So, somehow, 100% by the grace of God, today, 29th June 2019, I will be in a service at Hereford Cathedral entitled “Ordination: To be ordained Priest.” This title, I’m sure,
may evoke some curiosity - and it certainly has made me think - and so I wanted to lay out what I believe all this is
about, largely to get my own mind straight! I’ll be sticking closely to the words used in the service (‘the Ordinal’)
and, most importantly, the words of Scripture, just so I avoid making up
something up just because I like the sound of it! I’ve gone into some detail as
I really wanted to be clear as I could. I really want my view to not be set on
a vague, ethereal concept, but the rock-solid word of God, as it is exposited
so powerfully in the words of the Ordinal. It’s actually one of my favourite
pieces of Anglican spiritual writing because it’s so saturated with biblical
quotations and strong allusions.
The official rubrics are entitled “The Ordination of
Priests, also called Presbyters”, where ‘presbyter’ comes directly from the Greek
presbuteros for ‘elder’. An ‘elder’,
which is a term used regularly for church leaders in a wide variety of
settings, described a role of spiritual leadership within the earliest Church,
as seen from passages such as 1 Peter 5, where he writes in v. 1, “I exhort the
elders among you, as your fellow elder…” As this weekend is also specially
designated to remember and celebrate the diverse ministries of Peter and Paul,
his words are particularly suitable.
Peter, as well as being one of the first apostles, also considered
himself an ‘elder’, a presbuteros. He
compares this role to ‘shepherd’ in 5:2, from which the idea of ‘pastor’ comes,
which Paul refers to in Ephesians 4:11-12 – which will be read out in the
service,
“And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.”
A dear friend from our church recently sent me a message
saying, “Yo, are you not getting pasteurised soon?”, which I found both amusing
and genius at the same time. On one level, the idea of applying a significant,
but not destructively intense, heat for a longer period of time, in order to
purify milk, sounds not unlike the process of God moulding and transforming us!
(You could say it’s like applying refining fire, except to milk rather than
silver!) In my opinion, I think ‘pasteurisation’ or ‘pastorisation’ or however
you would like to spell it, could be a great term for churches appointing new
pastors!
As a line in the Ordinal goes, ministers are “called to be
servants and shepherds” and “are to set the example of the Good Shepherd always
before them as the pattern of their calling”, a strong allusion back to 1 Peter
5:4 to Jesus as the ‘Chief Shepherd’, as well as Jesus in John 10 as the ‘Good
Shepherd.’ The themes of ‘flock’ and ‘shepherd’ are central to the words of the
Ordinal and the New Testament, as well as the themes of ‘service’, ‘servant’
and (synonymously), ‘minister’. Therefore,
the Ordinal strongly construes the role as analogous to the role of ‘elder’, ‘pastor’
or ‘minister’ in other church leadership models. So you might wish to think of this
ordination as one to the role of a ‘pastor’, ‘elder’ or ‘minister’ – so my
friend’s term ‘Pasteurisation’ is quite appropriate after all!
Then what about this other word, ‘priest’? This is a topic
where there is much diversity of opinion, and that’s absolutely fine – and to
avoid going off on one, I’ll try to stick very close to the words of the
Ordinal itself.
The first mention of ‘priesthood’ is in the Introduction:
“God calls his people to follow Christ, and forms us into a royal priesthood, a holy nation”
Later, in the prayer of ordination itself, very similar
language is used:
“We praise and glorify you, almighty Father, because in your infinite love you have formed throughout the world a holy people for your own possession, a royal priesthood, a universal Church.”
Here the language is both cases directly referencing 1 Peter
again, specifically 2:8, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy
nation.” What is notable here is that the language of ‘priesthood’ is
unreservedly and unequivocally applied to the whole people of God, with Jesus
being referred to, as in Hebrews, as the ‘High Priest of our faith’. The idea
is that all God’s people, led by Jesus Christ, are part of this ‘priesthood’,
and so are all ‘priests’. These words had to be subject to many revisions and
painstaking multiple levels of approval before they appeared here, so their
presence in such direct language is striking and in no way accidental. The
Anglican church therefore strongly affirms the concept of the priesthood of all
believers – all believers of all denominations, that is, the whole Church (not
only Anglicans!) – as seen by its very deliberate mention of it here.
This concept is further developed with further allusions to
1 Peter, which in 2:5 refers to all God’s people being “built up as a spiritual
house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God
through Jesus Christ.” The perspective of priests being ‘people offering
sacrifices’ seen throughout the Old Testament, is here being applied to the
whole ‘royal priesthood’ of God’s people, who ‘offer up spiritual sacrifices’.
This language is strongly alluded to in the ordination prayer again, that the
longed-for outcome of this ministry is “a people made whole in Christ” who
“offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to you, our God and Father”. The
perspective of the Ordinal, therefore, is set out clearly that the whole people
of God are called to be priests, all offering spiritual sacrifices together –
such as prayer, and praise, and devoted service, to God.
Then what of this language of ordination as priests? If we
are all already ‘priests’ in a proper sense – then what does it mean to be
‘ordained priest’? Here is where clarification is given during the prayer
before Holy Communion:
“…through your Holy Spirit you sent upon your people a rich diversity of gifts. From this royal priestly people you raise up ministers…”
What does this ministry, this service, consist of? The
language of ‘minister’ or ‘servant’ is used here, as a specific role within the
whole ‘royal priestly people’ of God. Likewise in the Introduction, after
referring to God forming all His people into a ‘royal priesthood’, it helpfully
specifies:
“To serve this royal priesthood, God has given a variety of ministries…”
The role this ordination is about is therefore one of many
ministries that God calls to serve the ‘priests’ who are the whole people of
God. This is found in the Ephesians 4 reading referred to earlier, where the
various ministries are described as having the purpose of “equipping of the
saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.”
There is only one people of God: there are, in reality
(albeit not in appearance), no divisions or classes within it. A minister is
properly one of the people, not in a separate category. Christopher Cocksworth
and Rosalind Brown very helpfully remind us of this in their book, “Being a
Priest Today”, which has been widely commended. Referring to 1 Peter 5, and to
the idea of ‘clergy’ and ‘laity’, they note (pp, 14-15):
“They are instructed to ‘tend the flock in their charge (kleros)’ … The mention of the kleros is interesting. It is the word from which we derive our word clergy, which is generally but quite unhelpfully used to distinguish the ordained from the laity.
Of course, the presbyters were as much a part of the laos [from which our word ‘laity’ comes] as every other member of the body of Christ. Laos simply means ‘people’ and strictly refers to all God’s people, whatever their particular ministry …
Within the laos, the people of God, the presbyters are given a particular kleros, a charge or responsibility, literally a ‘lot’ … Presbyters are not a caste outside the laos, they are a category within the laos. They are members of the laos who are placed in a particular pastoral relation to other members of the laos.”
“They are instructed to ‘tend the flock in their charge (kleros)’ … The mention of the kleros is interesting. It is the word from which we derive our word clergy, which is generally but quite unhelpfully used to distinguish the ordained from the laity.
Of course, the presbyters were as much a part of the laos [from which our word ‘laity’ comes] as every other member of the body of Christ. Laos simply means ‘people’ and strictly refers to all God’s people, whatever their particular ministry …
Within the laos, the people of God, the presbyters are given a particular kleros, a charge or responsibility, literally a ‘lot’ … Presbyters are not a caste outside the laos, they are a category within the laos. They are members of the laos who are placed in a particular pastoral relation to other members of the laos.”
I quote this at length because it was a lightbulb moment for
me reading this, and I swiftly underlined the page in many different colours!
This distinction we imply in some church circles of ‘lay’ and ‘ordained’ and ‘clergy’
and ‘laity’ is alien to the Ordinal and certainly to the New Testament. As
Cocksworth and Brown very helpfully remind us, laos simply means ‘people’ – the ‘laity’ of God is simply another
way of saying, ‘people’ of God, and all of us, including Bishops and all
ministers, are each one of the people, one of the laos. Every Christian is a member of the ‘laity’. What differs is
that each one of us has a different calling within this laity.
Therefore, similar to a ‘pastor’ or ‘minister’ position in
many churches, the role honed in upon by this ordination is one of equipping.
The language of spiritual ‘leadership’ could be used, as long as this
leadership is conceived as fundamentally empowerment of the other rather than a
control of the other. Perhaps ‘facilitator’ or ‘encourager’ are words with less
baggage of authoritarianism. I would point to the ministry of Barnabas, named
the ‘son of encouragement’ by the apostles in Acts 5:36, as a model for this
sort of attitude.
Some of the aspects of this ministry of empowerment are
specified by the Ordinal in more detail:
- “to lead God’s people in the offering of praise and the proclamation of the gospel.”
- Sharing “in the oversight of the church, delighting in its beauty and rejoicing in its well-being”
- “to sustain the community of the faithful by the ministry of word and sacrament” and “to feed and provide for his family”
- “to unfold the Scriptures”, “to proclaim the word of the Lord and to watch for the signs of God’s new creation” and “to teach and to admonish”
- “to be messengers, watchmen and stewards of the Lord”
- “to search for his children in the wilderness of this world’s temptations, and to guide them in its confusions, that they may be saved through Christ for ever”
- “to resist evil, support the weak, defend the poor…”
- “Guided by the Spirit, they are to discern and foster the gifts of all God’s people, that the whole Church may be built up in unity and faith.”
These are just a few: there are many other very inspiring
aspects of this ministry not included above mentioned in the Ordinal. Notably,
however, looking at the eight facets above, every one of them is characterized by
enabling. They are each part of empowering the whole people of God to fulfill
their calling as a royal priesthood, a calling to interact directly with God,
with no go-between except Christ Himself, in order for God to bless the whole
world.
This ministry really excites me for I long so much for God
to show all His people what He is calling them to – for I believe if all of us,
every single person in His Body, is truly fulfilling their calling, that we
will be able to reach the whole of this nation, yes even the whole of this
world with the love of Christ! There is no substitute: if we truly wish to
reach all people with the Gospel, every single believer must be empowered to
fulfill their priestly ministry – any exceptions means the Body is incomplete
and therefore hindered in its functioning.
Yet if this is the role the minister is called to, we are in
trouble as we have been entrusted with so much, yet are so prone to failure
that we will not do even one of these things partially right unless God moves
miraculously in us. I am constantly grieved by how often I fail and let people
down, and pray so often for God to change my heart to finally be able to serve
Him as I ought.
I thus absolutely love the line, “You cannot bear the weight
of this calling in your own strength, but only by the grace and power of God.
Pray therefore that your heart may daily be enlarged and your understanding of
the Scriptures enlightened: pray earnestly for the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Here I believe we finally reach the central function of the
ordination: we are asking for a miracle. Yet this is not a miracle of creating
a different caste of person. We will forever remain part of the laity of God – as
all the apostles were, including Peter and Paul, and which is the most
wonderful place in the world to be! I would never want to be anywhere else! The
glorious miracle already happened, when all the people of God were each born
again as a new creation, into this glorious laity! There is no greater
transformative miracle than this!
No, the miracle we are asking for is the miracle of the
supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. We are admonished to “pray earnestly for
the gift of the Holy Spirit.” The central prayer as the Bishop and others lay on
hands is, “Send down the Holy Spirit on your servant…”, and God is sought to
“give these your servants grace and power”. There is even an anointing with oil
to represent this desperate calling upon God’s Holy Spirit. These are big
prayers – prayers that can change the entire course of someone’s life – not a
mechanical device or magic ritual but a call for the very Person of the Holy
Spirit to come down on us and abide with us in ever greater measure. We need
the Holy Spirit if anything at all is to happen except destructive failure
after failure as our sin-tainted hearts shoot us down to crash and burn. Yet
there is no measure, no limit, to what God can do through a person who is
burning with the Holy Spirit!
So this ordination is, if you really get to the core, a deep
and desperate prayer for the Holy Spirit. Why is it so desperate? It’s because
this calling of empowerment is impossible unless He comes and makes it happen –
if He doesn’t hear our prayer, then nothing will happen, “for apart from Me you
can do nothing.” (John 15:5) This is in no way a belittling of the magnitude of
ordination – for what could be of greater significance than a prayer for the
God who fills the universe to come and fill a person up with Him?
In short, if God’s Holy Spirit doesn’t come upon me and move
through me, then I am absolutely and completely lost. Indeed, I’m nothing
special – believe me – there is not one brother or sister in Christ whose
calling is even remotely possible without the Holy Spirit. The ordination is a
reminder of just how desperately we need Him, and takes this response of prayer
for help seriously.
But, joy of joys, Jesus promises, “If you then, being evil,
know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more with your heavenly
Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” (Luke 11:13)
Come Holy Spirit – come and empower us all!