Catechesis – Page 3 – What Does This Mean?

God Lets It Go, So Let It Go

Encore Post: Forgiveness is simple, really. You tell someone they do not need to pay you back something they owe you. It is sometimes the hardest thing you’ll ever do, when the thing you need to forgive is a deep hurt. What God is calling on you to do is let it go. When we pray to have our sins forgiven, God wants us to remember he is releasing you from the debt you owe him and wants you to do the same.

The Greek word Jesus used (ἄφες) in the Lord’s Prayer for forgive literally means “to loose, to release, to let go.” In financial terms, it is used to write off a debt and not expect repayment. We daily rebel against God’s will, break his law — sometimes deliberately. Worse, we were born that way. Even though every non-Christian religion tells us we can repay that debt — we cannot. We rack up even more debt faster than we could possibly repay. But God loved us and in Jesus suffered and died to pay that debt in full.

When others hurt us, deliberately or not, the pain can eat us up. If we hold on to that debt day after day, year after year, it can cast a shadow over the rest of our life. When we pray that God forgive us, knowing he already has, it can give us strength to forgive others. That is why we pray to be forgiven — so that we can forgive others.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

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Daily Bread

Encore Post: In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us not only how to pray, but what to pray for. Out of all the petitions he invites us to bring to the Father, only one talks about physical needs. So far, we’ve prayed for God’s name to be made holy, his kingdom to come, his will to be done. We will also pray to be forgiven, spared from temptation and to be delivered from evil. Into this one petition, Jesus packs all of our physical needs for food, shelter, health, good government — in short — happy lives. This is very different from what we actually pray for. Our everyday struggles fill our prayers. Only occasionally do we get around to praying for spiritual blessings.

Why is this? To begin with, it is not wrong to pray for such things. This petition, in fact, invites us to do so. Also, Jesus very often calls on us to be persistent in prayer, to bring all our needs to God, to cast our cares on him. Prayer, in fact, is all about our relationship with the Father. What it is about is a matter of perspective.

Just like a good earthly father, God is at work providing for our daily needs. A small child does not see his father’s hard labor to make a living. How he pays the bills to keep the utilities on and put away money for education. She doesn’t see how he and her mother go to the store to buy food, tend a garden, buy or sew clothes and much more. All these he does because he loves her, even when she isn’t a model of sweet behavior. Yet he and her mother delights when the child comes and endlessly asks for these things.

So, God works to provide everything we need. We pray for them so that we remember all that he does for us, so that we do not worry about such things and so that we can focus on the work he gives us to do. It encourages us to remember how Jesus laid down his life for us, died for our sins and rose from the dead. In our greatest need, he provided what we most need — forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. When we pray for what we need, we see how he gives them to us and remember they are not so important. It allows us to remember that life is forever, and he will always care for us and be with us, in life, through death and into the life to come.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

If it is God’s Will….

Encore Post: Why does God want us to pray for his will to be done? After all, God can do anything he wants to do . When he speaks, it is done. He loves us, cares for us and wants only good for us. He promises to answer our prayer. Yet Jesus tells us to pray, “thy will be done.”

As with other aspects of God’s nature, the limits of our nature make the mystery of God’s will impossible to understand fully. God’s will will be done eventually, but in this world it is often not done. We can choose to do things our own way. With the world we often rebel against it. We sometimes do not understand why he allows evil to happen to us. Sometimes we do not even know what God wants us to do.

So, when we ask God for something that he does not promise to do unconditionally, we often pray “if it is your will.” this kind of prayer helps us to accept what God wants for us and trust it will be for our good. In that we have good company. Jesus himself prays that way in the Garden of Gethsemane. (Matthew 26:42). Because he made the Father’s will his own, his sacrifice saved us. Now we pray that God will make his will our own will.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

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Thy Kingdom Come

Encore Post: When we pray the Lord’s Prayer we state our hope and belief that God’s Kingdom is different than the kingdoms of the world. As Jesus says to Pontius Pilate, “My Kingdom is not of this world.” But certainly it has entered into this world now and the world will see it in all its fullness when Jesus returns to judge both the living and the dead.

God’s Kingdom comes to us a couple of ways. God’s Kingdom comes to us through the Proclamation of the Word and Faith. Another way to say it is that God’s Kingdom comes to us when and where Jesus promises to be for the forgiveness of our sins in the divine service. Finally, what we see currently only by faith will be unveiled to the world, and God’s Kingdom will be fully known.

God’s Kingdom is not like the Kingdoms of the world. God’s Kingdom is a spiritual kingdom and it must be distinguished from the civil realm. God works in terms of the Gospel, that in Jesus Christ’s death on the cross atones for the sins of the world. Currently God’s Kingdom looks quite humble. Even the King rides to his throne on a donkey, not some regal warhorse. His crown in this world was one of thorns. He governs not with an iron fist, but through his ministers who are called to preach His Gospel and administer his gifts- namely Baptism, Bread and Wine, His body and Blood- to his faithful.

The civil realm as we are all able to look around works in terms of fear and power, certainly not the Gospel but rather Law. Of course, as we pray this petition we also express the desire for the Lord to bless our civil kingdoms (government) with His mercy and grace that we might live in peace. And we should obey the laws of the government as long as obeying the laws does not cause us to sin. We also acknowledge rightly that God does not intend to use the Gospel to overthrow secular government and public order. We reject that before the resurrection of the dead, saints and righteous people will possess a secular kingdom.

So, we as Christians see ourselves in two kingdoms. And we continue to pray this petition as fervently as ever in anticipation when the Lord will return to usher and reveal His Kingdom fully.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
Christ Lutheran Church
Noblesville, Indiana

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Why Pray for God to Make His Name Holy….

Encore Post: When you think about it, the first request we make in the Lord’s Prayer sounds strange. Maybe it is the old English “hallowed be thy name.” in modern English, we pray to God to make his name holy. To be holy means to set aside, to dedicate for one Godly purpose. By definition, God’s name is holy.

In our sinful world, however, God’s name is often used as cover for other agendas. When preachers stray from God’s word and teach their own ideas as if they were God’s word, they plant confusion and make God seem something he is not. So, for example, when preachers say that all you have to do to become rich is to believe and give money to that preacher, they make God into a vending machine. False religions of all sorts lead people to trust themselves and false gods rather that the God who loves them. This makes God’s name into something you can’t trust — like every other name. It is no longer holy.

So we pray that God will send faithful pastors, bless the preaching of the gospel so that the lost might be saved and we be made by the Holy Spirit to live according to his Word. We can be confident he will do this. After all, he asked us to pray for this.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

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Dear Children and their Dear Father

Encore Post: There is nothing subtle about little children. When loved ones come home after being away, they scream, “Daddy!” “Grandpa!” “Mommy!” “Grandma” and dash across the room to hug them. They have plenty to say, are ready to play and enjoy being with them. Martin Luther in the Small Catechism compares prayer to a child who comes to talk to his father. (Small Catechism, Lord’s Prayer, 3.1) God wants us to come to him and to ask for anything, knowing that he loves us, cares for us, wants the best for us and will answer our prayer.

In many religions, prayer is more about getting what you want from a god, an ancestor, a spirit or some other supernatural being. It is often filled with attempts to manipulate the deity and receiving the desired result. These spirits are distant, not so interested in us or fearful beings. Like the Wizard of Oz, you just don’t get near them.

Not so with our Heavenly Father. Prayer is more about our relationship with our Father, who loved us before he made the world, who made us and cares for us daily, who sent his Son to die for our sins and rise from death that we might live with him forever. He wants us to come with him, to share our lives with him and to see how he acts to provide for us. After all, Luther points out, God knows what we need before we pray. We pray so that he will be a part of our everyday lives.

In our culture, there is no problem with talking to God. It is when he talks back that they think we’re crazy. But God speaks through his word, through the events in our lives and other Christians. We see his love in what he has done and will do for us. So it is that we pray to him in many ways, from a short one-liner or making the sign of the cross, to praise of him in hymns, to the formal prayers of the divine service and other times we gather as a church to pray. When we do so, we grow closer to our father in heaven, who loves it when we come to him and share our lives with him.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

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The Resurrection of the Body

Encore post: To the ancient Greek philosophers, and many people today, it is nonsense. (Acts 17:32) We all know what happens to the body after death. We’ve seen it on T.V. In crime shows and in horror films. Some families have the bodies of their loved ones cremated. It decays and eventually turns to dust, just as God promised Adam. (Genesis 3:19)

Yet God clearly promises this wonderful miracle. While we cannot understand how this can be true, we know that God, who is almighty and who created us and whole world, can do whatever he wants to do. (Matthew 22:23-33) The resurrection of the body is the bottom line for the Christian hope. Because Christ rose from the dead, we will rise from our graves on the last day. (1 Corinthians 15:12-58)

The resurrection teaches us a few very important things. First, the body matters. The way we talk about the death of a loved one makes it sounds like only our spirit matters. Yet God did not make us to be spirits only, but both body and spirit. Death unnaturally separates the two. But on the last day, when death is defeated, we will be restored and our bodies glorified like that of Jesus. Job’s prophecy will come true for him — and for us. (Job 19:25-27) Our bodies are good, even if the evils of this world mar them. We can accept ourselves the way he made us.

We also can live life in hope of the next. We do grieve when death separates us from loved ones. But we will see them again, quicker than we suppose. We can face down the demands of an evil world, knowing it is temporary and life eternal awaits. Best of all, we will live forever with him who bought us, shed his own blood for us and broke the power of sin and death over us. He is with us always, today and forever.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

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The Forgiveness of Sins

Encore Post: King David was a prime example of someone who needed forgiveness. In one episode, he managed to shirk his duty as a commander, lust after his neighbor’s wife, use his power to rape or commit adultery with her, lie to her husband, send him on a suicide mission to murder him then marry Bathsheba to cover it up. He sinned against everyone it seems. Yet it is to God he goes for forgiveness. In the end, all sins are rebellion against God. (2 Samuel 11:1-12:25 and Psalm 51)

Forgiveness is hard to come by in this world. When we are hurt, we want to return that hurt in kind. Eastern religions like Hinduism and Buddhism have no forgiveness — you pay back the bad Karma you give with suffering in this life or nearly endless reincarnations. Mormon must cease sinning to pay for forgiveness and progress towards godhood. Pagan religions require a suitable sacrifice to an appropriate spirit.

Christianity is different. We have a loving and merciful God, who in Jesus died to pay for our forgiveness and through the Holy Spirit gives faith, the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. The Spirit chooses to use his Church to bring this forgiveness to all. In the Church, the Gospel is preached, God adopts his children through baptism, Jesus gives his body and blood for the forgiveness of sins and he hears our confessions and absolves us of our sins by pastors he sends to do so.

So, then, the Church is not a country club, a place where only good people need apply. It is a hospital, where we who are sick can get well, taking the only medicine that can make us well. We are, after all, beggars telling other beggars where they can find bread.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

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Little Sheep that Hear the Voice of Their Shepherd

Encore Post: God the Holy Spirit gives no end of blessings to God’s people. When he calls us by the Gospel and creates faith in our hearts, we hear the voice of our Shepherd. We will live with him forever. What else can he give us, we think.

And yet, there is more. He calls us to be a member of his church. The Greek word for church is ἐκκλησία (ekklesia) which means literally “to call out, to call up.” Greeks used it for a city council or a militia unit. The Greek translation of the Old Testament (Septuagint, LXX) used it for the gathering of God’s people. Jesus, the Gospel authors and St. Paul used it in this way. Martin Luther defined in the Smalcald Articles 10.2: “For, thank God, a child seven years old knows what the Church is, namely, the holy believers and lambs who hear the voice of their Shepherd.”

The Holy Spirit calls, gathers and enlightens the whole church, into which he places us. But this church is not limited to our local congregation. It is catholic — a Latin word that means universal. All people who believe in Jesus Christ are a part of this Church. It includes people of all nations, races, places and situations. It also includes the Church Triumphant, Christians who have died in the faith and whose spirits now live with Christ. It is eternal and cannot be destroyed. This Church is one and cannot be divided.

It is also invisible. Since the faith that makes us a member of the Church dwells in our hearts, only God knows who belongs in it. Yet it is very real. It means that we are never alone. Not only is Jesus with us always– not only does the Holy Spirit dwell in our hearts, we have our brothers and sisters to be with us, pray with and for us and to share our burdens with us. And one day, they will be with us before the throne of God, praising God forever for his grace and mercy.

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The Holy Spirit seeks the Lost

Encore Post: Evangelicals are looking for seekers. These are people without Christ, who are looking for someone or something to fill the God-shaped hole in their hearts. Evangelicals believe that when they hear the gospel, they are won over by the preacher and accept Jesus as their savior. Or perhaps they responded to an altar call and prayed the sinner’s prayer. This decision theology maintains that it is something we decide that saves us. Lutherans believe they are mistaken. Why?

Because the Holy Scripture describes people without faith in Christ as dead in their sins, unable to accept the things of the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:1-3, 1 Corinthians 2:14) Nowhere in the Bible do we find a passage commanding us to accept Jesus as Savior. In fact, if you review in your mind all the Sunday school lessons about people God used in his plan to save us, you will discover God came looking for them, they didn’t seek him. Faith is not accepting a series of facts as true or choosing to follow Jesus.

We are saved because God seeks and saves the lost. The Holy Spirit used the Gospel, shared by parents, friends and love ones with us, read in the pages of the Bible and preached to us, and when we are baptized. He used it to create faith our hearts which trusts in Jesus to save us. He calls us by the Gospel, enlightens us with his gifts, sanctifies and keeps us in the faith. We can be confident of our salvation because it depends on God and not on our own strength.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

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