W Our Savior Lutheran ChurchW

Dear Brethren;

the Third Commandment of God is: Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy. And according to our Catechism this means that We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.

With this the Third Commandment has much to say, not merely about our duty to come to church, but also about the attitude that we should bring to church. We should come with a willingness to hear and learn. Not to is to despise preaching and the Word of God, and not hold it sacred; and that is bad.

Apparently we should pay attention to what we hear. Of course we should. Not only out of common courtesy, although common courtesy would most certainly demand that of us, but out of reverence and respect for God, if not out of concern for our own salvation.

The Third Commandment teaches us an inquisitive attitude towards the Word of God, and His worship; it commands us not only to learn what is required to pass Confirmation class, but to actually be interested; to gladly hear and learn.

And this is the attitude that a Christian will have; Christian faith comes with that attitude. For if we have come to know God and His love, then His love will be in our hearts, and we will desire to come to know Him better, and His love. Otherwise we are not of the faith.

And so Christians will come to church with a willingness to pay attention, and to learn.

Most certainly Christians will not be resentful about being taught the truth of God, while they are in Church. No Christian will be resentful toward preaching and teaching that makes me look further into the mysteries of God. For to a Christian the truth of God is precious, and a Christian will want to know.

And a Christian will know that I need to be taught His truth. For a Christian will know that there is more to it than I already know. A Christian will know that I am a sinner, and so there might very well be things that I have not understood right, and things that I have forgotten. And so a Christian cannot be content with what I know already, now that I have forgotten most of what I learned in Confirmation Class many years ago; I can not be content with pieces and bits that I picked up here and there, in conversation, or on television, not knowing exactly where it came from, and whether or not it is true. A Christian will care about what is what, and what is truth from God, and what is not.

Faith itself will teach us this attitude. How can any Christian not care about God, what is His will for us as to how we are to live and believe? And how can I expect Him to accept that I do not care who He is, and what He wants from me, and what He gives to me?

Contempt for preaching and the Word of God is contempt for God Himself. And: we should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it. Sincerely Jais H. Tinglund