Author: Higher Things

The Mississippi River isn’t exactly what you would call “clean.” Its waters are murky, muddy, and filled with all kinds of things that are just better left to the imagination. It’s not the kind of river that invites swimming or eating its fish. This summer we really got to see these murky, muddy waters up close and personal as water levels rose far above normal flood stage. We also got our first taste of sand-bagging, as we desperately tried to keep the floodwater from overtaking our town’s water pump. Fortunately for us, we live upon a bluff, far out of the danger zone. But we know plenty of people whose homes and fields were destroyed. One thing is for sure, wherever the water went it left behind an appetizing(!) trail of silt, dead fish, and driftwood.

Contrast this with the crystal clear waters of Holy Baptism. Here is a flood of a completely different sort, one in which the filthy darkness of sin is engulfed and covered by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. It is a cleansing flood, one that takes away all the disgusting filth of sin, and leaves in its path a trail of faith and good works.

Like the flood of Genesis, and to some extent like the flood of 2008 on the Mississippi, Holy Baptism has both a destructive and a saving element to it. It both destroys and drowns the Old Adam with all of its sinful desires, and it brings forth a new creation, an entirely New Man within the sinner. New life springs forth where there was only death before. By this saving flood, sinners are made saints; children of the devil become children of God; hearts of stone are replaced with hearts of flesh.

There is nothing dirty or murky about the waters of Holy Baptism. The Prophet Ezekiel calls it “clean water” (Ezek 36:25 ESV). The writer to the Hebrews says that our hearts have been “sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Heb 10:22 ESV). In Revelation 22, John refers to Holy Baptism as the “river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb” (Rev. 22:1 ESV.) What makes Holy Baptism “clean,” “pure,” and “bright as crystal”? What gives it the power to clean up the mess of sin, and to remove an evil and sin-stained conscience? What else but the blood of Christ Jesus, shed on the cross on behalf of sinners.

Have you ever tried to clean a window with dirty water? It doesn’t work very well, does it? It leaves even more smudges and stains than there were before. That’s what happens when we try to clean up our mess of sin by our own efforts. It just makes things worse. Even our best and most concerted efforts and intentions are stained with sin, as the Apostle Paul even complains: “When I want to do right, evil lies close at hand” (Rom 7:21 ESV).

God does not use dirty water to make us clean or to give us a clean conscience. He uses only the purest, cleanest, freshest water that there is: “the washing of water with the word.” (Eph 5:26 ESV)

by the Rev. Paul L. Beisel

Teenage readers of Higher Things may not remember a time before chanted services, especially if your pastor graduated from the seminary within the last 15 years. Even the youngest of us pastors and parents, on the other hand, can recall a time when fully chanted services were almost non-existent in Lutheran churches. Chanted psalms and prayers were virtually unheard of. That’s not to say that there was no singing. The congregation sang hymns and liturgical responses, but in the majority of congregations, the pastor spoke all of his parts, in part because only the responses were set to music in The Lutheran Hymnal (1941).

Now known by many as the “old” hymnal, Lutheran Worship (1982) made strides to re-introduce chanting in the early eighties, and since then congregations have grown more and more accustomed to the practice, though many still see chanting, like making the sign of the cross, as verboten (forbidden) for Lutherans. Lutheran Service Book (2006) has continued and in many ways expanded what was begun in Lutheran Worship, providing chants for the pastor, chant tones for the Psalms and for the prayers in the Divine Service and Daily Prayer Offices. Now it is not uncommon, especially at Higher Things Conferences, to hear the pastor chant not only his parts of the service, but the Collects, Psalm verses, and in some places even the lessons.

It is hard to say with any precision why the Lutheran Church has seen such a resurgence of chanting in America in recent years. Perhaps one of the easiest explanations for it is a simple fact that we can. God’s Word neither commands nor forbids the chanting of prayers, psalms, or other parts of the Christian service. There is certainly nothing unbiblical about it. Throughout the centuries Christians have joyfully chanted Psalms and Hymns, following the advice of the blessed Apostle St. Paul to the Colossians: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Col. 3:16). Early Christians were not doing anything new when they sang psalms and hymns during the service but were doing what believers had always done.

Another likely reason for the return to chanting among us is the realization that chanting no more makes one a Roman Catholic than does reading the Epistle or the Gospel in the Church. When Protestant Christianity made its way into the New World, it did not leave its anti-Catholic sentiments behind. Following the lead of their Puritanical neighbors, many of our Lutheran ancestors who came to North America utterly rejected anything that resembled a Catholic service, including chanting.

Happily, there were a few Lutherans who escaped this prejudice, like C.F.W. Walther, the first president of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Walther refused to let criticism of chanting by Lutheran pastors stand, writing in Der Lutheraner (pre-cursor to the Lutheran Witness): “If you insist upon calling every element in the Divine Service “Romish” that has been used by the Roman Catholic Church, it must follow that the reading of the Epistle and Gospel is also “Romish”; Indeed, it is mischief to sing or preach in church, for the Roman Church has done this also…”

Lutherans who are opposed to chanting might be surprised to hear that several of the chants used in our services today were composed by Luther himself. Like many theologians and pastors before him, Luther understood the gift that God had given in music, echoing the long-held belief that “next to the Word of God, music deserves the highest praise.” If your pastor chants the Words of Institution during the Communion service, you can thank not Rome, but Luther.

The common practice of Luther’s day was for the Words of Christ to be said inaudibly by the priest, and Luther believed that the whole church should hear those words. And what better way to make them heard than to set them to music? So it was Luther who arranged the chant that is commonly used for Christ’s words instituting the Sacrament of the Altar. Not only did Luther compose chants for the Words of Institution, he did so also for the Epistle and Gospel readings, and allowed for the Creed to be sung as well in his Deutsche Messe (German Mass). No one can say that Luther was opposed to chanting.

Is chanting absolutely necessary for a valid celebration of the Lord’s Supper, or is it somehow more pleasing to God than speaking? Not at all! There are a time and a place for both in Christian worship. Whether you chant or speak God’s Word or prayers to God, what matters above all is faith. Chanting does not make one any more of a Christian than anyone else, or any less of one for that matter. There are, however, several advantages to chanting that pastors and congregations are beginning once again to acknowledge. Some of these are explained by Rev. David Petersen in the Liturgy and Hymns booklet for a 2003 Higher Things Conference: “Chanting is meant to make the words more distinct and easier to hear. It also lends beauty to the service. It helps to set Divine Words apart from the everyday, secular words, and ceremonies. The music is deliberately simple. It is intended to carry the words, not to interpret them. That is part of what distinguished chanting from singing” (p. 4).

Furthermore, chanting helps the congregation slow down and recite Psalms in unison, rather than having three or four people at the end of the psalm while the rest are still in the middle. Chanting also tends to be easier on the pastor’s voice and makes it easier for one to project. Chanting also aids in the learning process. Think of all the song lyrics you know. I’ll bet it is easier to recall those lyrics when you sing them than when you just try to speak them. It is the same with Holy Scripture. Set it to music, and suddenly you just made it that much easier to remember it!

Inevitably you will have this experience at some point in your life: you bring a friend to church and after the service, he or she says to you, “Why did your pastor sing everything? Isn’t that what Catholics do?” To which you can respond: “Yes. So is reading the Epistle and Gospel, singing, preaching, and praying.” And then, if you really want to sound intelligent, you can say in the (incorrectly quoted) words of St. Augustine: “He who sings prays twice.” Happy chanting!

by The Rev. Paul L. Beisel

Have you ever wondered if you might have sinned so much, or in such a way, that God’s forgiveness in Christ Jesus would no longer apply to you? If you have, what have you turned to for confident answers? It is not uncommon for Christians who have been battling nagging sins that trouble to wonder if they might be running out of God’s mercy and forgiveness. Is there an end to God’s forgiveness? Can a Christian sin so persistently that God would lose his patience and withhold his forgiveness? Can we reach a point when our sinning becomes unforgivable? Indeed, is there such a thing as an unforgivable sin? Anxious sinners who see alarming sins sticking to their lives, desperately want to know the answers to these questions. Do you know someone like this? Are you one of them?

Let’s ponder what the Scriptures tell us about God’s forgiveness in Christ Jesus and hold fast to what they tell us despite how we may be inclined to feel at times. Notice how comprehensively Paul describes the saving work of Christ in II Corinthians 5:19: in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them. . .

Notice how Paul describes the who and what is included in the saving work of Christ. The who is the whole world of sinners and the what is described as simply their trespasses. Paul’s words are categorical and provide for no exceptions. Christ forgives all the trespasses of the whole world of sinners. He does not say that some have their trespasses forgiven, nor does he indicate that only some trespasses are forgiven. It is as simple as that: all sins of everyone are forgiven through the atoning sacrifice of Christ Jesus. The same point is made with different wording by the Apostle in Romans 5, and this language maybe even more helpful to those Christians who may have questions about the magnitude of their sinfulness. Paul states: . . . where sin increased, Grace abounded all the more (Rom 5:20). Christians alarmed about their sins may take comfort in these words of the Apostle. If you see your sins abounding more and more through the accusing finger of the Law, you can be assured by the Word of God that grace is abounding all that much more – big sins, small sins, infrequent sins, habitual sins, all sins, period. The riches of God’s grace will always outstrip the magnitude of your sins.

Let’s carry the matter further. Some sensitive Christians may be alarmed over the question: Yes. Jesus forgives all my sins, but have I separated myself from his forgiveness by the way I am living my life? Perhaps some may recall that the famous actor, George C. Scott won the Oscar for best actor for his portrayal of General George S. Patton in the 1970 movie. Patton. Perhaps, less remembered is the fact that Scott refused the Oscar. Objectively the Oscar exists and it is his, but Scott has chosen to live separate from it. Tragically, while everyone is forgiven in Christ Jesus, many do not live with it through faith. Sinners receive and live with the forgiveness of Christ through a faith that is created and sustained by the power of the Holy Spirit through the power of the Gospel (Rom. 1:16, 10:17). Can the sinfulness of your life put your faith in Christ at risk? Perhaps. God makes our sinful hearts hungry and ready to receive his forgiveness and strengthen our faith again and again through the Gospel by fashioning and maintaining a repentant heart by the accusing work of his Law. It is why we need the ministry of his Law as well as the Gospel continually in our Christian walk of faith. It makes a soft heart hungry for his healing, restoring forgiveness.

Satan, however, is always about trying to turn Christ’s forgiveness into a license for sin, rather than a remedy for sin. (see Romans 6:1-11) When we become uncaring about our sins; when habitual sins no longer bother us; when we no longer struggle against them; then, God’s Law is blunted, our hearts become hardened, and we refuse to feed on the Gospel. As a result of not feeding on God’s Word of forgiveness, faith is weakened, the Holy Spirit is grieved, and we are in peril of having our trust in Christ’s forgiveness snuffed out by unrepentant indifference. In this sense, the Church has spoken of the unforgivable sin.

The unforgivable sin is not the absence of forgiveness, but rather like George C. Scott and his Oscar, it is the refusal of forgiveness. It is not unforgivable because Christ did not die for such a sin; it is unforgivable because it is the separation of the self from His forgiveness. Such is the condition of all who have died without faith in the forgiveness of Christ and are now in Hell. It is not that they were bigger or more despicable sinners; it is that they refused to live with Christ’s forgiveness through faith.

But now, you ask: Am I committing the unforgivable sin? You want to know if your nagging, habitual, nasty sins are destroying your faith and ultimately working to grieve the Holy Spirit and separate you from Christ’s forgiveness. You can take your measurements on this very important question in the following way. If you are bored by this topic, if you don’t care about the matter of your sins and God’s forgiveness, if you think that you have a great arrangement, loving to sin so much while God loves to forgive so much . . . then, the answer is Yes! You probably are in danger of committing the unforgivable sin. You need to repent of your indifference, your mocking of God, and your smugness; and then you need to feed on his forgiveness, not simply presume it.

However, if you are alarmed about your sins and the threat of them choking off your faith and appetite for the forgiveness of Christ, you need not be. If you are longing to have and live with the grace of our Lord, be assured; you have it securely. If you desire the mercy of God while your sins bother you – regardless of the continuing presence of nagging sins – be assured your faith-life is healthy and you, like St. Paul may gloriously consider yourself chief of sinners. If these things shape your attitudes and concerns, be assured, you are not committing the unforgivable sin. We live by grace, not getting rid of our sins. While we are called to smash, bash, and trash the old sinful nature in all of us, there is no ridding ourselves of that old Adam until we enter glory. It is not the presence of persistent sin, but the absence of faith that separates us from the graciousness of God in Christ Jesus. The forgiveness of Christ saves because it covers our sins, not because it removes them. And let me encourage you to cling to God’s objective Word of forgiveness as it comes to you through Holy Absolution, through its objective presentation to you in sermon and lesson, and through the body and blood of Jesus in His Holy Supper. As sinners, we live as by grace, or we just do not live at all. But thanks be to God, Who has called us to a faith in that forgiveness by Christ Jesus . . . we live by grace!

by The Rev. Dr. Steven Hein

by The Rev. Richard Heinz

A few years ago, a dear friend of our family moved to Delaware, Ohio. She shares our love of tea.  To make a long story short, she and her daughter discovered a little cottage where afternoon tea was served.

Now, tea rooms usually have an assortment of loose teas that brew in the pot and are poured through a strainer into your cup.  This little shop, however, had a specialty blend – one that we always selected – no need to waste time with the other choices.  The Apple Tree Cottage’s special tea was Cinnamon-Vanilla.

Soothing.  Calming.  A delightfully mellowing way to relax, sipping cinnamon-vanilla tea and tasting some great sandwiches, pastries, and desserts.  We had to take some home!

We were pleased to be able to buy some sachets of it, and have since shared it with other friends.  Emma and Brian were over one evening when we served this delightful hot beverage.  That night Emma first called it “comfort in a cup.”

How true!  This amazing mixture of sweet and spicy was truly comforting.  Yes, comfort in a cup!

Yet as I think of it some more, as much as I enjoy this amazing treat, there is another cup that is far more comforting!  Saint Ignatius, the first-century pastor and bishop of Antioch, called it the “medicine of immortality.”  Jesus said: “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:54 ESV)  Saint Paul reminds us why: “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?”  (1 Corinthians 10:16 ESV)

Jesus gives you the true “comfort in a cup” as He pours out His blood, shed on the cross for you. He quenches your thirst with the fruit of the True Vine, which spilled from His veins and sacred wounds. This precious lifeblood removes all fear and guilt over your sin, as He feeds you forgiveness, life, and salvation.

Some will warn against this precious Sacrament if you are feeling weak or ill-prepared.  Yet when you are troubled by your sin and doubt, feeling weak in your faith and weary of this world, it is precisely the time to be drawn to our Savior’s holy altar and receive His saving feast!  This is the hour that you most desperately need to be nourished and sustained – and comforted!

Our Lord Jesus bids you come to His Table, to taste and see that the Lord is good!  He desires that you in your weakness would be filled with His strength, as He gives it in His Most Precious Sacrament.

The body of God’s Lamb we eat,

A priestly food and priestly meat;

On sin-parched lips, the chalice pours

His quenching blood that life restores.  LSB 624, stanza 6

Kristi and I still enjoy the soothing simple joys of tea, especially our cinnamon-vanilla blend. But far more central to our lives in His grace is the best and truest “comfort in a cup” – the true Blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

by The Rev. Rich Heinz

The commercial begins with a racing, horse-drawn coach. The white horses gallop toward the home where the children are sleeping, while parents are online, discovering that there is an affordable vacation package for them. The excitement rushes through your veins as you begin to think, “Maybe there is a great bargain for me, too!” and you check out the Disney website.

In recent years, an advertising slogan has emphasized Walt Disney’s remarks from the opening day of Disneyland, collectively referring to the Disney parks as “The Happiest Place on Earth.” But are they? Are you truly happier there than any other place on the planet?

There is a certain rush as you go through the gate, and enter Main Street, USA. The excitement builds as you stop for your first “must-have” photo with the castle in the background. Your week continues to place one treat on top of another, as you receive excellent service, happy pampering, and continuous smiles and courtesy in shows and on rides.

Yes, Disney provides an amazingly high level of service and leisure. In many ways, most people would agree that it is the happiest place on earth. But let’s take a moment to ponder that thought.

As we approach All Saints Day, we are reminded of our heavenly future with the Lord. “Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple, and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:15-17 ESV).

Christians have this wonderful promise of a blessed eternity with the Lord. And yet it’s not only a future promise; Christ blesses you even now to enjoy a foretaste of this feast to come. Every time you gather around His altar and our Savior places His holy Body on your tongue and quenches your thirst with His most precious Blood, He truly comes to you! He brings a bit of heaven here and now so that our holy God touches you. Heaven intersects earth! In every chancel where Jesus delivers Himself, an amazing and wondrous event happens. Oh! That your eyes could actually see the miracle taking place! Jesus Christ is bringing the throne of Most High God to your parish altar. The Lamb of God who is slain and risen feeds and gives drink to His great multitude that no one could number (Rev. 7:9 ESV).

So, as dear Dr. Luther would ask: “What does this mean?” It means that there is not one single place elevated among all others as the happiest place on earth. Actually, there are thousands upon thousands of “happiest places on earth” on any given day. Every altar on which our Lord Jesus becomes incarnate in bread and wine becomes the happiest place on earth. Wherever our Lord celebrates His Holy Eucharist, preaching His Gospel in your ears and placing His Body and Blood in your mouths becomes the happiest place on earth for you!

For a Disney fanatic like me, this really gives some food for thought. As beloved as my family’s favorite vacation spot is, we are given perspective by our loving Savior. Every Lord’s Day He reminds us: THIS is the happiest place on earth!