William Chancellor Weedon

St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2017. 179 Pages. Softcover. $14.99

Reviewed by Rev. Dr. E. Anthony Sikora, Pastor, Hope Lutheran Church, DeWitt, Michigan on 08/31/2018

Thank, Praise, Serve, and Obey is a welcomed primer on faithful, biblical piety in a world immersed in isolated spirituality. “This is a book on piety and specifically posits that piety as a good thing” (VII). As our western culture continues to embrace a spirituality that is not religious, Weedon sets before us a life ordered around God’s word and practiced within our vocation as Christians in, but not of, the world. Throughout his book Weedon makes liberal use of scripture, Luther’s Small and Large Catechisms, and the Hymnal, resources proven through the centuries to faithfully entrench the believer in godly habits.

Each chapter directs the reader outside of themselves first to receive and then to practice. Chapters one through four direct the reader to the word, prayer, the Eucharist and Absolution. The means of grace and prayer serve as the foundation for an ordered Christian life. Chapters five through seven direct the reader to practice sacrificial giving, confessing Christ, and good works. Chapter eight’s teaching on remembering death and the Day of Judgment gives the whole book, and thus Christian piety, perspective.

Weedon rightly centers Christian Piety around the means of God’s grace and its outward flow to others within our vocations. As primers go this is a good introduction to a life lost in a culture of self-serving and emotional spirituality. The reader will taste and see that piety is good and, God willing, will be drawn to dive deeper and practice more devoutly each of these godly habits.