18 December 2010
New Lutheran Quote of the Day
The Christian life is shaped by the giving love of Christ and in the Scripture we have his bidding and descriptions of that shape. We would please him. Yet in nothing of our achievements, in no factor in us, do we place our final reliance. That is in his body and blood given and shed for us, in our Baptism, and in his forgiving and life-giving word of the Gospel, which does not merely tell but bestows what it says. -- Dr. Norman Nagel, The Springfielder, Sept. 1973, p. 119.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
According to Ephesians 3:7 "Of this
gospel I was made a minister
according to the gift of God's grace"
As pastors our ministry is not our
gift to God. Our pastoral ministry
is God's gift to us. God's grace
calls us into ministry and God's
grace empowers us to do ministry.
The Apostle Paul can help us stay
focused on the theology of grace.
I agree, but I am not following why this comment is attached to this quote from Dr. Nagel. Can you help me understand your thinking?
I applied Dr. Nagel's quote to both
pastors and laity. The Eucharist,
Baptism, and the Word are all Means
of Grace which are given to us as
gifts. Sometimes we pastors need to
see the gifts we distribute are also
gifts to us.
Ah, gotcha. Yes, indeed.
Post a Comment