This morning, I would like to begin my visit with you with an extended quote from a very famous theologian and biblical scholar. I want to give you an advance warning that this particular scholar was a bit colorful in his use of language, and there is no doubt that he would be referred to sensitivity training. Despite this, perhaps his words have some relevance for us today as we talk about one of the reasons the church is here today: to pass down the faith to our children.
Now, let’s hear that quote: The deplorable, miserable condition which I discovered lately when I, too, was a visitor, has forced and urged me to prepare [publish] this Catechism, or Christian doctrine, in this small, plain, simple form. 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 [so much so, that one is ashamed to speak of it]. Nevertheless, all maintain that they are Christians, have been baptized and receive the [common] holy Sacraments. Yet they [do not understand and] cannot [even] recite either the Lord's Prayer, or the Creed, or the Ten Commandments; they live like dumb brutes and irrational hogs; and yet, now that the Gospel has come, they have nicely learned to abuse all liberty like experts.
Does anyone recognize who this theologian and scholar is? It was Martin Luther writing in the 1500s in Europe. I’m pretty sure that dumb brutes and irrational hogs comment would have earned him a quick trip to sensitivity training or counseling in this day and age, but that comment aside: do you think the situation that he faced and the situation the church faces today is much different–at least when it comes to the proclamation and passing down of the Christian faith?
There are quite a few points of contact, in fact. A couple of weeks ago, when I talked about evangelism, I pointed out that our culture has shifted tremendously. We no longer live in a culture that embraces the Christian worldview. We no longer live in a culture that promotes the Christian worldview. 50 to 60 years ago, Christianity and the culture kind of walked together. There was prayer in schools. The curriculum taught in schools had all kinds of references to the Bible and its stories. Television and radio promoted Christian thought. How many of you remember the days when the television stations actually signed off the air? A few hands are going up in the air. I remember down in my hometown, when the station signed off the air, it always ended with the prayer of St. Francis:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
Do you know of any local television stations that would be willing to run that prayer anymore? Do you know of any public schools where Christian stories are found in the curriculum?
You see, back in those days, the church and Christian families didn’t have to work as hard to instill the Christian worldview in their children. They could absorb it from the culture and from society. I think it is a bit safe to say that because of this, the church became a bit lazy in teaching the faith to its kids. After all, it had an ally in the surrounding culture. These days, you cannot count on that anymore. You cannot count on society’s help in instilling the Christian faith.
Luther couldn’t count on it either. The society in which he grew up was technically a Christian society. It was certainly dominated by the church, but the church at that time didn’t really want people to know the faith. They didn’t really want everyone to come to an understanding of what Christianity was about because they wanted people to simply obey everything the church said. They did church services in Latin even when no one in the population understood the language. They preached in Latin. They read the Latin Bible. People were told they had to sit in church and take the sacrament or else they would be sent to the fires of hell. Death was an ever present reality in that day, and folks were terribly afraid of it. They were terribly afraid of what would happen to them after they died, and if the main authority in society told them there was a hell that must be avoided, they tried to avoid it. So if the church said, you’d better give money to keep yourself out of hell, folks gave money to keep themselves out of hell. The church thrived on the ignorance of the people. So, even though the circumstances between Luther’s day and ours are vastly different, there is still the common thread that a whole lot of people just don’t know what Christianity is about, and our kids are feeling the brunt of it.
In a sermon I listened to, the pastor talked about something he did in his congregation. It had a powerful effect on everyone in attendance. I’m a little leery of trying it here, because I don’t know exactly everyone’s situation. So, here’s what I am going to do. I’m going to describe what the pastor did, and then I’m going to give us the option of doing it here. The pastor, in the midst of his sermon asked this question, “How many of you have a child or a grandchild who is not churched or who does not attend church? If you have a child or a grandchild who is not churched or who does not attend church, please stand up.” In his congregation, approximately 75% of the congregation stood up. It was a very effective way to communicate the urgency needed to pass the Christian faith down to the next generation. I’m not going to force anyone to do this, but what do you think the results would be here? Do you want to try it? It’s okay if we don’t, but the point is pretty clear. Most of us do know someone or we ourselves are folks who have kids and grandkids who do not go to church or for whom church is not important. We also have kids and grandkids for whom faith is not very relevant to their daily lives in the least.
And we already have the solution to this problem. We already have the tools available for us to address what is going on. But first, we have to deal with an assumption: I am assuming this morning that each and every one of us here want to pass the faith down to another generation. I am assuming that we want our children to grow up to be Christians. Not everyone feels this way. There are some who believe that children should be given the freedom to choose for themselves whether or not they want to believe and they do not try to teach any sort of religious belief. There are others who teach that they don’t care what their kids believe as long as they believe in some sort of religion. These are important assumptions to deal with, but I don’t have the time to do that this morning.
I will say this though, and this comes from more than just me. The most influential folks in passing down the faith to another generation are the parents. So, parents, if you aren’t teaching your kids, odds are they aren’t going to believe at all. There are some exceptions to this rule, but overall, those of us who parent are going to have the greatest effect on our children.
The Bible teaches this clearly. Our Old Testament lesson from Deuteronomy emphasizes parents passing the teachings of the Lord onto their children. The lesson from Ephesians implores fathers to bring their children up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. There are other verses throughout the Scriptures which say the same thing.
Luther understood this when he wrote the Small Catechism. It was meant for families to teach their children in the homes so that they would have the basics of the faith. In fact, Luther was a strong proponent of people reciting the Ten Commandments, the Apostles’ Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer several times a day and teaching them to their children.
Why such an emphasis on parents teaching these materials at home? In the book Total Church, the authors wrote this profound statement: Babies are not just born into families and then left there. In functioning families, they are nurtured and prepared for adulthood. For all the talk of peer pressure and the influence of the media, the primary influence on a child is the family. This is the context in which children learn values. But not much of that teaching occurs in formal “sit down and listen to Mother or Father for forty-five minutes” contexts! Most of it is done in life settings as situations crop up. Most of it happens in conversations as you are out walking the dog or washing the car. Much of it is in response to events in which someone has messed up, misbehaved, or made an error of judgment–all actions that in some way reveal what is going on in our hearts. P. 113-114
Our children watch us. They watch us carefully. They imitate us. They see what we think is important. They watch where we spend our time and our money. They pick up on our likes and dislikes. They see whether or not faith is really important in our lives.
Now, it’s no guarantee that faith will become important to them. It’s no guarantee that because you worship in church your children will worship as well. But when you not only go to church; when you have discussions about why faith is important; when you have discussions about why God is real; when you have discussions about who God is and what He has done in Jesus Christ; the odds become much greater that your children will share the faith of the church.
It has been said that the church is just one generation away from extinction. I’m not exactly sure that this statement is absolutely true, but it certainly is possible if we aren’t serious about passing our faith down to our children. Fortunately, the church has resources. We have the catechisms. We have the scriptures. We have teachers and youth workers who can not only teach children but who can equip parents to teach their children at home.
And so, I will leave you with one practical suggestion. It is a practice that my family and I just started. For those of you whose children are already out of the house and perhaps raising children, pass this along to them. Pick a time when you are all together. Carve out a sacred space. Take five minutes. Get a copy or several copies of Luther’s Small Catechism and pick one section–just one. Read it together. Go through all the vocabulary. Make sure your kids understand it. Ask them what it means. Get their input. Help them understand. Do it daily, and see what happens. See if light bulbs start going off. See if your kids start to learn about God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. See if the seeds of faith start to grow within them. I think you will love what you see, and you will be participating in one of the reasons the church is here: to pass the faith onto another generation. Amen.
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