Saturday of Trinity IV - Devotion in semi-Exile

Lection for Saturday after Trinity IV
Judges 6:25-40     Acts 15:6-21
It is my hope and prayer that you will enjoy this excursion into Luther’s Large Catechism. Today we continue the “first part” on the Ten Commandments, specifically, the “Appendix to the First Commandment,” what is referred to in Luther’s Small Catechism as the “Conclusion” of the Commandments.

          [First Part:] The Ten Commandments

          The First Commandment

          [Explanation of the Appendix to the First Commandment]

30 “For I am the Lord your God, mighty and jealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, and showing mercy to many thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

31 Although these words apply to all the commandments (as we shall hear later), yet they are attached precisely to this one which stands at the head of the list because it is of the utmost importance for a man to have the right head. For where the head is right, the whole life must be right, and vice versa. 32 Learn from these words, then, how angry God is with those who rely on anything but himself, and again, how kind and gracious he is to those who trust and believe him alone with their whole heart. His wrath does not abate until the fourth generation. 33 On the other hand, his kindness and goodness extend to many thousands, lest men live in security and commit themselves to luck, like brutes who think that it makes no great difference how they live. 34 He is a God who takes vengeance upon men who turn away from him, and his anger continues to the fourth generation, until they are utterly exterminated. Therefore he wills to be feared and not to be despised.

35 This he has witnessed in all the records of history, as Scripture amply shows and as daily experience can still teach us. From the beginning he has completely rooted out all idolatry, and on that account he has destroyed both heathen and Jews; just so in our day he overthrows all false worship so that all who persist in it must ultimately perish. 36 Even now there are proud, powerful, and rich pot-bellies who, not caring whether God frowns or smiles, boast defiantly of their mammon and believe that they can withstand his wrath. But they will not succeed. Before they know it they will be wrecked, along with all they have trusted in, just as all others have perished who thought themselves to be so high and mighty.

37 Just because such blockheads imagine, when God refrains from disturbing their security, that he is unconcerned or uninterested in such matters, he must strike and punish them so severely that he will not forget his anger down to their children’s children. He intends that everyone shall be impressed and see that this is no laughing matter with him. 38 These are also the people he means when he says, “who hate me,” that is, those who persist in their stubbornness and pride. They refuse to hear what is preached or spoken to them. When they are rebuked, to bring them to their senses and cause them to mend their ways before punishment descends, they become so mad and foolish that they justly merit the wrath they receive. We observe this every day in the case of bishops and princes.

39 Terrible as these threats are, much mightier is the comfort in the promise that assures mercy to those who cling to God alone — sheer goodness and blessing, not only for themselves but also for their children to a thousand and even many thousands of generations. 40 Certainly, if we desire all good things in time and eternity, this ought to move and impel us to fix our hearts upon God with perfect confidence since the divine Majesty comes to us with so gracious an offer, so cordial an invitation, and so rich a promise.

41 Therefore let everyone be careful not to regard this as if it were spoken by man. For it brings you either eternal blessing, happiness, and salvation, or eternal wrath, misery, and woe. What more could you ask or desire than God’s gracious promise that he will be yours with every blessing and will protect and help you in every need? 42 The trouble is that the world does not believe this at all, and does not recognize it as God’s Word. For the world sees that those who trust God and not mammon suffer grief and want and are opposed and attacked by the devil. They have neither money, prestige, nor honor, and can scarcely even keep alive; meanwhile, those who serve mammon have power, prestige, honor, wealth, and every comfort in the eyes of the world. Accordingly, we must grasp these words, even in the face of this apparent contradiction, and learn that they neither lie nor deceive but will yet prove to be true.

43 Reflect on the past, search it out, and tell me, When men have devoted all their care and diligence to scraping together great wealth and money, what have they gained in the end? You will find that they have wasted their effort and toil or, if they have amassed great treasures, that these have turned to dust and vanished. They themselves have never found happiness in their wealth, nor has it ever lasted to the third generation. 44 Examples of this you will find aplenty in all histories and in the recollections of elderly and experienced people. Just ponder and heed them. 45 Saul was a great king, chosen by God, and an upright man; but once he was secure on his throne and he let his heart depart from God, placing his confidence in his crown and power, he inevitably perished with all that he had; not one of his children remained. 46 David, on the other hand, was a poor, despised man, hunted down and persecuted, his life nowhere secure, yet inevitably he remained safe from Saul and became king. These words must stand and prove to be true since God cannot lie or deceive; just leave it to the devil and the world to deceive you with their appearance, which indeed endures for a time but in the end is nothing!

47 Let us therefore learn the first commandment well and realize that God will tolerate no presumption and no trust in any other object; he makes no greater demand of us than a hearty trust in him for all blessings. Then we shall be on the right path and walk straight ahead, using all of God’s gifts exactly as a cobbler uses his needle, awl, and thread (for work, eventually to lay them aside) or as a traveler avails himself of an inn, food, and bed (only for his temporal need). Let each person be in his station in life according to God’s order, allowing none of these good things to be his lord or idol.

48 Let this suffice for the First Commandment. We had to explain it at length since it is the most important. For, as I said before, where the heart is right with God and this commandment is kept, fulfillment of all the others will follow of its own accord.