Notes on Large Catechism -- 4th Commandment

A Study of

Luther's Large Catechism

as found in Concordia: the Lutheran Confessions, A Reader's Edition of the Book of Concord edited by Paul Timothy McCain, Second Edition, Concordia Publishing House, © 2006.

Jacob Blesses Isaac   Genesis 27

Oh, Blest the House
By: Christoph C. L. vonPfeil

Oh, blest the house, whatever befall,
Where Jesus Christ is all in all!
For if he were not dwelling there,
How dark and poor and void it were!

Oh, blest that house where faith is found
And all in charity abound
To trust their God and serve him still
And do in all his holy will!

Oh, blest that house; it prospers will!
In peace and joy the parents dwell,
And in their children’s lives is shown
How richly God can bless his own.

Then here will I and mine today
A solemn covenant make and say: 

Though all the world for sake his Word,
My house and I will serve the Lord.

Hymn # 862 Lutheran Service Book

Author: Joseph Klug
Tune: Wo Gott Zum Haus
1^st Published in: 1782

Read Proverbs 23:22; Colossians 3:20; Titus 3:1 and in the Large Catechism the Fourth Commandment page 370-378:

1. After reading the Editor's Note on page 370, identify the vocations you have at this stage of your life.

2. What about this commandment is different than the other commandments that deal with our relation to our neighbors? (#105-106).

3. How is "honor" a greater thing than "love"? 

4.  In what ways are parents and other authorities God's earthly representatives? #108  See also Romans 13:1-2.

5. Carthusian monks and nuns live apart from the rest of society. How would such a life leave a Christian less able to do good works under the fourth commandment? (#120)

6.  What is God's promise to those who keep the Fourth Commandment? (#131) List some specific examples?

7.  Why do our responsibilities to other authorities (say for example, teachers) fall under this commandment? (#141-143)

8.  What could motivate even a lowly servant girl or poor ditch digger go about her or his work with a cheerful heart? (#145)

9. As Christians living in a democratic nation we both obey our leaders and exercise our voice and vote to elect leaders.  Furthermore in a free society we obey our employers and may also exercise our freedom to leave one job and take on another. How do we balance this obedience on the one hand and freedom on the other?

10. What do Christians owe their "spiritual fathers"? (#161-162)

New Journal from our LCMS District

The Iowa District East of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod has begun producing a "Theological Journal for the Church". The first issue is available here.

In this issue you will find some engaging studies of the Biblical teaching on marriage, family, and human sexuality.

Holy Week Meditations

As you meditate on the passion of our Lord Jesus this week and prepare your hearts and mind for the Easter Feast, we offer here some devotions on a selection of the titles given to Jesus:


(click on the title to go to the page for that devotion)

 Christ, the Savior
 Christ, the Servant
 Christ, the Son
 Christ, the Prophet
 Christ, the King
 Christ, the Priest

Large Catechism

On Monday Evenings we are studying Luther's Large Catechism. Study guides are available on this blog beginning at http://lcmsdecorah.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html

Click here for the Introduction.
Click here for the First Commandment
Click here for the Appendix to the 1st Commandment
Click here for the 2nd and 3rd Commandments

Student Activities Fair

Look for representatives from our LCMS Campus Ministry at our table at Luther College's activities fair, this Tuesday August 28.

Advent - the time to prepare our hearts for His coming.

The Christian Church is patiently preparing for the coming of her Lord and Savior Jesus.  In Advent we consider the preparation for Christmas to be a sort of practice for us preparing for when He comes again.  We prepare our hearts for His coming by repenting of our sins, as John the Baptist taught and preached.  To aid you in repentance, I have prepared this study of the 10 Commandments with Self-Examination Questions.
http://prezi.com/nh8ae0go8cmg/the-10-commandments/

Advent: How does Jesus come now?

Advent  means “coming”.  The Word of God teaches us that the coming of Jesus, can be thought of as happening at three times.  In other words, the coming of Jesus can be expressed in three tenses:

1.         in the past, Jesus came as foretold by the prophets, born of a virgin in Bethlehem.

2.         in the present, Jesus comes to us as He promised, “I am with you always.”  (Matthew 28:20)

3.         in the future, Jesus will come with glory to judge the living and the dead.

How should we expect to see Jesus coming to us now, in the present?  That question came up for me this weekend at Christmas at Luther.  Performers and audience joined in singing Marty Haugen’s “Carol at the Manger”, the first verse of which concludes with the words, “teach us now where you are found.”

Jesus taught his disciples to find him in their midst (Matthew 18:20) when they hear and believe His Word (John 14:23, 15:5 & 7) and when they receive His body and blood (Matthew 26:26 & 28). As we observe Advent, we can gain great comfort from these promises:  Jesus still comes to us in His Church, in His Word, in the Holy Communion of His body and blood. 

The song, “Carol at the Manger”, does not mention these promises of Jesus. It says instead:

            Holy Child within the manger, lead us ever in your way,

            so we see in ev’ry stranger how you come to us today.

In Matthew 25:31-40 Jesus tells that when He comes again in glory, believers will learn that He has noticed the good works they had done in their lives and, surprisingly, He considers that these good works were done directly for Him.  Therefore, it could be drawn from this that when we help out a stranger, we are with the Lord Jesus.  Many Christian teachers build on this  explanation as an exhortation for Christian charity and works of mercy.  Mother Theresa was quoted in Time magazine as saying, “Christ in our hearts, Christ in the poor we meet, Christ in the smile we give and in the smile that we receive."

Such exhortation is what Lutherans have called the Third Use of the Law, that is, the Law of God guiding believers to do those things pleasing to Him. It is definitely necessary for Christians to be reminded to have mercy on the poor, to welcome strangers and to help out those in need.

There is cause for concern, however, in this noticeable trend in Christianity to direct people to seek the Lord Jesus in the works of the law that they do for the poor and needy. Whenever folks are directed to find hope and comfort in their own works, there will be one of two equally horrible results:  One is the kind of pride that comes before a fall, where the soul gets all puffed up and full of itself, believing its own self to be the best thing yet and motivated to make sure everyone else, including God, agrees. But the other possible result is despair, because the soul’s reliance on its own works to find a Savior and salvation will never satisfy the sin-laden conscience. For the pride there must be repentance, because it must answer to the Lord Jesus who is coming.  For the despair, there must be the Good News of forgiveness and life, which flows from the Lord Jesus who is coming.

Thanks be to God that the Gospel of Jesus directs you to believe that He is coming to you with His Word of forgiveness and in the Sacrament of His Body and Blood.  When He comes He brings His love, His life, His salvation and then, and only then, the power to please Him with our lives and works