In his Small Catechism, Martin Luther lays out the basics of the Christian faith. This brief book is an essential part of the Lutheran heritage, but when was the last time you read it?
As we approach Reformation Day at the end of October, I’ll be posting five minute videos each Tuesday and Friday reading and reflecting on the Small Catechism. I invite you to join me in opening the Small Catechism and exploring some of the essential teachings of our church.
I hope you’ll follow along with your own Small Catechism (available on Amazon here) or through the free “Luther’s Small Catechism” app from Augsburg Fortress, available for iPhone or Android.
You can watch all nine videos in the embedded playlist, and read through the transcripts below.
——————————Introduction & Background: What is a Catechism?——————————
Hi, I’m Pastor Daniel Flucke, from St. Peter Lutheran Church in Greene, Iowa, and today I’m going to talk about Martin Luther’s Small Catechism.
On the last day of October, Lutheran churches around the world will mark Reformation Day. If you’re keeping track, October thirty-first this year will be the five hundred and third anniversary of Martin Luther posting his list of 95 Theses for debate in Wittenberg, Germany, back in 1517, which kicked off the Protestant Reformation and called the Church back to a focus on God’s grace shown in Jesus Christ.
Throughout October, I’m going to be reading through Luther’s Small Catechism, and I invite you to join me. If you grew up in a Lutheran church, maybe you remember the Small Catechism from confirmation class. Maybe you can still recite it from memory! Or, maybe you’ve never read or even heard of the Small Catechism before! Either way, this month is a great time to explore this important little book. Here’s a little background info to get started.
First, what is a catechism? The word catechism means “to repeat back” – the related word “catechesis” is a process of religious instruction, usually before baptism or confirmation. So a “catechism” is a type of document that lays out the basic ideas of a religion. It’s a learning tool, sort of a handbook to faith, and catechisms can get pretty detailed. For comparison, here’s my copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Now of course, the primary Christian book is the Bible. The Bible is God’s word, holy Scripture, the source and norm of our faith. In the Small Catechism, Martin Luther lays out just the basic principles of the Christian faith, what he says in one preface is the “minimum of knowledge a Christian should have.” (1528 preface to LC) He takes from the Bible the Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer, and the Apostle’s Creed from church tradition, breaks them open for learners, and for each part, he asks the question, “What does this mean?” then he gives a very brief commentary.
Some editions of the Small Catechism include Luther’s teachings on the sacraments of baptism and communion, as well as confession and the office of the keys, but I’m going to focus this month on those three main parts, the Ten Commandments, the Apostle’s Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer.
By the way, if there’s a small catechism, there is also—as you might expect—a Large Catechism, which covers the same topics, but with more commentary from Luther. Luther wrote the Large Catechism to help out pastors, but he intended the Small Catechism for use in the home, for parents to use in teaching their children.
My plan is to post a five minute or so video each Friday and Tuesday during October. If I counted right, that’s 9 videos including this one, and I hope you’ll join me in following along. If you have a small catechism at home, I hope you’ll pull it out and read through it, or if you’d like one, we’d be happy to give you one from church – it’s really something every Christian and especially every Lutheran ought to have.
There’s also a free app version of the catechism for your phone from our church publishing house. You can search for Luther’s Small Catechism on the app store, or I’ll link to the app in the description of this video.
Let’s pray.
Good and gracious God, thank you for the gift of your Word, which shows us who you are and who we are to you. Thank you for your servant Martin Luther, who explained the faith simply, and called us as your people to a living, daring confidence in your grace.
As we read through the Small Catechism, send your Holy Spirit to open our hearts to your love, and help us to grow in faith toward you and love for our neighbors, in Jesus’ name. Amen
See you on Tuesday as we look at the first three of the Ten Commandments and what Martin Luther has to say about them.
——————————Ten Commandments #1, 2, 3——————————
Hello, I’m Pastor Daniel Flucke, and I serve at St. Peter Lutheran Church in Greene, Iowa.
During October, we’re reading through Martin Luther’s Small Catechism. I started Friday with an introduction to the idea of a catechism, so you might want to go watch that first.
Luther opens his catechism with the 10 commandments because the 10 commandments act as a sort of shorthand for all of God’s law. God’s law serves a couple different purposes.
First, God gives us these commandments as instructions for how we should live, to set rules for society, so we should do our best to follow them, and as we’ll see, Luther sees them as even more expansive than what they literally say.
But God’s law also has a second purpose, which is to demonstrate our need for a Savior. Whenever we try to live up to God’s standards, God’s expectations, when we try to obey all of the 10 commandments, we always fail. As Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
So in laying out the basics of the Christian faith, Luther starts with the 10 commandments to diagnose our disease. The first part of faith is recognizing that we’re in trouble and we need someone to rescue us. We need forgiveness.
We’ll see God’s redemption plan soon in the Apostle’s Creed, but we start with the 10 commandments.
Today we’re looking at the first three. Here’s the First Commandment from the Small Catechism:
You shall have no other gods.
What does this mean?
We are to fear, love, and trust God above all things.
I love Luther’s longer explanation in the Large Catechism, because he gets into what it means to have a god. He says everyone is worshiping something. We’re all looking somewhere for life. Whatever you give your heart to and entrust your being, that is your god.
So the first commandment is about where you’re putting your trust. Is your trust in God, the creator and redeemer of the world? Or are you looking to something else for life, meaning, and purpose, something temporary, like money, or status, or celebrities, or whatever? Putting anything ahead of God is idolatry. Trust God above all else.
The Second Commandment
You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God.
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.
On one level, this means if you hit your thumb with a hammer, come up with something better to say than “Jesus Christ.” Names have power. If you’re saying God’s name, you’re praying, and there should be some level of respect.
But avoiding making wrongful use of God’s name is about more than not swearing. It includes how we as Christians represent God, how we speak in Jesus’ name. Are we claiming God’s authority for our own personal or political agendas?
Notice too that Luther adds a positive command here. Don’t misuse God’s name, but do use it. Use it in prayer, ask God for help, be in relationship with God.
The Third Commandment
Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy.
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.
The Sabbath day is the day of rest established by God’s resting on the seventh day of creation. Of course we need rest today as much as ever, but Luther is less interested in a literal day of rest like the Jewish people understand it, and more interested in us as Christians intentionally taking time to pay attention to God’s Word. Keeping something holy means to set it apart. We ought to value God’s word as something set apart, something special, not just on one particular day of the week, but in our whole lives.
So, I challenge you to try that this week, not just on Saturday or Sunday, but every day. Pause and intentionally notice God. I’ll see you Friday for the next three commandments.
——————————Ten Commandments #4, 5, 6——————————
Hi, I’m Pastor Daniel Flucke at St. Peter Lutheran Church in Greene, Iowa, and this is part three of our journey opening Martin Luther’s Small Catechism.
Last time, we talked about the first three commandments, which were don’t have any other gods, don’t misuse the Lord’s name, and do keep the Sabbath day holy.
As Luther points out in his Large Catechism, those three commandments are all about our relationship with God. The other seven commandments are about how we relate to our neighbors, how we interact with each other.
The Fourth Commandment
Honor your father and your mother.
What does this mean?
We are to fear and love God, so that we neither despise nor anger our parents and others in authority, but instead honor, serve, obey, love, and respect them.
In the Large Catechism, Luther compares children forgetting their parents or taking them for granted to the way we Christians treat God. All of us, he says, “forget God and fail to consider how God feeds, guards, and shields us and how many good things [God] provides for our physical and spiritual welfare.”
Just like we do with our parents, we have a tendency to complain to God when things go badly, but then take the credit ourselves when things go well for us. Instead, parents ought to teach their children about God, and we ought to act with respect and love toward both our literal parents and to others in authority over us.
The Fifth Commandment
You shall not murder.
What does this mean?
We are to fear and love God, so that we neither endanger nor harm the lives of our neighbors, but instead help and support them in all of life’s needs.
You shall not murder sounds straightforward, right? And yet, most Christians (including Luther) agree there are times when killing can be justified, even necessary… times when killing is not murder, like in a war, or self-defense, although there have been Christians who take this command seriously enough to reject any violence, rejecting ideas like just war.
When we try to figure out what this straightforward command means and when killing is different than murder, this gets controversial and starts to sound political.
To me, you shall not murder includes all people, the elderly, the unborn, people with disabilities, and it’s also about way more than literally not killing—as Luther says, we are to help and support our neighbors in all of life’s needs—so that includes taking care of the poor, welcoming immigrants and refugees, even opposing punishments that destroy life and remove the possibility of redemption and restoration.
In the Large Catechism, Luther explains “God’s real meaning in this commandment is that we should allow no one to come to any harm, but should show kindness and love to everyone, especially, as I said, to those who are our enemies.” (pg. 43)
Supporting our neighbor’s in all of life’s needs sounds like it means helping everyone to get food and education and health care. Maybe not murdering even means stopping factories from polluting in ways that hurt life expectancy. There’s a lot to think about in this commandment. It’s not easy.
The Sixth Commandment
You shall not commit adultery.
What does this mean?
We are to fear and love God, so that we lead pure and decent lives in word and deed, and each of us loves and honors his or her spouse.
All the other commandments, Luther says, are easy to understand because they come from the central point of avoiding harming your neighbors.
Basically, committing adultery hurts your spouse, who is a neighbor, so don’t do it. The closer a relationship, the more potential there is for damage, so the marital relationship especially needs to be valuded. Families are worth protecting.
Luther for once doesn’t go there, but what would it look like to go the next step and support other people—your neighbors—in their marriage? Offering to babysit? Helping people at work have actual time off? Lots of possibilities!
Keep looking for ways to love and serve your neighbors, and tune in on Tuesday and we’ll look at the last four of the Ten Commandments!
—————————Ten Commandments #7, 8, 9, 10—————————
Hi, I’m Pastor Daniel Flucke at St. Peter Lutheran Church in Greene, Iowa, and as we continue through Martin Luther’s Small Catechism, today we’re going to wrap up the Ten Commandments.
The Seventh Commandment
You shall not steal.
What does this mean?
We are to fear and love God, so that we neither take our neighbors’ money or property nor acquire them by using shoddy merchandise or crooked deals, but instead help them to improve and protect their property and income.
Competition in business is good, but for Christians, it can’t be at the expense of caring for your neighbors. Since Luther lived in a time with farmers and landowners and peasants, his examples tend to reflect his surroundings.
When he talks about helping neighbors to improve and protect their property and income, I suspect he’s picturing things like a community barn-raising, or the kind of situation where a farmer can’t get the harvest in and the community comes together to bring in the crops for them.
In the Large Catechism, Luther also explains that the prohibition on stealing doesn’t just mean individual petty thieves, but “the great, powerful super thieves who associate with the influential and the great and who daily plunder not merely a city or two but the entire country.”
This commandment calls us as Christian citizens to examine the systems of society and oppose structures and practices that are unjust and lead to poverty or oppression. All of this comes out of loving your neighbor.
The Eighth Commandment
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
What does this mean?
We are to fear and love God, so that we do not tell lies about our neighbors, betray or slander them, or destroy their reputations. Instead we are to come to their defense, speak well of them, and interpret everything they do in the best possible light.
This is my favorite part of the entire catechism. Imagine what would change in our world if we intentionally worked to interpret everything other people do in the best possible light, if we gave everyone the benefit of the doubt?
As much as I love social media, and I’m using it to share these videos with you, I fear that social media has only made this worse. Stories and headlines are designed to provoke us to outrage by portraying people in the worst possible light, and all too often, we fall for it. Of course it’s a sin to tell a lie about someone, but what about believing the worst about others? That’s no better.
The Ninth Commandment
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.
What does this mean?
We are to fear and love God, so that we do not try to trick our neighbors out of their inheritance or property or try to get it for ourselves by claiming to have a legal right to it and the like, but instead be of help and service to them in keeping what is theirs.
The Tenth Commandment
You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
What does this mean?
We are to fear and love God, so that we do not entice, force, or steal away from our neighbors their spouses, household workers, or livestock, but instead urge them to stay and fulfill their responsibilities to our neighbors.
These two commandments are very similar, and you can see Luther’s agricultural setting here too. Again, the purpose is to relate to our neighbors with love, rather than jealousy. Pray for your neighbors and thank God for the blessings they’ve been given, instead of comparing yourself to them. And when you’re the one with an abundance, use it to love and serve your neighbors too.
Well, that wraps up the ten commandments, and if you have any self-awareness at all, you know you haven’t followed all of them all the time. The commandments point out our sin and our need from God.
With that awareness of our sin, we’ll look in the next section of the catechism at the Apostle’s Creed, and see God’s plan for redemption and forgiveness.
——————————Apostle’s Creed Article #1: On Creation——————————
Hi, I’m Pastor Daniel Flucke from St. Peter Lutheran Church in Greene, Iowa, and this is part five of our series on Opening Martin Luther’s Small Catechism.
So far, we’ve gone through the catechism’s first section, the Ten Commandments, the instructions God gives us for how we relate to God and to each other. Perhaps you noticed that for each commandment, Luther begins his explanation the same way, saying we are to “fear and love God.”
By that word “fear” he doesn’t mean we are to be afraid of God, as if God is our enemy out to get us, but rather, fear in the sense of awe and wonder. Luther calls us to keep in mind that God is much greater than we are, and we should approach God from the proper position.
This first article of the Apostle’s Creed on creation gets into who God is as both our Father, and the eternal, almighty creator of everything.
The First Article: On Creation
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
What does this mean?
I believe that God has created me together with all that exists. God has given me and still preserves my body and soul: eyes, ears, and all limbs and senses; reason and all mental faculties.
In addition, God daily and abundantly provides shoes and clothing, food and drink, house and farm, spouse and children, fields, livestock, and all property—along with all the necessities and nourishment for this body and life. God protects me against all danger and shields and preserves me from all evil.
And all this is done out of pure, fatherly, and divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness of mine at all! For all of this I owe it to God to thank and praise, serve and obey him. This is most certainly true.
A creed is a statement of belief, from the Latin word, “Credo” meaning, “I believe.” The Apostle’s Creed in particular was originally used to question candidates for baptism to determine their understanding of the faith.
As a church, we use this creed as a concise way to articulate what we believe and confess about God. Two other creeds our church accepts as true and useful summaries of our faith are the longer Nicene Creed, and the even longer Athanasian Creed.
The Apostle’s Creed is organized into three sections, one for each member of the Trinity, and in the first article, it declares who God is. In short, God is Creator.
Now, Christians can debate how God creates, and science continually tells us new facts about the world and where it came from, but our fundamental belief is that God creates. Everything is created by God, including people – including you and me!
And as Luther explains, God is not done creating. God continues to work in the world, giving us life, providing for us. Like the best kind of parent, God gives us everything we need for life, and protects us from evil, all without us doing anything to deserve it. God loves you and cares for you because that’s who God is. God is Creator.
Knowing who God is as Creator also shows us who we are in relation to God: We are part of the creation. We owe God everything, because our very lives come from God. Our service to God, the reason we worship, the reason we care about any of the commands God gives us, is because God is our Creator, and the Creator has authority over the creation. The Creator gets to set the rules. All that we are and all that we have are gifts from God.
Of course, as the book of Genesis in the Bible illustrates, it didn’t take long for the creation to rebel against the Creator. We don’t do very well at following the rules God sets. But God refuses to give up on us.
Instead of letting us suffer the consequences of our rebellion, the eternal death we deserve, the creator personally enters into the creation to redeem it, to restore us to right relationship with our creator. That’s the second article of the Creed. See you next time!
——————————Apostle’s Creed Article #2: On Redemption——————————
Hi, I’m Pastor Daniel Flucke from St. Peter Lutheran Church in Greene, Iowa, and today as we open Martin Luther’s Small Catechism, we’re exploring the second article of the Apostles’ Creed.
Last time, we looked at the first article of the creed on creation, and we talked about how since God is the creator, God gets to set the rules for creation. But we humans refused to follow God’s laws. Instead, we rebelled against God and tried to go our own way. The church word for that is sin. Sin is everything we do that goes against God. It’s the condition we live in. Sin separates us from God.
And yet, God refuses to give up on us. In the Bible, we find this amazing story of God working to heal the separation our sin has caused, working to repair the broken relationship between the Creator and the creation. Over and over, God calls the people to repent, stop sinning, and turn back to their creator, and yet the people keep turning back to sin.
Finally, the Creator enters into the creation. God chooses to be born in the person of Jesus Christ, to personally do the work of redemption and forgiveness, to do what we humans couldn’t do and restore the relationship sin had broken. That’s what this second article of the Apostle’s Creed is all about.
The Second Article: On Redemption
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended into hell.
On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
What does this mean?
I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father in eternity, and also a true human being, born of the virgin Mary, is my Lord. He has redeemed me, a lost and condemned human being. He has purchased and freed me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver but with his holy, precious blood and with his innocent suffering and death.
He has done all this in order that I may belong to him, live under him in his kingdom, and serve him in eternal righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as he is risen from the dead and lives and rules eternally. This is most certainly true.
If the words of Luther’s explanation sound familiar, it might be because for the last few weeks as we approach Reformation Day, this has been our confession of faith in worship. As Luther says in his Large Catechism, “The entire Gospel that we preach depends on our thorough grasp of this article.”
Have you ever noticed that both Luther and the creed itself kind of skip over Jesus’ life? There’s nothing in the Creed about Jesus’ teachings or miracles. It goes right from his birth to his suffering, death, and resurrection. The things Jesus taught about God are important – they’re the best revelation we have of what God is like, our window into God’s eternal kingdom. But the most important part, the most significant thing we can know about God is that Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, born into history, gave himself for us.
I love Luther’s emphasis on God’s salvation being personal. Jesus Christ has redeemed me, and you. We are lost and condemned human beings, separated from God by our sin, rejecting God by the way we live, but God has come for us. God has set us free. That’s the good news of the Gospel: God has set you free. Because of what God has done for you, you belong to God. This is for you.
When you say the creed, you’re saying Jesus Christ is not just a lord, one ruler among many. You’re not even saying Jesus Christ is the Lord, some abstract divine power way out there. You’re saying, “Jesus Christ is my Lord.” Christ is for me. Christ is for you. This is most certainly true!
——————————Apostle’s Creed Article #3 “On Being Made Holy”——————————
Hello, I’m Pastor Daniel Flucke from St. Peter Lutheran Church in Greene, Iowa, and as we continue through Martin Luther’s Small Catechism, today we’re wrapping up the Apostles’ Creed with the third article on the Holy Spirit.
So far we’ve heard about God as Creator, maker of the heavens and the earth, and we’ve heard about Jesus Christ the Son of God who entered into the creation to redeem us. He took our sin and put it to death on the cross, dying the death we deserved, then he rose again, defeating the power of death.
The third person of the Trinity is the Holy Spirit, and notice the title Martin Luther gives this article: On Being Made Holy. That word “Holy” means set apart from the world. The Holy Spirit is at work in us drawing us to God, nudging us to believe in God, inspiring us to grasp and to trust in what Jesus has done for us. The Holy Spirit is God at work pulling us back into right relationship with God, making us holy. Here’s the Creed and Luther’s explanation:
The Third Article: On Being Made Holy
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
What does this mean?
I believe that by my own understanding or strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him, but instead the Holy Spirit has called me through the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, made me holy and kept me in the true faith, just as he calls, gathers, enlightens, and makes holy the whole Christian church on earth and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one common, true faith.
Daily in this Christian church the Holy Spirit abundantly forgives all sins—mine and those of all believers. On the last day the Holy Spirit will raise me and all the dead and will give to me and all believers in Christ eternal life. This is most certainly true.
If you’re not familiar with it, this article is probably the most startling part of the Catechism, because it’s a radical statement to say we believe that we cannot believe in Jesus Christ on our own. Everything is a gift from God, even faith itself. You can’t reason your way to God; you can only trust in what the Holy Spirit reveals to you through God’s Word and through the Body of Christ, the Church.
Sometimes Lutherans are accused of ignoring or downplaying the Holy Spirit, because we tend to not focus as much on visible gifts of the Spirit like speaking in tongues or prophesying as some other Christian traditions do.
Really, though, we put very high regard for the work of the Holy Spirit, because we believe the Spirit is the only way we come to faith. The Holy Spirit is calling us, enlightening us, making us holy, and keeping us in faith, doing all the work and giving it to us as a gift from God! And this isn’t just an individual thing; it’s something God does through the community of the Church.
Luther describes the Holy Spirit as “daily applying forgiveness until we reach that life where forgiveness will no more be needed.” As long as we’re alive, we keep sinning, and God keeps on forgiving us. Being made holy is an ongoing process until we die, when we are resurrected to life everlasting.
In terms of the organization of the Catechism, Luther writes, “The Ten Commandments did indeed teach us what we should be doing, but the Creed tells us what God does for us and what [God] gives to us.” We can reason our way to understanding the law, but we need the Holy Spirit to draw us to Jesus in order to understand God’s grace and love.
Next time, we’ll get into the third part of the Catechism, the Lord’s Prayer, and we’ll look at how we talk with our Heavenly Father as redeemed and sanctified children of God.
————————Lord’s Prayer – Intro, Petitions #1, 2, 3————————
Hello, I’m Pastor Daniel Flucke from St. Peter Lutheran Church in Greene, Iowa, and today, we’re beginning the third and final section of Martin Luther’s Small Catechism, on the Lord’s Prayer.
For Luther, the Lord’s Prayer is our opportunity to respond to God. Through the 10 Commandments, we’ve seen how we could never be good enough to live the way God tells us to live, and then through the Apostle’s Creed, we’ve seen God’s plan to love, forgive, and redeem us anyway. We’ve seen what God does for us. Finally, through this prayer, Jesus gives us a way to respond to God, to talk with our Lord.
Introduction
Our Father in heaven.
What does this mean?
With these words God wants to attract us, so that we come to believe he is truly our Father and we are truly his children, in order that we may ask him boldly and with complete confidence, just as loving children ask their loving father.
Right in the first words of the Lord’s Prayer, we recognize who God and who we are in relationship to God. Sometimes that language of “Father” can be a sticking point for people, because we all know there are some earthly fathers who do terrible things to their children, so perhaps calling God “Father” is tough. That’s ok, there’s other language we can use; the point is that God cares for you. God adopts us as children, and as God’s children, we are invited to go to God our heavenly Father with bold confidence. You don’t have to be good enough or have everything all figured out to go to God. God is the one who makes you worthy. God wants to hear from you!
The First Petition
Hallowed be your name.
What does this mean?
It is true that God’s name is holy in itself, but we ask in this prayer that it may also become holy in and among us.
How does this come about?
Whenever the word of God is taught clearly and purely and we, as God’s children, also live holy lives according to it. To this end help us, dear Father in heaven! However, whoever teaches and lives otherwise than the word of God teaches, dishonors the name of God among us. Preserve us from this, heavenly Father!
Luther encouraged Christians to begin and end each day with prayer. Praying to God means we recognize that we are not God. God is holy, set apart. But in Jesus, God has come into the world to make us holy as well. We are to follow Jesus’ example and live according to God’s call, not the world’s.
The Second Petition
Your kingdom come.
What does this mean?
In fact, God’s kingdom comes on its own without our prayer, but we ask in this prayer that it may also come to us.
How does this come about?
Whenever our heavenly Father gives us his Holy Spirit, so that through the Holy Spirit’s grace we believe God’s holy word and live godly lives here in time and hereafter in eternity.
The Third Petition
Your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
What does this mean?
In fact, God’s good and gracious will comes about without our prayer, but we ask in this prayer that it may also come about in and among us.
How does this come about?
Whenever God breaks and hinders every evil scheme and will—as are present in the will of the devil, the world, and our flesh—that would not allow us to hallow God’s name and would prevent the coming of his kingdom, and instead whenever God strengthens us and keeps us steadfast in his word and in faith until the end of our lives. This is God’s gracious and good will.
I love Luther’s explanation for these two petitions, because of course, we don’t have the power to stop God’s kingdom from coming or God’s will from being done. If we all stopped praying, would God stop working? Of course not! But we’re asking that by the Holy Spirit, we would be included in God’s work.
See you next time, as we wrap up the Lord’s Prayer and conclude the catechism!
——————Lord’s Prayer – Petitions #4, 5, 6, 7, Conclusion——————
Hi, I’m Pastor Daniel Flucke from St. Peter Lutheran Church in Greene, Iowa, and this is my final video on Opening Luther’s Small Catechism. Today, we’re wrapping up the Lord’s Prayer.
The Fourth Petition
Give us today our daily bread.
What does this mean?
In fact, God gives daily bread without our prayer, even to all evil people, but we ask in this prayer that God cause us to recognize what our daily bread is and to receive it with thanksgiving.
What then does “daily bread” mean?
Everything included in the necessities and nourishment for our bodies, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, farm, fields, livestock, money, property, an upright spouse, upright children, upright members of the household, upright and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, decency, honor, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.
Can you can hear Luther’s small-town, agriculture background in his definition of daily bread? God gives us everything we need for life whether we ask or not, but imagine if we could recognize that all these things we so often take for granted are really blessings from God!
The Fifth Petition
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.
What does this mean?
We ask in this prayer that our heavenly Father would not regard our sins nor deny these petitions on their account, for we are worthy of nothing for which we ask, nor have we earned it. Instead we ask that God would give us all things by grace, for we daily sin much and indeed deserve only punishment. So, on the other hand, we, too, truly want to forgive heartily and to do good gladly to those who sin against us.
Forgiveness is hard! We need God’s help to forgive. We can only truly forgive others if we trust God has forgiven us. And once we understand the gift God has given us by forgiving our sins, we can’t help but share that grace and forgive others.
The Sixth Petition
Save us from the time of trial.
What does this mean?
It is true that God tempts no one, but we ask in this prayer that God would preserve and keep us, so that the devil, the world, and our flesh may not deceive us or mislead us into false belief, despair, and other great and shameful sins, and that, although we may be attacked by them, we may finally prevail and gain the victory”
Our wording for this petition is often “Lead us not into temptation” but Luther’s explanation still applies. God doesn’t lead us astray – we do plenty of that on our own. We need God’s help when we’re faced with the temptations, in the times of trial – and God is with us in all those tough times.
The Seventh Petition
And deliver us from evil.
What does this mean?
We ask in this prayer, as in a summary, that our Father in heaven may deliver us from all kinds of evil—affecting body or soul, property or reputation—and at last, when our final hour comes, may grant us a blessed end and take us by grace from this valley of tears to himself in heaven.
Again, we need God’s help. We need God’s grace. We need the power of the Holy Spirit to get through life. And God is here to carry us through this life and the next.
Conclusion
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.
What does this mean?
That I should be certain that such petitions are acceptable to and heard by our Father in heaven, for he himself commanded us to pray like this and has promised to hear us. “Amen, amen” means “Yes, yes, it is going to come about just like this.”
The Lord’s Prayer ends the way it began, with a reminder of who we’re praying to. Isn’t it amazing that the God of the universe, the creator of the cosmos, wants to hear from us, and has promised to listen to our prayers? And finally, “Amen” simply means, “Let it be so.” It’s one final expression of confidence and faith.
Well, whether you’ve watched this whole series or just this video, thank you for joining me in Opening Luther’s Small Catechism. I hope this has been an opportunity for you to grow in faith and understanding through this important, little 500 year old book.
If you’re interested in digging deeper into the Catechism, I highly recommend the book By Heart: Conversations with Martin Luther’s Small Catechism – I’ve been using it as a reference these last few weeks, and there’s a whole study with it if you’re interested.
Thanks for watching, and may the grace of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit keep you now and forever.