10/19/2025
Deuteronomy 6:1-9
SN: 0095
by Pastor Nathan Klusmeyer
Everyone in this room has something extraordinary in common. At some point in our lives, someone loved us enough to take the time to patiently teach us about God and all that he has done for us. Maybe it was a parent or grandparent who taught you to pray and sang cradle songs to you about Jesus’s love for his little lambs. Maybe it was a teacher who taught you the stories of the Bible and helped you memorize the hymns and passages that reveal the love of God. Maybe it was a pastor who patiently took you through the basic teachings of the Bible and showed you the blood of Christ that is spilled for you on every page of the Bible. For many of us, we don’t even remember the first time we heard about the love of Christ, and for others, that memory is vivid and precious.
Today, we take a moment to praise God for these faithful witnesses who took the commands of God seriously and taught us the truths of God’s Word. This is one of the most solemn duties we have as followers of Christ. Faith is created when the Holy Spirit works through the Word of God as it is shared with others. As Paul says in his letter to the Romans, “So then, how can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one about whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without a preacher? And how can they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news of peace, who preach the gospel of good things!’”
Moses knew the importance of teaching the next generation about the Word of God. He knew how quickly the truths of God’s Word could be lost if they were not shared with the next generation. After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, the children of Israel are now ready to take possession of the land God had promised to them. Before they crossed the Jordan River, they made camp on the plains of Moab, and Moses reaffirmed the covenant that God had made with them at Sinai. The book of Deuteronomy can be thought of as the last sermon Moses preaches to the children of Israel before his death. Deuteronomy 6 is an encouragement to stay faithful to the Lord and keep his commands.
Moses sums up the entire law of the Lord by saying, “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God. The LORD is one! Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words that I am commanding you today are to be on your heart.” This is the same summary of the Law that Jesus gives to us in the New Testament, and this is what God desires from his people. Whole-hearted love and obedience. When we are confronted with these words, we are cut to the heart because we know that we do not always give God our full and complete love and devotion. We often allow other things to take the place of God in our hearts. We fall far short of giving our entire hearts to God.
God knows this. He knows that we are incapable of perfectly loving him with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our might. We can never achieve that standard, and so God sent his one and only Son to be our substitute. Christ was perfectly devoted to the Father. He perfectly loved the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might. He never wavered in his commitment to keep the commands of his Father, even when he was in agony. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Christ prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.” Christ loved God perfectly in our place so that he could offer his perfect life as a sacrifice for our sins. On the cross, Jesus Christ suffered and died for all our sins. His blood has washed away all the times we have failed to love God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our strength.
When we hear this glorious message of the gospel proclaimed, the Holy Spirit works through the Word of God to create faith in our hearts. By faith, we receive as a free gift the forgiveness of sins that was won for us on the cross and the certainty of eternal life that was won for us when Christ shattered the power of death by his resurrection from the dead. What joy and comfort this sweet message gives!
Moses on the plains of Moab reminded the children of Israel of all the mighty acts God had done to save them. He reminded them of the strong right arm of the Lord who brought the 10 plagues on Egypt and split the waters of the Red Sea so they could pass through on dry ground. Moses reminded them of the miracles in the desert of manna and quail and water from the rock that preserved them during their years of wandering. Moses
wanted parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, friends and neighbors to talk about the salvation that was won for them by God and teach it to their children. “Teach them diligently to your children, and speak about them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as a sign on your wrists, and they will serve as symbols on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates.”
This solemn duty has been given to us as well. Jesus commanded all of his followers to “Go and gather disciples from all nations by baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and by teaching them to keep all the instructions I have given you. And surely I am with you always until the end of the age.” As parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, friends and neighbors, leaders of the church, and pastor and teacher, we have a duty to train the next generation that has been entrusted to our care about the love of the Lord.
This is a duty that should be a joy and not a burden. After all, we too know the mighty things that God has done to save us. We have experienced miracles just as amazing as the parting of the Red Sea. Water and Word that bring the dead to life, bread and wine, body and blood that give us the forgiveness of sins that was won for us on the cross. The crown of victory is given to each believer as they fall asleep in the Lord and awaken in the heavenly banquet that has been prepared for us.
A few weeks ago, I was able to participate in the 125th anniversary of my home congregation in Wautoma. As I sat in front during the service, I couldn’t help but remember and give thanks for the people who taught me the love the Lord. My parents, who raised me in the faith, my Pastor Sulzle, who instructed in the truths of God’s Word and gave me a love for history, and my Lutheran grade school and high school teachers, who demonstrated for me a love of God’s Word and encouraged me to grow in my faith and then share that faith with others.
As we celebrate the 175th anniversary of our Synod, let us give thanks to God for the faithful parents, teachers, pastors, relatives, or friends who taught you the love the Lord. Praise God for the amazing blessing of our grade schools and high schools that support our parents as they teach their children the Word of God. Praise him for our Synodical schools, which train young men and women to be faithful witnesses to train and equip the next generation of witnesses. And pray to God that his Word may ever be on our hearts. Amen.