Affable Pastors

I don't care for affable Lutheran pastors.

What do I mean?

The pastor who begins with Divine Service with a friendly greeting such as "good morning" and gets the greeting returned by the congregation. He then goes on to babble other prosaic ir-relevencies.

The Divine Liturgy is not a social event. Rather, it's the venue in which Christ graciously meets with His people coming to them in the Gospel and the Sacrament in order to impart His grace, mercy and peace to them. By virtue of these God is present with His people. It is an awesome, wondrous and deeply reverent event, never a time or place for casual foolishness or sweet conviviality.

Often this same pastor likes to add his own words to God's Word in order to make it seem more powerful. Such as: grace, mercy and peace be with each and every one of you. Or: we make our beginning in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Or, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost be and abide with you forever.

Brother pastors, please just say what's written and then be quiet.

God's people are not interested in your take on things or your interpretation. It's not your job to be clever, creative, sincere or affable. It's your Call to deliver what was delivered to you through the Church and to preserve it so that you may pass it on to the next generation.

It's as St. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 1:2ff "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

The operative words here, dear fellow pastors, are with which.

O, and please don't make me bring up the subject of the formal greeting, back-slapping, hugging and hand-shaking with which some congregations begin their Mass, or I might have a major Pastor Kavouras hissy fit (MPKHF) right here in the blogosphere.

And while I'm simpering let me take a stab at "up-speak," the habit of raising the pitch and tone of your voice at the end of a sentence. Up-speak implies uncertainty, and a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ should never be that. Keep the voice even, boys, keep it even.

Thank you for reading my Pastor Kavouras remonstrations (PKR).