A Legacy

Martin Luther left a legacy that has made a difference in the lives of millions of Protestants and others. He translated the Bible and worship services into the language of the people. He lifted parenting to the highest of callings, and placed teaching the faith directly into the home with the Small Catechism.

The Small Catechism was printed on wall charts and pamphlets for families to use at home. He taught that parents, not the church, were accountable to God for their children’s spiritual welfare. The church was reinforcement for, not replacement of the parent’s role in teaching faith.

I began to think about this legacy and wonder if it’s one I have passed on to my own children. I was raised in a very small congregation. My father’s family were stone masons. My grandfather spearheaded a plan to build a church where the family could worship. The church was built physically and spiritually by other members of the family taking active roles in growing the ministry of the church.
Recently attendance has dropped because the family who built the church and the congregation is either moving from the area or dying. It’s an aging church.
I felt sad when I last attended and saw few people at worship and no Sunday school.

I recently visited the cemetery across the street from the church where my mother and many other relatives are buried. I couldn’t help but think how very sad it is that this is a dying congregation. I got back in my car and as I drove off began to reassess my conclusion. I began to think about family members who were raised in this church and where they are now. I began to realize it wasn’t about the building and the small dying congregation at all.

It was about my cousin and his wife who live in Virginia. They built a large fellowship hall where they worship and are very active in the congregation.

It’s about his brother who also built a fellowship hall including a basketball court for his congregation in the Poconos in Pennsylvania.
It’s about another cousin who started a preschool at her church in the Washington DC area. It’s about two out of three of us who were confirmed together actively doing ministry in our own churches.

It’s about me having this opportunity to share with many congregations across the country my story with the hope you will reflect on your own.

Little St. John’s Lutheran church in Scotrun, Pennsylvania is not a dying church in my mind after all. It’s a living, vibrant, part of the body that fed and nurtured person after person and grew them to read God’s word.
It’s about family, not just my family, God’s family.

Our legacy is to build the body of Christ physically, emotionally, and spiritually beyond the walls and serve God in the world where needed. It’s answering God’s call through reading and interpreting His word for ourselves. 
This is Martin Luther’s legacy. It’s our legacy too!

We, as God’s family, continue to build the church. I don’t think there are any walls that can hold our work. Our challenge is to share this legacy with our children. 

Martin Luther challenged all Christians to read the Bible and think for themselves. 

Faith Inkubator resources and ministries challenge God’s family (parents, children, singles, couples) to learn scripture through reading, highlighting, singing, and signing it.  We invite all ages to interpret the scripture by talking about it and relating it to their lives, then create an interpretation through the arts to share the story with others.

Role modeling: “Every week in every congregation” (in community)
Doing: “Every night in every home” (with family)

God’s word translated in our own language and placed in our hands.
That is Luther’s legacy.

Question:
Does your congregation have a plan to get scripture into the hands of all ages?
Is there a plan to get scripture in the home?

“The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever.”
Isaiah 40:8