Do you ever wonder why God gave some of the commands He has given?
With Israel’s salvation coming by the death of the first born of Egypt, God speaks to them and tells them that their firstborn belong to Him, too. “Consecrate them,” he tells Israel. Set them apart. Make them holy. Offer sacrifices to redeem them – that is to buy them back from the Lord. Sheep and other sacrificial animals were to be sacrificed to him. Donkeys and other such animals were to be redeemed, or have their necks broken – they belong to the Lord. Sons, however, were to be redeemed by a sacrifice. Why?
God went on from there to command them regarding eating of leavened bread and observing Passover. He gave explicit instructions; in the month of Abib –the March/April timeframe – eat no leavened food for seven days. What does this mean?
This is one of the cases where God tell us why he wants this done. These are to help people remember His salvation. These ceremonies are to be times when parents tell children about His salvation. These are opportunities for children to ask parents, “What does this mean?” (The Hebrew could also be translated, “Why do we do this?”) These are times for us to be reminded of God’s salvation, too.
“Why do we do this?” is such a great question to ask!
It stands to reason that there are parts of our life as the people of God that can invoke these questions of meaning and purpose. Why do we celebrate the Lord’s Supper? What does it mean? Why do we have sermons, offerings, Creedal confessions, invocation, Scripture readings, etc.? Why do we have confirmation classes? Why do we do them at seventh and eighth grave?
Could it be that these parts of our worship life and Christian education give us opportunities to talk about our faith to our children? Can holidays be opens to share Christ crucified?
I once heard a joke about a Lutheran boy who brought his Baptist friend to a worship service with him. The Baptist boy had never seen liturgical worship before, and he repeatedly asked, “What does that mean?” Invocation, confession, absolution, etc. - The Lutheran boy and his parents quietly explained each step of the service. When they got to the sermon, the pastor entered the pulpit, took off his watch and set it on the stand next to his sermon notes. The Baptist boy asked, “What does that mean?” To which his friend replied, “Absolutely nothing.”
Perhaps we should begin to look at our children’s questions as opportunities to share our faith with them. Bring them with you to Communion. Maybe they’ll ask, “Why do you receive the Lord’s Supper?” Show them pictures of when they were baptized. Perhaps they will question you, “Why did you have me baptized?” Bring them to Sunday School, and go to Bible Class. They might inquire, “Why do we study the Bible?”
Then you can tell them of the salvation God has performed in our lives through Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Father in Heaven, Thank you for events that allow children to ask questions. Help me to ask questions, too and be reminded that you saved me with Jesus’ mighty hands and outstretched arms! Amen.
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