St. Luke’s Evangelical Lutheran Church – Watertown, WI
Pastor Mark Gartner
Sermon for Pentecost 2 – May 30^th and June 2^nd, 2002

Children -- I want you to think back to all things that you have learned from your parents. Parents -- I want you to think back to all the things that you have taught your children over the course of their lives. There are many things that parents have taught and children have learned. We are taught how to tie our shoes and we make the loops and push the other loop through. We are taught how to clean ourselves up in the bathtub using soap and shampoo. We are taught how to color and play certain games. We are taught how to ride a bike and maybe play a certain sport like baseball or basketball. We are taught how to read words and then how to spell them. The list is endless. Children -- Now think for a minute how many hours that you have used in your lives to learn all the things that you know. It is lots and lots of hours, isn’t it? Parents – think for minute how many hours that you have spent teaching your children the various things that they now know. It is more hours and time than we could ever imagine. This type of teaching and learning is vital to how we progress in this world.

This morning I want both children and parents alike to think about another thing that we need to learn. It is more important than tying your shoes or sounding out words. It is more important than throwing or hitting baseball or kicking a soccer ball. It is learning about the way to heaven. Just think more a minute what it means for us to take the time in our busy lives to teach and learn God’s Word. There is nothing more important in all this world than teaching, hearing and learning God’s Word and his plan for taking our sins away. With the thought of learning and teaching fresh in our minds, and fitting as we see our young people of St. Luke’s letting their faith shine this morning to mediate on the theme:

Moses spoke the words of our text for this morning. He was telling the Israelites what they were to teach and learn. He made it very simple and very clear. Now like any good student we need to know what to study. It doesn't do us any good to study a math book, when we need to learn our spelling. It is similar as we teach God's Word. We need something, which is going to be the center and theme of all that we teach and learn. This is very important, as we look at how many others teach God's Word. Many claim to teach God's Word, but they don't teach that the Triune God is the true God. Moses speaks this very clearly when he writes, "Love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and hold fast to him." There is no mistaking what is the central theme of all that we teach and learn. It is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, three in one. God is the central theme of what we want to hold on to. When we begin to falter from this solid base, everything else begins to crumble around us. From the youngest person here this morning to the oldest this teaching still remains the same. It doesn't change because we become smarter. It doesn't change because we are still in school. It is the constant theme throughout our life in God's Word.

The general them of these verses are on Christian education. Before we continue we are going to have to change some bad connotations that come along with the word education. God's Education is not a program or class, but a life of digging into God's Word. And this education is something that fits all of us. God's education through his Word is for all that have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. That seems to fit all of us pretty well. We are not teaching how to read and write, or how to bake a cake or do home repairs. We are teaching about the one true God. We are teaching about the God who sent his Son to die for the sins of the world. This is the news that we all need to hear, because we are sinners who deserve to be condemned to the fires of hell. Without the knowledge of who the true God is, and what we has done for us, the Bible does not mean much. This is why we want to make sure that we are all starting from the same base, and that starting point is faith in our Triune God.

As we think of the education of God's people, we realize that there are many different types of people. There are old people. There are young people. There are children. There are adults. There are teens and those who are in between, but Moses points out in our text one area of our education that needs to be a main focus for all of us, and that is in the area of the education of our children. Moses wants to make this very clear as he writes, "¹⁹Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ²⁰Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." God gives us as Christians a clear and precise command when it comes to our children. Children are very impressionable. It is said that they learn most of the foundation of their learning in their early years. That is why Moses tells us that we are to also teach God’s Word to our children. We seem to work so hard to teach them how to read and tie their shoes and to get dressed, but where does God's Word rate on this list. We sometimes take for granted the fact that our children are also sinners and need to hear of what Jesus did for them as sinners. A child is not a believer, just because the parents are believers. The Holy Spirit works faith in them the same way he works faith in all people. He works faith through the Word and Sacraments.

With this in our minds, what should be our focus? Is it to make us all feel guilty for not doing a very good job of teaching God’s Word to our children? Are we trying to point out that we don't dig into God's Word as often as we could? What really is our focus when it comes to education? Let's open this up to all the members of St. Luke’s young and old? What should we be doing? God has given us many opportunities to read and learn God's Word. We sometimes take these opportunities for granted. What a joy to come together as Christians and study God's Word. What a joy to see our children come and learn about their Savior in our Sunday school and Christian Day School. Through these tools, we can see that this is a wonderful way to reach out to our children. They learn the Gospel of Jesus' death and resurrection. This seems to be the focus of all that we do as we educate our children from God's Word. Whether we look at the education of children or adults, it is all focusing on building our faith through these education opportunities which God has given to us.

We as parents also need to listen closely to these words of Moses. The church is not the end all in the education of our children when it comes to God's Word. It starts in the homes. Moses in v.18-20 tells us that we are to live, breath and sleep God and his Word. We are to take every opportunity to show and tell our children what God's Word means for us. If our children see us acting one way during the week and a different way on Sunday morning, what do you think they think? We lead by our examples and by how we make God and his commands a priority and a joy when we go out into the world. Is this the way that we teach? Is the joy of Christ evident to all? Can anyone clearly see what makes us tick, or do we do a good job of hiding our Christianity? Do our children realize that home devotions and the studying of God's Word is important, or are devotions too much of a inconvenience? Are we eager to go and study in Adult Bible class or do we leave the impression that Adult Bible Class is not important? Do we show the importance of Sunday School or do we drop them off and pick them up when they are done – giving the impression that Bible study is only for small children? .Do we make going to church a priority or a chore? There are many ways to show our love to our children in all that we say and do.

When we teach God's Word, we know we are to teach the only true God. We know that we are to teach our children, but Moses also tells us how we are to let our Christian education rule our hearts. He tells us, "²⁷the blessing if you obey the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today;" What a wonderful description of what God's Word gives to us. Our education will be with us forever ands will be a spiritual blessing for us. Through God's Word the Holy Spirit has brought us out of the darkness of sin into the wonderful light of salvation. That is what we have learned from the first day of Sunday school, through our confirmation classes, through our Bible classes and through our regular worship services. There is no way to get around this wonderful teaching of God's Word. As we continue to grow in our knowledge of God's Word through these various ways, we can see a change in our hearts and lives. God works in each and everyone of us through his Word and Sacraments. He works the change of bringing faith into our hearts so that we love God above all things.

This is evident in many ways. Children why do you come to church? Most if not all will say, because my parents made me, but we also can come to church to continue to hear about Jesus our Savior. This is one of the ways that we can see how we are growing. As adults these things become more clear to us. We can see the many ways that God has blessed us. We can see the change that God has worked in our hearts. We can see that we don't always measure up to God's standard of perfection, and that we deserve to die. We can see how God has led us to grow in our faith day by day. We can see how God has given us the strength to withstand the powers of Satan. With God on our side and strengthening us through the teaching of His Word no one can defeat us or conquer us.

As we look at these words of Moses, we can see exactly what God wants us to do with his Word. Teach it and learn it. Make it a part of our lives and the lives of our children. As we look at the people who make up St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, we see a wide spectrum of people. Children, look at the things that the bible has to offer to you as children of God. You may be young right now and may not be involved in very much as far as the church is concerned. But wait until 10 years down the road. You are the future of this congregation and the future of teaching God's Word to others in coming years. One day you might be a Sunday School teacher or Christian Day School teacher or a Pastor. How many of you have given the thought of teaching or helping in Sunday School and other areas.? How many of us say that we want to teach when we get older? How many of us say that we want to be on the Church Council or to lead the choir or Ladies group when we get older? Probably not too many of you.

Let that be on you hearts and minds as you come and hear God's Word. God's Word is not boring. God's Word is not something we want to feel we are forced to listen to. It is God's Gift to all of us. And to the adults our education has not ended. We have not reached the pinnacle of being to good to be educated in God's Word. We have not reached the point where God's Word cannot help us anymore. If we are still living on this earth, we still need the strength and power God gives us in his Word. God's perfect book for us still is able to teach us something, no matter how much we seem to know. As we think about Christian education, let us teach God's Word to all. This education is the future for us. It is the future of God's church, and it gives us an eternal future with God in heaven. What a blessing God's true Word is for us, as we teach it and learn it with the help of the Holy Spirit. There is no way that we can truly comprehend all that God has given to us. Praise be to God for the opportunity to daily educate ourselves through the help of the Holy Spirit working in our hearts through God's Word. Amen