The Large Catechism – part 105
Lessons in the Lutheran Confessions
Scripture Text: Hosea 8:7
Series: Lessons in the Lutheran Confessions
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From the Confessions: The Large Catechism, The Ten Commandments
The Third Commandment
It was once the prevailing opinion that you had properly hallowed Sunday when you had heard a mass or the gospel read. Yet no one cared for God’s Word, as no one taught it either. Now, while we have God’s Word, we still fail to correct the abuse, for we endure preaching and admonishment, but listen without urgency and concern.
Pulling It Together: Hosea’s agricultural imagery depicts the results of idolatry. It is the same as sowing your seed in the wind. The outcome is more wind, or if the seed blows to other properties, they will eat the grain. The Third Commandment would have us guard against a specific kind of idolatrous abuse. Our religious devotion can become a fanaticism that we depend upon instead of the grace of God. If we sow the seed of going to church but fail to turn our ears to the Lord, we have been sowing to the wind. If we depend upon devotional readings and rituals but do not attend to the preaching of God’s Word, that too, is idolatry, and the result is spiritual stubble, straw that is blown away in the whirlwinds of life.
Prayer: Give me ears, Lord, and a heart to hear you. Amen.
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Rev. Dr. Mark E. Ryman has served as Pastor for St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Salisbury, NC, since 2021. Previously, Pastor Ryman served congregations in North Carolina and Ohio, as well as a call to specialized ministry with Sola Publishing.
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