Lately, there's been a lot of talk about the office of the ministry or the pastoral office. I haven't heard it from that many people, but I know it's hot topic here at Zion. Whose is it? How long is long enough for a pastor to serve? What are the standards to determine whether a pastor is doing what he has been called to do? And one more question, one I don't suspect is discussed quite as much, because this last one has apparently not been answered to the satisfaction of several people of the congregation, "Why are these standards so important?"

Now, we can derive indirectly from the Bible part of the answer for the question, "What are the standards?" fairly easily. First, you should expect your pastor to do what he has been called to do. That's a given. And second, you should expect him to avoid an openly sinful and impenitent life. That's expected of all Christians. But the main standard for a pastor, the one that is woven throughout the Scriptures, as we can see from all three readings and from which we take our last question, "Why are they important?" is what our Lord wants to speak to us about today.

The answer to that big question, "What are the standards?" comes in the form of a warning. "Beware of false prophets."

Let me join Luke, the author of the Acts of the Apostles, in praising the Bereans. He tells us in the 17th chapter of Acts that the Bereans were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, because they received the word Paul was preaching with eagerness, BUT examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. They weren't going to give Paul a free pass. They had to check him out. Divine messages are way too important to be haphazard. They wanted to believe what He had to say, but they weren't going to just accept it. They knew what the Lord had said about false prophets, the prophets who were not sent, but ran ahead, all over in the Old Testament. They were going to test what he was saying, and they were going to test it against an immovable standard, the Scriptures.

On the window sill, above our sink, we have a clock, based on an atomic clock. We never have to set the time. It receives its time from a radio signal from Colorado. Out there a team of physicists monitor the international standard for time. They have figured a second is 9,192,631,770 vibrations of a cesium-133 atom in a vacuum. Whatever they say. I have no idea how they count them , but it sounds like it must be pretty accurate. This is the standard for time. It doesn't change. It will never change.

The same with the Bible. This is the standard the Bereans were using. Interestingly, when you think about it, you have to realize they only had the Old Testament. They were listening to Paul preach about Jesus but they could only compare what he was saying to those Scriptures which only pointed ahead to Christ. They couldn't see if the stories about Jesus were true, they could only listen and determine that the religion Paul was bringing was a clear extension, actually fulfillment of the religion of the Old Testament. They wanted to check and see if the preachers of the New Testament, sounded pretty much like the preachers of the Old Testament.

That's the test--the test for any pastor--the test that is found throughout the Bible. What does he preach? Is he saying something different from what God has already said? Does he sound different from other preachers in the Bible? If so, then God is not speaking through him. He's a false prophet.

Our friends and family in the ELCA have witnessed their leadership unmistakably being false prophets by this definition. They assert God has apparently changed what he has already said about homosexuality. If He has changed His mind about this, then we could claim He could change His mind about anything. We could no longer be sure of anything God has said. If the Scriptures are not a revelation from God; if these are not trustworthy; if these are no longer our standard, then it won't be long before people will want to get rid of other uncomfortable things like sin, and conclude we don't really need a Savior from sin. The scary thing is, it's happening already among those who would call themselves Christian.

How could something like this happen? That comes with the next phrase Jesus says, "...who come to you in sheep's clothing." "Watch out for false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing." Do the sheep, approached by a wolf like this, see him coming? No. He is dressed up like sheep. If he looked like a wolf, the sheep would run, and the wolf wouldn't be able to get very close. Even though wolves don't actually do this, the meaning of the saying is obvious. The wolf looks safe. It doesn't even look like a wolf. It looks like a nice, harmless sheep.

Does a false prophet look like a false prophet? No. He looks very safe. He is nice and thoughtful. He looks like he's got it all together. Most importantly, he says things that sound reasonable, and not just reasonable, but even more godly than what the real prophets say. This is where it gets really scary.

Every Christian church officially claims to base their teachings on the Bible, but we have so many different teachings and understandings. Where do we as Lutherans derive what we claim is the proper understanding of the Bible? As well as using the Bible as our guide, don't we rely on writings of Christians throughout the ages, who have also used strictly the Bible as their guide? In other words, we trace our teaching and understanding all the way through the history of the Church, back to the apostles and the prophets themselves, and find at the heart of it all is Christ and the cross, salvation from sin.

But somewhere along the line, some Christians were not as vigilant as they needed to be. False prophets dressed in sheep's clothing deceived their followers. They did not use the Bible as their standard, but rather they used their own logic or what others had said even though it wasn't in agreement with the Bible. This became the teaching of their church body. This false teaching continued to be passed on through the generations and explains why there are so many different interpretations, and therefore so many different denominations all claiming to be based on the Bible.

Now, we have new false prophets of our own age. Dressed like sheep, they point to all these interpretations, and say, "It's obvious no one church body can have it completely right." Then they say that which sounds so right, so loving, so fair, "Each has an understanding that is right for them." Doesn't that sound godly? Do you see the sheep's clothing?

Our contemporary false prophets would also say, "You can't trust what other people have said because they are sinners." That sounds right at first. It sounds godlier than what we say. There's the sheep's clothing again. So we respond, "Yeah, I shouldn't allow another sinner to interpret the Bible for me."

But let me ask you, what is the option? The false prophet would say, "You have to interpret it yourself. The Holy Spirit will guide you." Here's the interesting thing: the Holy Spirit's so-called guidance seems to always matches what the person thought was true. Makes you wonder if the Holy Spirit actually was providing the guidance, or rather the person was interpreting it himself in the way he had thought it should be.

It's pitted as one sinner's interpretation over another's, except the other so-called sinner is not just one person, but actually all the believers in Christ, who had struggled with Christian doctrine against false doctrine and with the help of the Holy Spirit kept it pure so it could be passed on.

But the false prophet for which the Lord would have us being so vigilant has successfully led the sheep away from the Scriptures. He or she has now taught the sheep to interpret it for himself. That sheep is no longer hearing the Holy Spirit speak through them.

So, there's the simple test for our congregation. Apply it to me as your pastor, but not just to me, to whatever man would be your pastor. Is he teaching faithfully or has he been a false prophet, saying something different from Scripture and directing you away from interpretations which have always used the Scriptures as a standard. If he is, challenge him. Be like the Bereans. You need to expect him to sound like Jesus. If Jesus is truly preaching through His preachers, as He says He is, then what He teaches in the 21st century will be pretty much the same thing as what He taught in the 1st century.

Now, we come to why it is so important. Remember what we learned the Lord says about His Commandments? He says thus, "I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God." Jealous? Isn't jealousy a sin? Isn't that when you want something or someone for yourself?

Let's say you were working for an employer and another wanted to have you work for him. You were happy enough where you were because your boss treated you well but you thought he didn't appreciate you enough. The other guy, however, offered better pay, more benefits, and longer vacations, not to mention he made a big deal about how valuable your work would be to him. It's seems like a no-brainer to go work for this other guy.

So, let's say you quit your job and then start working for this other guy. You find out he had lied. He promised so much but had no intentions of delivering. The pay was worse, the working conditions were appalling, there were absolutely no benefits, and your new boss made you feel worthless. How would your old boss feel, especially if he knew what this guy was going to be like? Would he be jealous?

Now, we could make the case that the old boss wanted you just for your work, but if he really did like you, then he would hurt for you because he knew what was going to happen to you. He would be jealous for you for your sake, because he knew what he had was better.

That's our Lord. He knows what is the option. The devil would love to lure you away from your Heavenly Father. He will offer all this glitz and all these promises, but he can't come anywhere close. Instead, he would abuse you. He will rip you to shreds and leave you that way. The Lord, on the other hand, offers you life, life through His Son. He will kill you, that's true, that is, He won't be afraid to tell you you are a sinner, but then graciously give you life in Christ. The devil kills and leaves you dead.

The better option was something Jesus' twelve discovered during Jesus ministry, when everyone else was scandalized by His preaching, and walked away. He asked the twelve if they wanted to leave Him too, Peter responded. "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." Our Lord offers life through Jesus Christ, but the devil's offers--when we aren't careful--can look like they are better.

What does the devil use to lure us away? False prophets. It may not happen immediately. The teachings of earlier false prophets are still being taught today, and people who follow them are still Christian, but they don't have all the Lord would want them to have. Furthermore, as we are reminded, a little leaven leavens the whole loaf. It's only by God's grace that the false teaching doesn't completely drive a person away from the faith. It does have that potential. It seems to show up generationally, though. Each generation seems to get further and further from the truth. That's why I pray at the end of each sermon, the peace of God...unto all generations.

It should not be a surprise that He uses false prophets, and that the false prophets and their teachings can look so appealing. Satan himself, also called Lucifer, disguises himself as an angel of light. So, it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. That's straight out of St. Paul's mouth.

Therefore, the Lord says to watch out. Be on guard. Make sure your pastor is not a false prophet. Hold him to the unchanging standard. Make sure he delivers to you the words of life, Jesus Himself. At the same time, make sure you are not listening to false prophets, others who would claim to speak the word of the Lord, but do not. Your soul relies on it. Your Father who sent His Son for you, made you His child, and gives you heavenly food for your salvation, wants only the best for you. To seek to hear anything other than His words, is to settle for less than He wants for you, and for you His dear child, He wants only the best.

AMEN