"God settles the solitary in a home" (Ps. 68:6).
"He also gives me...home...and children" (Small Catechism).
We leave behind the Ten Commandments now and come to the Creed. I love this moment in the Small Catechism! The Creed is the true center of the Catechism. The Commandments point to the need for it, and then the Lord's Prayer and the Sacraments flow out of it.
The Creed is one, and yet has three parts or "articles." That is because God is one, and yet three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
About the First Article many things could be said, but I will choose one or two. We learn and remember that God gives. God is the Giver. And among the things He gives are "home" and "children." No one is learning this more right now than the Schmeling family and two very special young men named Ryan and Erik.
Ryan (14) and Erik (12) are brothers, and they are the nephews of Bryan and Kathleen Schmeling, who have three girls: Caroline, Abigail, and Elizabeth. On Sunday, the day of resurrection and hope, it became clear to all that God was giving the boys a new home and was giving two more children to the Schmelings. It's a new thing and it's going to take some time, but there is no doubt that this is God's "appointment" to show His love.
We talk a lot about Home here at Our Redeemer. This is one very exciting example of what that means! And we talk about Church, which is really a family of faith and love. As the Schmeling family grows to seven (the perfect number!), the Our Redeemer family grows "two." This Sunday when the Schmelings come to Church, we'll get to show Ryan and Erik how happy we are to have them be part of our family! God bless it!
God is truly the Giver. The Giver of His Son for our salvation - and the Giver of all good things. "If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?" (Rom. 8:31-32).
