Dear Friends in Christ,
There are many advantages of teaching confirmation. Every time I travel through Luther’s Small catechism I learn something new. In a recent class we were discussing the characteristics of God. We saw that God was omnipresent (everywhere) and omniscient (knows all things). He knows what we are thinking and what we are doing all day long. It was a scary thought for some to think that nothing was in secrete because God knew everything! The question then arose, “What if next Sunday morning when we walked into church there was a list of our top ten secret thoughts displayed on the front wall?” Needless to say the whole class was not enthused about that idea.
But let’s think about this. If God knows all things and sees all things then why doesn’t he expose them to everybody? Why doesn’t he crush us with embarrassment before our friends? Why does he let us be known as Christians (Christ like) and calls us Saints (those who are pure, chosen ones)? The Eighth Commandment says, “Do not bear false witness” or do not lie about your neighbor. What are we to do? We are not to betray, slander, hurt ones reputation, but defend, speak well of, and explain everything in the kindest way. Isn’t that exactly what God does for us even though he knows all the evil we think and do?
God not only doesn’t expose all our sin but he invites us confess and have our sin removed privately. He invites us, as his friends, to his dinner table where he feeds us his body and blood FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF OUR SINS! He knows our sin, reveals it to us, and then forgives our sin because of his grace and mercy.
As we ponder God’s grace toward us, how can we not treat others in the same manner? Think how this would affect our families, our jobs, our communities, and our world. Then people would be drawn to peace we bring to life. When they come asking about our new attitude we have an answer. We tell them how God treats us and because of his great love for us, we can’t help but treat others in the same way.
I would encourage parents to begin teaching your children the Small Catechism where your family can learn and see these same truths for yourselves. I know it’ll be a very worthwhile endeavor.
God’s richest blessings,
Pastor Brynestad
Pr Brynestad -- I appreciate your post about teaching the catechism. Almost makes me want to go back to a parish somewhere! Seriously, that little book is so valuable. On his blog, Gene Veith discussed the Vatican's proposal that a Christian catechism should be developed that would build on all the ecumenical discussions that have been going on. Gene suggested that they couldn't do any better than to adopt Luther's Small Catechism!! -- Gil
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