The Christian and His Home

If the story of the Cross of Jesus finds an abiding place in any home, that family is indeed blessed and endowed with the power that makes this life of ours really worth living. Such a home will have Christ the Glory of time, the Crown of eternity.

1923 Walter A. Maier Walther League Messenger

The following article by Walter A. Maier is taken from the August-September 1923 issue of the Walther League Messenger, Volume 32, Number 1 & 2.

It has often been said, and correctly said, that the homes of a people are the pillars of their nation and that the moral fibre and strength of any country may be accurately gauged by the influence which is radiated from the family hearth. For, "when home-ties become loosened, when men and women cease to regard a worthy family life with all its duties fully performed and all its responsibilities lived up to, as the life best worth living, then," as Theodore Roosevelt once said, "evil days for the commonwealth are at hand."

As we look about us today we realize to our sorrow that the home life which has enraptured poets and inspired artists is in too many cases passing under the pressure of our too swiftly moving world with its cold commercialism and its driving pleasure-seeking, and that as a result the authority of the parents is often weakened, the interests of the home divided, and the pleasures of the family fireside deserted for the glitter and tinsel of outside attractions.

There is only one power that is strong enough to counteract this threatening evil, and that power is only, but wholly, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Put Jesus into any home; let Him be the third member whenever a new household is started; let there be inscribed upon its walls and graven upon the hearts of those who dwell within those walls: "Christ is the head of this house, the unseen Guest at every meal, the silent Listener to every conversation,” and such homes will come closest to the high ideal of a perfect home.

In such a home, marriage is something high and holy, not a mere temporary arrangement that may be discarded as soon as it proves inconvenient; in such a home, both husband and wife realize the divine love that prompted the all-wise Creator to tell all the generations of men: "Be fruitful and multiply," and children are regarded as the gifts of God's grace, so that there is no unwillingness to assume the duties and responsibilities of parenthood. In homes that are thus blessed the eternal Redeemer Himself is enthroned and it is His Spirit of peace and helpfulness and love that can quiet the tempests that arise in almost every family and adjust the misunderstandings that crop out as long as human nature still asserts itself.

And in any home where Jesus reigns supreme, children will love and honor their parents, for they will remember that the blessed Savior Himself was subject to His earthly parents and that even in the height of His great passion He looked down from the Cross and provided for the support and comfort of His mother. Christian young people will realize that the Savior still tells them: "Honor thy father and mother," and a sense of gratitude for the immeasurable world of deep love that crowds itself into their parents' lives, will lead them to count no effort too great that will enable their parents to spend their declining years in comfort and blessing and to receive unmistakable tokens of their childrens' love and devotion.

But to both, parents and children, the Savior looks for a home life that will be a constant expression of faith in His Name. There can be no sincerely Christian home where the family altar has not been established and where the members of the household do not unite in morning and evening prayers to the Father above. There is something missing in that home where the Bible with the solutions which it offers for all the perplexing problems of any household, is not read in the quiet devotion of the family circle, for it is still true: "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it."

Yet if the story of the Cross of Jesus finds an abiding place in any home, that family is indeed blessed and endowed with the power that makes this life of ours really worth living. Such a home may not attract the attention of men; it may not boast of the wealth and luxury, or offer the comforts and the attractions which men are apt to prize highly, but it will have another glory: it will have Christ, the eternal Redeemer, Christ as the Guide and Counsellor of husband and wife, Christ as the Guardian and Protector of all who dwell within that home, Christ to share in joy and happiness, Christ to soothe in sorrow and distress, Christ to receive the little children that are born to bless that home, Christ to wipe away the tears that come when a dear one is carried by angels into the heavenly home: Christ the Glory of time, the Crown of eternity.

W. A. M.