Northwoods Table Talk

Lection for Saturday after Trinity V  1 Samuel 1:21-2:17       Galatians 6:1-18 It is my hope and prayer that you are enjoying this excursion into Luther’s Large Catechism . Today we continue the “first part” on the Ten Commandments, specifically, the “The Eighth Commandment.” OK, read what Luther says.           [First Part:] The Ten Commandments           The Eighth Commandment 254 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” 255 Besides our own body, our wife or husband, and our temporal property, we have one more treasure which is indispensable to us, namely, our honor and good name, for it is intolerable to live among men in public disgrace and contempt. 256 Therefore God will not have our neighbor deprived of his reputation, honor, and character any more than of his money and possessions; he would have every man maintain his self-respect before his wife, children, servants, and neighbors. 257 In its first and simplest meaning, as the words stand

Lection for Friday after Trinity V  1 Samuel 1:1-20        Galatians 5:1-26 It is my hope and prayer that you are enjoying this excursion into Luther’s Large Catechism . Today we continue the “first part” on the Ten Commandments, specifically, the “The Seventh Commandment.” OK, read what Luther says.         [ First Part:] The Ten Commandments             The Seventh Commandment 222 “You shall not steal.” 223 Next to our own person and our spouse, our temporal property is dearest to us. This, too, God wants to have protected. He has forbidden us to rob or pilfer the possessions of our neighbor. 224 For to steal is nothing else than to acquire another’s property by unjust means. In a few words, this includes taking advantage of our neighbor in any sort of dealing that results in loss to him. Stealing is a widespread, common vice, but people pay so little attention to it that the matter is entirely out of hand. If all who are thieves, though they are unwilling to admit i

Lection for Thursday after Trinity V  Judges 16:4-30        Galatians 4:12-31 It is my hope and prayer that you are enjoying this excursion into Luther’s Large Catechism . Today we continue the “first part” on the Ten Commandments, specifically, the “The Sixth Commandment.” OK, read what Luther says.           [First Part:] The Ten Commandments                        The Sixth Commandment 199 “You shall not commit adultery.” 200 The following commandments are easily understood from the preceding one. They all teach us to guard against harming our neighbor in any way. They are admirably arranged. First they deal with our neighbor’s person. Then they proceed to the person nearest and dearest to him, namely, his wife, who is one flesh and blood with him. In no possession of his can we inflict a greater injury upon him. Therefore, it is explicitly forbidden here to dishonor his wife. 201 Adultery is particularly mentioned because among the Jewish people marriage was

Lection for Wednesday after Trinity V  Judges 15:1-16:3       Galatians 3:23-4:11 It is my hope and prayer that you are enjoying this excursion into Luther’s Large Catechism . Today we continue the “first part” on the Ten Commandments, specifically, the “The Fifth Commandment.”  OK, read what Luther says.           [First Part:] The Ten Commandments           The Fifth Commandment 179 “You shall not kill.” 180 We have now dealt with both the spiritual and the civil government, that is, divine and paternal authority and obedience. In this commandment we leave our own house and go out among our neighbors to learn how we should conduct ourselves individually toward our fellow men. Therefore neither God nor the government is included in this commandment, yet their right to take human life is not abrogated. 181 God has delegated his authority of punishing evil-doers to civil magistrates in place of parents; in early times, as we read in Moses, parents had to bring their

Lection for Tuesday after Trinity V  Judges 14:1-20        Galatians 3:1-22 It is my hope and prayer that you are enjoying this excursion into Luther’s Large Catechism . Today we continue the “first part” on the Ten Commandments, specifically, the “The Fourth Commandment.” Luther’s commentary here is much longer for this one than for the ones previous. I thought about chopping it up and giving it in pieces over a two days, but I really did not find a good place to break it up. So… OK, read what Luther says.           [First Part:] The Ten Commandments The Fourth Commandment 103 Thus far we have learned the first three commandments, which are directed toward God. First, we should trust, fear, and love him with our whole heart all the days of our lives. Secondly, we should not misuse his holy name in support of lies or any evil purpose whatsoever, but use it for the praise of God and the benefit and salvation of our neighbor and ourselves. Thirdly, on holy days or days o