Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.
–Revelation 2:4
The genius of Luther’s Catechism is in its connection of first things: namely, the first commandment of the Ten Commandments, first article of the Creed, and the first petition (or phrase) of the Lord’s Prayer. Genius is not in creating new thoughts, but seeing connections between old thoughts that no one ever saw before. Luther uniquely begins His Small Catechism with the first commandment so that we can focus on the only thing God ever really cares about: our first love. Luther defines an idol as anything we “fear, love, and trust” that is not God. Instead of idolatry, God calls His people to “fear, love, trust” Him alone. Yet, we are so frequently tempted to worship creation and not our Creator.
Because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
–Romans 1:25
This truth that we are created to worship our creator, not fellow creatures (or ourselves) is what beckons us to confess the First Article of the Creed: “I believe in God the Father, maker of Heaven and of Earth.” Luther explains the personal significance of this statement is that “God made me together with all creation.” There’s two important truths in this statement. First, we must humble ourselves and realize that God made each of us, that we are not in charge. Second, we are merely a part of creation, that we were never created to be alone or isolated as individuals.
Then the LORD God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.
–Genesis 2:18
Finally, when asked how to pray, how to relate to God, Jesus encourages us to follow His model and begin every prayer with “Our Father.” Again, Jesus reminds us that God never created us to remain as individuals, but that we live and pray as a community, with no man claiming exclusive access to God. Instead, we together approach the throne of grace boldly, as God’s children. When we begin our interaction with God, we begin with humility, with recognition that we are creatures and children and God is our Creator and heavenly Father.
Join me on a journey through Luther’s Small Catechism as an exploration on how we might live our lives anew, with a fresh perspective. Let’s reclaim this simple book of questions and answers as something more than a few fuel for rote memorization for children. I would like to suggest that we can get so much more from this little book than almost anything else outside of scripture. When we return the basics explored in the Small Catechism we are returning to our first love, our Creator. We are compelled to question our allegiance to idols and freed from slavery to our fickle passions and purposeless pursuits.
So, where are you tempted to “fear, love, and trust” in other things? What are “American Idols” (pun intended)? What creatures and pieces of creation arrest our attention and steal our affections from our Creator? How might fasting promote a return to our “first love?”
