word and sacrament for all!

according to luther all of us, through baptism, have the authority to preach the word and administer the sacraments!!  for luther, this meant that even in his time, when women were not allowed to be pastors, they were allowed to do emergency baptisms (since it was primarily women who were present for births as midwives and there was a high infant mortality rate, this was a really handy position for luther to have). 

this ontological sense of calling to word and sacrament ministry has strong implications for what it means to be an ordained minister.  all of us are called as a priesthood of all believers, some of us are called to ministry in teaching, farming, banking, etc., while others are called to ordained word and sacrament ministry.  after all, if everyone has the authority to preach the word and administer the sacraments, then why is there even a need for pastors?

in a simply practical sense: it's necessary for someone to be appointed, because if everyone did it each time, it would be total chaos.  instead, from the community we pick people to represent the community in the preaching of the word and the administration of the sacraments.  because the call to word and sacrament ministry is a call for all, no individual can just usurp the position.  no person can say "I'll do it and no one else."  The call must come from the community as well, which is why the elca candidacy process is so nice and complicated.  many other churches have a simpler policy, yet the elca's candidacy process is one of mutual discernment for individuals and the communities calling them to ordained word and sacrament ministry.

one of the really cool things about ordination is the role with respect to the sacraments.  ordination is not considered a sacrament itself, at least not for lutherans, but because ordination to word and sacrament ministry includes administrating the sacraments, those who serve in this capacity function as a means of the means of grace.  the sacraments are understood as a means by which we experience god's grace, so those who administer them are a means for them.  what an honor it is to be called to a life as the means of the means of grace!

since, as i already mentioned, all of us are priests, a calling received at baptism, we each have the possibility to be the means of the means of god's grace.  indeed, we can daily be the means of god's grace in our interactions with each other and with ourselves, but we also can be the channel through which god's grace is experienced in a tangible person-to-person interaction and in a tangible sacramental interaction.  the sacraments bring us all together and in our gathering we choose people, recognizing and affirming their gifts, to administer the sacraments on behalf of the whole community.