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2 Timothy 4:1-8
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I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.
(ESV)
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You Preach It, Brother!
Thursday After Holy Trinity
30 May 2013
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One of my mother in law's favorite popular songs is Doris Day's "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)." This pop tune encapsulates the attitude of some church leaders about the eternal destiny of the souls around them who know not Christ. They argue, Doris Day-like, that the Lord knows those who are his (2Ti 2:19) (right so far) and that therefore they do need to see to the preaching of the Word of God. "God will take care of the benighted souls dying in ignorance." Divine monergism is a theological statement. Can God take care of things? Oh, yes. However, divine monergism is not intended to excuse lazy pastors unwilling to carry out their vocation.
The Lord has commanded pastors to preach. The Lord Jesus has chosen to send these men to proclaim His Word, and woe unto them if they do not proclaim the gospel (1Co 9:16). Faith comes from hearing (Rm 10:17)! If it is the Lord who knows those who are His, then it also implies that we do not know those who are His. What we do know, however, is that the Lord has called us to preach. We may not climb into the divine omniscience, we may only do as He commands: "Go, preach!"
How wonderful that God does not use His almighty power to bring those who are dying into the holy church that they might share with us His gifts of grace. Rather, He sends the preachers to go into all the world preaching and teaching (Mk 16:15) to the fallen, that His grace might lift them up out of the abyss of sin and death. The weakness of the content of the gospel is reinforced by the weakness of those spreading the message that gives salvation. Christ our Lord is always willing that He should be victor in the midst of weakness. If He was willing to be weak for our sakes, what would keep us from being weak for His? No, I never know what exactly He is accomplishing by the preached Word, but I know that He promises that His Word will never return to Him empty. He will accomplish what He sees fit to accomplish by it (Is 55:11). We must not try to make an end run around the divine will by pleading predestination. It is the Lord's to know. It is ours to preach. The Lord has commanded you to preach. He will take care of the rest.
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Martin Luther
"It is necessary to censure the foolishness, or rather, the ungodliness, of those men who refer all things to predestination, which embraces the hidden counsels of God and His government unknown to us. If you were God, it would be permitted to proceed according to this. But because God wants you to be ignorant of this, therefore remain in your calling and within the limits of the Word, and use the means and counsels which God has ordained. I cannot foresee the fruit of my doctrine, namely, who is to be converted and who not. It would be absurd and impious if I now wanted to say: 'Those who are to be converted will be converted without my efforts, and if some are not to be converted, what point is there in my toiling to no purpose?' For who are you to ask this question? Do your duty and leave the outcome to God. It is not for you to say: 'If these things are to happen, they will happen.' In His Word God has issued instructions through Paul saying: 'Go and do your duty! Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching' (2Ti 4:2). This commandment must necessarily be obeyed, idle curiosity being disregarded."
Martin Luther, Lectures on Genesis, 32.6-8
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Prayer
Lord Jesus, You have commanded Your church to send out preachers to proclaim Your gospel. Send her men willing to bear the heat of the day, before the night comes when no one can work. Help us to support them in their office, that under Your command they might tell the world of Your death and resurrection. Swell the company of the faithful through the Word which they preach. Amen.
For Catherine Brda, who is being wed to Colin Myers, that they would experience all of the Lord's gifts that He grants in the estate of holy marriage
For Lydia Linke, who will be wed to Joshua Loll, that the Lord Jesus would grant His children many years of wedded joy
For Brad Deluca, that the Lord Jesus would be with him as he continues to undergo medical testing
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Art: D�rer, Albrecht The Adoration of the Trinity (1515)
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 � Scott R. Murray, 2013
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