vast structure of fundamental 
 error. Save from their clutches all you can. 
 
 7. Another class that needs special attention is 
 the troubled and sorrowing. Life is full of bitter 
 
 The troubled 
 
 and disappointments, crushing losses, and heart-break- 
 
 ing bereavements. They come into the lives and 
 homes of your people. You ought to know when 
 and where they come. At such times, as we have 
 already shown, the pastor is needed as a comforter 
 .sent by God, Do not fail to visit the troubled, and 
 visit them often. It will be a blessing to you and 
 to them. 
 
 A few helpful hints as to this class : 
 Do not belittle their trouble. Do not tell them 
 that they must not weep. Tears are their safety- 
 valve, and keep the heart from running over or 
 breaking. Sometimes, when you yourself are 
 moved to tears, let them flow freely. The best com- 
 fort you then can give is to mingle your tears with 
 theirs, and weep with them that weep. Read to 
 
 sorrowing. 
 
VISITING SPECIAL CLASSES. 409 
 
 tliein Heb. xii. or the end of Rom, viii., or some 
 similar passage, and apply it tenderly to their case. 
 
 Dr. Cuyler says (Young Pastor, p. 50) : " Two 
 things are chiefly to be aimed at in the treatment 
 of desponding or bereaved Christians. The first is 
 to get them out of themselves, and the other is to 
 get them into active service for their Master. The 
 tides of inward feeling are in danger of stagnating 
 into a fen of bitter waters. Sluice them off, and 
 turn them into streams of beneficence to others. 
 A sorely bereaved lady once said to me, ' If I could 
 not keep my mind occupied in Christian labor for 
 the poor and elsewhere, I should go crazy with 
 grief.' Useful occupation is both a tonic to faith 
 and a sedative to sorrow. If troubles drive us to 
 toils for our jMaster, then the useful toils will in 
 turn drive away many of the troubles." 
 
 8. A difficult but needy class is made up of per- 
 sons diseased in mind. This may result from bodily 
 ailment or from such afflictions as we considered ^^^^^ nli^**^ 
 above. It often takes the form of religious melan- 
 choly, or hopeless brooding. Happy is the pastor 
 if, as we have advised, he has obtained a fair 
 knowledge of psychology, and knows the sufiferer. 
 As long as it is not real insanity, he can often do 
 much to relieve the distress. His very presence is 
 assuring. A few kind, cheerful words, a passage of 
 Scripture, and a brief prayer will often bring a 
 
4IO THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 gleam of sunshine. Sometimes the telling of a 
 short, apt story will be helpful. Get the sufferer 
 out of himself, if at all possible. Lead him to 
 quit thinking of self and to think of others, to 
 give up the subjective for the objective. Do not 
 belittle or contradict and reprimand, but lead and 
 direct into other channels. If it be a case of delir- 
 ium, do not at once conclude that you can do no 
 good. You may soothe, if you cannot cure. 
 
 Vinet says (p. 293) : " We should be sorry to 
 Vinet. think that to a person in whom mental disease has 
 become a complete insanity the spiritual aids of 
 the ministry must be useless. Reasoning would 
 doubtless be useless. But I think, with Harms, that, 
 even when discussion is impossible, it may some- 
 times be useful to speak Let us in- 
 dulge the hope that, in some lucid or less perturbed 
 moment, we may introduce into the poor wanderer's 
 spirit some peace, perhaps some light, or may excite 
 some favorable emotion which God may regard. 
 
 " The very names of the Heavenly Father and the 
 Divine Mediator are very powerful, and often have 
 effect when discourse can do nothing. A certain 
 authority, a certain daringness, is necessary ; we 
 should be conscious of feeling strong ; to use an ex- 
 pression of Harms', ' There is a kind of magic in 
 authority which faith imparts.' " 
 
 But even if no real good could be done to the 
 
VISITING SPECIAL CLASSES. 4 II 
 
 afflicted one, the family also suffers, and the pastor 
 should be on hand to strengthen, encourage, and 
 comfort them. 
 
 9. We mention another class : those who are at 
 strife and enmity with one another. The pastor 
 
 The 
 
 knows that the Spirit of God is a spirit of peace, quarreling, 
 and that He will not stay in a heart full of bitter- 
 ness and strife. Blessed are the peacemakers. The 
 pastor is to be a peacemaker. He must go, often 
 over and over again, to make peace where there is 
 strife and contention and every evil work. He 
 must use every endeavor, first, to make those at 
 variance willing to meet each other. He must 
 show them in what spirit they are to meet each 
 other. When he has prepared them, he must bring 
 them together, be present at the peace conference, 
 and lend his prayers and counsels. 
 
 Of this general duty or rather privilege of the 
 pastor to be a peacemaker, we have spoken in con- 
 nection with the preparatory service. But it is 
 well to watch for every opportunity. Quarrels are 
 often easily healed in their beginnings ; but, like 
 ugly sores, they fester and grow into feuds. One 
 visit may prevent sore neighborhood feuds and 
 serious division in the church. Let the parties 
 understand that to err is human, to forgive divine ; 
 that the better Christian is the one who makes the 
 ad\'ances and concessions. 
 
Prisoners. 
 
 412 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 Probably the most delicate of all are quarrels be- 
 tween husband and wife. These need to be han- 
 dled with care. Never listen against the one by 
 the other. Never try to mend matters by advising 
 one party alone. Get them together, see them to- 
 gether, and counsel each one in the presence of the 
 other. Be impartial in all efforts at peace-making, 
 and proceed on the clear principles and directions 
 of the Divine Word. See that you are a man of 
 peace yourself. 
 
 10. We must not forget the most difficult and un- 
 attractive class of all, viz.^ the imprisoned. 
 
 The very name frightens us. What ! shall we 
 do pastoral work among outcasts, criminals, and 
 those so abandoned and sunken that they must be 
 caged, walled, and barred in like wild beasts, lest 
 they injure or slay their fellow-men ? Do they not 
 deserve all they suffer? Is not their only use for 
 the pastor that he may hold them up as warning 
 examples to others ? So speaks the self-righteous 
 Pharisee. But hold ! Who are they ? What 
 brought them there ? 
 
 Wagner ( Ueber das Gefaengnissweseii^ p. 37) says : 
 " Great multitudes grow up, live, and die in an at- 
 mosphere of wickedness, lewdness, and such abject 
 wretchedness that thousands of good people who 
 live in comparative comfort can have no conception 
 of their sad lot. When we know that in whole, 
 
VISITING SPECIAL CLASSES. 413 
 
 large sections of humanity the whole life is wonn- 
 eaten with lies, slander, foul words, unchastit)-, 
 fraud, theft, and violence, then we must confess 
 that the majority of our prisoners are largely 
 the victims of circumstances and environment. 
 Their society, home — if such it may be called — the 
 church, the community, the whole social organism, 
 indeed, is particeps crimmis^ with its abounding 
 godlessness and lax morality." 
 
 Put yourself in their place. What would you 
 have been if born and bred as they were ? Who John Newton, 
 made thee to differ ? The Rev. John Newton once 
 pointed to a ragged drunkard and said: "There 
 goes John Newton, but for the grace of God." Yes, 
 if I am better, then " by the grace of God I am 
 what I am." 
 
 Shall we then merely pity the poor law-breakers 
 as unfortunates, carry bouquets and sweetmeats to 
 our criminals, and gush over them with that maud- 
 lin sentimentality that makes them feel that they 
 are worthy of special favor and are unrighteously 
 persecuted ? By no means. Sin is still sin. Its 
 wages is still death, and the way of transgressors 
 must still be hard, even though it pass through our 
 worst city slums. We dare not make light of sin. 
 But we should show compassion for the sinner and 
 do all we can to help him out of sin's cruel clutches. 
 
 He has been tauirht that the church is his 
 
414 I'HE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 enemy. Now, when he is helpless in prison, the 
 church can show that she is his best friend. Let 
 the church's minister go, in the name of Him who 
 said : " Neither do I condemn thee. Go, and sin 
 no more." 
 
 That it is the pastor's duty to visit the prisoner 
 is clearly taught in Scripture. (See Matt. xxv. 
 39 and 45 ; Jas. v. 19, 20.) These poor sinners be- 
 this duty. long to the weak and sick members of the body 
 (i Cor. xii. 25, 26 ; Rom. xv. i ; Gal. vi. i), and 
 therefore need nursing, guiding, and help. We 
 have no right to say that they are hopeless. Pas- 
 sages like Isa. Iv. 11 ; Heb. iv. 12 ; i Cor. xv. 58, 
 are true of them also. 
 
 Let the pastor then cheerfully go to every penal 
 institution within his reach. Let him labor there 
 with that same Word of power and life which he 
 uses elsewhere in his soul-cure. Sometimes he 
 may have the opportunity to preach ; again to see 
 the shut-in one in his cell. Not all are hopeless 
 cases. Some may be innocently condemned ; 
 others may be better than those who brought them 
 there. The pastor comes, in the Master's name, to 
 bring the Word of salvation, to bring him to see 
 that the Good Shepherd is seeking him, that the 
 Saviour is knocking at the door of his heart, in 
 order to bring him to true repentance and faith. 
 He must be careful not to become too sentimental 
 
VISITING SPECIAI, CLASSES, 415 
 
 over the prodigal son. Rather let him hold before 
 the transgressor Jesus as his only help and hope, 
 who has compassion for the fallen (Heb. ii. 18 and 
 iv. 15 ; Matt. vi. 13 ; Mark xiv. 38). Through the 
 Word the pastor may awaken, in those who ha\e 
 had a good home, memories of the past that may 
 be an occasion for the Word's entrance. The sin- 
 ner must be brought to acknowledge his sin and jhe Word the 
 the righteousness of God. He must see his own 
 guilt and helplessness. He must realize that in 
 Christ he has a Saviour mighty to save, as He is 
 willing to save. 
 
 In all this the pastor comes in the spirit of kind- 
 ness and manliness combined. He must aw^aken a 
 realizing sense that there is hope. But he must 
 make it plain that there can be no hope without a 
 true repentance and conversion. W^hat this means 
 must be made so plain that it cannot be misunder- 
 stood. Here also it is true. " In the morning sow 
 thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thy 
 hand, for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, 
 this or that, or whether both shall be alike good." 
 
 As a matter of course, the pastor and his congre- 
 gation are to do all they can for the temporal and 
 spiritual good of those whom he reached in prison 
 after their release. Encourage and help them now 
 to make a new beginning, and to be new men for 
 this world and for the next. 
 
CHAPTER XXL 
 
 VISITING THE SICK. 
 
 Sickness 
 
 give? 
 
 •pportunity. 
 
 Among the most delicate and sometimes the most 
 difficult of the seelsorger's office is that of visiting 
 the sick. To the true pastor it ought to be also 
 among the most welcome. 
 
 Bridges says (p. 343) : " This divinely appointed 
 work (Jas.v. 14) — often the only kind office we can do 
 for some people — is a ministry of special responsibil- 
 ity. God Himself is the preacher, speaking through 
 the sickness more loudly and directly to the consci- 
 ence than the mere voice of man. Our work, there- 
 fore, is to call attention to the speaking voice of this 
 divine rod (Micah vi. 9). Again, in the sinner's con- 
 tact with ' Death — that terrible and thundering 
 preacher ' — a deeper impression is sometimes made 
 in the sick-chamber than in the pulpit. Most of all 
 at this crisis the conscience is more or less awak- 
 ened — the need of a refuge is acknowledged — the 
 prospect of eternity without it is dreaded. How 
 golden the opportunity to set forth our Saviour, in 
 every office suitable — in every offer of His grace, 
 so free, so encouraging ! " 
 
 The pastor must know the general purpose of 
 (416J 
 
VISITING THE SICK. 417 
 
 God in afflicting. He must also distingiusli be- 
 tween the sickness that God sends and that which Explain Cod's 
 
 „ 1 1 • • 1 • Providences. 
 
 IS brought Upon the sufferer by his own special sm. 
 Sickness that is brought on by needless exposure, 
 by intemperance in eating or in drinking, by in- 
 dulging in any way the sinful desires of the flesh, 
 is not to be attributed to the mysterious dispensa- 
 tion of Providence. The laws of nature — including, 
 of course, the laws of health — are the laws of God. 
 They cannot be broken with impunity. Nature 
 knows neither mercy nor forgiveness. She collects 
 her debts to the last penny. Let these funda- 
 mental, fearful, and far-reaching truths be faithfully 
 preached and taught, and a vast amount of sickness 
 will be avoided. But even these self-inflicted suf- 
 ferings are to be used to bring the sufferer to true 
 repentance and reformation. 
 
 But we speak here more especially of that afflic- 
 tion that Cometh not forth of the dust, of that 
 trouble that springeth not out of the ground, of the 
 sickness that God sends. (See Job v. 17 ; Prov. iii. 
 12; Isa. xxvi. 16: xlviii. 10: Iv. 8, 9 ; 2 Cor. iv. 
 17, 18 ; Rev. iii. 19.) 
 
 Kostlin says {Lehre von der Seelsorge^ p. 299) : 
 " Every serious chastening which comes upon the 
 Christian is a Word addressed to him by the 
 Father, an exhortation to be still, to look within 
 himself, an essential means of divine pedagogy 
 27 
 
4l8 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 (Rom. viii. 28 ; cf. Job xxxiii. i6ff ; Matt, ix, 
 1-8 ; John xi. 4). We have a right to speak of a 
 'school of sickness.' That Christian whom God 
 thus takes apart by himself has something to learn." 
 In Heb. xii. 5-13, God's purpose in afflicting is 
 probably more clearly set forth than anywhere else. 
 This passage has no meaning for the Christian 
 Scientist or the Dowieite. 
 
 God has a purpose also in afflicting the impeni- 
 tent. He would thereby bring them to themselves, 
 purpose. and make them think. When a worldly person can be 
 brought to sober, serious thought on his life and his 
 relation to God, a very hopeful step has been taken. 
 The old plaint of God still has its force : " My peo- 
 ple doth not consider." 
 
 The first thing that the impenitent needs to 
 realize is the seriousness and guilt of sin. For this 
 God sends affliction. (See Jer. xxx. 12-15 ; Lam. 
 iii. 37-40; Ez. xviii. 20-21.) He must realize that 
 his guilt deserves punishment (Dan. ix. 4-19 ; Luke 
 xiii. 6-9). This is to bring about godly sorrow, 
 true repentance (Isa. Ixiv. 6-9 ; Jer. ii. 19 and iii. 
 12 ; Joel ii. 12, 13). 
 
 That it is a duty of the pastor faithfully to visit 
 those whom God has thus specially taken in hand 
 
 Duty to visit. . 
 
 should need no argument or urgmg. Theo. Har- 
 nack says {Praktiscke Theologie^ Vol. II., p. 530) : 
 " The sick are entitled to special care on the part 
 
VISITING THE SICK. 419 
 
 of the pastor, partly because the loss of the sanc- 
 tuary service is to be made good for them and to 
 those who wait on them ; and partly because even 
 with advanced Christians this is often the time of 
 temptation, and, with those not yet Christians, it 
 may become the turning point of their spiritual life ; 
 and finally because there is no more favorable point 
 of contact for real soul-cure than sickness. From 
 the sick-bed, especially if death seems to threaten, 
 life appears in a far different light than heretofore. 
 In the day of judgment the Lord will say to the 
 faithful pastors, ' I was sick and ye visited me.' 
 
 " The whole church at all times has regarded pas- 
 toral care of the sick as a special duty. The Lord Sanction »f a* 
 Himself healed and absolved the sick (Matt. ix. 
 iff). All Christians are admonished : ' Is any sick 
 among you, let him call for the elders, and let them 
 pray over him.' So the Apostolic Constitutions, 
 VIII. 9, recommend public prayers for the sick. 
 The Sacramentarium Gregorianum contains six 
 prayers for those visiting the sick. So especially 
 with our KOO. of the sixteenth century." 
 
 Augustine calls those pastors who neglect to visit 
 the sick desolators instead of consolators. 
 
 Urlsperger calls the days of sickness the days of 
 seeding for the pastor, and says that many a pastor 
 would have found a better harvest in eternity if he 
 had made better use of these hopeful days for seeding. 
 
 .ages. 
 
420 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 The pastor then comes to the sick-bed as the 
 minister of the Word, to bring the church into the 
 house. Even the best of believers will often be 
 perplexed with doubts and fears. The pastor is so 
 to unfold and apply the Word that the sick one may- 
 see and rest in the comforting truth that his case is 
 a part of the counsel of love, intended for his good, 
 to yield peaceable fruit, even the fruit of righteous- 
 ness. 
 
 The pastor, says Kostlin, p. 301, is to " bring 
 the Lord's day with all its holy service into the 
 sick-room. What is lacking of organ and song and 
 visits. solemn surroundings, the pastor's personal presence 
 is to make up. He must therefore come with that 
 charity that believeth all things, hopeth all things, 
 endureth all things, and sees in the sufferer one 
 made in the image of God." 
 
 Harnack says in essence (p. 533) that the object 
 of the pastor is to show the divine purpose that the 
 sickness of the body may redound to the health of 
 the soul. He should try and acquaint himself 
 somewhat with the previous life and circumstances 
 of the sick, and, speaking the truth in love, urge 
 the one thing needful. 
 
 Bridges says (p. 348) : " It is of infinite moment 
 to make Christ the sum of our instructions to the 
 
 sick Unlike the physician, we have 
 
 only one remedy, of diversified application, but 
 
VISITING THE SICK. 42 1 
 
 equally adapted to all, for conviction, life, consola- 
 tion, holiness. We use, indeed, the law — not as 
 ministers of the law, but as a schoolmaster to bring 
 to Christ — not, however, keeping back the Gospel 
 till the law has fully done its work ; but setting 
 out the Divine Physician, in order to show the sin- 
 ner his desperate disease, and to excite his desires 
 and soften his heart for an immediate application 
 for healing. Thus we proclaim an open door under 
 the most desponding circumstances — invitation to 
 all — discouragement to none — security to the peo- 
 ple of God. All instruction is essentially defective 
 that is not grounded on this full and free display 
 of the Gospel." 
 
 What we have said above of God's purpose with 
 the impenitent will direct us as to our object with 
 them. 
 
 The spirit in which the pastor comes is of great 
 importance. Let him not come as an inquisitor, 
 
 In what spirit 
 
 neither as a mere friend to express sympathy ; but to come, 
 let him come as the friend and sympathizer of the 
 highest interests. He should alwa}'s be cheerful, 
 calm, and quiet. Should kindly inquire of the 
 bodily condition and comfort. Assure them of his 
 interest, sympathy, and desire to bring good. He 
 should not talk down to them from a superior ele- 
 vation, but as a fellow-pilgrim, encouraging and 
 helping another over a hard place, and as himself a 
 
422 THE IvUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 sinner in need of grace, desirous of serving another 
 sinner. He should show patience, forbearance, 
 and, above all, as already shown, that love that 
 never faileth. There should be manifest in him 
 that tender sympathy and love that shone forth 
 from the Master when He stopped the bier at the 
 gate of Nain and wept at the grave of Lazarus. 
 He is to weep with them and show that he is a 
 brother born for adversity. Thus his very presence 
 is to soothe, to calm, and to call forth that confi- 
 dence so necessary for soul-cure. 
 
 Kostlin says as to the pastor's preparations for 
 his visits to the sick (p. 308) : " When the pastor is 
 Aese visits', to go to the sick let him impress upon himself 
 what he owes to the sick whose case the Lord has 
 laid upon him. Let him study Matt. xxv. 36, 39, 
 43, 44, and remind himself whom he is serving in 
 the sick. Let him learn from Matt. ix. 36 and xi. 
 28-30; John xxi. i5f ; i Cor. xiii. 4, what the 
 mind, the ethical spirit, and the inner force must 
 be in order to be a true servant, messenger, and ad- 
 vocate of the Saviour and a right exponent of the 
 holiest and highest interests of the sick. George 
 Conrad Rieger, when he was putting on his coat to 
 visit the sick, used to repeat aloud to himself Col. 
 iii. 12-15." 
 
 Then the pastor is to show to the sick what his 
 bodilv condition is meant to teach him. Show 
 
VISITING THE SICK. 423 
 
 that God is calling, halting, admonishing, and, as a 
 good shepherd, is paying special attention to a 
 needy sheep. That thus the good Lord, not will- 
 ing that any should perish, is sending this affliction 
 as a fatherly chastening to build up and make more 
 perfect the spiritual life. The Word must be 
 rightly divided. The sick must be led into the 
 loving and healing thought of God (Rom. ii. 4 and 
 viii. 28). He is to learn more fully the significance 
 of this earthly life, the influence and power of sin, 
 the nature of true repentance, the restfulness of 
 true faith. Of every believer's sick-bed it should 
 be true what Jesus said to the sisters of Lazarus 
 (John xi. 4). 
 
 Kostlin says further : " Not the pastor is to con- 
 vert the sick, but the sick must, if unconverted, ^^^ ^^^^ 
 turn himself to the Lord. It is for him to deter- n^^thod. 
 mine to accept or to reject the Word. The spirit 
 of Christ does not permit the pastor to drive, to 
 press, to frighten, and to attempt to force his con- 
 version. The results of all true seelsorge we must 
 leave to God ; we, as workers together with God 
 (i Cor. iii. 1-9), are to beseech and to admonish 
 (2 Cor. v. 20). Yet not so as if all depended on 
 us and as if we must do the pressing and crowd- 
 ing. But with all quietness, soberness, and tender- 
 ness, we must leave room for Him who worketh 
 both to will and to do (Phil. ii. 13 ; i Cor. iii. 6, 9)." 
 
424 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 Dr. Walther sums up the directions for visiting- 
 the sick so excellently that we cannot do better 
 than to quote his eight rules given in Horn, 
 p. i83f: 
 
 Walther' s ^ '■' _ _ ... 
 
 directions. " I. The minister may begin with such a text as 
 
 Matt. X. 30 (that all the hairs of our heads are 
 numbered, etc.), and then remind the sick man that 
 his affliction is not without God's knowledge, nor can 
 it be contrary to His will, and therefore, if he will 
 take it rightly, it cannot but be for the best, 
 whether he recover or die of it. He may then pro- 
 ceed to show why God lets us suffer sickness and 
 the like. 
 
 " 2. The visitor must then inquire with all the 
 tact he may possess into the cause and nature of 
 the sickness, but especially must he seek to dis- 
 cover the condition of tlie patient's soul. Mark 
 the following from Olearius : ' Let him find out (i) 
 whether the sick man has obtained a sufficient 
 knowledge of the way of salvation ; (2) whether 
 his life has accorded with that way, or has been 
 spent in open and impenitent sin up to the time of 
 his sickness and danger ; or whether, while his out- 
 ward life was not blameworthy, it is uncertain 
 whether it was in a true sanctification based on 
 faith ; (3) what was the particular calling and what 
 his peculiar temptations were ; and also what di- 
 vine providence, either of grace or of wrath, he may 
 
VISITING THE SICK. 425 
 
 have experienced ; (4) how he bears his sickness ; 
 whether he is inclined to conversation ; whether 
 death seems near, or he may have time for prepara- 
 tion ; whether his head is at all times clear, and 
 whether his words and gestnres may not often be 
 merely an ontcome of his disease ; (5) the natural 
 temperament and degree of intellectual power of 
 the sick man are also to be regarded ; (6) also, 
 whether he is afraid of death.' 
 
 " 3. The pastor has to attend to that which is 
 most necessary' first. ' For example,' sa}'s Olearius, 
 ' if the sick man is impatient and inconsiderate, the 
 minister ought to bring him to silence, submissive- 
 ness, and attention, for without this all talking and 
 preaching will do no good. If it is clear that the 
 man does not know what belongs to penitence, to 
 faith, and to holiness, instruct him in this. If he 
 doubts any essential points in religion, endeavor to 
 remove them. If for any reason he doubts the 
 grace of God in Jesus Christ, this must be the prime 
 matter of consideration.' 
 
 " 4. The pastor is not to preach at the sick, but 
 to instruct him, in gentle conversation, and, if he 
 be very ill, by means of short passages of Holy 
 Scripture. He should not merely admonish him 
 to prayer, but utter such a prayer as the sick man 
 may pray with him. He should not be offended if 
 the sick man is found too weak to bear a lengthy 
 
 Olearias. 
 
426 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 interview. (Books are published which contain 
 selections from Holy Scripture, suitable for the 
 sick-room.) 
 
 "5. If a pastor notices that the sick man can 
 find no comfort in all he has to offer, it may be that 
 some secret weight lies upon the man's conscience, 
 and he ought to invite him to tell it, and for this 
 purpose he should seek to be left alone with him. 
 
 "6. A pastor should avoid words or acts which 
 may lead a sick person to despair of recovery, but 
 le oiuerfuL rather should try to inspire him with cheerfulness 
 and courage, while he uses every opportunity to 
 prepare him either to live or to die. For this reason 
 the pastor ought not to be offended if occasionally 
 the physician may think it better for him not to 
 see the patient. 
 
 " 7. The pastor should not stop his visits just as 
 soon as the sick man begins to improve ; because 
 during his convalescence opportunity may be found 
 to instruct him, and to fix those good resolutions 
 which may have been formed when death seemed 
 near. 
 
 " 8. Each of a pastor's prayers in a sick-room 
 should be based on a clear and comfortable promise 
 of the Word of God."* 
 
 * In " Luther as a Spiritual Adviser " read carefully the 
 chapter on " How He Cared for the Sick." 
 
VISITING THE SICK. 427 
 
 We add a few practical suggestions : 
 
 1. Instnict }oiir people frequently to notify you 
 when you are needed. But you will not always be 
 notified. Some are too careless and some too back- Suggestions, 
 ward to send for a minister. Some have not been 
 
 living as they should and are ashamed to face the 
 minister. These often need him most of all. 
 Therefore do not depend entirely on calls and noti- 
 fications, but find out in your pastoral calls, on the 
 street, and on Sunday, who is sick. Your people 
 will cheerfully help you to do this if they see that 
 you want to know. 
 
 2. Be ready and willing at all times to go, re- 
 gardless of your work, the hour, the weather, the 
 roads, or the distance. It counts, it pays, it in- 
 creases the pastor's influence and power for good if 
 it is known that he is always ready to serve all whom 
 he can. Visit kindly and diligently all the out- 
 siders in your reach. You may save many a soul 
 and gather in many a family. Do not visit those 
 belonging to another parish without an under- 
 standing with their pastor. Should you visit such 
 a sick neighbor, tell him plainly that you call not 
 as a pastor, but as a neighbor, and advise him to 
 send for his own pastor. Do not hesitate to visit 
 even those afflicted with contagious disease. Why 
 should a pastor be more afraid than a doctor ? It 
 
428 THE I.UTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 belittles a pastor to appear afraid. Take the proper 
 precautions, commit yourself and yours into the 
 hands of God, and then go fearlessly forth in 
 His name. Visit sick children, even babies. If 
 the children cannot be benefited, the anxious par- 
 ents need a word of encouragement and comfort. 
 The writer knows of a case where a Lutheran 
 Sick children. Church Started from such a visit. If the children 
 are old enough give them a word of good cheer and 
 hope, and tell them a suitable story. You may thus 
 win a boy or a girl for life. 
 
 3. Always be cheerful and hopeful. I Come like 
 a sunbeam into the sick-room. :, Make the sick feel 
 that you are their best friend and sincerely seek 
 their good. Win their confidence before you ex- 
 pect them to open their hearts and lives to you. 
 
 4. Banish the idea that the pastor's visits per se 
 will make all right. The formalistic old Adam 
 likes to comfort himself with the thought that it 
 must be well with him, because the pastor came 
 and read and prayed with him. Make it plain that 
 you cannot be a vicarious priest or proxy, but that 
 you can only direct and help him to secure for 
 himself the one thing needful. 
 
 5. Let your visits be short. Remember that 
 sickness is weakness ; that rest and quiet are two 
 of the most needful things in the sick-room. Some- 
 times you ought not to be in the room more than 
 
VISITING THE SICK. 429 
 
 two minutes. Never weary the sick. A suitable 
 verse of Scripture slowly and distinctly repeated, 
 a few fitting petitions for God's blessing on the 
 sick, another warm hand-grasp, and word of bene- 
 diction — this will suffice in such cases, and do 
 more good than a protracted visit which leaves the 
 patient exhausted, the doctor angry, and the friends 
 anxious. 
 
 6. Let your aim be to benefit not merely the 
 sick one, but the whole household. If the sick 
 
 can bear it, it is well to have all the family present Benefit the 
 while you read and pray. If there are good rea- fam«iy- 
 sons for being alone with the patient, kindly tell 
 the family so before you go into the sick-room. 
 Deal honestly with his soul. Give no false hopes. 
 Encourage the full confession of secret sin or crime. 
 Keep the confession religiously to yourself. 
 
 7. Choose the best hour for your visit. Consult 
 the family and the doctor. 
 
 8. Carefully select such lessons as are needed 
 before you go. In the orders for IVIinisterial Acts, 
 the one for the visitation of the sick will prove 
 very helpful, in selecting proper lessons and verses. 
 Make yourself familiar with them all. Always 
 have a free prayer, suited to the individual case 
 before you. 
 
 9. How often should you go? No rule can be 
 g^ven. It depends entirely upon circumstances. 
 
430 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 Where the patient's soul is in danger go every day ; 
 otherwise you need not go so often. The chronic 
 invalid who cannot get to church ought to have 
 the church in the house once a week, if possible. 
 Time thus spent is not lost. It blesses the sick, 
 the family, and the pastor. 
 
 lo. It needs no reminder that the pastor is to 
 visit his sick members in hospitals. This belongs 
 to his duty as their pastor. But he should do 
 more than this. He should visit the hospitals 
 Visit within his reach regularly. The authorities will 
 ospi a s. generally welcome him, and the nurses will give 
 him information as to the patients. At many a cot 
 he will be welcomed as an angel of God. He can 
 carry his heavenly blessings into hearts that are 
 open and hungry for them. Where there is no 
 chaplain and no regular religious service, he should 
 hold regular services in the wards — always consult- 
 ing the matron and nurses about the condition of 
 the sick, and the advisability of a quiet service. 
 We once received a merited reproof from the sainted 
 Dr. Passavant. He inquired about the county hos- 
 pital in our town. We did not know much about 
 it. He went with us and visited the wards and 
 knelt by the cots and prayed. Then he admon- 
 ished us to visit there regularly and frequently. 
 
 The same advice holds orood for other charitable 
 
VISITING THE SICK. 43 1 
 
 and penal institutions. The Spirit and the Gospel 
 of the blessed Christ are needed there and often 
 meet a surprising welcome. Sow the seed beside 
 all waters. 
 
 1 1. The pastor is not to play the physician or to 
 interfere with him. But he can aid him by giving 
 a few hygienic directions. In the country, for ex- 
 ample, well-meaning people often visit the sick and 
 almost talk them to death. We have often been , . , 
 
 Job s 
 
 sorely vexed to find the sick-room full from mom- comforteis. 
 ing till night. Job's comforters were generally on 
 hand. Now this is an abomination, and it is a 
 wonder that anyone lives through it. 
 
 Let the pastor get the doctor's support and speak 
 plainly to the family, and do his best to secure 
 privacy and quiet for the sick. 
 
 f In some places people are still afraid of fresh 
 water and fresh air. Poor fever patients must en- 
 dure the burning thirst for weeks and never get a 
 cooling drink. The room must be almost hermet- 
 ically sealed lest a breath of fresh air kill the 
 patient ! Again we wonder that anyone lives 
 through such treatment. Let pastor and doctor 
 work together against these sinful and cruel super- 
 stitions. And so also as to the proper diet for the 
 sick-room. The pastor ought to know what it is. 
 But in all these matters have an understanding 
 
432 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 with the doctor. We have come in contact with 
 many unbelieving physicians. But when they un- 
 derstood our ways and ideas, they never once objected 
 to our methods. Though they did, and not with- 
 out good reason, strongly object to the lengthy and 
 wearisome pastor, as well as to the exciting ex- 
 horter. 
 
 12. Should a pastor give advice as to making a 
 will ? Yes, emphatically yes, to his own people 
 while they are well. He should preach on it and 
 speak of it in private. He should show his people 
 that the Lord gave them all they have, that they 
 hold it in trust, that the Lord hath need of it, and 
 
 Making a will, tjjat the church's institutions and Boards should be 
 remembered by all whom the Lord has blessed with 
 means. Sometimes, when the conditions are favor- 
 able, it is well to urge it even at the sick-bed. We 
 hope it is not necessary to warn against the shame- 
 less sin of a pastor requesting a legacy for himself. 
 We know of such cases. Discourage legacies to a 
 local church, unless it be an important and needy 
 mission in a large city. 
 
 13. Finally, do not forget or neglect the conva- 
 lescent. Here you have a blessed opportunity to 
 deepen the impressions of the sick-room, to 
 strengthen the resolutions there formed, and to 
 build up a permanent and strong pillar of the 
 church. 
 
VISITING THE SICK. 433 
 
 On this whole subject always bear in mind that 
 Jesus will say, '* I was sick and ye visited me ; " 
 " Inasmuch as ye did it to one of the least of these 
 my brethren, ye did it unto me." 
 28 
 
PART VI. 
 
 THE PASTOR'S RELATION TO SYNOD AND 
 CONFERENCE— HIS VACATION- 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
CHAPTER XXIL 
 
 THE pastor's relation TO SYNOD AND CON- 
 FERENCE. 
 
 The pastor is a part of every congregation which 
 he serves, for " a congregation in its normal state 
 is neither the pastor without the people, nor the 
 people without the pastor, but the pastor and the 
 people." * 
 
 Synods are associations of congregations holding 
 the same faith and co-operating in the various 
 activities of the church. Synods are needed for the 
 guarding of the faith and of the public teachers of 
 that faith. 
 
 Common wants, common dangers, and common 
 interests led the congregations of the Early Church 
 to form such voluntary associations. To these synods 
 they looked for mutual protection and assistance. 
 In them they found needed safeguards against incom- 
 petent, unsound, impure, and intriguing ministers. 
 In and through them they found that they could 
 do what independently and standing alone they 
 could not do. We can scarcely conceive how the 
 
 * Fundamental Trinciples of Faith and Church Polity of the 
 General Council. 
 
 (437) 
 
 SyUDcls 
 needed. 
 
and work. 
 
 438 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 general work of the church could be carried on 
 without such organizations. Where would be the 
 charity work, the educational work, the missionary- 
 work of the church without synods ? Surely the 
 local church ought never to forget that it is a con- 
 stituent part of the representative body, and not an 
 entirely isolated body without any connection with 
 its sister congregations. 
 
 As synods are now constituted they have the 
 responsibility and duty of examining and ordaining 
 Their purj^ose Candidates for the ministry. They have a general 
 oversight of the pastors and the congregations be- 
 longing to them. They arrange and advise for the 
 collection and distribution of benevolent funds 
 needed for the conserving and extending of the work 
 of the kingdom. The discussion, elucidation, and 
 settlingof importantdoctrinalandpractical questions 
 also belong to them. They are also important and 
 helpful training schools for all their members. 
 One convention of synod or conference is often 
 worth weeks of reading and study. 
 
 How important for every pastor to realize all 
 this. How sad that there are pastors who take little 
 or no interest in the general work of the church. 
 Th y care only for themselves. They even seem 
 to fear lest their people give too much or work too 
 hard for away-from-home interests. They have 
 the foolish and utterly baseless idea that such 
 
RELATION TO SYNOD AND CONFERENCE. 439 
 
 an interest and sncli an activity wonld inter- 
 fere with their salary and with the development of 
 the home church. Therefore they do not instruct 
 their people as to the work of the synod. They Disloyal 
 do not make plain the duty of ever)' member to 
 support liberally the general work. They even 
 refuse to have representatives of the boards or insti- 
 tutions present their causes or solicit in their con- 
 gregations. The resolutions of synod or conference 
 count for nothing with them. They have no 
 conception of the moral responsibility resting on 
 every' pastor and congregation to carry out such 
 resolutions. What kind of a conscience such pas- 
 tors have, we are unable to imderstand. Their 
 consciences certainly need enlightenment, training, 
 and stirring. We fear that selfishness is the root 
 of their strange conduct. 
 
 Such pastors find ready excuses for absence from 
 synod or conference. If they come, they are often 
 late in arriving and early in departing. They 
 make no effort to have lay delegates with them ; 
 their congregations really have no understanding of 
 what the general bodies or the general work of the 
 church is. They know not why they should send 
 a delegate. 
 
 Let us note a few authorities on the pastor's rela- 
 tion and duty to synod. Dr. Walther says (Pas- Waither. 
 torale, p. 69) : "After his ordination ever}' pastor 
 
Horn. 
 
 440 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 should connect himself with an orthodox synod. 
 To neglect or refuse this would betray a sinful, in- 
 dependent, and schismatical spirit. He would 
 offend against the Divine Word." (See Eph. iv. 
 2^-'] ; I Cor. i. 10-13 and xi. 18, 19.) 
 
 On page 397 he says : "A pastor who would in- 
 sist on his liberty to remain independent with his 
 congregation would act against his duty to the 
 church as a whole and show himself as a sepa- 
 ratist." (See Smalcald, Art. II. 4 and Art II., Ap- 
 pendix.) * 
 
 In Horn's Evangelical Pastor, p. 222f, we read : 
 "What is a pastor's duty toward other pastors? 
 To keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of 
 peace ; not to neglect his duty in pastoral confer- 
 ences, or in other relations with them, and to do 
 them brotherly service at all times. 
 
 " What is his duty in the synod ? To be careful 
 in attendance at the synod, to do his part of the 
 business, to discharge thoroughly every office it 
 commits to him, and to try to respond to all its de- 
 mands on him and his congregations, unless they 
 manifestly are in conflict with the Word of God. 
 He ought to try to make his people feel that they 
 share the responsibility of the synod, and to this 
 end he should see to it that they always send a rep- 
 
 * Dr. Walther then quotes from the Acts of the Hamburg 
 Ministerium, 1614, Hiilsemann, John Gerhard, Balthasar 
 Meissner, and Luther. (See Pastorale, pp. 397-399-) 
 
RELATION TO SYNOD AND CONFERENCE. 44 1 
 
 resentative to the synod, and are informed of all of 
 synod's acts." On page 225: "How, then, shall a 
 pastor go about the collection of money for the use 
 of the church, in the maintenance of the Gospel, 
 and in works of charity, and especially for the use 
 of the synod ? 
 
 " First, he must endeavor at all times to cultivate 
 in his people a Christian spirit (Matt. x. 38, 39), 
 and he must give to his people complete infonna- 
 tion concerning the operations in which their help 
 is desired, or the want which he desires to relieve." 
 
 Every true pastor must indeed recognize that in 
 all his official duties he never acts for himself alone. 
 In all that he does, the whole body of Christ has an 
 interest. Surely he will be deeply interested in all 
 that concerns the Redeemer's kingdom. As a 
 watchman on the walls of Zion he is deeply alert 
 in every movement of that general body which has 
 the welfare and oversight of many congregations in 
 charge. It belongs to the very nature of his office 
 to be subject to his brethren in the Lord, and to be 
 faithful in the discharge of all the public as well 
 as the private duties of his office. If the ecclesias- 
 tical bodies are to be maintained, then clearly all 
 who belong to them ought to be punctual in their 
 attendance. They ought to be present at the be- 
 ginning, and remain to the end of every conven- 
 tion. Each one ought to be willing cheerfully to 
 
 True pastors. 
 
442 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 perform every duty that the body lays upon him. 
 If one has a right to shirk these duties, why has not 
 another? And if all may thus excuse themselves, 
 what will become of the body ? How can it thus 
 carry on the work committed to its care? How 
 can the general interests of the church prosper? 
 True, everyone may not always be pleased with all 
 that is done at a convention. It was not all agree- 
 important. ^.blc to all present at the first synod in Jerusalem, 
 neither at the Council of Carthage in 253, nor at 
 Nice in 325, nor at Augsburg in 1530. Yet no 
 one will say that no good was done at these con- 
 ventions. What indeed would have become of the 
 church without them ? 
 
 Surely, enough has been said to show that every 
 pastor, with the lay delegate of his charge, ought 
 to be promptly and punctually present throughout 
 the whole convention of every synod or conference ; 
 and that everyone should take a lively and active 
 interest in all the proceedings ; and that everyone 
 should always be ready to perform every duty re- 
 quired of him. So important indeed are these 
 gatherings that everyone should prepare for them 
 by a season of earnest prayer and meditation. 
 When we are about to meet together with our fel- 
 low-laborers, to consider and consult as to the pro- 
 moting of our Redeemer's kingdom, when we de- 
 liberate not concerning one congregation only, but 
 
RELATION TO SYNOD AND CONFERENCE. 443 
 
 concerning the welfare and prosperity of many con- 
 gregations, we ought to think and pray earnestly 
 for wisdom and guidance from on high. 
 
 It ought indeed to be considered a blessed priv- 
 ilege thus to meet and take counsel together with 
 our brethren in the Lord. And it is not time 
 wasted. " Iron sharpeneth iron ; so a man sharp- 
 eneth the countenance of his friend." Many a 
 hard and troublesome question has been solved, 
 many serious mistakes have been avoided and cor- 
 rected, many a discouragement removed, many a 
 grief softened, many a despondent one lifted up by r«ie.ssinjj; of 
 
 meeting 
 
 these meetings and counselings together ; many a together. 
 pastor has come, heartsore and weary, and has re- 
 turned to thank God and take courage. Such a 
 conference has often put new heart, new hope, and 
 new life into a forlorn pastor and congregation. And 
 who will estimate the good it has done to the con- 
 gregation in whose bounds the body meets ? The 
 writer knows of instances where one such con- 
 vention has been as life from the dead. Why then 
 should anyone need to be urged to promptness and 
 fidelity in these matters ? To the young pastor and 
 the young congregation these associations are spe- 
 cially important and helpful. 
 
 A few directions and cautions to the members of Suggestions. 
 such an assembly may not be amiss : 
 
 I. Be very careful of your deportment in the 
 
attentive. 
 
 444 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 home where you are a guest. " Let your speech b^ 
 always with grace, seasoned with salt." Be spe- 
 cially careful to abstain from clerical gossip. 
 Speak only well of your brethren, and avoid un- 
 kind and harsh criticism. Leave behind you only 
 the odor of sanctity. Let the inmates of the house 
 in which you have been entertained feel that they 
 have been edified by your presence, that a man of 
 God has been among them, and that they have en- 
 tertained an angel unawares. 
 
 2. While sitting in the convention be attentive 
 to all the proceedings. All reading, whispering, 
 talking, and laughing are out of place. 
 
 3. Be more ready to hear than to speak. It is 
 especially out of place for a young man to be con- 
 stantly on his feet. Many a young minister has 
 lowered himself in the estimation of his brethren 
 by such a course. An aged and experienced min- 
 ister gives this counsel to his younger brethren : 
 " The art of transacting business wisely, expedi- 
 tiously, and with suitable temper, in a deliberative 
 assembly, is not to be learned in an hour or a day. To 
 do it well requires close observation ; considerable 
 experience ; watching the manner, course, and suc- 
 cess of the best models ; much attention to the dis- 
 cipline of our own feelings, and frequent conning 
 over the lesson, which we are always slow to learn, 
 that other people have knowledge and wisdom as 
 
RELATION TO SYNOD AND CONFERENCE. 445 
 
 well as we All this requires time. The 
 
 first two sessions that you attend are by no means 
 too much for you to pass as a close, vigilant, silent 
 
 learner During the first ten years of 
 
 your ministr>' do not, in ordinary cases, rise to ex- 
 press your opinion in church judicatories until you 
 have heard some of the more aged and experienced 
 express theirs." * 
 
 4. Beware of personal, harsh, sarcastical, and un- 
 kind language. Here also let )our speech be Be courteous, 
 modest. Kind, always with grace, seasoned with 
 
 salt. Never use language to another that you 
 would not be willing to have directed to yourself. 
 Soft words and hard arguments are best. 
 
 5. Be specially slow about offering resolutions. It 
 is often exceedingly embarrassing to have a new 
 member of a body make unadvised and ill-digested 
 motions on subjects that he does not understand. 
 The same Dr. Miller, quoted above, says : " When 
 you are about to bring any important plan ol 
 measure before a church judicatory, always con- 
 sult some of the most judicious, prudent, pious, 
 and influential members of the body, beforehand, 
 out of doors." t 
 
 By following these directions everyone will do 
 his part to make the conventions of synod pleasant 
 and profitable to himself and to his brethren. 
 
 * Miller on Clerical Manners, pp. 285, 2S6. 
 t Miller on Clerical Manners, p. 296. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 VACATION — CONCLUSION — REWARD. 
 
 We have now outlined a faithful pastor's life and 
 work. Have we made it too hard ? Is there to be 
 no change, no relaxation, no rest ? Is it to be the 
 constant grind of the tread-mill ? Is the minister 
 to wear himself out prematurely, to grow gray be- 
 fore the time, to sacrifice himself on the altar of 
 work ? 
 
 We have heard ministers talk in that strain ; and 
 
 often those who have not wearied their brains with 
 
 Pleasure in one half-day's real hard study in years groan the 
 
 work. 
 
 loudest. *Beware of becoming a croaker. In every 
 calling of life the men who make progress and at- 
 tain eminence are hard workers. Work is what we 
 are here for. He who finds pleasure in his work, 
 who loves his calling, is restless only when pre- 
 vented from working. 
 
 And who else has a calling so full of attractions 
 as the Christian minister? Who should love his 
 work and find in it his joy and his crown like him ? 
 
 Look at it again. He has the highest office on 
 earth. He is the commissioned ambassador of 
 heaven among the children of men. 
 
 (446) 
 
VACATION — CONCLUSION — REWARD. 447 
 
 He carries the only solvent for the ills and sor- 
 rows of humanity. He continues the work of Him 
 who went about doing good, bearing blessings in 
 His heart, on His lips, and in His hands, who 
 is over all, God blessed forever. 
 
 In his closet the pastor holds converse and com- 
 munion with God. In his study he has the com- 
 panionship of the royal race of thinkers, the wise 
 and the good of all ages. 
 
 As he goes about among his people he meets and 
 talks with the sons and daughters of God, or brings 
 back the wanderer, lifts up the fallen, and ministers 
 heavenly balm to bleeding hearts. 
 
 •' To comfort and to bless, 
 The lost to God to bring. 
 To teach the way of life and peace, 
 It is a Christ-like thing." 
 
 Would it not be a shame to pine and whine and 
 groan while permitted to be busy at such work ? 
 
 But still the pastor is human, and there is a limit 
 to human endurance. One can overwork himself Overwork is 
 even in such a high and holy and happy service. wo"g- 
 Continued overwork is abuse of God-given powers, 
 and this also is sin. Some ministers have sinfully 
 shortened their lives by an unintermitting abuse of 
 their powers. The human frame can endure so 
 much ; strained beyond that it weakens, fails, and 
 
448 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 dies. The overworked minister needs and should 
 have a rest. He is entitled to a vacation. 
 
 Not every minister is overworked. The pastor 
 who rightly divides his time, who gives his fore- 
 noons to his books and his afternoons to his people, 
 A healthful ^^^ ^^^^ most healthful occupation conceivable. If 
 caihng. he is carcful to observe the laws of health as to 
 eating, drinking, bathing, and breathing, he ought 
 to be a rugged, robust man. This is especially 
 true of the country pastor, with his abundant sup- 
 ply of fresh air, fresh water, fresh fniits and fresh 
 vegetables. 
 
 What could be more healthful than spending 
 one-half of one's waking hours in walking, riding, 
 or driving about in all kinds of weather, sustained 
 by such tonics and foods of nature ? The country 
 pastor who is true to himself rarely runs down, and 
 does not often really need a vacation. 
 
 And yet it would be not only pleasant but profit- 
 able if he "could have an occasional change. If he 
 could exchange for a time with his brother pastor 
 in the city, it would be a blessing to both, and the 
 people of both would not be left unsupplied. 
 
 There are city pastors whose work is so constant 
 and exacting that they really need a vacation. 
 When they are worn out with work and wakeful- 
 ness, the Master says to them, " Come ye apart into 
 a desert place and rest awhile." But the people 
 
VACATION — CONCLUSION — REWARD. 449 
 
 ought never to be left shepherdless. Arrangement 
 ought to be made to have the pulpit supplied and 
 the pastoral care continued. If there are several 
 Lutheran pastors close together they ought not to 
 take their vacations at the same time. While one 
 is away the other should be -pastor pro tern, of both 
 flocks. And this should be well understood by the 
 people. Even a physician does not go away with- 
 out leaving his patients in another's care, much less 
 should the physician of souls. 
 
 When then the weary pastor has the privilege of 
 a vacation, where should he go ? Tastes differ. We 
 give our opinion. , He should not go to an expen- 
 sive resort, where he must pay fancy prices, be in ^^ ^'^'"'^ *° ^ 
 style, and cannot really relax and rest. -/it seems to 
 us that the useless expense is wrong, and the real rest 
 is wanting, t^et the city pastor get himself and 
 family to the country, where he may sit and lounge 
 and wander in negligee, amid meadows, trees, birds, 
 brooks, and flowers. He should not do much read- 
 ing, but walking, riding, resting, rowing, fishing, 
 hunting — provided he is not cruel, for mere sport. 
 
 The country pastor who is not in special need of 
 
 stillness, nerve and brain-rest, may travel, go to 
 
 the city, or even to the summer school. If he can 
 
 travel, we believe that an American ought to know 
 
 and see his own country before he travels abroad. 
 
 If he travels in this country- he ought to visit our 
 29 
 
450 THE LUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 missions and encourage our missionaries, look in on 
 our institutions, and learn all he can about his own 
 church and people. The lonely missionary on the 
 outpost would also be encouraged and refreshed by 
 such remembrance. 
 
 If the pastor can go abroad, there also he should 
 see and learn all he can about his own Church, her 
 eminent men, institutions, and activities. He 
 should especially look into the Inner Mission and 
 deaconess work. 
 
 Wherever he is and wherever he goes he should 
 not forget who he is and whom he serves. Let 
 him watch for opportunities to speak a word in sea- 
 son. The city pastor can preach in the country 
 church, or, if there be none, in the school-house. 
 This will not hurt him. It is not work, but pleas- 
 ure. We know of Lutheran churches started from 
 such vacation work. 
 
 And now we close where we began. " This is a 
 true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop — 
 i. e.^ a pastor — he desireth a good work." 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Harvey (in The Pastor, p. 174) 
 The ministry says : " Godliness has the promise of the life that 
 vocation. uow is ; and nowhere, perhaps, is that promise more 
 fully realized than in the pastorate in the present 
 age. In social relations, in opportunities for cul- 
 ture, in friendships formed, in means of influence, 
 in popular estimation, and even in temporal sup- 
 
VACATION — CONCLUSION — REWARD. 451 
 
 port, few positions in life have higher advantages 
 or more agreeable surroundings. But, with all 
 this, life, even in a faithful ministr>-, is, on its 
 earthly side, rarely other than a disappointment, 
 and the pastor who seeks reward in human ap- 
 plause or in any form of earthly hope, not only 
 thereby excludes the Holy Spirit from his life, but Its rewards, 
 is also sure to find unrest and failure as the ulti- 
 mate result. The rewards of the faithful pastor are 
 from God and are of special magnitude and blessed- 
 ness A faithful minister finds his re- 
 wards alike in a clear conscience and a sense of the 
 approval of God, and in his work itself, and the 
 blessed results following it. With all its care and 
 toil, the ministry, to the man who knows his call 
 of God to the work and devotes himself to it with- 
 out reserve, is the happiest work on earth. ' Sorrow- 
 ful,' he is, 'yet always rejoicing.' " * Dr. Harvey 
 then quotes a few testimonials from great men who 
 have abounded in labors and sacrifices, in this 
 blessed work, as follows : 
 
 Henry Martyn said : "I do not wish for any 
 heaven on earth besides that of preaching the pre- Te.stimo«i«i. 
 cious Gospel of Jesus Christ to immortal souls. I 
 wish no service but the service of God in laboring 
 for souls on earth and to do ?Iis will in heaven." 
 
 * Read also iii Bridges on The Christian Ministry, pp. 437- 
 465, and in Cuyler's How to Be a Pastor, the last chapter. 
 
452 THE IvUTHERAN PASTOR. 
 
 Dr. Doddridge says, " I esteem the ministry the 
 most desirable employment on earth, and find that 
 delight in it and those advantages from it which I 
 think hardly any other employment on earth could 
 give me." Rutherford : " There is nothing out of 
 heaven, next to Christ, dearer to me than the min- 
 istry." Brown : " Now, after forty years' preaching 
 of Christ, I think I would rather beg my bread all 
 the laboring days of the week for an opportunity of 
 publishing the Gospel on the Lord's day than, with- 
 out such a privilege, to enjoy the richest posses- 
 sions of earth." 
 
 We might multiply such testimonials ad infini- 
 tum. But enough. The faithful pastor, con- 
 l-i,g strained in all his work by the love of Christ, will 
 find them more than true in his own experience. 
 Only the worldly, loveless, and merely professional 
 pastor can find the ministry a drudgery. 
 
 As the true pastor labors on in love, in the field 
 in which God has placed him, and finds his labor 
 not in vain in the Lord ; as he sees the souls whom 
 he has been enabled to turn from darkness to light, 
 and from the power of Satan to God, growing in 
 grace and in the knowledge of Christ, maturing in 
 discipleship, abounding more and more in love and 
 good works, he realizes ';hat he is gathering fruit 
 unto life eternal. He can say, with Paul, " What 
 is our hope, our joy, our crown of rejoicing? Are 
 
 best vocation, 
 
VACATION — CONCLUSION — REWARD. 453 
 
 not even yc in the presence of the I^ord at his 
 coming? " 
 
 Yes, " He that winneth souls is wise." "They 
 that be wise shall shine as the firmament, and they 
 that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever 
 and ever." 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Achelis, 171, 277, 377. 
 Activity, 53. 
 Adult Bible Class, 247. 
 Alexander, Dr. J. W., 175, 182. 
 Altar : 
 
 in home, 225. 
 
 in lodge, 237f. 
 Ambulando-prayer, 199. 
 Amusements of pastor, 146. (See Church 
 
 Entertainments. ) 
 Anabaptists, 43, 
 Antichrists, 41. 
 Apology, 114. 
 
 Applicants for church membership, 254. 
 Application in sermons, 284, 285, 2S7. 
 Apostles : 
 
 call of, 41. 
 
 office of, 27, 28, 30. 
 
 work of, 34, 89, 94. 
 Apostolate, 28. 
 Authority : 
 
 love of, 192. 
 
 only moral, 218. 
 
 B 
 
 Baier, 88. 
 
 Backsliders, 280. 
 Baptism : 
 
 address before, 302. 
 
 administration of, 299, 30off. 
 
 by laymen, 299. 
 
 by students, 299. 
 
 Baptism : 
 
 certificate of, 303. 
 
 feast at, 302. 
 
 fees for, 302. 
 
 formula of, 302. 
 
 place of, 300. 
 
 register of, 303. 
 
 sponsors at, 30if. 
 
 views of, 298f. 
 
 witnesses at, 301. 
 Baxter, 187. 
 Bedell, Dr., 186. 
 Begging preachers, 139. 
 Beichte, 331. 
 Beichtkinder, 125, 229. 
 Beneficence, 235. 
 Beneficiary education, 62. 
 Bereaved, the, 355. 
 Betrothal, 229, 232, 348. 
 Bible, I74f. 
 Biblical criticism, 176. 
 Bible dictionary, l63f. 
 Bible history, 313, 
 Bibliography, 163. 
 Bishop, 32, 240, 376. 
 Books : 
 
 buying of, 164. 
 
 cataloguing, 165. 
 
 loaning of, 165. 
 
 used by church member^, 22^ 
 Book agents, 137. 
 Book of Common Prayer, 290. 
 
456 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Book shelves, 162. 
 Boos, 208. 
 
 Borrowing money, 139. 
 Bread in communion, 340. 
 Breviaries, 196. 
 Bridges, 385, 420, 451. 
 Bright, John, 173. 
 Brown, Dr. John, 51. 
 Bugenhagen, 376. 
 Burial. (See Funeral. ) 
 
 Call ; 
 
 Augsburg Confession on, 70. 
 
 Baier on, 88. 
 
 Brown, Dr. John, on, 51. 
 
 Chemnitz on, 39, 43, 71, 78, 87, 89, 91, 
 
 94, 96- 
 comes from church, 90, 94. 
 comes from ministry, 87 f. 
 common sense necessary to, 50. 
 conviction of, 60, 63, 64. 
 direct, 39. 
 
 endowments necessary to, 470. 
 externa], 69f, 85. 
 Fritschel, Dr., on, 78. 
 from Mission Board, 105. 
 from one charge to another, 12 if. 
 general, 80. 
 
 General Council on, 86. 
 Gerhard on, 41, 43, 71, 80, 90, 92, 97, 
 
 104. 
 Gregory on, 59. 
 Gotwald on, 41, 51. 
 liaas, Dr., on, 75, 77. 
 Harnack on, S3, 85. 
 Hartmann on, loi. 
 hierarchical idea of, 69, 92. 
 Holiaz on, 81. 
 Hope, Dr. M. B., on. 48. 
 how come«, 6^ 104. 
 
 Call: 
 
 immediate, 39, 40, 65. 
 
 inner, 42, 44, 45, 46, 60, 65, 67. 
 
 laity and the, 90, 92. 
 
 Loehe on, 70, 83. 
 
 Loy, Dr., on, 78. 
 
 Luther on, 74, 76. 
 
 mediate, 41, 89, 97. 
 
 Munchmeyer on, 76. 
 
 must be to a place, 96, 97. 
 
 outward, 42, 45. 
 
 refusal of, 106. 
 
 Seckendorf on, 76. ( See Transference, 
 Theory of. ) 
 
 special, 81. 
 
 unlimited in time, 97, 100, 102. 
 
 unsought, 129. 
 
 Vilmar, 59, 70. 
 
 Walther, Dr., on, 28. 
 
 Weigelian on, 42. 
 
 Quakers, 42. 
 
 Quenstedt, 45, 88, 95. 
 Callers, 182. 
 Campbellites, 297. 
 Cannon, Dr., 192, 209. 
 Care of poor, 250. 
 Catalogue of Library, 165. 
 Catechisation, 306. 
 
 manner of, 314. 
 
 preparation for, 322. 
 
 what teach, 310. 
 
 written reviews of, 323. 
 Catechism, 224, 307, 311, 312. 
 Catechumen, 305f, 308. 
 
 class of, 195, 319, 327. 
 
 dealing with, 322. 
 
 qualifications of, 316. 
 
 private interview with, 3 16. 
 
 public examination of, 317. 
 Cecil, 182. 
 Celibacy, 256. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 457 
 
 Character indelebilis, 112. 
 
 Charges for services, 138. 
 
 Chautauqua reading circle, 220. 
 
 Checker playing, 147- 
 
 Chemnitz, 39. 4°. 43. 71. 78, 87, 89, 94, 
 
 96, 115. 
 Chief services, 284. 
 Children of pastor, 157- 
 Choir, 293. 
 Church, 26, 86f, 88. 
 in home, 225. 
 as missionary, 226. 
 services, 232. 
 Church bells, 150. 
 Church council, 244, 318. 
 Church discipline, 26of. 
 Augustine on, 261. 
 Augsburg Confession on, 243, 263 
 apology on, 263. 
 basis of. (Matt, xviii. I5-I7-) 
 how treat disciplined, 269. 
 Luther on, 261. 
 mode of procedure, 264. 
 Rules concerning, 266. 
 Smalcald Arts, on, 263. 
 subjects for, 263. 
 Walther on, 261. 
 Church entertainments, 233fr. ( See Amuse- 
 ments. ) 
 Church fathers, 178. 
 Church history, 164. 
 Church ordinances, 223. 
 Church papers, 221. 
 Church records, 253, 335- 
 Church service, 223, 29of. 
 Church societies, 246, 248 
 Church tramps, 233. 
 Church year, 283, 293. 
 Churchly building, 291. 
 Churchly spirit, 224. 
 Christian experience, 186. 
 
 Christian giving, 293. 
 Christian science, 288, 407. 
 Clerical-cut dress, 152. 
 Clippings, 167, 228. 
 Closet for devotion, 199. 
 Clownishness, 142. 
 College text-books, 163. 
 Commitment of unbelievers, 359- 
 Common service, 290, 343. 
 Communion, 337f. 
 
 bread used, 341. 
 
 directions concerning, 343- 
 
 frequency of, 346. 
 
 of sick, 345. 
 
 order of, 343- 
 
 preparatory service to, 329, 334'- 
 
 to self, 347- 
 wine used, 341. 
 with God, 206. 
 Commentaries, 163. 
 Common sense, 50, 51. 
 Confession, 331. 
 Confirmant, how to hold, 327. 
 Confirmation, 304ff. 
 certificate of, 324. 
 directions for, 3i9f- 
 examination before, 317- 
 fees for, 324. 
 presents for, 324. 
 weakness of, 325f. 
 who to be confirmed, 315. 
 Confirmation day, 318. 
 Confirmation service, 319- 
 
 vows, 319. 
 Congregationt 1 rights, 84. 
 Consecration of elements 342. 
 Consistory, 95. 
 Conversation of pastor, 1 59. 
 Conviction of call, 64, 65. 
 Cremation, 363. 
 Crosby, Dr. II., 147. 'S'- 
 
458 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Croquet playing, 147, 386. 
 Current literature, 166. 
 Current tiioughls, 179. 
 Cuyler, Dr., 390. 
 Cyclopaedia, 164, 247. 
 
 D 
 Daily papers, 166, 181. 
 Daily reading, 284. 
 Dancing, 222, 306. 
 Deacons, 34, 244, 252, 294. 
 Deaconess, 35ff, 252, 381. 
 Dead-line, 54. 
 Debts, 139, 144. 
 Degrees, 181. 
 Devotion, 203. 
 Devotional study, 202. 
 Desk, 162. 
 Diaconate, ^2- 
 Dictionaries : 
 
 Biblical, 167. 
 
 standard, 164. 
 Didache, 289. 
 Dignity of pastor, I42. 
 Disloyal pastors, 439. 
 Disturbers of service, 232. 
 Divorce, 353, 358. 
 Doctrine and piety, 205. 
 Dowie, John Alexander, 407. 
 Doxology, 293. 
 Dress of pastor, 150, 152. 
 
 Elder, 32. 
 
 Elocution, 286. 
 
 Engagements, 231, 348. 
 
 Episcopos, 273. 
 
 Epistle lessons, 283. 
 
 Eucharist (lord's Supper), 222. 
 
 Evangelists, 29, 30, 31. 
 
 Examination of catechumens, 317. 
 Excommunication, 269. 
 Experience meetings, 269. 
 
 Family worship, 181, 226. 
 
 books for, 226. 
 Fees, 139, 302, 353, 357. 
 Female diaconate, 36. 
 Free pews, 291. 
 Free prayers, 291, 294. 
 Frank, 115. 
 Fritschel, Dr., 78. 
 Funerals : 
 
 church, 365. 
 
 cremation, 363. 
 
 expenses of, 365. 
 
 feast at, 367. 
 
 fee, 357- 
 
 of lodge members, 36of. 
 
 of suicides, 362. 
 
 suggestions, 364. 
 
 unbeliever, 356, 
 
 wakes at, 366. 
 Funeral sermons, 258f. 
 
 Gerhard, 41, 71, 81, 90, 92, 97, 104, 115 
 
 Gospel lesson, 283. 
 
 Gotwald, Dr. L. A., 49, 51. 
 
 Gowns. ( See Robes. ) 
 
 Grammars, 163. 
 
 Greek Testament, 163, 175. 
 
 Greeting of strangers, 293. 
 
 Gregory, 59. 
 
 H 
 
 Haas, Dr. J- A. \V., 75, 77, no. III. 
 
 Havelock, General, 198. 
 Harms, 159, 170. 
 Hamack, 83, 158, 420. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 459 
 
 HeaTcnly Ladder of Devotion, 203. 
 
 Hebrew Bible, 163, 176. 
 
 I Iei>rew language, 176, 177. 
 
 Helping poor, 145. 
 
 Hierarchical succession, io8f. 
 
 Hired singers, 293. 
 
 History, study of, 178. 
 
 Hollaz, 81, 88. 
 
 Home altars, 225. 
 
 Home life of pastor, 156. 
 
 Honesty of pastor, 137. 
 
 Hope, Dr. M. B., 48. 
 
 Hoppin, 176. 
 
 Horn, Dr., 98, 122, 178, 201, 248, 250, 
 
 259, 261, 280, 285, 330, 374. 
 Hospitality, 157. 
 House of mourning, 356. 
 Humility of pastor, 140. 
 Hymn Books, 224. 
 
 Individual communion cup, 344. 
 Infant baptism, 297. 
 Inner Mission, 258. 
 Insane, ministering to, 354. 
 Institutional church, 222. 
 Intercessory prayer, 207, 208, 209. 
 Intoxicating drinks, 147, 148. 
 Iowa Synod, 78, 251. 
 Irreverence, 232. 
 
 J 
 Jacobs, Dr., 42, 70, 72, 150. 
 James, 187. 
 Joking, I42f. 
 
 K 
 
 Kingsley, Charles, 145. 
 KSstlin, 417, 420, 422, 423. 
 Krauth, Dr. C. P., 54, 298. 
 Kromayer, loi. 
 
 Language, study of, 2S6. 
 
 Law, ceremonial, 21. 
 
 Lay baptism, 299. 
 
 Lay prayers, 294. 
 
 Laying on of hands, 113, 114, 115. 
 
 Lazy pastors, 54. 
 
 Letters of dismissal, 258. 
 
 Lexicons, 163. 
 
 Liberality, 140. 
 
 Library of pastor, 162, i64f. 
 
 Literary Digest, 166. 
 
 Literary papers, 166. 
 
 Literature, general, 163. 
 
 Liturgies, 224, 28Sff. 
 
 Loafing, 143, 162, 232. 
 
 Lord's Supper. (See Communion.) 
 
 "Lutheran Material," 256. 
 
 Luther : 
 
 sayings of, 200f. 
 
 views of Bible study, 176. 
 
 views of ministry, 74, 75, 76. 
 
 views of ordination, 115. 
 
 views on vestments, 150. 
 Luther League, 224, 227, 248, 327. 
 Luther League reading course, 24S. 
 Luther League Review, 249. 
 Luther League topics, 248, 284. 
 Lodge funerals, 36of. 
 Lodge ritual, 238. 
 Lodge, the, 237flf, 360. 
 Loehe, 83, 202, 208, 275. 
 Loy, Dr., 78. 
 
 M 
 Mann, Dr. 285. 
 Manners of pastors, 145. 
 Manuscript, 168. 
 Marriage, 348. 
 
 feast, 353. 
 Match-making, 231. 
 
460 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Marriage fee, 358. 
 
 mixed, 230, 350, 351. 
 
 state laws, 349. 
 
 state of, 349. 
 
 whom to refuse, 350, 351. 
 Martyn, Henry, 141, 
 Massillon, 207. 
 McCheyne, 185. 
 Means of grace, 22, 187, 339f. 
 Meditatio, 20 1. 
 Melanchthon, 117, 176. 
 Methods of study, 180, l8lff. 
 Meyer, 30. 
 
 Mid-week services, 294. 
 Minister, 43, 50, 53, 59. (See Pastor.) 
 Ministry : 
 
 attractive side of, 61. (See Call.) 
 
 education for the, 48, 49, 50. 
 
 foundation of, 36. 
 
 Luther on, 73, "j^ff. 
 
 of Christ, 22. 
 
 office of, 36, 38, 73, 83. 
 
 of mercy, 28, 34. 
 
 of Old Testament, 20. 
 
 of Word, 25, 28. 
 
 ordinary, 31. 
 
 qualification of, 47ff. 
 
 self-perpetuating of, 69, 70. 
 
 succession of, 70, 71- 
 
 vocation of, 83. 
 
 work of, 25, 53. 
 
 who called to, 50, 54, 62. 
 Ministerial studies, 178. 
 Mission activity, 226f. 
 Missionary church, 226. 
 Missionary literature, 228. 
 " Missionary Pastor, The," 228. 
 Missionary societies, 249. 
 Missouri Synod, 78. 
 Moehler, 107. 
 Money borrowing, 138. 
 
 Money making, 233. 
 
 Moral courage, 52. 
 
 Miiller, 159, 313, 337. 
 
 Murphy, 222. 
 
 Music, 222. 
 
 Mutual Aid Societies, 251. 
 
 Mysticism, 205. 
 
 N 
 Nature study, 179. 
 New church members, 256. 
 New Testament ministry, 25, 26, 31, 36. 
 
 evangelists, 29. 
 
 deaconesses, 35. 
 
 diaconate, 35. 
 
 officers of, 28. 
 
 prophets, 29. 
 Note-book of pastor, 228, 254. 
 
 O 
 Oberlin, 219. 
 Offerings, 293. 
 Office of bishop, 43. 
 Office holding, 154. 
 Ohio Synod, 78. 
 Order of worship, 289. 
 Ordination, 78, 84, 106, lo7ff. 
 
 Anglican view, 108. 
 
 apology on, 114. 
 
 a sacrament, 114, 115. 
 
 gift bestowed in, iiS, 120, 121. 
 
 Luther's view, 116. 
 
 Melanchthon' s view, 1 1 7. 
 
 origin of, 107. 
 
 proper view, iii. 
 
 Romish view, 109. 
 
 " sedes doctrina;," 118. 
 
 transference theory, no. 
 Oratio, 200. 
 
 Organized charities, 250. 
 Outlook, The, 166. 
 Oxford Bible, 163. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 461 
 
 Pamphlets, 168, 228. 
 Parish, 2i7tf. 
 Parsonage, 161, 328. 
 Passivant, 21 1, 251, 395. 
 Pastor. ( See Seelsorger. ) 
 
 as a man, 135, 138. 
 
 amusements of, 146. 
 
 at home, 156. 
 
 as teacher, 179. 
 
 as interpreter, 179. 
 
 authority of, 218. 
 
 as lecturer, 221. 
 
 as missionary, 226. 
 
 books of, 162. 
 
 celibacy of, 256. 
 
 charges made by, 139. 
 
 clownishness of, 142, 294. 
 
 debt of, 137. 
 
 desire for elevating his people, 2ii 
 
 dignity of, 142. 
 
 dress of, 150, 152. 
 
 honesty of, 137. 
 
 humility of, 140. 
 
 in politics, 153. 
 
 in secular business, 138. 
 
 in his study, i6iff. 
 
 in the closet, i84ff, 206. 
 
 intercessory prayer of, 207^ 
 
 manners of, 145. 
 
 methods of study, 180. 
 
 missionary, 226. 
 
 must study Bible, 175. 
 
 must know times, 179. 
 
 piety of, 58, 184. 
 
 professional spirit of, 192. 
 
 proselyting, 257. 
 
 temptation of, I96f. 
 
 truthfulness of, 136. 
 
 use of intoxicants, 147, 148. 
 
 use of tobacco, 148, 149. 
 
 Pastor : 
 
 watchfulness of, 188. 
 Pastor's children, 157. 
 Pastor's study : 
 
 arrangement of, 161. 
 
 books in, 163^'. 
 
 brethren in, 162. 
 
 cabinet in, 167. 
 
 clippings in, 167. 
 Pastoral klugheit, 50, 229, 293. 
 Pastoral responsibilities, 194. 
 Pastoral spirit, 218. 
 Pastoral visiting, 194, 227f, 2}^, 377fT. 
 
 hints for, 40S. 
 
 not inquisitorial, 386. 
 
 not official, 387. 
 
 not social, 386. 
 
 of doubters, 404. 
 
 of imprisoned, 410. 
 
 of new members, 404. 
 
 of outsiders, 394. 
 
 of serious ones, 403. 
 
 of troubled ones, 40S. 
 
 of those in strife, 411. 
 
 of weak-minded, 409. 
 Perforated spoon, 343. 
 Pericopes, 283. 
 Periodicals, 165. 
 Pew renting, 291. 
 Philippi, 30. 
 Philosophy, 1 78. 
 Phoebe, 35. 
 Pictures, 162. 
 Pietism, 285f. 
 
 Piety of pastor, 58, 185, 225. 
 Politics in pulpit, 155. 
 Politics of pastor, 153. 
 Popular books, 180. 
 Post-graduate course, 180. 
 Prayer meeting, 294. 
 Preacher, 141. 
 
462 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Preaching, 273f. 
 
 Achelis on, 277, 
 
 Gregory on, 274. 
 
 importance of, 274. 
 
 Luther on, 274, 276, 277. 
 
 Lutheran style of, 278. 
 
 of apostles, 274. 
 
 of Early Church, 274. 
 
 Reformed style of, 278. 
 
 Spaeth, Dr., on, 278. 
 
 Tertullian on, 274. 
 Preparatory service, 329f, 334. 
 Presbyters, 95. 
 Prisoners, 412. 
 Private communion, 344. 
 Private confession, 198. (See Preparatory 
 
 Service. ) 
 Private devotion : 
 
 Augustine on, 200. 
 
 Boos on, 208. 
 
 chapel for, at Upsala, 198. 
 
 Francke on, 211. 
 
 Loehe on, 202ff. 
 
 necessity of, 202. 
 
 place of, 198. 
 
 Scott on, 210. 
 
 time of, 197. 
 Priest : 
 
 office of, 79. 
 Priestly office, 191?. 
 
 Priesthood of believers, 73, 80, 82, 85. 
 Professionalism, I92f. 
 Proselyting, 256. 
 
 Public examination of catechumens, 317. 
 Pulpit dress, 150. 
 Pulpit tone, 286. 
 
 work of, 20, 82. 
 
 Quakers, 112. 
 Quarreling, 411. 
 
 Quenstedt, 45, 8S, 95. 
 Questionable amusements, 235. 
 
 R 
 Reading of sermons, 285. 
 Reading-room of church, 222. 
 Reception of new members, 258. 
 Reformation, 274, 289. 
 Religion of lodge, 237f. 
 Repass, Dr., 108. 
 Resignation of pastor, 102, 103. 
 Revelation : 
 
 immediate, 18. 
 
 inner, 42 
 Ritual, 289. 
 Robe, 150, 293. 
 Rubrics, 292, 345. 
 Rules of study, 1708". 
 
 of temperance, 148. 
 Rusted-out pastor, 161. 
 
 S 
 Sacra privata, 196. 
 Sacraments, 22, 187, 223. 
 Sacristry, 199. 
 Salary, 129. 
 Saloon, 148. 
 Sanctuary, 291 
 Sandt, Dr., 187. 
 SchafT, 164. 
 
 School of prophets, 19, 49. 
 Scolding, 232. 
 Seckendorf, 76. 
 
 Secret societies, 122. (See Lodge.) 
 Secular business of pastor, 138. 
 Self-communion, 347. 
 Semi-mendicant pastors, 139. 
 Sermon : 
 
 application of, 285. 
 
 confirmation, 319. 
 
 expositor}', 284. 
 
 Lutheran, 277. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 463 
 
 Sermon : 
 
 Horn, Dr., on, 280. 
 
 matter for, 229. 
 
 means of grace, 277. 
 
 missionary, 227. 
 
 preparation of, 2S2. 
 
 reading of, 285. 
 
 Reformed, 278. 
 
 requisites of, 278. 
 Seelsorger. (See Pastor.) 
 
 care for reading of his people, 220. 
 
 eleyate ideas of church service, 231. 
 
 encourage taste for art, 221. 
 
 encourage hbraries, 220. 
 
 encourage missions, 226. 
 
 endeavor to improve intellectually, 219. 
 
 good judgment of, 382. 
 
 guard marriage, 230. 
 
 must know his people, 228. 
 
 note-book of, 228. 
 
 piety of, 225. 
 
 qualification of, 38iflf. 
 
 teaching of, 221. 
 Seelsorge, 371. 
 
 Bugenhagen, 376. 
 
 Deyling on, 375. 
 
 Horn, Dr., 374. 
 
 its foundation, 373. 
 
 its meaning, 372. 
 
 Luther on, 376. 
 
 reason not used, 377. 
 Sermon, 277ff. 
 Shakespeare, 164, 179. 
 Shedd, Dr., 180, 181. 
 Sheppard, 151, 190. 
 Sick, 416. 
 
 Simpson, Bishop, 63. 
 Smalcald Articles, 112. 
 Smith Bib. Diet., 164. 
 Social gatherings, 222. 
 Societies in church, 247. 
 
 Solitude, 200, 203, 209, 210, 212. 
 
 Spaetli, Dr. , 278. 
 
 Speculation, 138. 
 
 Spener, 187. 
 
 Spirit of times, 179. 
 
 Spiritual psychology, 383. 
 
 Sponsors, 301. 
 
 State church, 378. 
 
 Still hour, 206, 212. 
 
 Strangers in church, 293. 
 
 Study of pastor, l6in', 180. 
 
 Succession of ministry, 72. 
 
 Suicides, 362. 
 
 Sunday school : 
 
 books of, 224. 
 
 teachers, 246. 
 
 workers of, 245. 
 " Synod tax," 235. 
 Synods, 437fr. 
 
 T 
 Temperance, 146, 148. 
 Temptations of ministrj-, 189, 190, 252. 
 Tentatio, 201. 
 Theatre going, 146. 
 Theophanies, 18. 
 The way of salvation, 310. 
 Tobacco, use of, 148, 149. 
 Total abstinence, 147, I4<S. 
 Tour of investigation, 229. 
 " Tracts for the times," 275. 
 "Transference theory," 73, 77, 7S, 82, S3, 
 Trial sermon, 104. 
 Truthfulness of minister, 136. 
 
 U 
 
 Ultra-Lutheranism, 150. 
 
 V 
 Vacation, 153, 446ff. 
 Van Oosterzee, 126, 131, 143, 146. 
 Vestments, 150. 
 
464 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Vilmar, 59, 109, 168, 188, 289. 
 Vinet, 172, 192, 199, 410. 
 Visiting brethren, 162. 
 Visiting sick, 420. 
 
 Kostlin on, 422. 
 
 suggestions, 427. 
 
 Walther, Dr., on, 424. 
 Voting, 154. 
 
 W 
 
 Wafer, 341. 
 
 Wagner, 412. 
 
 Wake, 365. 
 
 Walther, Dr., 158, 224, 262, 274, 278, 
 
 424, 439- 
 Wandering thoughts, 189. 
 Wayland, Dr., 174. 
 Wedding address, 352. 
 Wedding certificate, 353. 
 
 W^edding feast, 353. 
 Wesley, John, 172. 
 Wilks, Rev. Matthew, 182. 
 Willet, Dr. Andrew, 210. 
 Wills, making of, 432. 
 Wine in communion, 341. 
 Wolf, Dr. E. J., n8. 
 Woman's Missionary Society, 249. 
 Word, the, 24. 
 
 ministry of, 25. 
 Work of Synod, 235. 
 Worship. ( See Liturgies. ) 
 
 a text book of, 21. 
 
 Y 
 
 Young people in church, 248. 
 
 Z 
 Zeit-geist, 166, 178, 180, 185, 231.