Catechesis

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Table of Duties – To Bishops, Pastors, and Preachers

For our summer catechesis, we are studying the Table of Duties from the Small Catechism. This week we consider 1 Timothy 3:3-4,6 and Titus 1:9. Listen here: 2013-06-08 Catechesis – To Bishops, Pastors, and Preachers.

The Catechism: Table of Duties—To Bishops, Pastors, and Preachers:

1 Timothy 3:2 The overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, … 1st+
1 Timothy 3:3-4 … not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect … 2nd+
1 Timothy 3:6 … He must not be a recent convert or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. 3rd+
Titus 1:9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. 4th+

 

Catechesis on the Table of Duties – Introduction

The Lutheran Confessions – Small Catechism – Table of Duties (Hymnal 328)

Sunday, June 2, 2013 – Grace Lutheran Church

Rev. Christopher Gillespie

  1. The Table of Duties describes what it is to live by faith in the grace of God (the Life of the New Man) as opposed to living living by faith in human merits.

    Galatians 5:17 – “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”

    1. The Old Adam is always self-centered, no sacrifice with cost or looking for benefit.
    2. The New Man sacrificial, self-giving, faith-active love. Gospel gives love, thus we love.
  2. Table of Duties addresses stations/offices/positions given by God.
    1. Can be sharp proclamation of the Law, uncovering the will of the flesh. Thus, useful in calling to repentance of both self-love and selfishness.
    2. Also describe Christ and what the new life of faith Christ looks like in this world. Notice how Christ fulfills every station given.
  3. Gospel of God’s grace in Christ is the heart of the Table of Duties.
    1. Not simply a list of stations, office, or work but a call to believe in the grace of God rather than one’s works.
    2. No one can fulfill these duties apart from the freedom of Christ’s forgiveness with faith in him alone.
  4. Table answers these questions: Where do I live out my faith in Christ who loved me and gave Himself for me? What does the life of faith in Christ and sacrificial love look like?
      1. Vivid description of Christ himself.
      2. Callings, stations, vocations God gives to us, to manifest the grace of God in their lives toward other sinners. We reflect Christ and His love to our neighbor.

    “A Christian lives in his vocation or office by grace alone, and not by his own strength. His vocation is the calling to joyfully serve his neighbor in love, even as Christ laid down His life for him upon the cross. The strength to live faithfully in our vocations comes from the Gospel and sacraments of Christ, through which our faith in the forgiveness of sins is strengthened, and the fruit of loving service toward others is born” (Bender, Lutheran Catechesis, p. 9).

  5. We also must distinguish between the secular (left-hand) and spiritual right-hand) kingdoms, both ruled by God but in different ways.
    1. The secular rules through external relationships, by government and force of law. It is not concerned with heart or faith but rather law and order.
    2. The spiritual uses the Law not to maintain order or curb evil but for the sake of the Gospel—to bring about repentance and faith in Christ. The spiritual is concerned with the heart.
    3. Some vocations are primarily in one kingdom (secular, ruler or spiritual, pastor) and others both (parents).
      1. As secular, discipline with law to maintain order.
      2. As spiritual, forgive the children for Jesus’ sake (ultimate concern).

“As the Head of the Family Should Teach…in a Simple Way”—Sunday Worship

Every Sunday our family goes to Church together. There is no question about whether we will attend or not, it is a given. Sunday Divine Service and Sunday School or catechesis is what we do every week. Why? We are Christians. Our Lord Jesus meets us each week in the Divine Service. We gather to hear the Lord’s preaching. He understands and penetrates the deepest needs of our lives with His Word. He calls us to see our doubts, our fears, our unbelief, our stubbornness, and self-centered loves. He calls us to repentance—to see our sin— that He might restore and renew our lives with His forgiveness. Our faith depends upon His Word and Sacraments. In His Word and Sacraments Jesus meets us and ministers God’s love to us by His Holy Spirit. It is a way of life for us to gather each week to hear His Word, to confess our sin, to pray for our family and the needs of our brothers and sisters in the congregation and community, to sing the praises of our Lord’s love and salvation, and to receive His body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins and the strengthening of our faith in Christ and our love for one another.

When the Catechism begins each section of the Six Chief Parts of Christian doctrine with the subtitle, “As the Head of the Family Should Teach…in a Simple Way” most Christians don’t have a clue of the profound beauty, wisdom, and simplicity of the statement. We teach our children the Christian faith not with smart boards, classroom lectures, or doctrinal essays and exams; we teach our children the faith by doing with them those things that are central to what it is to be a Christian. When weekly attendance at the Divine Service and Sunday catechesis is the normal pattern for a Christian family, children learn that Jesus and His Word and Sacraments are the most important thing to Mom and Dad, and that the practice of our faith in Christ is at the center of our lives as Christians. In short, the habit of weekly attendance at the Divine Service and Sunday catechesis teaches our children what is most important in life.

Included in the habit of weekly attendance is the spirit with which parents approach the liturgy, hymnody, sermon, and catechesis with their children. One of the greatest gifts we can give to our children is simply to talk about what is going on in the Divine Liturgy that Sunday. What are we going to celebrate? What is this Sunday’s Gospel about? What hymns will we sing? When we return from the Divine Service we might talk about how we were drawn in to the Gospel story for the day and how Jesus demonstrated His love for us and for all people. We might also reflect upon the needs of those in the congregation for whom we prayed, and remind ourselves to keep them in our thoughts and prayers over the coming week. Finally, we as parents might be given the opportunity to reflect upon what we have heard and use it as an occasion not to upbraid our children with the Law but to confess our own failings to them and ask their forgiveness. By this they will learn that the Lord Jesus really is present in our lives and that our faith in Him really does matter. Such “sanctified conversation,” seasoned with a discussion of what Jesus has actually done for us and given us in the Divine liturgy and Sunday catechesis, can be among the most impactful and memorable experiences in our children’s lives. By bringing them to the Lord each Sunday and celebrating with them all that the Lord has given them in preaching and the Sacrament, they will learn to love Him as their Savior and Lord.

via “As the Head of the Family Should Teach…in a Simple Way”—Sunday Worship.