Growing in the knowledge of God’s love
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 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.
Deuteronomy 6:4-7
In Martin Luther’s Small Catechism there is a repeated instruction at the beginning of each new section that is easy to overlook. Following the title of the topic at hand (eg. Baptism), Luther states, ‘As the head of the family should teach it in a simple way to his household.’
Luther stood in the long tradition of God’s people in seeing the family as the primary place for teaching the faith. Fathers in particular hold a special responsibility to ensure that children are well instructed and grow in the knowledge of God’s love for them in Christ and in their baptismal identity. St Paul writes in Ephesians 6, ‘Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.’
As the ancient Israelite family was the place where children learnt of the God who had delivered them from slavery in Egypt, so too Christian families are to be the place where children learn of the salvation that has been prepared for them in the Lord Jesus. But even more than that, the Christian family is to be the place where they experience the faith being lived out, as parents and children live out their baptismal grace, confessing their sins and forgiving one another, praying for each other, pointing one another to the promises God made in their baptism and marvelling in the great mystery of the holy supper.
For parents (and especially fathers), this is a daunting responsibility and one that often brings a sense of guilt and shame over how we have failed our spouse and children. The devil loves it when we are burdened by guilt and shame and constantly uses it to afflict our conscience and paralyse us from taking up our godly responsibilities. The evil one rightly points out that we have failed our calling as parents and neglected to instruct our children as we ought. God allows this that we might be brought to repentance and renewal through the forgiveness that is ours in Christ. But very often we fall prey to the devil’s tactics and become debilitated by the fact that we have failed.
But there is an answer – and that answer is Jesus!
Have you failed to instruct your family as you ought? Have you neglected to nurture your own faith through personal bible reading and prayer? Has the Bible and Catechism sat on a shelf for too long in your home? Well, I have good news for you. Jesus – the perfect Son of God – shed His blood to wash away your guilt and to cover your shame. You are forgiven for all these sins in the name of Christ!
As a forgiven child of God you are now free to start again. Reading the scriptures together with your family. Praying for one another. Being encouraged and strengthened through the Catechism together. But be prepared! The devil will throw everything at you and your family to undermine these godly disciplines. Remember when you drop the ball and fail again – it doesn’t have to be the end. Rush back to the cross. Seek God’s abundant mercy. And start again.
Sunday School, Confirmation Class, Youth Group and the like are great blessings to God’s people. But by God’s own design there is no better place for your children to come to know the love and mercy of God in Christ Jesus than the family home. You won’t get it right all the time. You won’t have all the answers. But you have a Saviour who daily forgives your sins and longs for you to tell your family about Him. So do so with confidence and joy, and remember, it’s never too late to start.
Gracious God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, you have called Christian parents to raise their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. In the face of this great privilege we confess that we daily sin and fall short of what your Word requires. Forgive us, dear Lord, and renew us in our love for you and your Word that we would eagerly share it with our family and together, grow in the knowledge of Your love for all people in Christ Jesus our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Pastor Matt Anker
President, Lutheran Mission - Australia