Christian Education Sunday- August 26,
2018
Deuteronomy 6:4-15
“Christian Teaching; Christian
Learning”
Our Lord Jesus Christ loves children.
He says “let the little children come to me and do not hinder
them”. He uses children as an example, a paragon of faith. And
there is much we could say about this. But on this Christian
Education Sunday, we're going to focus especially on these words of
Moses from Deuteronomy 6:
“And these words that I command
you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to
your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and
when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise”
This passage comes as part of Moses'
farewell to the Israelites. You know the story of the Exodus, how
God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt with a mighty hand,
parted the Red Sea and drowned Pharaoh's armies. How he brought them
to Mount Sinai, met with Moses there, and gave them the 10
commandments, and established a covenant with them. He had them
construct a tabernacle, and the ark and all its appointments. He
gave them a system of sacrifice to deal with sin. He promised to be
their God, and they would be his people. And he was bringing them to
a good land – flowing with milk and honey.
They grumbled and rebelled. It would
take 40 years, an entire generation, before God decided they were
ready to take possession of their inheritance. Through it all, he
sustained them with daily bread from heaven. And he would also go
before them to conquer the Canaanites and deliver the promised land
to them. This story would be repeated by the prophets and the people
throughout their history, and even we gentiles repeat and rehearse it
today – for through this little nation he was working out his plan
of salvation for the whole world. From this nation would come the
Savior Jesus Christ.
Moses wasn't going with them into
Canaan. He would die on Mt. Nebo – just overlooking the border
into that land. But before he died he wrote them (by the Spirit's
inspiration) a farewell sermon – Deuteronomy. That name actually
means, “second law”. It reiterates the words and promises of
God, as well as his commands. In fact the 10 commandments are found
in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. So when Moses teaches them the word
of God here, it isn't the fist time they heard it; it was a
repetition.
And Moses is encouraging the people to
keep repeating these words of God, in various ways, as they also
teach them to their children. Morning, noon and night. Rising and
sleeping. Sitting and walking. In and out of the house. Anywhere
and everywhere. Anytime. The word, the word, the word. We do well
to heed his advice.
Christian Education is nothing other
than receiving the very Word of God. So in some ways, it seems
superfluous to have a “Christian Education” emphasis – as every
Sunday we gather – Christian Education is going on. Of course this
happens first and foremost in the Divine Service. When we gather
around God's word. We read it, hear it, learn it and inwardly digest
it. In fact Jesus Christ, as the living embodiment of that word is
central to it all. When we receive the Word of God, we receive
Jesus, and vice versa.
Oh, and it's not just an intellectual
“learning”, by the way. Though surely there is a head-knowledge
component. But Christian Education is a training of the heart in
God's word more than anything. It is a spiritual matter, an exercise
of faith. The sermon is less a classroom lesson and more a
proclamation. So if you didn't “learn anything” on a given
Sunday in church, that's ok. You're still hearing the word – and
faith comes by hearing. And the central gathering of Christians for
this endeavor is in our weekly worship.
But just as Moses implored the
Israelites to eat, sleep and drink the Word in various ways, so we
modern Christians have our own ways of fulfilling these commands.
For about 100 years we've had something called “Sunday School”,
in which we intentionally teach the Bible to our children at
age-appropriate levels. Sure there's arts and crafts and fun and
games, and if you're lucky some flannel-graph visual aids, but that's
not what it's all about. It's about Jesus. It's about God's word.
It's about teaching our children this precious heritage of faith that
we have received, and which they will not receive in a world that has
grown increasingly hostile. Thanks be to God for those who teach,
and those who learn in our Sunday School classes.
We have for years hosted a Vacation
Bible School – and engaged the wider community with an invitation
to come hear and learn about Christ.
So also, we've established here, a
Christian school. Like many Lutheran Churches, we recognize the
value of providing this service to our own members and the larger
community. What a blessing to learn not only the 3 r's, Latin and
History, music and art – but to do it all alongside of daily
training in the Word. And as a classical school, the children in our
care also learn by great emphasis on repetition – and certainly by
repeating and memorizing the Word of God. Thanks be to God for the
blessings of Lutheran Schools, and of the School we are blessed to
operate at Messiah. Apart from the ministry of Word and Sacrament,
our school is our greatest mission and our primary cooperative
undertaking as a congregation. Let us continue to support it through
our prayers, our gifts, and our encouragement.
Ah, but what of the adults? Does
Christian Education exclude those of us who have graduated from
school, been confirmed in the faith, who've been Christians our whole
lives and perhaps even have a Master of Divinity degree? By no
means! Aren't we beyond all that? Are we past it all? Haven't we
heard all this before?
Moses wouldn't have any of that. These
words of God – his commandment and promises – ought to be on our
hearts and minds as children, and on our lips also as adults. We are
never to stop teaching them and rehearsing them and cherishing them.
Nor ought we ever think we've mastered them. We are all disciples of
Christ, that is to say, students. Or to use a more modern buzz-word,
life-long-learners of the faith.
For our sinful nature is stubborn. Our
Old Adam does not go gently into the night. He is hard-hearted and
hard-headed. He needs the Law of God to continually expose his sin.
He needs to be knocked off his perpetual pedestal of
self-righteousness. If we could only just stop sinning – maybe it
would be different. But as long as the flesh is with us, as long as
sin clings to us, the law must teach us our true need for Christ.
But likewise the Gospel – it's not a
one-time deal. Jesus sacrificial death for your sins, and his rising
from the dead to destroy death for you – this isn't just the
introduction to our faith, it's the meat-and-potatoes of our faith.
It is the everyday joy and blessing, the living water of refreshment
and the daily nourishment for our soul. The grace of God, the
forgiveness of sins, the promises of peace and hope and life in
Christ – Christians should be steeped in the good news. It is a
daily blessing. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is our constant and sure
stronghold against all storms of the world, assaults of the devil,
and doubts of the flesh. Repeat, repeat, repeat the good news of
Jesus. Hear it again and again and again. It's so good, this news
never gets old.
(Catechesis) Hear from Dr. Luther about
learning the catechism:
But this I say for myself: I am also
a doctor and a preacher, just as
learned and experienced as all of
them who are so high and
mighty. Nevertheless, each morning,
and whenever else I have
time, I do as a child who is being
taught the catechism and I read
and recite word for word the Lord’s
Prayer, the Ten
Commandments, the Creed, the Psalms,
etc. I must still read and
study the catechism daily, and yet I
cannot master it as I wish, but
must remain a child and pupil of the
catechism—and I also do so
gladly.(Preface to the Large
Catechism)
If the great reformer can so humbly
remain committed to his own Christian Education, and even in the
simplest terms. If your own pastors remain students of the word.
And your fellow Christians continue to join you as disciples and
students of the Great Teacher, Jesus Christ. Then surely you also do
well to abide in his word every day.
There's always more poking and prodding
the law will do to you, exposing sins you didn't even know you had.
Showing you the way of holiness God expects. And there's ever more
grace to be seen in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Ever more mercy to
be found in him, ever more blood to cover your sins. And so we teach
the children. And so we learn, ourselves. And so we grow in
knowledge and faith and fear of the Lord. To our last day, when the
pastor at our bedside speaks those same precious words and prepares
us to enter his courts forever. God's word is our great heritage,
and shall be ours forever. In Jesus Christ. Amen.
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