# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_M rz 1857_S70
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Instruction for Catechism Sermons.                    70

...namely: 1. the text, 2. the exposition, 3. the further explanation in
the Large Catechism. Appendix: the impressing of the Fourth Commandment
and the exhortation to the diligent use of the Holy Supper. At the
preface to the Large Catechism one may preach on: Why does Dr. Luther
press so forcefully for the daily practice of the Catechism? 1. On
account of the deep decline of this practice; 2. on account of the
manifold benefit of the same; and 3. on account of the commandment of
God, which is to drive us to it.

The question of whether one should choose biblical texts for the
catechism sermons I answer with No, and indeed for this reason: that
these are, after all, sermons on the Catechism, for which only texts
from the Catechism are suitable. Every sermon in which one tries to do
justice both to a biblical text and also to a piece of the Catechism
will turn into a hybrid, misshapen thing. Why should we not, in this
matter too, follow Luther's example, who for the most part, and later
on always exclusively, took catechism texts as the basis of his
catechism sermons and read them out to the people word for word,
precisely because the Catechism is an extract from Holy Scripture —
indeed, the true layman's Bible? For that very reason it has been
printed in all the old church orders, and for that very reason it is
fitting and right that the congregation should stand while it is being
read aloud.

Whoever now follows this instruction punctually for a while will find
it confirmed by his own experience. Only, each person should above all
lay out for himself a collection of materials, by cataloguing
individual writings of Luther's according to the chief parts and their
individual sections, and next to that a collection of notes according
to the same headings — covering everything that has enriched his
knowledge or experience in the study of Luther's writings or in his own
practice: for example, questions on the understanding and application
of individual passages; on the treatment of certain pieces of the
Catechism, as a whole and in their parts; on the failure and success of
catechetical work; on the difficulties involved and the means of easing
them; on useful writings, or particular items from them, relating to
the history and content of the Catechism, and especially the many
commendations of it. If, then, every preacher gathered diligently in
this way, and at their conferences shared with one another, out of
their collections, whatever concerned a given subject, writing it down
briefly and to the point, and in doing so occasionally thoroughly
assessed a catechism sermon or catechesis; and if, then, after some
years, the entire result of all such conferences were gathered together
into a single work — one would obtain a truly practical instruction for
catechism sermons, one made still more useful by the attachment of such
pieces of work, one, where possible, for each part.

————

Whatever comes from God must meet with resistance, that it may be
tested.
Luther. (XV, 2417.)