The Office of the Keys: Jesus' Breath and Words

Sermon Midweek Lenten Pulpit Exchange

The Office of the Keys:  Jesus' Breath and Words (John 20:22-23)

This year our Lenten journey takes again to the cross of Jesus. And in following Him, we listen to Him as the Father commanded from the Mount of Transfiguration.  Our teaching for this evening concerns itself with the fifth part of the catechism, the office of the keys.  In fact it is this fifth part that will be the focus of this year’s catechism convocation being held here at Trinity Lutheran Church on Saturday, April 21^st.

To be more precise the fifth part of the catechism has two foci. The first is confession and absolution and the second is the office of the keys.  Other preachers will be proclaiming confession and absolution whereas our task tonight is to focus on our Lord’s established office of the keys.  So what is the Office of the Keys? 

The small catechism defines it as that special authority which Christ has given to His church on earth to forgive the sins of repentant sinners, but to withhold forgiveness from the unrepentant as long as they do not repent.

And where is this written?  This is what St. John the Evangelist writes in Chapter 20: And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” (Jn 20:22–23)

 

Finally, what do you believe according to these words? I believe that when the called ministers of Christ deal with us by His divine command, in particular when they exclude openly unrepentant sinners from the Christian congregation and absolve those who repent of their sins and want to do better this is just as certain, even in heaven as if Christ our dear Lord dealt with us Himself.

The office of the keys is the same as the office of the Holy Ministry.  Like any office this office includes with it both authority and responsibility.  The responsibility or the job description in this case is that of the confessor who hears confessions of sin and then pronounces Christ’s forgiveness or absolution while keeping confidential all that is confessed to him. The Holy Ministry is also responsible for the preaching, teaching, interpreting of the Word and administration of the sacraments .

The authority of the office comes from the Heavenly Father who grants it to the Son who calls His Apostles giving them the Holy Spirit. The Apostles in turn ordained Bishops and Elders, who we would later be called Ministers and Pastors, to serve the means of Grace of Justification to the priesthood of believers.

So we say can rightly that the Office of the Keys is a divine institution which is in turn given to the church. We can be certain that holder of the Office speaks in the stead of Christ as long as he speaks God’s Word and administers the sacraments according to Christ’s institution.  The Office of the Holy ministry is a necessary office for you, the priesthood of believers, to hear the declarations of being justified for Christ sake in order that you may be certain of God’s gracious will toward you. This creates trust or saving faith in your heart. 

The Augsburg Confession says as much in Article V, “ To obtain such faith (that is Justification through Christ Jesus, His death and resurrection) God instituted the office of the ministry,  that is, provided the Gospel and the sacraments. Through these, as through means, he gives the Holy Spirit, who works faith, when and where he pleases, in those who hear the Gospel.  And the Gospel teaches that we have a gracious God, not by our own merits but by the merit of Christ, when we believe this. Condemned are the Anabaptists and others who teach that the Holy Spirit comes to us through our own preparations, thoughts, and works without the external word of the Gospel.”

Notice that we cannot by own reason or strength believe Jesus Christ or come to him by our own merits, it is the work of the Holy Spirit through the instituted Holy Ministry. And for the sake of good order He uses the church to call and ordain a man into the Ministerial Office who is given this responsibility and authority.  Article XIV states, “It is taught among us that nobody should publicly teach or preach or administer the sacraments in the church without a regular call.” This is to help identify who God has sent and called to serve the congregation with the word and sacrament.

Christ endowed the office not the office holder with the spirit so it is not the man but the spirit of the office that speaks. He did this with the eleven when he breathed on them and said receive the Holy Spirit.  Luther in his Table Talk writes regarding this text.

"From the passage, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive,’ etc. [John 20:22-23], some conclude that therefore only those who personally have the Holy Spirit are able to forgive sins. But this isn’t the meaning, for Christ gives the Spirit to the public office and not to a private person, as he had just said, ‘As the Father has sent me, even so I send you’ [John 20:21]. Consequently he was speaking about those who had been called and who had the authority to preach, administer the sacraments, etc. When somebody has the authority to preach he also has the authority to administer the sacraments, for we hold that the sacrament is less important than preaching. On this account, under the papacy none was admitted to the degree of bachelor of theology except priests, and they already had the right to administer sacraments.”[1](No. 512: Authority of Minister Resides in Office, Not Person  Spring, 1533)

It is interesting to note the prominence Luther gives to preaching over the administration of sacrament. That if one has the authority to preach then he also has the authority to administer the sacrament. It was true that in the early church only the bishops were authorized to preach and administer the sacrament while the ordained priests administered the sacrament only.

Today many in our beloved synod violate this order by placing into congregations those who do not have a call and ordination, therefore lacking the proper authority, to preach and administer the sacrament in divine service. This sort of arrangement should and does create uncertainty in the congregation because it does not have Christ’s institution or the promise of the Holy Spirit with it.  It would be like a baptism without the Word or a Sacrament of the Altar with animal crackers and grape juice.  We are just not sure.

The office of the keys or the office Holy Ministry does have the promise of the Holy Spirit with it. The church understood this in the liturgy with the salutation and response, The “Lord be with you,” “and with thy Spirit.”  We have this in our Divine Service III Liturgy in the LSB and from page 15 of the TLH. Some of you may have wanted to respond with the more folksy, “and also with you” which we find in our other divine service settings. The Lutheran’s adopted this response from the Roman Catholic liturgical reforms of Vatican II in the 1960’s.

Ironically, under the current Pope Benedict the Roman Church have reformed the liturgy once more and are returning to the  response “And with thy spirit”  along with returning to the original Nicene Creed language that begins with the words “We believe…” expressing the corporate nature of confession. But the phrase and “with thy spirit” or “with your spirit” recognizes the office and not the man who is before you.

The same goes for what the bearer of the office wears. The stole or yoke of the ministry and white alb cover the man so people are focused on the office of the ministry and the service of Christ and not so much the man.  The garments a pastor wears designates the office just like the robe a judge in a court room wears or a uniform an officer of the military wears. Salutes do not go to the man but to the office he represents which carries with it responsibility and authority.

This idea of the Holy Ministry is foreign to the American Evangelical church culture where the ministry is more about the man first and his particular gifts and the office is second.  Notice that Saddleback Community Church is more commonly known as Rick Warren’s church.

I looked up the website of Lakewood Community Church where it says by Joel and Victoria Osteen.  The picture of Joel and Victoria is very casual. It looks like an engagement picture. They are wearing nice clothes that you and I would wear.  There really is nothing in their clothing that distinguishes them from the rest of us.  We can look up to them and say I can and want to be like them.  They are just like you and I but as you get to know them you find them to be more and more extraordinary.

They like themselves and they want you to like them too. And so you want to learn more from them as to how to be successful. You see them as your life coaches to emulate.  Rev. Jeremy Rhode of Faith Lutheran Capistrano beach made this observation on Issues Etc. that these Pastors are like the actor Tom Hanks. Tom Hanks is everyone’s man. He seems very accessible. He makes you comfortable to watch. He is just like you and yet he is so much more. These are good qualities for an entertainer.

If the focus is on the man than it is not on Christ, if we have the office then we have Christ and we can avoid the pastor being a cult of personality that the church must depend on. When the Pastor falls in this scenario, so do the congregations.  These churches are constantly reinventing themselves. They split. They dissolve, and they pop up almost overnight.  We in the LCMS as battered as our congregations are, have very long tenures and we enjoy a stability that many would find enviable.  Why?  Because our cornerstone is Christ Jesus,  our foundation is the teaching of the prophets and the apostles.  From their successors in the office of the ministry repentance and forgiveness are preached.  The absolution is declared both corporately and privately and the sheep are being fed with Christ’s body and blood.  And we have the assurance that the Holy Spirit is using these means to create faith when and where He pleases. Being served by Christ, the priesthood of believers serve or minister to each other through their various vocations. There sacrifice of praise is found in the loving service of a parent to their child or of an employee to their employer or by showing honor and respect to those who our Lord has put in authority over you.

It is found in parents teaching their children the faith and telling your neighbors and co-workers about Jesus forgiveness. Yes even though you may not hold the office of the ministry you are still a member of the priesthood and when you share God’s word and forgiveness with your children and with your neighbor the Holy Spirit is functioning  in that Word.

In our vocations we do sin, sins of omission where we neglect to act and sins of commission where we trespass upon one another. We do act selfishly and we break commandments. So return to the Lord and confess your sins and God who is faithful and just will forgive your sins through His various means of grace.

News flash, even the men who serve in the office of the ministry need to be served by the office. They need to hear the words of forgiveness proclaimed to them, by their colleagues in the office, and by the members of their congregations. I personally avail myself of a confessor for individual confession and absolution. During my illness a Pastor ministered to me bedside. Hearing the words of absolution arrested my fears.

Jesus after he had been denied, betrayed, abandoned, beaten, forsaken, mocked, humiliated, crucified to death and rose victorious went to his fearful and unbelieving disciples and he declared “Peace be with you!” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.  Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”   I declare in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, Your sins are forgiven!”

Now may the peace passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

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[1] Luther, M. (1999). Vol. 54: Luther's works, vol. 54 : Table Talk (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald & H. T. Lehmann, Ed.). Luther's Works (90). Philadelphia: Fortress Press.