Back to (Sunday) School
My internal clock (as well as all the commercials) will always tell me that this time of year is “back-to-school time,” even after I’ve been out of school for 3 years now. This season always reminds me of when I was returning to school, seeing old friends, telling them about my summer, and gearing up for learning. Though I loved (and still love) summer, I was always excited to come back and see what new things I would learn. I didn’t always enjoy the process of learning (talk to me about learning Greek and Hebrew sometime), but overall, I’ve always enjoyed learning new things. That is especially true when it comes to theology. Once I finally had the technological resources to consume good podcasts regularly, I ate them up. Theological podcasts such as Issues Etc., Being Lutheran, BreakPoint, and The World and Everything In It have been staples in my ears since college. I would listen to them at work, while mowing the yard, doing chores around the house, and on road trips to Park River or to see Taylor while she was in Omaha at dental school. Since becoming a pastor, studying and reading while preparing sermons and Bible study have continued to be highlights of my work week because I usually end up either discovering a new insight about a familiar passage, or learning about a completely new passage and all of the treasures inside it!
And speaking of the Scriptures, we are constantly reminded and exhorted by them to learn and study God’s Word. David writes in more than a few Psalms that he desires to be taught God’s Word (Psalm 25, 119, and 143:10 just to name a few spots). As we study God’s Word, Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will teach us and help us to remember what we have been taught (John 14:26). And as He does so, He also will renew our minds to think and act more in line with God’s Word (Romans 12:2). But we are not only to learn God’s Word. No, Scripture also exhorts us to teach it to others. Jesus told his disciples to baptize and teach as part of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20), and Paul exhorted his listeners, most especially pastors Timothy and Titus, to teach the Word as well (Philippians 4:9, Titus 2:1). How can anyone come to believe in Jesus, Paul says in Romans, unless they hear about Him (Romans 10:14)?
While it certainly can be intimidating and exhausting to both learn and to teach God’s Word, there are numerous blessings that come from both. As we learn and study His Word, God works through it to convict us of sin, comfort us with the promise of salvation in Jesus, and create and encourage faith in us. The more we learn about God’s love for us in Christ, the more we become comforted and encouraged in faith. That’s that promise of Romans 12:2 in action! As we then turn around and teach His Word to our kids and other neighbors, we serve them and give them the same comfort of the Gospel that we ourselves have received. Thus, we begin to make disciples! As we study, learn, and teach, we also become more discerning Christians. We begin to recognize what is true and what is false, what is right and “almost right,” as the famous preacher Charles Spurgeon once put it. We begin to see through the lies that our flesh, the world, and Satan throw at us. That in turn points us back to the solid ground, and comfort, of God’s Word in this time of “fake news” and “media bias.”
So as kids head back to school to learn and to study, and as we prepare to engage in all the political discourse during this election season, let us all become (or continue to be) students of God’s Word. Let us reap the rewards and blessings of learning more and more about who our God is, what He has graciously done for us in Christ, and what He is coming again in Christ to complete and restore.
In Christ, Pastor Michael Onstad
Link to the full September Newsletter
