Our duty towards God
If you were able to join us for worship last weekend, whether in person or online, you may recall that we talked about the difference between being motivated to follow the rules by the Law or by the Gospel. Law motivation is based on doing things simply because we have to do them. Gospel motivation is based on doing things because we want to out of thanksgiving for what God has done for us in Christ Jesus. While there is freedom with the Gospel, there is still a “rule book” for those of us who are followers of Jesus. In fact, the last words we will hear from this weekend’s Gospel reading are Jesus saying: “Whoever does God’s will is My brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:35) So how do we know what God’s will is?
For those of us who remember going through Confirmation instruction, you may recall that in Martin Luther’s Small Catechism, there is a section called “Table of Duties” where several Bible passages are listed about how we are supposed to treat others and fulfill our various callings in life. (If you want to review the Table of Duties and cannot find your Small Catechism, you can find it in the hymnal on p. 328 or online here: Table of Duties What is not listed in the Table of Duties is our “duty towards God.” Obviously, it’s to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. But Jesus also says this: “The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.” (John 6:29) To believe in Jesus is much more than believing He really exists, died and rose, and truly is the Son of God. It means to embrace that truth, and, in love for Him, crave His Word and ask the Holy Spirit for the strength and wisdom to apply it in life.
The Gospel readings for the next several weekends are from Mark’s Gospel account (which also happens to be the shortest of the Gospel accounts and what we’re going through in our Tuesday evening Bible study). I invite you to prayerfully read through or listen to Mark’s account perhaps a few times this summer, praying that the Holy Spirit would help you to grow in your understanding not only of what our Lord in His indescribable love has done for you, but what you, in love, are called to do for Him and others.