April 4, 2016

12 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Genesis 12:1-3

G-d established a relationship with Abraham known as a covenant. Later this covenant would be extended to all of the Israelites as they gathered at the foot of Mt. Sinai. The covenant promised G-d’s leadership and support, but also asked the people to trust and to obey. The Law, the Ten Commandments were a part of this covenant, which asked the people for a response to living under this covenant.

The Ten Commandments do hold a particular place in the Christian’s understanding of a relationship with G-d. A covenant is an agreement between two parties. A good question to ask today is how the Ten Commandments impact the lives of Christians today? Some feel that the commandments are integral to a Christian’s life, and the breaking of these commandments is a huge deal. Another may say they are too restrictive and really are only a sure guide for the Christian life today.

We are going to take some time to revisit the Ten Commandments for the next two weeks, including looking at what Martin Luther had to say in both the Small and Large Catechism. Luther wrote the Small Catechism because he found the faith understanding among both pastors and lay people to be deplorable. We are not in such drastic times today, but if we do not continue to return to the basics of our teachings, we can find our faith understanding from a Lutheran perspective to be less-than what it should be. And that, to me, is deplorable.

Pastor Dave