03-1 Pastoral Care.pdf

48 LOGIAJesus Christ for there exists only the one ministry of JesusChrist. Through the office, Christ is personally active amonghis people. He preaches, he absolves, and he celebrates thesacraments according to his own command and institution.Apart from the office of the ministry, churchly acts are performednot by Christ but by the individual alone. Historically,the functions of the pastoral office have been almost exclusivelyperformed by those placed into the pastoral office. Thechristological understanding of the ministry presented herewould suggest that this ancient practice is not only reasonablebut absolutely essential.To insure every communicant’s sacramentalcertainty, no individual shouldbe allowed to perform the functions ofthe office of the ministry apart fromthe office itself.It seems that the young Luther’s view of the efficacy ofsacraments was correct: a layperson may perform all theactions of the Holy Communion quite reverently and correctly,yet he/she can only offer ordinary bread and wine; for withoutChrist’s presence through the office of the ministry, his commandand institution simply cannot be observed. Unless Christhimself says, “This is my body . . .” there can be no consecrationand therefore no Sacrament of the Altar. Any attempt tocelebrate the Eucharist apart from the public ministry is morethan a minor departure from “good order”; it is not only illicitbut also invalid and inefficacious.Since “lay minister” is a confusing, oxymoronic term, 19the issue of the lay minister and the Lord’s Supper is not soeasily or quickly resolved. The endless discussions of“ordained versus called,” “educated versus uneducated,”“exclusive functions of ministry versus distinctive functions ofministry” may be promptly dismissed, however, for lay ministrycan only be properly defined and understood accordingto its relationship to the public ministry. In matters ofeucharistic efficacy, the office makes a difference. If, in fact,the lay minister holds the office of the ministry because of thecongregation’s appointment (as some congregations and layministers might suppose), then Christ is indeed present andactive in the office and the sacrament consecrated by a layminister is valid and efficacious. If, on the other hand, layministers do not hold the office—if they only perform thefunctions of the ministry apart from the office itself (as suggestedin the LCMS Lay Worker resolution 20 )—then lay ministersare merely acting according to their own persons whenthey attempt to consecrate the Supper and can offer only emptybread and wine; for apart from Christ’s speaking in andthrough the office, Christ’s own institution cannot beobserved and no valid Eucharist is possible.Who is to say which assessment of the lay ministerdescribes the spiritual reality? Man-made theological hybridslike lay ministry often defy easy categorization, always raise difficultquestions, and sometimes even obscure the truth. Inmatters related to the Lord’s Supper, however, such uncertaintyis intolerable and inexcusable. God’s people should neverhave occasion to doubt the efficacy of the Lord’s Supper celebratedin their midst. This is precisely the kind of confusionand suspicion that Augustana XIV was intended to eliminate.Something must be done!To insure every communicant’s sacramental certainty, noindividual should be allowed to perform the functions of theoffice of the ministry apart from the office itself. This does notnecessarily mean that all lay ministers should be banned fromtheir altars and driven from their congregations, although thepresent difficulty could be corrected in this way. A less drasticapproach might be more desirable: Why not openly and publiclyconfer the office of the public ministry on those lay ministerspresently serving in “ongoing Word and sacrament ministry”?Not just a “license” to impersonate a pastor, but theholy office itself could be granted to these individuals. 21 Thenthere would be no doubt about the efficacy of the church’ssacramental celebration. Then God’s people would no longerneed to wonder if, perhaps, the individual at their altar was“only playing church.” LOGIA