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In Episode 97 of HT-Radio, Pr. Borghardt is joined by the Higher Things Media Executive – Rev. Mark Buetow. Pr. Buetow goes through his In-Depth Sectional from the Higher Things Given Conferences. The In-Depth focused on how you can intelligently talk about Jesus with your unbelieving friends.
by Rev. Matthew Harrison
My dad loved to go to the early service—always the early service, and the earlier the better. He would have loved to have Easter sunrise service every Sunday of the year! But it was a different story for my brother and me. Church? Forget it. I’d rather sleep in since my brother and I liked to stay up as late as we possibly could on Saturday night.
Dad had the habit of saying the most un-cool things at 7:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning: “Come on boys! Up and at ‘em!” Then, if we lay in the sack too long, he’d go grab a towel or wash cloth, soak it in the coldest water possible, and come and throw it on any exposed skin (usually a face, sometimes a back).
Then the routine was simple for me. Get dressed. Wolf down any available food. Hassle my little sister until she lodged a formal complaint with my parents—you know, normal stuff.
I thank God now for my dad’s dogged persistence and his no-questions-asked, we’re-going-to-church-buddy-so-change-your-attitude attitude. My parents gave me something very important. They taught me that Christians go to church, but it wasn’t until many years later that I managed to figure out just why we go to church!
Why go to church? To learn about God. To give our time, talent and treasure back to God. To show God how we care about him. To worship God. Great answers, but they all miss the main point—Jesus.
I once read a sermon by Martin Luther, which forever changed how I look at going to church. Luther said to think about going to church with an empty sack. What’s the first thing you do in church? You confess,“I, a poor miserable sinner…”How we love to confess,“Oh Almighty God, my brother, my dad or mom, is a poor miserable sinner,” or “I thank Thee, Lord, I’m not like other men” (Luke 17). But here, finally, there are no more excuses. The problem is ME. This is simply saying,“Dear God, I’ve got an empty sack.”
Then what happens? The pastor says, “In the stead and by the command of Christ, I forgive you.” It’s as good as Jesus saying it himself (John 20)! And at just that moment, God throws a heap of grace, mercy, and peace into your empty sack! You do nothing; you only receive, mouth hanging open, looking down into your bag, amazed at the gift. And what do you say? “AMEN!” That is,“Yep! I got it God! It’s in the bag!” And then comes more.
The lessons are read, and more grace and love and mercy from God are piled into the bag! After the gospel is read you say,“Thanks be to God! Yep! In the bag!” Hymns are sung which speak of Christ and His birth, life, death, and resurrection for you. Then the sermon is preached. The gospel of free forgiveness from Jesus is dished up and delivered to you. And the very forgiveness spoken about actually happens (Rom. 1:16)! The sermon ends with an “Amen!” And don’t just let the pastor have that “Amen” at the end of the sermon. You say it with him. By doing so you say,“Yep! I believe it! Jesus is mine. It’s in the bag!”
Then comes the Lord’s Supper.“Take and eat…” and you respond,“Amen! Got it!” Then comes the blessing,“The Lord bless you and keep you, and make His face shine upon you….”You respond,“Amen, Amen, Amen! I got it! It’s in the bag! And it’s heaping full!” By the end of the service your sack is heaped full of God’s forgiveness and grace and mercy. All your sins are forgiven. Do you see how foolish it is to whine,“I don’t get anything out of it” even when the sermon doesn’t strike home?
Then, bag full, you merrily head out of church. First thing you know, your dad sins against you by thinking you did something when you didn’t; or your sister proceeds to generally make life miserable for you; or that kid at school whom you really actually hate makes you seethe with anger. What do you do? You pull that full bag off your shoulder and smack ‘em right over the head with it? –No!
You pull that sack of forgiveness off your back and say, “Christ has given me this sack of forgiveness and love and mercy. Here, I want to give you some forgiveness.”
And so it goes through the week. Mercy and love for the teacher who drives you insane. Forgiveness and prayers for the bully who makes your life miserable. Grace to “put the best meaning” on things, instead of gossiping. Strength of faith and hope and love, to help someone in time of need. But you fail time and again, and scoop up that grace and mercy for yourself, until you’re back at church, back on your knees, confessing something true: “Dear God, I’ve got an empty sack.”
Luther got it exactly right. Jesus told a parable about a Pharisee and a tax collector. The Pharisee went to church and prayed loudly,“Dear God, I thank you that I’m not like other men. I pray. I fast. I give a tenth of all I get.” He was saying, “I’ve got a full sack, God. I filled it. And I’m proud of it.”
He did not realize that our relationship with God is not primarily about what we do. It’s about what God does for us in Christ. If we won’t have an empty sack, we’ll have no God to fill it for us. But standing far off from the Pharisee, there was another man. He beat his chest, knowing full well that he was a sinner. He prayed,“God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”
“I tell you the truth,” Jesus said.“that man went away justified—forgiven.”
This Sunday, every time you say “Amen” in the liturgy, or after the sermon, or at the Lord’s Supper, take note of what just got dropped in your sack! It’s Jesus and His forgiveness, grace, and mercy.
This article originally appeared in Winter 2003 ed of the Higher Things Magazine.
Higher Things was honored at the triennial LCMS Synodical Convention last week in Houston with both a resolution supporting the work of HT as well as the election of several staff and board members to positions throughout the Synod.
The resolution of the Synod in convention gives the following “resolved:”
That the Synod in convention recognize Higher Things as a valuable asset for youth ministry for its congregations and encourage its members to consider including Higher Things in their youth ministry strategies.
In addition, many current and former Higher Things staff, speakers and supporters have been elected to various positions around the Synod. These include:
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Episode 95 of HT-Radio was recorded late Thursday night at GIVEN: Nashville. Pr. Borghardt and Patrick were joined by most of your favorite HT personalities. They answered questions from youth groups and CCVs who gathered around the Microphones.
Gen 2:4-7; 1 Pet 1:13-23; Jn 3:13-21
In Nomine Iesu
“Oh, you shouldn’t have. No, really, you shouldn’t have. It’s too nice. It’s too expensive. I don’t deserve it. You shouldn’t have bothered. Why did you do this? Wow. I’m totally blown away by this! You really shouldn’t have.”
Isn’t that how it sounds when we receive an unexpected gift? “You shouldn’t have.” Why? Because now I have to give you something back. Because now I’m obligated to you. Because now there is a debt between me and you.
We’re natural-born transactionalists. Deal-cutters. Bargainers. When we give gifts, it’s to get something in return. Isn’t it? Guys? Hmmmm? We bribe. We bargain. We butter up. We control and manipulate. “If you really loved me, you’d buy me that ring.” “How do I love thee, let me count the ways: One carat, two carats, three carats, more.”
Thusly God loved the world: He gave Jesus. This is His love: He sent His only-begotten Son into the world, into our flesh, born of a Virgin, born under Law, to redeem the world, to buy it back, not with gold or silver, but with His holy precious blood and his innocent suffering and death. Not to condemn the world but to save it.
It’s not a deal, it’s a gift. God loved the world in His Son. God gave His Son to the world. A gift given. Wrapped in swaddling clothes. Hung on a cross. Raised from the dead. It’s a fact whether you believe it or not, want it or not, like it or not.
God gave Adam life. Body and breath. He breathed into Adam’s clay His breath of life and Adam became a living being. It’s one of the most remarkable verses of the Bible,and I defy anyone to rationalize it. There was no transaction. No bargaining. No deal. Just lifeless clay and the breath of God. Divine CPR.
God has given you body and breath too. Not out of the mud, but from your mother and father. Biologically reasonable, yes, but no less mysterious. We know about the genetic code and conception and all that, but we are no less fearfully and wonderfully made. Your eyes, your ears, your parts, your reason, your senses, your psychology, your intellect, your intuition, our talents. All are gifts from your Giver God.
Adam and Eve refused the gift, and you know the story. It’s written in Genesis 3 and also in your life. The rebel will. The refusal to be given to. The gift used against God. That’s what evil is. God’s good used against God. A tree becomes a weapon of defiance; its fruit the sacrament of death. “On the day you eat of it, you will surely die.” “You will be dead to me. Adam, where are you? Where are YOU?”
They loved darkness rather than light; themselves rather than God; the devil’s instead of God’s truth. You know the outcome. Ashamed, hiding, fearful, accusing each other, accusing God.
We love the darkness. We love the deal. We love the notion that we are gods and that we have God wrapped around our little fingers. We love the idea that we can be like gods. Some people think they are. What better religion can there be than one where you are a god? We love the notion that we can work our way up the ladder, and we’ll devise ladders small enough for us to climb. Oh we love the darkness for what it hides. We hide from each other and from God.
You too. Your inner sinner, the old Adam, Adam 1.0, loves the darkness, the shelter the darkness affords for sin. Who will see when no one is watching? Who will know when no one has knowledge? Who will judge when you don’t get caught? God does. His light penetrates the darkness of sin and death, exposing the evil and bringing it into the truth.
Here is the truth: God gave His Son. This is His love for the world, for you. Behold, the Lamb slain and living whose blood pays the price for your sin, whose death conquers your death, whose life is your life. It’s all given, to be received by faith, simple trust that it is finished, it is so. This is the judgment: Light or darkness, life or death, Jesus or self. “He who believes, who trusts, is not condemned; he who does not believe, does not trust, is condemned already.” Believe it, my friends, believe it. Trust this Jesus who saved you. He is all you have and all you need. He is given you.
He gives you His gifts. You were dead in trespasses and sin. You still are, in yourself. Dead as dead can be. The Law says so. Your sins are the hard evidence. But God breathed life into you. New life. The Spirit. In your Baptism you were born anew from above. As you had no choice in your first birth, so there is no choice here either. Baptism is not a deal but a gift. Forgiveness, life, salvation – all are given you in water and Word. And again in Absolution, given you in the word of forgiveness. And still more in the Supper, His death destroying, sin forgiving, life sustaining body and blood given you in your own mouth, His words ringing in your own ears. “Sinner, I have not come to condemn you but to save you.”
God can’t help Himself. He loves to give. He loves giving out gifts to His children. And He loves when His children receive His gifts. It is the Father’s joy that you receive the gifts of creation, the gift of His Son, the gift of salvation, the gift of the Spirit and new life and adoption and the opportunity to call Him Father with delight.
So what do you say to such gifts? What can say? “Oh, you shouldn’t have?” Of course not! Simply Amen! Gifts received with joy and thanksgiving. This is most certainly true.
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
by Heidi Gaub
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
The best week out of my year, hands down, is the Higher Things conference. This year I served as a Christ on Campus Volunteer (CCV) for the Given conference in Logan, UT. It was my fourth conference attended, my second time as a CCV. As always, Higher Things did not disappoint.
This year we focused on the theme “Given”, the gifts God has given to us through his Son, Jesus Christ. The plenary sessions, in-depths, and breakaways, although varied in topic, focused on these gifts given through Christ. The liturgy, marriage, confession and absolution, the Ten Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer, and baptism, are examples of God’s gifts to us that were looked into further at this year’s conferences. All of these sessions also reinforced that these gifts were GIVEN TO us. That Christ died FOR us. It is nothing that we did for we are sinners and can do nothing worthy of these gifts. God does not need our worship and praise, he does not need us to confess our sins, or to pray. These are gifts that are FOR us, to strengthen our faith and to keep us in His Word, for He has GIVEN us eternal salvation through His Son.
We went to 10 worship services that week, two of those being the Divine Service, and we also prayed Compline every night. These services delivered God’s gifts to us through the Word and Sacrament, the liturgy, and confession and absolution. These worship services always fill my eyes with tears, simply because I am so amazed at 500+ youth singing “We Praise You and Acknowledge You” and chanting the liturgy with such sincerity and faith.
I love what Higher Things does and I could not be more thankful to the people who help keep this organization running. It is so important for the young people to come and worship, learn, and enjoy the company of their brothers and sisters in Christ. It has been said before that we live in a time that makes it very difficult to be Lutheran but these youth “Dare to be Lutheran!”
It is incredible to walk out of a breakaway teaching session and hear high-school aged youth talking about how great the session was and that they want to hear the pastor speak again. It is amazing to hear them asking questions, trying to learn as much as they can in a one-hour session. It is refreshing to hear youth talking about worship services, the Bible, and the catechism and not topics that would so frequently take up the conversation of teenagers today. It is wonderful to see them making new friends, and meeting new people from all over the country who share their faith.
Although I served as a CCV of the conference, I was still able to attend all the worship services, plenary sessions, in-depths, and breakaways. Sure, I ran around like a crazy person the rest of the time but to me it was all worth it. I do this for the youth because I am grateful someone did the same for me when I was an attendee. I learned so much and took new knowledge and understanding home with me. You know Higher Things is doing something right when a sleep-deprived volunteer can stay awake during all the sessions, eager to learn, and when she rolls out of bed at 4:30 in the morning to pray the Litany with other CCVs!
I pray for Higher Things daily and for all of our youth. I go home confused when there is only church once a week on Sunday and not more services to attend! I break out into biblical discussion with anyone I run into, quoting the in-depth, breakaway, and plenary speakers I heard. I miss Compline so much, in fact, that a few fellow CCVs and I have even begun praying it over Skype with each other at night!
Higher Things is a constant reminder to me that all of the earthly troubles and worries I have will end and I will receive the gift of eternal life. Although it hurts every year to say “good-bye” because I don’t know when and if I will see everyone again in this earthly life, I know I commune with all my brothers and sisters in Christ and all the company of heaven every Sunday, and we will live in eternal joy and salvation through Christ Jesus, our Lord.
The gifts Christ freely gives, He gives to you and me, to be His own, His bride, His chosen, saved and free! Saints blest with these rich gifts are children who proclaim that they were won by Christ, and cling to His strong name.” (LSB 602)
Heidi Gaub served as a CCV at Given 2010 in Logan, UT.
We’ve received a number of questions about the merchandise we featured at the 2010 Higher Things summer conferences. All of these t-shirts and hoodies are available online via Printfection, an online retailer. You can find our catalog of merchandise by clicking here. This link can always be found via our Store page as well.
Adriane Dorr, a long time editor and writer for the Higher Things magazine has recently taken a position with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod’s flagship publication, The Lutheran Witness. Everyone at Higher Things is very excited for her and wish her the best on her new endeavor in the world of publications.
A full press release from the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod’s Board for Communication Services can be read online at: http://www.lcms.org/pages/rpage.asp?NavID=17198
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Episode 94 of HT-Radio was recorded live at the Given Conference in Logan Utah. Some of the guests to answer questions from the audience are Pr. Kuhlman, Pr. Buetow, Pr. Kind, Pr. Fritche, Sandra Ostapowich, Chris Loemker and of course Pr. Borghardt and Patrick Sturdivant.
