Author: Higher Things

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News

Reflections Writers Wanted

Higher Things is looking for LCMS pastors to be Reflections writers to deliver the Gospel daily to Youth and their families! Writers should strive to communicate salvation accomplished (the cross!) and salvation delivered (the means of grace) in a simple and direct way that engages our Youth and family readers. If you would be interested in writing a batch of Daily Reflections (usually 2-4 weeks worth), then please email the Reflections Editor, Pastor Buetow at buetowmt@higherthings.org. We currently have openings for the Epiphany and Pre-Lent Seasons as well as Easter, and most of 2009. Interested writers will be asked to submit a sample Reflection for approval.

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Higher Homilies

“With the Angels and Archangels”

by The Rev. William Cwirla

Readings: Daniel 10:10-14; 12:1-3; Rev. 12:7-12; Matthew 18:1-11

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 18:10)

In the Name of Jesus.

With the Lord there is always more. More than we dare ask or expect, more than we deserve, and much more than we can see with our eyes.

Today we rejoice in the angels. The angels remind us of a world that is bigger than we are, dwelling in eternal light, incorporeal yet creaturely, easily gliding between heaven’s eternal kairos and earth’s ticking chronos. Spirit-warriors, guardians, heavenly heralds.

Angels are rarely seen, and when they are, they are not like the prettified angels and chubby cherubs you see depicted on Christmas cards. The first words they utter when seen by men is “Fear not,” and for good reason. Their appearance frightening. It drives grown men to their knees. Should we expect any less from one who would twirl the Dragon from heaven by his tail?

Though there are an innumerable myriad of angels, we know only two by name from the Scriptures – Michael the warrior, the protector of Israel and Gabriel the herald, the preacher of the Incarnation. There are the mysterious seraphim, six-winged fire angels who flutter around the throne of God singing an eternal “Holy, holy, holy” to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And there are the cherubim and the countless throngs of heavenly creatures too mysterious for us to comprehend, yet one together with us in worship.

We confess the angels when we confess God as the Maker of all things “visible and invisible.” We human beings are the top of the visibles; the angels are the top of the invisibles. They are stronger than we are, and somewhat higher in the rank of things, though we are the crown of God’s creation. Only Michael and his angels were strong enough to evict the devil and his demons from heaven. But even the angels didn’t do it on their own strength, but on the strength of Christ the Lamb, and His shed blood, and the Word of the Gospel. What gives the angels their strength is the same as what strengthens us: the blood of the Lamb and His Word.

The angels rejoiced on man’s creation day, astounded at the creativity of God that would dare make a creature in His image. The angels rejoice today over the repentance of one sinner who is turned from the lostness of sin and death and found redeemed and restored in the death and resurrection of Jesus. They proclaimed the happy news of Jesus’ conception, His birth, His resurrection. They were on hand for His ascension and welcomed Him to His throne at the right hand of the Father. They will gather the nations together and sort the catch of the resurrection, like fishermen sorting a day’s catch at the seashore or harvesters separating the wheat from the chaff.

Do we still have a place for the angels in our days of Intel processors and iPods and space stations floating in Earth’s orbit? Is there room for the angels in our skeptical age that believes nothing that cannot be counted or measured in some way? Are angels nothing more than a child’s fantasy, along with fairy stories and Santa Claus? They are the “more” of faith, opening faith’s imagination to the splendor of the things unseen.

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven,” Jesus says. The “little ones” to whom Jesus refers are not children but disciples, those who trust the promises of God’s Word with childlike simplicity of faith. It is not childish to speak of the angels, but childlike, in the way of a little one who trusts and receives. That is the way of faith in Jesus.

The Lord sends His angels to watch over His baptized, believing little ones. Michael the warrior, who hurled the ancient Serpent from heaven by his tail, together with his angelic armies who conquered by the blood of the Lamb, watch over the Lord’s militant Church and all of her little ones. They do the Lord’s bidding, and His bidding is that you should be guarded against the wiles and deceits of the Evil One. You have angels watching over you. “Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me.”

Don’t try to get a bead on the angels, though, lest you irritate them. You wouldn’t want to do that! The angels desire neither your attention nor your worship. Their faces are ever turned toward God, where they would point you as well. For it is not by angels that we are saved from sin and delivered from death, but by the blood of the Lamb once slain who lives, Jesus the crucified and risen Son of God, who though equal to the Father was made a little lower than the angels in order to rescue us by His death, whom the angels now adore with unending worship praise.

“Therefore with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify Your glorious Name, evermore praising you and saying, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of heavenly hosts. Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” So we sing with the angels in the liturgy, and so they sing with us.

 

Still let them aid us and still let them fight,
Lord of angelic hosts, battling for right,
Till, where their anthems they ceaselessly pour,
We with the angels may bow and adore.
(Lutheran Service Book #520)

Categories
News

This is the Feast (January 23- 25)

This is the Feast- A Higher Things Retreat
January 23- 25, 2009

Where: Trinity Lutheran Church, Sheboygan, WI
Cost: $45 on or before December 5, 2008; $55 after December 5, 2008
(cost includes tickets to the Erin Bode Concert)
Speaker: Pr. William Cwirla
Entertainment: Erin Bode
For more information and forms: Check out trinitysheboygan.org;
contact Chris Melcher at retreats@trinitysheboygan.org; or call (920) 458-8246
Camping-in at the church available if desired

Categories
Pop. Culture & the Arts

Spore: Playing God, Promoting Evolution, or Enjoying Creating?

by Nathan Fischer

Have you ever wanted to play God? Deep down inside, I think we all do, which is probably why so many people enjoy the games created by game designer Will Wright. He has dedicated his career to projects like SimCity and The Sims – projects that let the gamer play god in their own little world. Now with the game Spore, Will Wright’s latest release, the “god game” is taken to a whole new level.

A true desire to “play god” grows from the sin from the Fall in the Garden, when Eve and Adam desired to “be like God.” Yet we will save that sinful aspect of “playing God” for another article.

Spore is a fun and whacky game that has one very simple objective: evolve a creature from a microscopic organism to a sentient creature that is ready to fly in outer space. The genius of the game is that the player can create any kind of creature that he wants to create. Basically, the player is given a hunk of clay and the tools to develop that hunk of clay into anything. So from the insanely absurd to the mundanely normal, one can create whatever he likes.

From that perspective, the “evolution” aspect of the game is really quite perfect. Evolution is relegated to the realm of fiction – most of these creatures could not possibly exist. It’s just a game, and it’s very fun. There is nothing scientific about it, nor do the creators of Spore try to shove evolutionary ideals and principles down the player’s throat, as fact. Actually, the humorous, bizarre combinations for creatures only emphasize that evolution is a fictitious theory. In other words, the Christian will not have to worry about being on the defensive during this game. It’s just an enjoyable, relaxing game.

That is not to say, though, that there is nothing deeper to Spore. In fact, there is quite a lot to think about in game, first and foremost being the question of what makes us unique from the animals. In Spore, the great mark of your creature, what sets him above the rest of the world, is the fact that at some point or other, he will reach sentience. This is, in Spore, what truly makes your creature unique and special.

That should make us pause and consider for a moment: is this true? Unfortunately, for the world, what sets human beings apart from the animals, what makes us special, is our self-awareness – our sentience. Apart from this, we are no different from the rest of nature. In fact, some may go even so far as to say that in spite of this we are still no different from the animals around us.

However, as Christians, we know that this is not true. Scripture plainly tells us that we were created in the image of God. We did not evolve from a single cell organism. God placed Adam and Eve over the animals, and this authority remains with us today, even if made imperfect by the fall into sin.

However, even with this authority, there is something else even more unique, more special about mankind. It is not sentience, nor even the authority granted man by God in the Garden of Eden that ultimately defines us as who we are. What defines us is the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Christ’s death on the cross defines us. We are redeemed by God Himself. We are saved by the blood of the Lamb.

In Spore, you cannot climb from your computer chair into the game to become one of your creatures, nor can you sacrifice yourself for your cute little sentient beings that you mold throughout the game. That is precisely what God did for us, though – the Creator was born of the created, and He dwelt among us, and He died for us.

It’s good that in Spore there is no option to designate a creature to die for your race that you created. It would really only be a mockery of the true sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Spore it just meant to be an entertaining game. And it is in the Gospel, that good news of the freedom from sin, death, and the devil, that we can pick up a game like Spore and say, “I will play this, and have fun.” I know, it sounds silly, but it’s true! As Christians, all that we do is covered by the blood of Jesus. Every action of every day is cleansed by Him – even when we play video games.

So for those of you who like video games, enjoy Will Wright’s new creation. It’s both amusing and relaxing. And rest always in the assurance that your sins are forgiven, even when you’re sitting at your computer and molding a three legged, five eyed monstrosity that you name “Glarfinix.” Your Creator loves you, and He would do anything and everything for you. In fact, He already has. This is what defines you.

Nathan Fischer is a graduate of Concordia University – Wisconsin. Among other interests, he and his wife Katie enjoy watching movies, playing video games, and comparing and contrasting them with our faith. Nathan and Katie are also expecting their first child.

Categories
Life Issues

Help! My Biology Teacher is an Evolutionist!

by The Rev. Mark T. Buetow

First of all, don’t panic! Your biology teacher didn’t create you, die for your sins, or make you a new creation in Holy Baptism. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all about that work. Second, your biology teacher is just teaching what he or she’s been taught. They can’t help it if they’ve learned to trust in an unproven theory developed by a man who spent too long on a ship looking at animals he never saw in the zoo when he was a kid. (That would be Darwin…) And it’s not your biology teacher’s fault that the scientist who wrote the biology textbook your teacher learned from isn’t the Lord who actually created and sustains all things. After all, if the Lord wrote a book about where things come from, like, say, the BIBLE—well, we know with certainty that what is written in it is true, because it was inspired by the Holy Spirit. So you see? No need to panic if your biology teacher is an evolutionist. Rather, because YOU know where the world comes from and who the Savior is, you can sit back and learn what exactly it is the world thinks about where it came from without having to get all bent out of shape! That means you can study and learn all about evolution, still get your “A” and still be a Christian.

But for some people this is a big deal, so let’s consider a couple of important ideas. The first is this: We believe, as God’s Word teaches us, that the Lord made all that there is out of nothing in six literal days. That’s what the Book of Genesis says. While this is important, it’s NOT the Gospel. The Gospel is that our sins are forgiven for the sake of Jesus who died for them and rose again. Can a person trust in that and still think the earth took gazillions of years to have evolved the platypus? Of course they can. Because faith means being in Christ through Baptism. Or, to put it another way, the BIG DEAL is always Jesus, not “how many days” did it take to make the earth. Beware of those so called “Christians” who look down on others who don’t believe and take every word of the Bible literally, as if someone is outside of God’s grace because they haven’t understood every word of the Bible just yet. (Such people don’t either, by the way. Just ask them what’s there in the Lord’s Supper!)

On the other hand, however, creation DOES have everything to do with the Gospel and Jesus. And here’s why: When the Son of God came to save sinners, He came to be one of us. That means He became a man. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary. God became a Man. He put on human flesh. Why? To bleed and die like we do and in that way save us from our sins. The Book of Hebrews says that God didn’t become an angel. He became a man. He didn’t become a fish or a small furry mammal or a monkey and then a human. As the book of Genesis says, everything is “according to it’s kind” (Gen. 1). This is important. It means that man IS unique among all of God’s creatures. Rather than just the end product of a love affair between stupid monkeys and smart monkeys, Man has always been at the top of God’s creation. Even before Man had sinned and rebelled and run away from God, the Lord chose to become one of us to save us.

The sad thing about your biology teacher is not that they try to follow science. It’s that the science they follow leads them to the conclusion that Man is just one more random organism out there in the universe. There’s the Devil’s lie in all this: that Man isn’t really special, The Gospel teaches us that we are the center of the Universe. Maybe not the physical universe, but the center of God’s universe. After all, He made everything out of nothing and topped it all off with man made in His image. And as if that were not enough, when that top-of-the-line creation failed and fell away, God Himself came personally as one of us to redeem us from that sin and death. That means man is special, not in himself, but because the Lord became one us and saved us.

So your Biology teacher is an evolutionist? No worries. Just pray that he or she might know the Word of God and be turned in repentance to faith in Jesus Christ. Pray that your teacher will, if they don’t, know that Jesus came not to change or evolve us into something better, but to rescue us from sin and death and put us back in the place we used to have, back when the Father made all things by His Word in the first place. Don’t worry, your teacher may teach evolution but Jesus who became Man and saved the world from sin and death is the same yesterday, today and forever. No evolving with Him. Just saving and forgiving!

 

Rev. Mark Buetow is Pastor of Bethel Lutheran Church in Du Qoin, IL. Pastor Buetow is Editor of the Higher Things Reflections and Internet Services Executive.

 

Categories
Higher Homilies

Savior Serves Sick Sinners: The Feast of St. Matthew

by The Rev. Paul L. Beisel

Matthew 9:9-13

Tax collectors at Jesus’ time were not known for their honest business principles and spotless reputations. Like today’s car salesmen, tax collectors were renowned for taking a little more than was necessary, just to fill their own pockets. They were also a sign of Roman occupation. They were a constant reminder to the Jews that Caesar, and not their own king, was in charge.

Needless to say you would rarely find a devout Jew interacting with one of these tax collectors. By avoiding such public sinners, the Jews thought that they were fulfilling the law. However, by holding themselves on a level above others, they violated the principle of mercy, the characteristic which, above all else, identifies one as belonging to God.

It is God’s mercy, not His holiness that makes it possible for men to approach Him and even sit and eat and drink in His presence. And it is this characteristic of God that Jesus demonstrated by eating and drinking with tax collectors and other sinners, as we heard in the Gospel. It was His merciful attitude toward those who were lacking in personal merit that both attracted unholy sinners to Him and shocked the holier-than-thou Pharisees.

Among these unholy sinners with whom Jesus associated was Matthew. As we heard in the Gospel: “As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.” Matthew’s self-description is less than flattering. If we were to leave our imprint upon a document that we knew would be viewed by many people, we would not hesitate to describe ourselves in the best possible light.

Not Matthew though. In telling the story of his own call by Jesus, Matthew is brutally honest about himself. He makes it known to every generation who reads the Gospel which bears his name what kind of person he was when Jesus found him—a tax collector, a sinner.

For whatever reason Matthew included this detail, it illustrates beautifully the point that Jesus makes in response to the Pharisees: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick […] For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

The call to repentance issued by Jesus is not a call to a higher morality, or a call to try harder to obey the Law. If anything, the call to repentance is above all a call to give up on self, and follow Jesus who is a friend to sinners. Followers of Jesus find in Him not another set of demands but a righteousness that is given to them from above, as a gift.

In Christ the same Law that condemns all men to death because of their sins is fulfilled. As Jesus himself said, he did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them. For the believer, the Law’s condemning power has been removed since Christ was condemned in our place. Thus St. Paul says: “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

The righteousness of Jesus, like medicine for the sick, is given to those who have no righteousness of their own. It is, in reality, a higher righteousness than that of the Pharisee, because it comes from God, not from men.

Matthew saw himself in this light, as a sinner who was not worthy to be in the presence of Jesus. But he also saw himself as part of the “many,” the community for whom the Son of Man had come to give His life as a ransom and atoning sacrifice. Through his written account of the words and deeds of Jesus, Matthew beckons other sinners to find their life in the One who says: “Come to me all who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”

His words, which are essentially the words of Jesus, invite you and I to give up on ourselves, to stop trying to justify ourselves by our own efforts, confess our lack of holiness and to follow Jesus, who has mercy on the poor in spirit, and sacrifices his life for the sake of his enemies.

Without the preservation of these words and acts of Jesus the message of the early Church, that Jesus is the Messiah who became incarnate for our sakes, suffered and died for our sins, and rose from the dead on the third day, would have been subject to error and change without the accurate accounts of it recorded for future generations.

Thus it is fitting for us today to honor the first of the holy Evangelists, St. Matthew, and to praise God for enlisting him in the service of His holy Church. We praise God for the Evangelist that gave us, among other things, the full revelation of God’s name as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is Matthew to whom we are indebted for the institution of Holy Baptism, and the story of Jesus’ escape from Herod and the visit of the Magi.

From Matthew’s pen we learn that Jesus is not only the King of the Jews, but also Emmanuel, God with us. The other Gospels give detailed accounts of the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus, but Matthew’s Gospel is unique in explaining the Lord’s Supper and Jesus’ death in terms of the forgiveness of sins.

From Matthew we learn that Jesus is the promised Messiah, that though he is flesh and blood his true origins are in God. Matthew includes Jesus’ teaching on the Law, the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, Prayer, Confession, and the Sacrament of the Altar, which may explain why Matthew has occupied a place of honor in the church since the beginning.

Much like pastors’ sermons, the Gospels are to a certain extent windows into the minds and lives of those who wrote them. Matthew was not only a Christian who had been called by Jesus to a life of faith, he was among the Twelve, one of the Apostles, a herald and teacher of the Church, one of those to whom Jesus said, “I am sending you out as sheep among wolves.”

The same words that give comfort to many today no doubt served Matthew in the same way: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness; Blessed are the meek.” Matthew learned that there is a cost that comes with being such a public figure and disciple of Jesus. Tradition has it that Matthew, like most of the other disciples, was martyred for his faith.

We may never know what the threat of Martyrdom is like, but we can learn what it means to make daily sacrifices for the sake of this message. At the very least we know that to be a confessing Christian and a disciple of Jesus is not likely to win us any friends. Those who are the most vocal about their faith in Christ to their relatives and friends surely know what Jesus meant when he said that He came not to bring peace but a sword, putting father against son and mother against daughter.

We all must learn that Christianity is more than just a set of principles by which to live, but involves following Christ daily in his death and resurrection. This path begins in the saving waters of holy Baptism, where the Spirit comes to us and the Father declares us as His beloved children.

From there it leads to the altar where Christ nourishes our souls with His true Body and true Blood. And finally it will lead us to our eternal dwelling place where with angels, archangels, and the whole host of heaven we will glorify the name of the Lord forever.

It was for this reason that God became flesh for us and put sin to death in His flesh, so that we might find relief and comfort from the burdens of sin in Him. It is for that reason that Jesus gives us that same flesh and blood to eat and drink in the Sacrament, to renew our flesh and spirit, to unite our flesh with his.

He who once offended the Pharisees because He ate and drank with sinners continues to be just as offensive and surprising, for He eats and drinks with you. He continues to this day to turn heads, not because of his holiness, but because of his great mercy by which He lets undeserving sinners feast in his presence.

This, then, is the greatest miracle of all, not that Jesus makes us better people, but that in Him, in His crucified and risen flesh, our heavenly Father declares us unholy sinners to be righteous in His sight through faith. It was for this message that St. Matthew lived and died, and it is by that message that we are saved.

The Rev. Paul Beisel is Pastor of Concordia Lutheran Church in Warsaw, Illinois. He also served as an assistant chaplain for Pastor Rick Stuckwisch at Amen in Saint Louis. Pastor Beisel thanks Dr. David Scaer for insights and ideas incorporated into this sermon.

 

Categories
News

Trinity Season Reflections (Part 5)

The Church continues to live from Jesus’ Word and Sacraments as her life and joy. Pastor Bill Cwirla, President of Higher Things, Pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Hacienda Heights, California, and Conference Chaplain at Amen Irivne is the author of Part 5 of the Trinity Season. To download the Reflections in a printable booklet format, click here.

Categories
Pop. Culture & the Arts

Talent on Loan from God

by Kimberly Grams

“Talent on loan from God.” Remember that quote? It’s from conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh. With “America’s Got Talent” (henceforth, AGT) wrapping up another big season there’s been a lot of talk about talent lately.

AGT is not one of my primary shows. I watched the first season, but I don’t sit through the weeks and weeks (and weeks and weeks and weeks – get the picture?) of preliminary rounds. There’s too much bad and too much weird. I like REAL talent, and the stories behind the people – where they are from and where they are going.

I waited until the end when the voting started, when it’s been weeded down to the better acts. Judges Piers Morgan, Sharon Osbourne, and David Hasselhoff often debate what real talent is. The first question is does the act have talent? What does that mean? The judges are looking for someone deserving of a million dollars who can sustain a 1½ hour show in Vegas. For me, they have to have some basic ability, and be entertaining.

For example, I really loved the Tapping Dads who didn’t make the top 10. Are they the best tappers I’ve seen? Hardly. But they are decent and have other important qualities: charm, enthusiasm, and heart. All in all, they’re a class act. These dad’s work long hours at their jobs and started tapping as a way to spend time with their daughters. And they developed such a passion for it, that they’ve turned it into a professional act. Piers Morgan said their tapping would cause Fred Astaire to roll over in his grave. I’m a HUGE Fred Astaire fan. One of my favorite quotes of all time is about Fred Astaire. Some talent scout or network executive once said after seeing Fred, “Can’t sing, can’t act, can dance a little.” Fred Astaire understood that not everyone sees and appreciates talent. I think Fred Astaire would punch Piers Morgan in the face (like in the old black and white films when you thought some fella was stealing your gal).

Some of you may be familiar with Kaitlyn Mayer because she’s making national headlines as AGT’s four-year-old cutie. And she IS. I mean, she is one of the cutest things you’ve EVER seen, and she can carry a tune. I don’t think she should win. If you’ve ever seen a Broadway caliber show, you’ve seen kids, even four year olds, who can sing a lot better than Kaitlyn. And it would be difficult for her to sustain a lengthy Vegas show. They’d really have to create a story and give her some serious back up. But, she is so sweet and polite and adorable – you simply cannot watch her and NOT grin like crazy. And isn’t that an important talent too? The ability to make millions of people smile and feel happy for even just a moment may just be the best talent there is.

I’m a little disappointed with the Top 10 line up. With one exception they are ALL singers, which is going to make the show a bit boring. Half the fun of AGT is the differences in all the acts. Unfortunately, all the dance acts are gone, the most amazing fire baton twirling guy (3 at a time, while he does a flip, and he NEVER dropped one) is out. You can have the best voice in the world, but if you’re competing against other amazing singers, it’s hard to stand out. The top contenders will be opera-bound Neal E. Boyd, born-to-be-an-R&B-star Queen Emily, and the soulful Eli Mattson. My vote would go to Neal … except I finally caught the one non-singing act. They are “Nuttin’ But Stringz” a duo best described as hip-hop violinists. They’ve taken classical and meshed it with hip-hop flavor. Their level of talent on their instruments and raw energy onstage is untouchable. And in a field of 10 very talented people, I’ll go with unique every time.

AGT focuses on certain kinds of talent – the kind that entertains people. Not everyone has those talents. If you have two left feet or can’t carry a tune in a bucket – guess what? You’re not ever going to be that kind of entertainer. But, America HAS got talent. Every single person out there has got a talent, and that talent is a gift from God.

God has given YOU talents. Do you know what your talents are? Do you recognize them as gifts from God? I once directed a Christian camp for the mentally handicapped. On the application their caregivers were asked what they could contribute to the group. About a third to half of the people left it blank or wrote “nothing”. That made me MAD. How dare they say nothing! Why don’t you just go slap God in the face? Could they help clear the table after meals? That’s a talent. Are they always smiling? That’s a talent. There was one guy who told LITERALLY everyone that he came across that “Jesus loves me”. That’s a talent.

Talents are gifts from God. Whether you accept or reject them, use them in a God-pleasing manner or not – it’s still a gift. You didn’t earn it. It’s just there. Sometimes old talents give way to new ones. I heard a story about an elderly lady who’d been very active in her church, and was now in a nursing home. But she got a little calendar and a pen and when she heard of anyone having a tough time, or a joy, or a concern, she wrote it down. And then she prayed, everyday, for all of them. She needed full time care, but she still found a talent. No matter how bad things are, if you’re still here, God uses you for His good work.

Faith is a gift too. God gives it. Jesus paid for it. He gives it and then we respond. “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. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:8-10).

Are you using your “talent on loan from God”? Our Lord gives talents, and now you receive those gifts from Him, and share them! Yes. Thank the Lord, America’s got talent all right.

Kimberly Grams is a writer and pastor’s wife who lives in Scottsbluff, NE. A dancer and an avid reality TV viewer, she has also written over a dozen articles featured in the Pop. Culture & the Arts section of HigherThings.org.

 

Categories
Catechesis

Holy Cross Day

by The Rev. Dr. Rick Stuckwisch

The Feast of Holy Cross Day (14 September) is a relatively recent addition to the church calendar for most Lutherans. It was introduced to the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod with Lutheran Worship in 1982. Perhaps it remains unfamiliar to many Lutherans in our day. Nevertheless, Holy Cross Day is actually a rather ancient observance in the history of the Christian Church, and there were some Lutherans who retained its observance in the centuries following the Reformation.

The origins of this festival are found in the early decades of the fourth century, when St. Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine, undertook an archeological search for the cradle of Christianity within the city of Jerusalem. That holy city had been rebuilt under the Roman Empire following its destruction in the first century (as our Lord Jesus had prophesied). While some of the details, including the precise nature and extent of St. Helena’s involvement, cannot be established with absolute certainty, there are various reliable witnesses to the basic facts of the case. The presumed sites of our Lord’s crucifixion and burial were uncovered, dug out from under the rubble of Jerusalem’s destruction and rebuilding. Tradition says that three crosses were discovered in this process, and one of these three was presumed to be the cross on which Christ Jesus Himself had been crucified. This was in September of a.d. 320. When basilicas had been erected on these holy sites and were dedicated fifteen years later, in mid-September, a.d. 335, the remnants of that “true cross” were housed within the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher. In subsequent years those remnants of the cross were used ceremonially in annual commemoration of these several events, that is, the uncovering of the sacred sites of our Lord’s death and burial, the discovery of the cross, and the dedication of the churches.

A few hundred years later, after the cross had been stolen away to Persia and later recovered under Emperor Heraclius, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on the 14th of September celebrated its restoration as well as all of the above historical events. This was an Eastern festival, to begin with, but one that was adopted in the West in due time. In western practice, Holy Cross Day determined the autumn “ember days,” the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday following the feast, when prayers were offered for the fruits of the earth. Thus, the Cross of Christ, by which He redeemed His creation from the curse of sin and death, was raised against the approach of winter.

The Feast of the Holy Cross has similarities to Good Friday in its focus on the Passion of Christ and His death by crucifixion. Celebrated, though, outside the penitential solemnity of Holy Week, the focus of this festival day is more exuberant in its exaltation of the Cross as the instrument by which our Lord has achieved His victory over all the enemies of God and His people. Here He is raised as the ensign of the nations, by which He draws all people to Himself (as He declares in the Holy Gospel of the day). One of the chief hymns appointed for this feast, “Sing, My Tongue, the Glorious Battle” (LSB 454), is also used on Good Friday, but there it is restrained by the reverent sobriety with which we deeply mourn and bewail our sins and iniquities, for which the Lord of Glory was crucified. Here on Holy Cross Day, the same hymn enables us to sing the keynote of the feast: We hail the “faithful cross” as a “true sign of triumph.” It is “the noblest tree,” excelling all others in foliage, blossom and the abundant fruit of Christ (stanza 4). Thus do we exhort ourselves and others: “Now above the cross, the trophy, sound the loud triumphant lay; tell how Christ, the world’s redeemer, as a victim won the day” (stanza 1).

Although there will always be some question concerning the origins of Holy Cross Day, this festival invites an appropriate and salutary focus on the Cross as the means by which our Lord Jesus Christ atoned for the sins of the world, defeated death and the devil, reconciled the world to God, obtained our salvation and glorified the Father’s name. Though His Cross is a foolish scandal to the world, to us who are being saved it is the power and wisdom of God, unto salvation. Thus, with St. Paul, we know nothing but the Cross, preach nothing but the Cross, and boast in nothing but the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. For it is by His Cross that we are crucified, dead and buried with Him in Holy Baptism and in daily repentance, and from the same Cross that we receive the absolution or forgiveness of all our sins, by which we also rise with Christ unto newness of life. This Cross is lifted up and exalted in our lives by self-sacrificing love for our neighbor, as it is first of all lifted up for us by the preaching of the Gospel, by which we are drawn to Christ in faith and through Him, our great High Priest, brought into the holy of holies made without hands, to our Father in heaven.

Holy Cross Day is another opportunity for the Cross of Christ to be portrayed before our very eyes, preached into our ears, planted in our hearts, and proclaimed with the very lips that have received His Body and His Blood, sacrificed for us upon the Cross, given and poured out for us in the Feast by which His holy and life-giving Cross is commemorated, and by which this holy day is celebrated.

The Rev. Dr. D. Richard Stuckwisch is Pastor of Emmaus Lutheran Church in South Bend, Indiana. He and his bride, LaRena, have nine children. Pastor Stuckwisch has frequently written and spoken for Higher Things.

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