Lessons in the Small Catechism of Dr. Martin Luther For the Senior Department of Lutheran Sunday-Schools and for General Use · George Mezger
LESSON 18.
The First Article. For His Goodness And Mercy I Will Thank And Praise My Father, And Serve And Obey Him. Which is the First Article? _I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth._ What does this mean? _I believe that for all this it is my duty to thank and praise, to serve and obey Him. This is most certainly true._ 1. Great are the blessings which we daily receive from our heavenly Father. It is He who preserves our bodies and souls. It is He who provides us with all that we need for our lives, and who defends us against all danger and guards and protects us from all evil. And He does all this without any merit or worthiness in me, moved purely by His fatherly, divine goodness and mercy. When we consider all this love and kindness, we ask, _What, then, is our duty toward our Father in heaven? "What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me?"_ Ps. 116,12. Our Catechism answers: _"For all which it is my duty to thank and praise, to serve and obey Him."_
2. For all His benefits we should, and, most certainly, every child of God gladly will, _thank_ our Father. When somebody has shown us a kindness and given us valuable gifts, we certainly thank him. How we do look down with contempt upon an ungrateful person! If we give thanks to our human benefactors, how much more should we thank God, our greatest Benefactor, from whom we receive every good and perfect gift! It is _God's will_ that we thank Him. _"O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good, because His mercy endureth forever."_ Ps. 118,1. Remember how well pleased our Lord was with the _grateful Samaritan_ who alone of the ten came back to thank Him for the gift of his health. Luke 17, 17-19. To be able to thank God we must _believe in our hearts_ that everything that we are, have and enjoy is God's gracious gift. Yet many do not admit this. They boast that they themselves provide for their life by their daily work, that they themselves defend their bodies and souls from danger and evil, and so they do not consider it their duty to thank the Lord. We are assured that all we have is a free gift of God, and therefore we must and will thank Him in all our prayers. Do not forget to do this, especially in your morning and evening prayers, as well as before and after meals. (See the prayers in your Catechism.)
3. _We should praise God, our Father._ With glad and rejoicing hearts we will _tell_ others, our fellow-men, of the great and wondrous things the Lord has done for us. We will _make know_ to them what a mighty and wise as well as gracious, merciful, and loving Father our God is, and thus _glorify_ His name in the world, also in the presence of _unbelievers. "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits!"_ Ps. 103,2. "To God, the Father of all love, the God of earth and heaven, the mighty God who reigns above, be praise and glory given! With healing balm my soul He fills and every pain and sorrow stills: To God all praise and glory!" 4. _It is our duty to serve the Lord._ God, it is true, is not in need of our poor services, for it is He who gives us day by day everything we have. But He has told us in His Word that what we do to our brethren for His sake _we have done unto Him._ Matt. 25,40. _In serving our brethren we serve God._ We serve Him by not using the gifts we receive from Him merely for our own benefit, much less for sinful purposes, in the service of sin and Satan, but _by using them to help our neighbor in distress._ We serve Him by using our worldly goods _to further our Father's kingdom here on earth, by laboring and giving for His Church, for Foreign and Home Missions, and for all purposes pleasing to God._ In this manner our whole life will be a service and a thank-offering to God, our gracious Father. "O grant that I may through Thy grace use all my powers to show Thy praise, and serve and help my neighbor."
5. _Finally, it is my duty to obey Him, my Father._ I know that God is my Father, and I am His child. How can a child show his love and his gratitude toward his father better _than by obeying him?_ So will I render my thanks unto my heavenly Father by cheerfully and willingly obeying Him and by doing according to His commandments. Above all, I will, according to His First Commandment, _love Him and trust in Him,_ my Father, in every need and danger, firmly believing that He will never leave nor forsake me. 6. _"This is most certainly true."_ With these words we conclude our First Article. These words are the explanation of the word _Amen_ which we find at the end of our Creed. _Amen_ means: "This is most certainly true." We declare it to be most certainly true what we have confessed and what we believe. It is most certainly true that God has made me and still preserves me. It is most certainly true that God has given me my body and soul, that He provides for me and defends, guards, and protects me. It is most certainly true that He has done all this purely out of His fatherly, divine goodness and mercy. It is most certainly true that God is my almighty Father whom I, His child, am in duty bound to thank and praise, to serve and obey. _From God's Word we know that all this is most certainly true._
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.