[In the life of a family, there are special events and occasions which, even if they directly affect one member of the family, are a matter for the whole family. For example, when the son graduates or takes his exams, when the daughter gets married: the rest of the family is also concerned with the anxiety or joy of that one member. In our big family, in our congregation, there is such an outstanding event, a Presbyterian Day of Silence, which, although it directly concerns 35 members of the congregation, is not indifferent to the others, it is necessary to concern the whole family, the whole congregation. Therefore, let the Word now speak especially to the presbyters, who would like to prepare themselves for the service of the Lord in a day of silence, and let the Lord speak to us in the presence of the whole congregation, so that the congregation may see what it means to be a presbyter! What a responsibility rests on those whom he has chosen for this office, and may the whole family be able to pray more concretely for the brothers and sisters entrusted with the office of presbyter!I count myself as a presbyter, because the Word says that I am a presbyter: a teaching presbyter among the ruling presbyters. Our task as presbyters could hardly be summed up more succinctly than as the Apostle Paul says to the Ephesian elders in his farewell address: "Take care therefore of yourselves and of all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, for the pasture of the mother church of God, which he has purchased with his own blood."
1) The Word of God calls the presbyter a "watchman", someone who stands guard like a soldier posted day and night on the high ramparts of Jerusalem, that is, someone who stands in a prominent position so that he can see the whole situation, who keeps an eye on the others, who protects, pastures, shepherds the whole flock with several of his own. He who looks after others must first of all look after himself! Paul knows this well from his own practice, which is why he writes to the Corinthians, "I will bend my body and make it a servant, so that while I preach to others I may not myself in some way be unworthy." And that is why he warns his beloved son Timothy, "Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers." And the same is the content here of the warning in our basic hymn, "Take care of yourselves." He who says he has invented an excellent cough remedy, sells it in the marketplace, and can hardly utter his sermon because of a choking cough, will not have much success in selling his wares. He who cares little for his own life of faith, being himself a part of the congregation, will not put any zeal or effort into the life of faith of the congregation. How can he who neglects his own care zealously for the salvation of others? It is a terrible thing to serve the Lord with an unrepentant heart. It is as much a compulsion as a lifetime of lying about love in an unhappy marriage. It can be terribly tragicomic when someone with the Bread of Life in his hands starves to death while offering it to others. I cannot truly serve a Christ I do not carry in my heart. If there is no order within me, no living communion with Christ, my outward ministry is confused and hesitant. A cold heart cannot warm others, a heart that does not burn for Christ cannot light a fire.
All zeal is in vain if what we build with our mouths in an hour on Sunday, we then destroy with our hands for a whole week! It is in vain to be careful not to utter a single wrong word in the course of our ministry, if we allow wrong desires, feelings, and thoughts to be bottled up within us! It is useless to be so impeccable in "service" if we are others "out of service"!
Someone once said to me as a young minister, "Even when you are having fun, or even when you are alone in a room, wear yourself as if you were wearing a robe." Presbyterians are such cloaked people: they wear invisible cloaks at home, on the street, in their daily lives! And that invisible cloak is holier than this one, and it is not black like this, but white - the very white robe in which Christ clothes His brethren. Every stain will show on it sooner than on this! "Take care therefore of yourselves", the Word admonishes us.
Paul knows from his own experience how many personal temptations, how many subtle attacks of Satan, the watchman is subjected to, since he is in the service of the Christ who came to "destroy the works of the devil". The devil has more interest in bringing down such a man than any other. He is more inclined to cower against him who works to his hurt. It is a great triumph for Satan if he can beat the shepherd to scatter the sheep. What a victory it is, if he can make such a called servant of the Lord haughty, selfish, fornicating, doubting, then he can mock at will: look at the church, such are its rulers! Yes, many eyes are on the prelates, many people notice the stains on their invisible robes. Others may be able to sin unnoticed, but not those who hold church office! Our sins are even uglier than those of others. A sin that would seem lesser if committed by someone else, cries out in our lives! Our sin is a greater infidelity than that of others, because we have taken upon ourselves a greater obligation! The closer a person is to Jesus Christ and His cause, the more and the more grievous reproach he can bring upon His name. That is why Paul says, "Take heed therefore to yourselves."
One cannot limp in two directions, one cannot serve the Lord with a divided heart, one who also serves Satan cannot fight against him! Can he be truly faithful to Christ who is still a secret ally in his affections to the enemy of Christ?! And this is the case with all who have not yet given themselves wholly to Jesus Christ! If there was a traitor among the 12 whom Jesus chose for the apostleship, it is well to ask each one of us: Is it not I now, Lord? For even unconsciously he is a traitor to Christ, who has not given his heart to Him, who has not given Him the mastery over his own life! Who has not given up himself!
In the cathedral of Copenhagen there is a wonderful statue of Christ by Thorwaldsen. It is a fascinating sight to see the figure, surrounded by a soft light, dominating the whole cathedral. But there is no other way to see his face than to kneel at his feet. He stands there with arms outstretched, looking down on those who kneel at his feet. Jesus can only ever be seen in this way: kneeling before him. He who looks at Him from a distance can never see His face. "Take care of yourselves" means: kneel before Christ, let Him overcome you, - let His face look into your face, His gaze pierce and transform you, His life enliven you - always again - more and more!
2) Take care of yourselves in this way, so that you may take care of the whole flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you watchmen! What this care for the whole flock means in detail would be difficult to put into concrete terms in a sermon. We will talk more about this during the course of our quiet day. Here we can only speak in general terms.
The word 'care for the whole flock' is particularly important here. To take some care of the whole flock, the first requirement is to know who belongs to the flock. The biggest problem here is that we do not know the situation and living conditions of most of the members of the flock, nor even their identity. We sit down next to each other on the tram without knowing that the other belongs to the same flock. And even if someone does belong, we don't know how he or she belongs, by name, by habit, by tradition, or by faith in the living Jesus Christ. How can we take care of the whole flock in this way? Here, right away, is a problem that, at least in this congregation, has never been solved. And yet, if we take God's Word seriously, we can't accept that this is an unsolvable problem. If only we could take seriously the fact that the church in Pasaréti has not one pastor, but 36, then the command of the Word to 'care for all the flock' would have a different acoustic. Even if a flock is large in number, and it is feared that it is not as large as we think it is, 35 pastors - if they are really pastors, if they are really agents of the Good Shepherd - will still somehow distract it. Yes: if he is truly the agent of the Good Shepherd! One of our presbyter brothers, when we were electing him to this ministry, said to me the other day, "You know, it's a serious question for me whether you nominated me as a presbyter or whether the Holy Spirit did." Well, this brother is right: it is a question that each of us must decide for ourselves.
Paul himself appointed presbyters to lead the churches, and yet he says to the Ephesian elders. Take care of the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers." It can be undertaken in faith that in the outward calling of the congregation, the inward calling of the Holy Spirit is heard, and when the Holy Spirit calls someone to ministry, there is only one thing to say, what Isaiah said to the inward vision, "Behold I am, send me, Lord". God has His Church on a very tight rein today. It is not possible to belong to it as it was in the old days, just barely, just for fun, because it will be missed and shaken off, if you are not deadly serious and fully committed to your place, if you cannot take it on faith that the Holy Spirit has put you where you are, whether you are a presbyter or a member of the church. So let us take care of the whole flock!
I know that the Word of God puts a tremendous responsibility on us, but the flock that the Holy Spirit has made us care for is also a very precious thing. So the apostle says: God "hath obtained it with his own blood". Many times I hear Jesus say, "I died for them, but will you not take care of them? I have not spared my blood, do you also spare your labour and your comfort? I have come from heaven to earth to seek them and keep them, will you not go to the next street after them? I have suffered so much to save them, and if I make you my co-worker, will you regret the little I have entrusted to you?
Yes, let us always look upon the church as God's own blood! Can we not then love all the members of that flock? What a dreadful sin would it be, if, under our inaction, the hair of Christ should become worthless to us? Do you see how great a responsibility is ours? These are the things that we want to continue to talk about today in this day of silence. Pray for us that we may be made worthy of such a task!
Amen
Date: 14 February 1954, Presbyterian Quiet Day.