“We SHOULD fear, love and trust in God above
all things.”
Luther’s Small Catechism – Explanation to
the First Commandment
The
word “should” is a word full of guilt and failure. In the First Commandment God says, “You SHALL
have no other gods.” In other words,
there is no leeway, no wiggle room. This
is what God expects. This is a commandment. This is what we SHALL do. All the commandments say the same thing. Yet none of Luther’s explanations say “We
shall…” They all says “we should…” That word “should” expects that we will fail. It implies that failure is a foregone conclusion. Should implies, “yes, that is what we are
supposed to do but we won’t.”
It seems that with all the “shoulds” in my life, there is always a matching “but.” I should have listened, but I didn’t. I should have respected my mom, but I talked back to her. I should have told the truth, but I lied. I should have said nothing bad about my coworker, but instead I gossiped about her all over the office. I should have read my Bible today, but I was in too big a hurry. I should have helped my sick neighbor but instead I had too much of my own stuff to worry about.
The truth is, before any of the commandments are spoken… before God ever says to me, “You shall…” I have already failed. I have to admit, “Yes, I should but I won’t. I should have but I didn’t.” I am a poor miserable sinner. I am by nature sinful and unclean before I fail to do anything. I sin in thought, word and deed, by what I have done and by what I have left undone. There are too many “shoulds” and “buts” in life and they all leave me with guilt and shame.
Thank God that He has an answer for all of them. For every “should” and “but” in life, God answers with His own “but” and “did”. I am a lost and condemned sinner, but God did and does love me anyway. I should have lived a perfect life but Jesus did. I should pay the price for my failure but Jesus did pay it for me. I should die as punishment for my sin, but Jesus did die for me on the cross. I should have loved God with my whole heart but God did love me – indeed so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whosoever believes in him, SHALL not perish but have everlasting life.”
“Should,” “but,” and ‘did” – three words that help us understand the difference between law and Gospel, between being lost and being saved. “Should” is a mirror showing us our sin. BUT “Did” reminds us of all God did for us in Christ… indeed all He continues to do for us. In this context did is a Gospel word… a word that shows us our savior. Its important that we hear the condemnation of the “should” but even more important to be comforted daily by all that God “did” and continues to do in Christ.
