Our Savior Lynchburg
"The Lord Comes!" - Ordination and Installation of Rev. Kaleb J. Yaeger, Trinity, Sturgis, MI
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. To Caleb, Pastor Modfrel, saints of Trinity, family, and guests, fellow brothers in office. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The Lord is coming. Many you have heard that message before, and especially in a few months as we come to the end of the church here, you will hear that the Lord Jesus comes to judge, but long before he comes on that last day to judge the quick and the dead, Jesus came to visit his people. According to his divine nature, he is not of creation, he is her creator and her Lord. The world that he had created and which he ruled had fallen away from him. The world did not recognize their rightful king, but because he is the Lord God, because he loves his creation, he has come to redeem it. Just a few verses before today's gospel, the Lord Jesus, set his face toward Jerusalem. Nothing and no one will stand between him and his cross. On his way to the cross, Jesus will pass through many cities. He appoints 72 of his disciples and appoints them as apostles, one who are sent to announce the coming of the king. Who are these preachers? Well, they have, as you just saying, seen the king. They have sat at his feet. They have listened to his preaching. The words of their Lord ring in their ears. They love the Lord in his word. Who are these preachers? They are sent by Jesus. Jeremiah tells us that one of the marks of false prophets is that they send themselves. But these 72 are sent by Jesus. Dear Caleb, today you join those 72. You join a long line of men who have been sat into this preaching office by Jesus himself. You have sat at the feet of Jesus, listening to his word and taking it to heart. But today you are sent. Four months ago, you didn't know really where that would be, but Jesus knew. He knew that he was sending you, like he sent those 72, to a place where he himself was about to go. He sent you to Trinity Lutheran Church on Lakeview Street in Sturgis, Michigan. Jesus, the king, the king of all creation has sent you to this place. So pay attention to what Jesus charges his ministers to preach. Jesus says that whatever house you enter, you are to say, "Peace be to this house." You are to announce that the kingdom of God has come near that Jesus himself in his flesh is nearby. You are to speak and to do like Jesus. When you do that, those who hear those words hear Jesus, or with those words, Jesus is delivering his peace. So Jesus charges you as he charges those 72, heal the sick, bind up the injured with the word and the promise of Jesus, wash them clean with baptismal water, feed them with the bread of life, visit the shut-in, seek the strays. Enter the repentant, confess their sins to you and absolve them to saints of Trinity. And sending you, Pastor Yeager, Jesus is delivering his peace to you. When your pastor opens his mouth and faithfully speaks these words of peace, these are the very words of Jesus, the words that deliver Jesus's peace. So when your pastor speaks these words, they are to be received as your Lord's own words. This announcement of peace is kind of a funny thing, because when someone believes himself to be at peace already, the proclamation that peace has come doesn't always seem very peaceful. It might even seem antagonistic or even downright evil. So Caleb, as you preach this piece of Jesus, do not be surprised when you are received as Jesus was. Do not be surprised when the words of Jesus that flow out of your mouth are rejected. Do not be surprised when men speak all manner of evil against you on account of Christ. Do not be surprised as though something strange were happening to you. When you speak like Jesus, you will be treated as he was. Remember the apostles. They died in all manner of unpleasant ways. They are as lambs, let out to be slaughtered by the wolves. And so it will be for you. But not everyone who hears Jesus rejects him. Some receive his word with repentance and faith. Jesus says in our gospel, Caleb, that when you speak these words of peace, sons of peace will receive those words. They will rejoice at the word of peace. Those sons of peace in turn provide for the one that Jesus has sent for a laborer deserves his wages. Your saints of God at Trinity, today you will hear your new pastor take solemn oaths before God, where he will pledge to do the duties of his office. The Lord helping him through the power and grace of his Holy Spirit. And he will swear allegiance to the confession to which your congregation belongs. You also, dear people of God, will likewise take oaths. You will swear before the whole church and in God's name that you will receive Pastor Yeager, that you will love and honor and obey him in the Lord, that you will aid him in caring for his family, that you will support him by your gifts and by your fervent prayers. All of you are engaged in a war, preacher and hearers together. This battle is a battle for your own soul, that you would die as Christians. This is true of each one of you individually. It is for you corporately as a congregation and it is also for your pastor. This is a battle that lasts until death. That is why in that hymn you sang, you also sang of a war. Now this fight is won by Christ. It is his word and his gifts that do battle against the devil. Your pastor in his preaching takes up the Spirit's sword, the sword of the deathless word, but before he goes to do that, something else will happen first. He will be put into the office of the Holy ministry. The Holy Spirit will be called down upon him and he will be consecrated. Okay, live all these pastors have come here today, not only to acknowledge that you have been called by God and to give the church's blessing, but also in a few minutes each of these men called and ordained by God will place their hands upon your head and read from the Bible. They will make prophetic utterance over you. Their words consecrating you to this office. Jesus will come near to you, to the saints of Trinity. Many of these pastors may be unknown to you and who precisely all these men are is not the point of today. For what matters is the prophetic word that they speak. They speak of Jesus. Jesus has come near and when Jesus has sent out the 72 after they have completed their work that he had sent, they return. They come back with great joy. They rejoice that even the demons are subject to them. Your ministry has been a great success. Caleb in your time as a pastor you may well witness great success. You will marvel at the work that God accomplishes in this place. These 72 rejoiced at success, but there was another bit of success that we hear about back in Luke chapter 5 with St. Peter. It's the account where Simon and his fellow workers have been toiling all nights and they catch nothing. In the morning Jesus uses Simon's boat as a pulpit and when he has finished his preaching, the Lord instructs him to do something strange. Just take that net that you've been throwing out all night and coming back empty. Take it out at the wrong time of day and throw it in the wrong place. Peter listens to the word of Jesus and he encounters success. He is successful beyond his wildest imagination. So great is his success that his nets are breaking. He brings the other boat over as well and even so that threatens to capsize two fishing boats. The great catch of fish threatens to destroy all that Simon owns. It threatens to put his boat on the bottom of the sea to leave him with nothing. His success was so utterly terrifying that he tells Jesus to leave him. He was too afraid that the blessing Jesus had poured into his boat. More importantly, he was afraid of being a pastor, but Jesus says to Simon, as he has said to you many times, Caleb, do not be afraid, and today the Lord Jesus adds to you, from now on you will be catching men. So do not be afraid, Caleb, when you encounter terrifying success. And do not be afraid either when it seems that all your pastoral work comes up empty. Do not despair. For the Lord who has placed you into this office knows precisely what he is doing. Yes, you will marvel when some hear the word and believe it. All planted, Apollo's watered, the Lord gives the growth. So do not marvel in this, but rejoice that your name has been written in heaven, that the Lord has engraved you in the palms of his hands. Yes, baptized you and declared you to be his own dear beloved son. You are his son and his heir. The Lord will do his work. Jesus sends ministers where he himself is about to go. So today, dear saints, today you will witness the Lord place a new pastor in your midst. His coming here is a sign that the Lord Jesus is coming here to you and now he will be ordained and placed into this office. He will be made your pastor and he will stand before this altar. He will pray. That means Jesus is nearby and even more your new pastor will preside over this altar where upon the body of Jesus will lay and at that time he will declare to you all peace be to this house. He will take that body and blood of Jesus from his altar and bring them to you. Dear Caleb, the Lord comes. Today he comes to you and makes you a pastor in his church. Dear saints of Trinity, the Lord comes. Today he gives you this man as your pastor. Through him the Lord continues to come to you. In the holy name of Jesus we pray, O may thy pastors faithful be not laboring for themselves but thee give grace to feed with wholesome food the sheep and lambs bought by thy blood to tend the flock and thus to prove how dearly they the shepherd love. O may thy people faithful be and in thy pastors honor thee and with them work and for them pray and gladly thee in them obey receive the prophet of the Lord and gain the prophets on reward. So may we when our work is done together stand before the throne and joyful hearts and voices raise in one united song of praise with all the bright celestial host to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost. Amen. The peace of God keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Amen. - Amen.