The Priesthood of All Believers: A Lutheran Bill of Rites
© John L. Hoh, Jr.
To be sure we maintain decency and order in our churches. We call a pastor to teach us the Word of God, to lead us in our worship, to shepherd the straying and seek the lost. But as Paul states in his letter to the Galatians, the pastor and other church leaders don't do all this work. Rather, they equip each and every one of us to carry out this work (Galatians 4:11-16). In a pinch, a lay leader can pronounce the Absolution of sins, can consecrate and distribute the elements in the Lord's Supper, can pronounce God's blessing upon God's people, and can deliver a sermon.
And perhaps there is no place better than the liturgical rites in the Lutheran Church to demonstrate this concept of the Universal Priesthood of all Believers. And I will review these rites in the order of a person's life. The rites are all quoted from the WELS' hymnal Christian Worship: A Lutheran Hymnal and from auxiliary material from the WELS Commission on Worship website (URL at the end of this article).
Baptism
In baptism God makes each one of us His own dear child. He also washes away our sin in this sacrament and uses this to create and strengthen faith. However, baptism has no power apart from the Word. It is the Word at baptism that gives strength and hearing, reading, and studying the Word throughout one's life that also gives baptism its power.
This is where we begin with a new Christian and how we all serve as priests in God's Kingdom.
If the congregation is present for the baptism, the minister says:
M: Brothers and sisters in Christ, Our Lord commands that we teach his precious truths to all who are baptized. Christian love therefore urges all of us to assist in whatever manner possible so that [name] may remain a child of God until death. If you are willing to carry out this responsibility, then answer: Yes, and we ask God to help us.
C: Yes, and we ask God to help us.
As you can see, the pastor asks us to take an oath, to promise something. What do we promise? We promise that we will help shepherd the newly baptized Christian in his/her walk in faith. And not just whenever we feel like it or in a manner comfortable, but "in whatever manner possible." This can include many things: Teaching Sunday School, instruction in righteousness, continually assuring each other forgiveness, even forgiving a fellow Christian who has wronged us.
