Hand Me Downs

“And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.

You shall teach them diligently to your children,

And shall talk about them in your house,

And when you walk by the way,

And when you lie down and when you rise.”

Deuteronomy 6:6-7

I love “hand me downs.”  I am not sure if this is an American phrase or not so let me explain what it means.  A “hand me down” is something that when it was new belonged to someone else.  Then when they were done using it, they passed it on (‘handed it down”) to you.  Our kids were clothed with hand me downs.  Parents in the congregations we served were always bringing us bags of clothing that their kids had grown out of.  They gave them to us so our kids could wear them.  We even had our own “hand me downs.”  We kept clothes and toys we bought for Ben when he was little.  They were handed down to his brothers and sisters so they could use them. 

This book is a “hand me down” that was given to me when I was in the 7^th grade.  It’s a copy of the 1941 edition of the Small Catechism of Dr. Martin Luther.  Before it belonged to me, this belonged to my sister Kathy.  She used this book when she was in the 7^th and 8^th grade, going through instruction in preparation for confirmation.  Then when I got to that age, I used it.  She “handed it down” to me.  I started thinking about this book this week, because we at Trinity are getting ready to start a new group of youth through the process of confirmation instruction.  Each of them will receive a copy of Luther’s Small Catechism for them to use as part of that instruction.  

What is a “Catechism?  Well if you look up the word “Catechism” in an English dictionary you will read that it is a “book of questions and answers used for instructing people in the Christian faith.”  That definition falls short however.  The word “catechism” really refers to the specific content being taught rather than to the book.   In Luther’s day the word “catechism” at first refereed to the three chief parts of Christian doctrine – the Ten Commandments, the Apostle’s Creed and the Lord’s prayer.  Today we have six chief parts. In addition to the above we have added Holy Baptism, Confession and Absolution and the Sacrament of the Altar.   In addition Luther’s Small Catechism also contained instructions about prayer, a table of duties with Scripture passages that help us understand how God wants us to live our faith in the various callings of life, and a section of questions and answers to be used in preparation for receiving Holy Communion.  All of that, the portion written by Dr. Luther, is found in the first 35 pages of this book. The rest of the book is a series of questions, answers and supporting Scriptures that were added over the years to further teach the faith.

It struck me, that the purpose of this little book is to pass on to the next generation the most important “hand me down” that can be passed from one generation to the next – our faith in Jesus Christ.  This book is a summary of the basics of the Christian faith… a summary of what we are taught in God’s word.  This book was written to help parents, pastors DCE’s and other teachers to “hand down” the faith to the next generation.  Luther makes that clear that this is the purpose of this book.  He begins each section with the words -  “As the head of the family should teach it in a simply way to His household.”

Every once in a while I have a parent ask me, “How do I talk to my kids about our faith?”  They want to know how to pass on this most important of all “hand me downs.”  Here is the answer.  Use the Catechism.  This is the churches textbook for making and forming disciples.  Make this book a part of your daily family routine – at dinner, during family devotions, or at bedtime.  Read Scriptures with your kids.  Read through a section of the catechism with them. Say it together with them.  When you get through, start over.  Then teach them how to pray – At first let them hear you pray.  Later invite them to pray with you.  Finally, let them pray on their own.  This is the method for handing down the faith, outlined for us by Moses – “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk about them in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise.” Deuteronomy 6:7  This is a great “hand me down.”