Church History – What Does This Mean?

What is in the Small Catechism?

Encore Post: [Forth is a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism] When a young confirmation student first gets his copy of the Small Catechism, his first thought is that it doesn’t look all that small! His shiny new book is hundreds of pages long, with hundreds of questions in it. He panics at the thought of memorizing it all — until he realizes that he only has to memorize the first two dozen or so pages. It still seems impossible — but a little less so!

So, what is in the Catechism? When Luther began his work, just three pieces — the Ten Commandments, The Apostles’s Creed and the Lord’s prayer. These three main parts are still the heart of the catechism. The Ten Commandments or Ten Words tell us what we should do to be like God. God intended it exactly backwards from the way we learn it. It is at its base a guidebook — the third use of the Law. When original sin comes into the picture, the first and second uses we first think of comes into play. The Apostles’ Creed tells us what God did to make us, redeem us, and make us holy so that we can keep God’s law. The Lord’s Prayer tells us about our life of fellowship with God. Luther wrote simple explanations of these in everyday German.

Soon, questions about Baptism and the Lord’s Supper were added, along with simple answers to them and the main Scriptures that teach them. These helped the students come to understand the treasures awaiting them in the divine service. A brief form of confession was also added to prepare students for confession and absolution before a pastor in private. After Luther’s death, information about the Office of the Keys rounded out the six main parts of the catechism.

In Luther’s day, when you bought a book, you bought just the pages — like you copied an entire book on a photocopier. You would go to a bookbinder, who would put a cover on it. The book was still so small that people added small tracts to fill it out a bit. Several have remained in most editions — Luther’s chart of duties — scriptures that talk about people with different roles in life should do, a marriage service, a baptism service, Christian questions and answers.

Over the centuries, the catechism became so popular teachers wanted more questions and answers that addressed the theological issues of the day. Thus, many catechisms have explanation sections with bible stories, scriptures that support the points of these questions and many other things. That is how the book grew to what we know it today.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Why is Luther’s Small Catechism so Popular?

“Mercy! Good God! what manifold misery I beheld! The common people, especially in the villages, have no knowledge whatever of Christian doctrine, and, alas! many pastors are altogether incapable and incompetent to teach … Yet they [do not understand and] cannot [even] recite either the Lord’s Prayer, or the Creed, or the Ten Commandments”
— Martin Luther, “Preface” in The Small Catechism 0.1

Encore Post: [Third is a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism] Luther was shocked and dismayed. His prince had sent him and his friends on a mission to go throughout Saxony and see what needed to be done to reform the church. There was no bishop who came over to the Reformation to provide care for the people, so the prince had to act. Luther knew the everyday people were badly educated — but he didn’t know how bad it was. He had instructed his friends to write catechisms to help fathers and priests teach the people. He was not at all satisfied with their work and it clearly was not working. So he produced two Catechisms — the Large Catechism for pastors and fathers learn how to teach children and the Small Catechism for the children to memorize.

Luther produced two classics. The Small Catechism revolutionized Christian education of children — even beyond Lutheranism, resulting in basic catechisms for children appearing in all denominations. Wherever the Lutheran Church and its missions went in the world, the Small Catechism soon followed. As soon as the Bible appeared in a new language, the Catechism and the liturgy were sure to soon follow. It is among the most translated works in Western civilization. When the first Missouri Synod Lutherans emigrated to America, among the essential books packed in the trunks were the Bible, the Catechism, a prayer book, a hymnal and a book of sermons. Wherever the Missouri Synod organized congregations, they would immediately set up schools — sometimes multiple schools — where at first the pastors would teach, you guessed it — the Catechism, the Bible and then other subjects. As soon as a congregation could afford it, they would also call a school teacher.

The Small Catechism was so popular because it was so basic. It taught the bedrock doctrines needed to live a Christian life — the Ten Commandments and with it God’s law in its three uses; the Creed and with it the Gospel, which saves us and gives us the power to live the Christian life and the Lord’s Prayer, and with it the building of a life centered around Jesus. He also translated these treasures into the child’s native language, so they could comprehend them. He then explained them carefully, sweetly, in easily memorizable words. He did all this without using combative language. The result is that even non-Lutherans cherish the Small Catechism.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Blog Post Series

Meet Wilhelm Löhe

Encore Post: 153 years ago, Wilhelm Löhe was the pastor of a small, rural parish in Neuendettelsau, Bavaria. He was a leader in Germany’s then new Confessionalist movement. Because of this role, he always had a strained relationship with the leaders of his church body and so was kept out of the way — or so they thought.

Löhe was a man of boundless energy, persuasive when advocating a cause and highly skilled at marshaling talent and funds to accomplish a goal. In 1842, he read Friedrich Wyneken‘s appeals for the spiritual need of German Lutherans on the American frontier and his stirring plea for pastors. Löhe published his own appeal. He arranged to meet Wyneken to publish a polished version of the missionary’s appeal, titled Die Noth der deutschen Lutheraner in Nordamerika (The Need of the German Lutherans in North America) These appeals caused donations to flow in and soon second career men to volunteer to meet the need.

But Löhe was just getting started. With his friend Johann Friedrich Wucherer, he provided a basic education to second career men who volunteered to go to America. Soon they founded a mission society, raised funds, wrote manuals, instructions and churchly books. He at first sent these men and donations to the Ohio Synod’s seminary in Columbus, Ohio. When cultural and theological differences made that no longer possible, he worked with Wilhelm Sihler, pastor at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church of Fort Wayne, Indiana to found a “practical seminary” — an institution focused on providing pastors for the church as quickly as possible. In October 1846, this institution opened in his parsonage. This institution is now known as Concordia Theological Seminary — but that is another story!

Wilhelm Löhe, his friends and his small parish were just getting started, though. Seeing the suffering of the poor, the ill, the widowed and orphaned, he revived the office of deaconess. He also sent men and material to the Wartburg Seminary and its church body, the Iowa Synod (now a part of the ELCA), to Australia, the German colonists of Russia and other places. To provide a Christian witness to native Americans, he organized and founded Frankenmuth, Michigan and neighboring communities. His liturgies and worship books became the foundation of the Missouri Synod’s liturgy.

At the age of 63, Wilhelm Löhe died still serving as the pastor of his rural parish on January 2, 1872. He is buried where he served. His institutions still continue to this day, serving God and his church world-wide.

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

The posts in What does this Mean? blog are now available in Substack at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Our God, our Help in Ages Past…

Encore Post: The reign of Anne, Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland, was a peaceful time for Isaac Watts and his fellow Reformed believers. Her Anglican policy of tolerance made her a very popular monarch. When she died, great anxiety spread. It was possible that the Catholic Stewart family would try to claim the throne, even after Lutheran Elector George of Hanover was crowned King George I. Only the passage of time calmed frayed nerves.

Isaac Watts was intent on improving the worship of Reformed congregations by paraphrasing Psalms so that Christians could sing the Psalms from the perspective of faith in Christ Jesus. He cast Psalm 90 as a collect for times of uncertainty. “Our God our Help in Ages Past” reminds us of what God has done for us in the past, especially by the suffering and death of Christ for our salvation, and what he will do for us in the future, when he returns in glory. The middle stanzas contrast the temporary nature of life in this world with the eternity of God, his promises and his love. The final stanza asks that God would guard us now and be our eternal place of rest.

One of the most beloved hymns in English hymnody, the song is popular for the opening of a school year, Remembrance Day in Canada and New Year’s Day in many churches. The tune most associated with it, St. Anne, imitates the tolling of bells as they mark the passage of time.

The original text is as follows:

1 Our God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home.

2 Under the shadow of thy throne
Thy saints have dwelt secure;
Sufficient is thine arm alone,
And our defence is sure.

3 Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth receiv’d her frame,
From everlasting thou art God,
To endless years the same.

4 Thy word commands our flesh to dust,
“Return, ye sons of men:”
All nations rose from earth at first,
And turn to earth again.

5 A thousand ages in thy sight
Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the rising sun.

6 The busy tribes of flesh and blood,
With all their lives and cares,
Are carried downwards by thy flood,
And lost in following years.

7 Time like an ever-rolling stream
Bears all its Sons away;
They fly forgotten as a dream
Dies at the opening day.

8 Like flowery fields the nations stand
Pleas’d with the morning light;
The flowers beneath the mower’s hand
Lie withering ere ’tis night.

9 Our God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Be thou our guard while troubles last,
And our eternal home.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Pastor Emeritus

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Why doesn’t John tell the story of Christmas?

Encore Post: “In the beginning was the Word…” John begins his gospel. (John 1:1) His introduction is very different from Matthew, Mark’s and Luke’s gospels. He takes us back in time to creation itself. Where are the shepherds, the sheep, the star, the wise men and all the details we’ve come to love? Why doesn’t the beloved disciple tell us the story? It is because John is not a biography like the ones we’re used to. (The other gospels aren’t either, but that is another story!) In fact, John tells us what he is trying to do: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:30–31)

For John, what happened in the earthly life of Jesus is less important than why. The Gospel of John tells the good news simply, profoundly and in ways that strengthen the faith of every Christian — young and old. So John begins at the beginning.

Jesus is the eternal Word — the λόγος (Logos) — living with God the Father forever. He is divine, God himself, the Author of Life and the Creator of all things. He is Light itself, which overcomes darkness. He came to the world, and the world did not know him. His own people did not receive him. Yet those who believe in him, he adopted as his children, not born of human will, but by the will of God.

But John does talk about Christmas — he tells us the reason for the season. The Word became flesh and lived with us. This mystery is so profound it makes no sense to Greek philosophy. To the Greeks, spirituality is all about denying the flesh and the material world it lives in. To them, the body is suspect and evil; the spirit is good. That God’s Word would become human is backwards. For the Jew, it is offensive to think that man could be God. Yet that is exactly what happened at Christmas.

So, the beloved disciple teaches us, if you want grace and truth, look to Jesus. Human beings have never seen God, but the only begotten God — he is from the Father and made him known. Christians are blessed because, when they discover they cannot understand God, they can look to Jesus. In him, God has come to live with us and will do so now and forever.

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

The Nightmare After Christmas

Encore Post: The coming of the wise men from the east is a beloved part of the story of Christmas — even if the church doesn’t get around to celebrating it until the twelfth night of Christmas. (Stay tuned!) It really was logical for them to stop in Jerusalem. Where else would you find an infant crown prince? Yet that stop set in motion unintended events that are not so pleasant.

Herod the Great was a master politician and a loyal client of Rome. He was a master builder, rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem, constructing the port of Caesarea Maritima out of nothing, among other projects. He was also paranoid, executing anyone he thought was plotting to take his throne, including his favorite wife and several of his sons. The standard joke in Rome was that it was safer to be Herod’s pig than his son. (as a Jew, he did not eat pork) No wonder his court was upset when foreign scholars wanted to worship the newborn King of the Jews!

When the wise men were warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the king took no chances and ordered all young boys in Bethlehem to be executed. True to his name, Jesus’ foster father Joseph heeded an angel who appeared to him in a dream and took his family to Egypt. This may sound strange to us, but it was not odd during the time. Egypt was then a province of Rome, the route there well traveled and relatively safe. Many Jews lived in Egypt, especially in Alexandria, the intellectual capital of the empire. Egypt had, for centuries, been very friendly to Jews.

On the Church’s calendar, December 28th is celebrated as Holy Innocents Day. We remember the boys murdered by Herod as martyrs for Jesus, even though they did not realize it. We also remember all the children sacrificed by their parents for various reasons and dedicate ourselves to preserving the life of infants — born and unborn.

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Meet John, Apostle and Evangelist

Encore Post: John, son of Zebedee, was many things. He was the youngest of the disciples of Jesus. With Peter and his brother James, he was the inner circle of the apostles. The beloved disciple, he was likely the closest Jesus had to a best friend. With his father, his brother, Peter, and Andrew, they operated a successful fishing business on the Sea of Galilee. They headquartered in Capernaum, operated several boats and employed a number of assistants. An early follower of John the Baptist, John heard the last of the prophets point to Jesus as the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.

John had a ringside seat for the ministry of Jesus. He was present from the wedding at Cana through the ascension of Jesus into heaven. He saw all the miracles, the healings, and heard all that Jesus taught. During the last supper, he leaned at the side of the Lord. Unlike most of the disciples, he remained with the Lord throughout his trial and his crucifixion. To him, Jesus entrusted the care of his mother Mary. When the women who first heard the news of the Resurrection came to announce it to the disciples, he went with Peter to the empty tomb.

In the beginning, John and Peter led the church from Jerusalem. Eventually, he moved to Ephesus with Mary. There, he would live longer than all the apostles. He was never martyred, but was exiled for a while on the island of Patmos. Next to St. Paul, he wrote more of the New Testament books than anyone else. His gospel was the last of the four, written, taking into account the other three. He wrote three letters and probably the book of Revelation.

The church gives thanks to God for St. John on December 27th. Among the passages of Scripture most loved by Christians are words given through him. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) All that he wrote was so that we might believe and believing might have life in his name. (John 20:31)

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Stephen, the First Martyr

Encore Post: “You will be my martyrs (μάρτυρες),” Jesus said to his disciples just before he ascended into heaven. (Acts 1:8) A martyr is the New Testament is a witness to the good news about Jesus. All Christians are martyrs, then. The only question is how good a witness we will be.

The apostles and early disciples were very good martyrs. In fact, all the apostles except John the Evangelist (tune in tomorrow) validated their testimony with their lives, most of them through torturous, painful deaths. That is why we associate the term martyr with giving up one’s life for a cause. For a while, though, harassment was the push back of the leaders who had seen to the crucifixion of Jesus.

All this changed with a confrontation with Stephen the Deacon. He was a Jew whose native language was Greek. The apostles had appointed him and six others to take care of the poor among them. He was very good at evangelism, so Jews that rejected Jesus as the Messiah lied about him to get him arrested. Brought before the Sanhedrin, he argued from the Scripture that Jesus was the Messiah and that they had killed him. He called on them to repent and believe the good news.

In great anger, they seized Stephen and took him outside the city and began to stone him to death. Following the example of Jesus, he forgave them and gave up his spirit. Among those who witnessed the stoning and approved it was Saul of Tarsus, the man who would soon become the Apostle Paul. The church remembers him as the protomartyr — the first martyr. It gives thanks to God for his life and witness on the second day of Christmas — December 26.

In today’s world, Christians are still called to witness to Jesus with their lives. Even in our own country, opposition to faith is growing and Christians are called upon to testify to the gospel at a cost to reputation, property and perhaps some day freedom and lives. We have the example of our Lord, Stephen, and countless martyrs to give us courage. With them numbered may we be, here and in eternity.

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Silent Night, Holy Night

Encore Post: On Christmas Eve of 1818, two hundred and eleven years ago today, Joseph Mohr, the catholic priest of a small parish in Oberndorf, Austria, learned that the organ was out of order and not available for mass that evening. A few years earlier, he had composed a poem meditating on the birth of Jesus. The times were very hard for his parishioners. Austria and all of Europe was still recovering from the wars of Napoleon, which was followed by a famine caused by a very cold year and the crop failures that followed. He did not want to disappoint them. He asked his organist and friend, Franz Gruber, to set it to music for the guitar.

The quiet tune and simple words struck a chord in the hearts of people. Traveling choir troupes soon picked up the song and spread it. The beloved carol has found a place now in Christmas worldwide. During the dark days of World War I, during a spontaneous Christmas truce, both sides joined in singing the carol together.

Like most poetry, the song takes some poetic liberties. Jesus probably did not have golden hair, as the German original sings. A stable is not likely to have been very quiet and Scripture does not tell us what time of day Mary gave birth. Yet it does capture, as most carols do, the simple truths. In a rural, working town, in the far corner of a client kingdom of the Roman Empire, is where God Himself became a man, born of simple, young woman.

Jesus Christ, the eternally begotten Son of God, and by the greatest mystery of them all, true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is our Lord. He redeemed us, not with silver or gold, but with his holy and precious blood and innocent suffering and death. We now are his own and live in his kingdom. When God sees us, he sees Jesus. When we see Jesus, we see God.

So we sing this Christmas lullaby and go to sleep in peace, even in the midst of our turbulent world, filled as it is with sorrow, trouble, grief and death. Sleep in peace, children of God. Rest merry. Christ was born to save us all from Satan’s power when we had gone astray. He has destroyed death and crushed the serpent’s head. You will live with him forever.

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

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O Wisdom

Encore Post: O Wisdom, proceeding from the mouth of the Most High, permeating all creation, mightily ordering all things, Come and teach us the way of prudence.

O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodiisti, attingens a fine usque ad finem fortiter, suaviterque disponens omnia, veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae.

In the formal language of the church, important days are celebrated for eight days. The eighth day is called the Octave (Latin for eight) of the festival. It is a symbol of eternal life. Since there are only seven days of the week, the eighth day is thought of being beyond time in the presence of God himself, where angels, archangels and all the company of Heaven worship the Lamb-Who-Was-Slain. In a sense, all worship services are conducted on the eighth day. The Octave of Christmas is New Year’s Day, when the church remembers the Circumcision of Jesus and begins the new year in the Name of Jesus. December 17th in kind of an octave in reverse. On this day, the O Antiphons begin.

The first prayer meditates on the title “Wisdom.” In the popular philosophy of Greece and Rome, Wisdom is taught by the Word (the Logos — λόγος) which is a part of God Himself that comes to the world to instruct the worthy in Wisdom. (σοφία — Sophia) Isaiah prophesied that the Spirit of Wisdom would be in the Messiah. (Isaiah 11:1-9) In the Scriptures, knowledge is about knowing facts and the way things work. Wisdom is about knowing the best way to apply knowledge. Wisdom is not about what you know, but who you know. It begins with the fear of God and is built upon trusting God to keep his promises. (faith) Wisdom hears the Word of God, judges possible actions by it and acts deliberately according to it. In this prayer, we ask the Lord to teach us to live in this way.

The highest form of wisdom is the cross. Here God himself is sacrificed to pay the price of our evil. It seems foolish to the world — the good dying for the sake of the evil and conquering it once and for all. Yet for us it is the most profound Wisdom of all. (1 Corinthians 1:18-25) The way of prudence, then, teaches us to confess our sins, receive pardon for them and lay down our lives for others.

O come, Thou Wisdom from on high, Who ord’rest all things mightily; To us the path of knowledge show, And teach us in her ways to go. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel!

Lutheran Service Book, 357, Stanza Two

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana