Why Do Pastors Wear Vestments?

By Rev. Jon J. Sollberger

On a recent Sunday morning, as I was walking toward the sanctuary to begin the Divine Service, one of our smaller parishioners (7 years old) asked me: “Why are you wearing those God clothes?”

It was a good question. It was good because of the way it was phrased; it answered itself. Those “God clothes” are called vestments, and the basic answer to my young friend’s question was this: To hide the man, so that Christ is seen and heard.

Truly, vestments are “God Clothes”, because they are worn by the pastor to show that he is standing in the stead of (place of) Christ. When a called and ordained pastor is leading a church service, he is to speak Christ’s Word to the people, and administer Christ’s Sacraments to them. The pastor is not the source of these gifts, but he is the means by which Christ comes to His people in Word and Sacrament. And this means that what the pastor does in the Service should not draw attention to himself at all.

God’s means of grace should never be received as if they were from the pastor himself (how well he spoke when he preached, etc.). In fact, the pastor’s individuality is to be downplayed and hidden as much as possible. A good pastor is continually speaking John the Baptizer’s words in St. John 3:30, “He [Christ] must increase, but I must decrease.”

One very effective way of ensuring this is vestments. No expensive suits or fancy silk ties. No casual blue jeans and t-shirts. All of these would only point to the man. Vestments hide the man, so that Christ is not obscured.

Vestments also symbolize some very important things. One vestment for a Divine Service is called an alb (from the Latin word for “white”). The color white symbolizes both the righteousness of Christ (given to us in His Body and Blood) and the “robe of righteousness” that He gives through Holy Baptism (Rev. 7:14).

The stole (the long, colored piece of fabric the pastor wears on his shoulders) is the Church’s mark of ordination. Whoever wears the stole is to be properly called and consecrated to stand in the stead of Jesus Christ, and speak His Word with His authority. This is for our assurance as we receive the Word and Sacraments, that they are from Christ, not from the man who is serving. The stole can be traced to 2 Kings 2:13-15.

Sometimes people may think that a pastor’s vestments are too formal, and that Jesus would never have worn anything like them. But that’s not the point. The point is this: Pastors are not Christ, but they are to stand in His stead, and deliver His Gifts to His people. Vestments help him do this with dignity and respect for God, who has come down to visit us, that we may receive Jesus Christ unto our life everlasting.

Rev. Jon J. Sollberger serves the Parish Immanuel Lutheran in Louisville, Nebraska, and a national and regional speaker on liturgy and church music. He can be reached at revsoll@yahoo.com.