Rev. Reed Lee Pedersen's
For the foreseeable future this blog will be used as a tool for people to participate in learning what I am teaching at Adult Education. It is my hope that these blogs will have both my thoughts and the thoughtful points parishioners make during the class. The first thing our Adult Education will cover is Luther’s Small Catechism. This Wednesday (September 11) we discussed the first three commandments along with Martin Luther’s explanation of what they mean.
Why the first three commandments? Because Commandments 1-3 are about our relationship with God and 4-10 are about our relationship with each other. The First Commandment: You are to have no other gods. From Luther’s Small Catechism: What does this mean? We are to fear, love and trust God above all things. What we discussed: All people have things they put before God: money, job security, family, things, etc. If you put something ahead of God you are in turn making that thing or relationship a god. When we step back and realize that all we have and all we have done is because God created us and provided us the gifts to be who we are then we will come to realize where our trust needs to lie first and foremost. (e.g. That job pays the bills, but it is God who bestowed you with the gifts to have such a job.) The first commandment informs all the other commandments. It essentially says to put God first and then spends the next 9 commandments telling you what that looks like. The Second Commandment: You are not to misuse the name of your God. From Luther’s Small Catechism: What does this mean? We are to fear and love God, so that we do not curse, swear, practice magic, lie, or deceive using God’s name, but instead use that very name in every time of need to call on, pray to, praise, and give thanks to God. What we discussed: Ways we misuse God’s name is by using It while cussing, swearing to God that you did not do something, using God’s name to justify heinous and ungodly acts (e.g. Some churches picket the gay pride parade and have derogatory language on their posters about who God hates. During the Civil Rights movement there were people trying to keep races separated on the bases of their own twisted religious ideologies.) God is all-powerful and all-loving. When we use God’s name in the wrong way we are committing identity theft against God. We take God’s all-loving identity and replace it with our own faulty self-perception. The Third Commandment: You are to hallow the day of rest. From Luther’s Small Catechism: What does this mean? We are to fear and love God, so that we do not despise preaching or God’s Word, but instead keep that Word holy and gladly hear and learn it. What we discussed: This is commonly seen as the “Go to church!” commandment. It is true that part of the intention of keeping the Sabbath is to go to worship with your fellow Christians, but there are a couple caveats. 1) If you go to church but are not really present during worship then you are not necessarily following this commandment. If you spend your worship only thinking about other things you need to get done, annoyed that the hymn or reading has too many verses, and/or hoping that a sermon or worship service would get done already then you are despising God’s Word active in worship. This goes against what Martin Luther is talking about. 2) At its best this commandment is given a whole day in which people rest and focus on God (not just a morning!). If someone works on a Sunday it is important to set aside time later in the week for Godly rest. This means more than a day off. It means actually delving into God’s written Word (the Bible) and spending intentional time with God how you see fit. All in all, both caveats relay the importance to set aside time for God. In conclusion, the simplified and modernized version of the first three commandments is 1) Step Back 2) Do not commit identity theft against God 3) Set aside time for God. Points to Ponder:
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorPastor Reed is a first call pastor at Augustana Lutheran Church in Andover, Illinois. Archives
July 2019
|