A pipe busts in your house. You call the local plumber. He comes by, looks at the pipe, and bluntly says, “I’m not going to fix that for you. I don’t think you’ve properly cared for your pipes. And I’m not going to put another one in. That’ll be $80 for the house call.”
You’re pretty livid, right?
Plumbers fix pipes (usually for an exorbitant amount). You’re a plumber. Fix my pipes!!!
A dying man requests to receive the Lord’s Supper from a local Anglican clergyman. The pastor comes to his house, speaks to him for a bit, and rather uncomfortably informs the man that he cannot in good conscience administer the sacrament.
Isn’t this your job? How dare he refuse to give this solace to a dying man!?!?! Do your job!
That’s an actual historical situation, by the way. In 1765, John Newton (who had only been a curate for a year) was uneasy about administering the sacrament to Thomas Abbott. Abbott was a wealthy lace-maker and landowner and from what Newton says in his diary he “wants smoother doctrine than I can give him”.
We don’t know many more details but Newton refused to give him communion. Less than a week later, Mr. Abbott found another pastor to give him communion. The pastor was paid handsomely (for doing such a great job, I’m sure). As for Newton, he wrote in his diary that he was thankful to “the Lord that he enabled me to act according to my judgment and conscience in this business.” (Newton’s Diary, 1765, Oct 22)
What Would You Say You Do Here?
Now, the Book of Common Prayer does say that Newton had every right to refuse communion if he had good reason. In that regard Newton was not in any dereliction of duty. And more importantly, Scripture would be on his side. But this introduces an important discussion concerning the pastor’s duty. What does faithfulness look like?
We know that the work of a plumber can be important for human flourishing, as is also true of a pastor. None of this is to demean the work of a plumber or unduly elevate the work of the pastor. But it’s to acknowledge that it has a different shape, and when we fail to recognize this pastor and parishioner alike miss the mark.
Pastors aren’t being hired to do a service. In his book, Working the Angles, Eugene Peterson reflects upon the difference between the calling and “what people are asking me to do”. He reflects upon all of the things which he has done pastorally,
…solely because people asked me to do it and it didn’t seem at the time that it would do any harm and who knows it might do some good. Besides I think there is a pastor down the street who would do anything asked of him but whose theology was so wretched that he would probably do active harm in the process. My theology, at least, was evangelical and orthodox. (Eugene Peterson, Working the Angles, 13)
What is the job of the pastor? Do the directives come from the people or from another quarter? Some questions are easy to answer in theory, but more difficult in practice.
