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Christ on Campus

Christ on Campus: Your Body is Beautiful

Article PDF | Bible Study PDF | Leader’s Guide PDF
by Annalise Harrison

My stomach growled. My mouth watered at the sight of the delicious meal as I mentally calculated the calories spread across the table. I passed my hand across my stomach and reminded myself that 133 lbs. does not deserve to eat dinner. Only tan, toned, and thin was worthy of food. Grabbing my water and cucumber, I ran out of the house with two hours of exercise before me. I couldn’t consume real food. I needed to be skinny, for only then could I be beautiful, happy, and full of life. And I was willing to do much to get there. I worked hard, pushing the numbers down on the scale. Less food, more exercise, and I passed down in sizes. My god was my weight; my salvation, a waistline; my life, calories.

Eating disorders are seldom talked about within the church, but it is a struggle faced by Christian youth today. Those who battle against an eating disorder know how real, terrifying, and self-absorbing this lifestyle can be. It manifests itself in different ways and extremes, and though many do not have a disorder, we are all faced with this fundamental question: Where do we find life and beauty?

The world is ready with an answer. The media promotes it, fashion insists upon it, and the culture confirms it. One’s value is wrapped around a waistband and weighed by a number on a scale. Only the beautiful are happy, and to be beautiful means to look good in skinny jeans, be radiant in a bikini, and, all in all, to be a sexy, slender human being. The world lifts up these things as the highest pillar of beauty—the only way one can live to one’s fullest. But is this really where beauty and life reside?

Truth be told,our frail bodies are sick and dying. They are passing away, returning to the dust from which they came. Our efforts to find happiness come to nothing, for our bodies can and never will give us the perfection we seek. Weight becomes a millstone around the neck; waistline, an expanding chasm; calories, an empty pit. The beauty and the life they have fade. We impossibly chase after them, but they are gone like the wind. If beauty is not of these earthly vessels, then where is beauty found?

It is found in our Lord Jesus Christ. He, the Son of God, humbled himself to be born in the same flesh like us. Jesus came bringing life to us, and not merely for our souls, but also for our physical and fallen bodies. He touched the sick, the dying, the fat, the anorexic, and healed their bodies. Then, taking on our ailments, His body suffered the punishment for our bodies. He was marred beyond all human recognition, nailed to a wooden cross, and deserted by all. Christ died, taking our shame and ugliness with Him into the grave. But death could not hold him! Our Lord rose bodily, conquering the grave! One day He will come again in glory, granting us life eternal.

As we are baptized into Him, we share in His death and resurrection. Our dirty rags, our fat, our skinniness, our ugliness are all washed away through our baptism, crucified on the cross, buried in the tomb, and we rise anew with Christ. He then gives His very own body and blood, granting forgiveness to both our bodies and our souls. In eating and drinking His body and blood, we become one with His body and thus find beauty, life, and happiness in Him. Our beauty does not belong to our bodies, but to His. He has redeemed us, body and soul—what more is there to be done? Culture may point to sexiness as god, the world may proclaim skinniness for salvation, but we preach Christ crucified and risen. All life, all beauty, all things come from Him. And when we are in Christ, that is where true beauty is found.

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HT Legacy-cast

Episode 28: March 13, 2009

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In the 28th episode of Higher Things Radio Pastor Borghardt opens with a monologue, discussing Reminiscere Sunday – that would be the second Sunday of Lent. He’ll explain how Reminiscere is a latin word from the introit for this Sunday that means “remember”, and the remembering we do this week is not our remembering of Jesus but his remember of us. Pastor Borghardt will then to take us to the faith of the Canaanite woman, the faith we look to during the season of Lent. Next Pastor Borghardt interviews The Rev. William Cwirla of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Hacienda Heights and also the President of Higher Things on his favorite hymns in Lent. Pastor Cwirla takes you through the hymns in Lutheran Service Book pointing his favorites out along the way and directing us to the gift of Christ crucified in our Lenten hymnody.

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Higher Homilies

Invited to the Feast

This sermon was preached at the Bread of Life conferences during Wednesday Matins.

Rev. Duane Bamsch

The big, awkward reveal is still in the future. Joseph will tell his brothers who he is and why they’ve been put through all of this, but not just yet. Our Lord God has a plan to protect and care for His people, and until it is ready, Joseph’s identity remains hidden.

Joseph’s brothers are beyond anxious though. They are concerned from the moment they approach Joseph’s door. “Now what? We are surely going to prison for stealing the money from the grain on our last trip! We are all going to die here!”

Even though they are assured that the money in their sacks is gift, they still worry. Why? A guilty conscience. After all, even when a good kid is summoned to the principal’s office for a good reason, he still worries, right? “What did I do?” “What’s going on?”

Joseph’s brothers are terrified of what’s going to happen. They are utterly certain that the end is near for them. They’ve finally made one mistake too many, and the wrath of God is going to smite them with a mighty smiting at the hand of this Egyptian.

Sure, it was all those years ago that they sold their brother into slavery and told dear old dad that he had been eaten by wild beasts. They even had a bloody cloak to prove it—to cover their tracks. Now, it was time to pay. Now the wrath of God is about to be revealed—they are sure of it.

But it was not to be. Against all of their expectations, they are ushered into the banquet hall. They are invited to the table, invited to the feast. They were worried that they were going to their own doom, but Joseph knew better. He had a greater plan in mind—a plan of love, a plan of salvation for his family, and a reunion with his long-unseen father, Jacob.

If anyone deserved to retaliate against his brothers, it would be Joseph, right? How could we deny him the opportunity to return the evil his brothers heaped upon him? Certainly, he would be justified in his wrath against these lying, scheming brothers of his. Even with that in mind, look how Joseph responds—not out of anger, not out of hate, but out of righteousness and love. Even when he has every right to destroy them, Joseph responds with love. He repays their evil with grace.

What about you? How often do you approach the Lord’s house in trepidation? How often are you afraid as you pass through the doors into His holy presence, certain that a great smiting awaits you? Certain that your lies and sins will be laid bare for all to see? Certain that everyone will see and know what kind of hypocrite you are, how much of a failure you’ve been, how much you’ve been hiding from everyone for so long?

Thanks be to God that Joseph is a picture of our Lord Christ for you today! Just as Joseph responds in love to his brothers who wished him harm, so also your Lord Christ sets you a place at His table at the feast and in peace and abundantly heaps up your plate.

Young Benjamin never could have expected to receive five times the amount his brothers received at the table. Yet Joseph blesses him beyond measure seemingly out of nowhere. But it wasn’t out of nowhere, was it? This was Joseph’s beloved baby brother. This is the one person he has wanted to see so badly for so long. And now, finally, he’s able to look his little brother in the eye and see that he is well.

Your Lord Christ, could have treated you as you deserved. He could have turned His back on you and abandoned you as Joseph’s brothers abandoned him. Yet, God our Father had a greater plan in mind—a plan to protect and care for His people, a plan to prepare a place for you, even if you were still His enemy, still turned away from Him in your sin.

But God your Father didn’t leave you as His enemy. His Joseph, your Lord Jesus, went into the enemy’s house—into death itself—and triumphed over it. He showed his Kingship and Lordship in His dying and rising so that you would have a place at His table. He washed you in the waters of your Holy Baptism so that you would be clean and dressed in His presence and at His table. And that place at His table brings you such a great and wonderful gift. Upon that banquet table, upon that altar is the very Body and Blood of your Risen Lord Jesus “given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”

And, as the Small Catechism says, “where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also [eternal] life and salvation.” In the face of all your sin, Christ Jesus—your “big brother” in the faith—refuses to treat you as you deserve.

He sets a place at His eternal feast for you. He has dressed you, He has called you into His presence, and He places before you His gifts—gifts to receive in joy, gifts that make you merry with Him, and gifts that preserve you, body and soul, unto life everlasting. Amen.

 

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Higher Homilies

Ash Wednesday 2010

Rev. Mark Buetow

Consider for a moment the ashes smeared on your head. Or if you don’t have ashes at least look around at someone that has them and think about the ashes for a minute. And understand this: everything that you love, everyone that you love, everything that is a treasure to you is going to end up like that: ashes, dust, gone. All the boardgames I love to play, all the sporting equipment you have, all the video games that you play, all the cell phones we use, all of the money we carry around or wish we carried around, and yes, even the people we love and even ourselves—we’re all going to be ashes. Dirt. Dust. Nothing. That’s why Jesus says not to store up these treasures on earth. Because that’s how they end up. They are great while we’ve got them and we’ll spare no expense to grab them up and hoard them. But in the end, just like us, they turn to ashes.

Now consider for another moment those same ashes. They are smeared into your forehead in the shape of the cross. That’s because when you were baptized, you were marked with the sign of the holy cross on your forehead and upon your heart, to mark you as one redeemed by Christ the crucified. Your baptism is God’s own promise to you that because His Son was covered in your sins, you have a treasure that does not turn to ashes. What is that treasure? Forgiveness of your sins and eternal life! That water and word that was put on you is what rescues you from being ashes. Oh, sure, unless our Lord returns first, you’ll get put in the ground the same as everyone else, but your baptism is the Lord’s promise that because Christ has conquered sin and death and risen again, you will be raised up on the Last Day.

The reason that Lent focuses so much on the suffering and death of Jesus is so that we poor sinners learn what our true treasure is. The preaching of the cross is given to rescue us from all those things that we love so much not because they aren’t our gifts to enjoy, but because we always want to love them more than the Lord and His Word. The reason that fasting and alms giving and prayer are the traditional works of Lent is not because we need to be taught that our money and our toys are bad but because we need to learn that our money and our toys are not the true treasure; they are not the most important things our heavenly Father has for us. Rather, the treasure in heaven, the treasure that does not turn to ashes, is Christ Himself and His salvation. Jesus can’t ever turn to ashes. Ashes are the reminder of death and what happens when we die. But when Christ died for our sins, He did not turn to ashes but instead rose the third day and threw down sin, death, the devil and hell. He threw down those enemies that make us into ashes! He threw down their power to keep us forever as piles of dust! By His rising from the dead, Christ shows that He is a treasure that doesn’t get stolen or eaten by moths or that rusts away or rots into dust and ashes. He is our everlasting and ever living Savior who brings us with Him by His Word to the realms of glory and eternal life!

It’s OK if you want to give something up for Lent. But do it for the right reason: do it because you’re reminding yourself that such a thing is not true treasure, that it won’t last forever. But more than that, the real way to celebrate Lent is to have more Jesus. More of the true treasure! More hearing His Word. More confessing your sins and being absolved. More eating and drinking of His body and blood. More study of His Word and prayer. More of the true treasure. It is by those gifts that Christ piles up for you such riches that you cannot even imagine! Today there are two crosses on your forehead to consider: the cross of ashes and the cross of water and the Word of your baptism. The cross of ashes reminds you why you need the cross of Christ but it is the cross of Christ, put upon you at the holy font which rescues you from a future of ashes and gives you the promise of a future of life and joy and peace in Jesus Christ because by His cross your sins are forgiven and you are set with Him in the heavenly places where the true treasure lasts forever. Happy Lent in the Name of Jesus! Amen.

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Pop. Culture & the Arts

Art Set Apart

art christian lutheran church

by Kelly Klages

As Lutheran Christians, we have a lot of freedom when it comes to using art in the church. You may have seen a wide variety of art forms in different churches you’ve encountered. But church art isn’t just a matter of style and personal preference. The way a church uses art communicates its beliefs. So whether your church is simply or ornately decorated, there are some common denominators in Lutheran art that paint a very distinctive picture of our faith.

Freedom to Use Art

We are free in Christ to adopt art forms that are beautiful, reverent and reflective of the truth of our faith. Lutherans aren’t iconoclastic (against pictures and statues), like some other Protestant churches. Paintings, statuary, wood carving, stained glass, and other kinds of art are welcomed in the church as a way of teaching the faith and beautifying our houses of worship. Because these things are neither commanded nor forbidden in the Scriptures, we are free to use them.

Art Confessing the Faith

The great, central teaching of the Lutheran faith is justification by grace through faith in Christ alone. Lutheran church art (like its sermons) will be very concerned with communicating, above all, the importance of Christ crucified for the forgiveness of your sins. This is portrayed in many ways. For example, you should never be surprised to see a crucifix in a Lutheran church or home, because it is such a clear and direct picture of the reality of our salvation.

Art Highlighting the Word and Sacraments

Also, Lutherans teach that this Gospel, that Jesus himself, comes to us in concrete ways through God’s Word and sacraments. So in a church sanctuary, your eyes will be drawn front-and-center to where those means are delivered to us: the pulpit, the altar, and the baptismal font. Many churches decorate these objects in a spectacular fashion so there is no doubt that what happens there is of great importance. Even in churches with simpler decoration, these things are usually placed in such a way that they are the most prominent things that you see in church.

Art Teaching Us What Worship is About

No matter how simple or elaborate the sanctuary is, it will be obvious that it is a set-apart place for a holy purpose (the word “sanctuary” comes from “sanctus” meaning “holy”). Because we believe that in the Divine Service, we actually encounter God in the flesh through His Word and gifts, church is distinct from everything else that happens in our Monday-to-Saturday lives. So your standard Lutheran church will look deliberately different from an entertainment center, movie theater, rec room, lecture hall, etc. This is not where we go to merely get information about God and life, or to seek thrills. It is a unique and holy place where we get to actually encounter the God of the universe to receive His blessings.

What Art Isn’t

Art itself isn’t a means of grace or a mystical portal into another spiritual dimension. No veneration of weeping Madonnas or praying “through” icons will happen in a Lutheran church, and of course the art itself is not an object of worship. Nor is it proper to use the arts to manipulate emotions to the extent that the feeling of tugged heartstrings is mistaken for the Holy Spirit. We 
look only to God’s Word and His Sacraments to receive God’s grace and forgiveness. Manmade means, no matter how attractively packaged, have no power of this sort. Art forms may adorn the means of grace, but they should not compete with them.

Art Reminds Us the Church is Bigger Than We Are

Not all forms of art must be exactly the same in all places (e.g., using only one painting style to depict Christ and the saints), but may vary according to Christian freedom. However, Lutherans also recognize the catholicity (or universality) of the Christian faith. That is, rather than reinvent the wheel for every generation, we acknowledge that we are part of the church of all times and places. This means that we use the best, most Christ-honoring traditions that have been handed down to us, and we continue to share them with other churches throughout the world.

For example, when you walk into any Lutheran church on Pentecost Sunday, odds are that everything will be decorated in red. At a different Lutheran church, you would probably also see many Christian symbols that you would recognize from the artwork at your own church. These are things that we hold in common from a long heritage together, and they help to communicate our unity. An emphasis on catholicity also means that the art forms used in church will seek to avoid a “dated” look that comes from mimicking pop culture trends. The artwork is more likely to be of a timeless quality that seeks to transcend one specific culture or era, since the body of Christ itself transcends one culture or era.

Artist is a Holy Calling

Another distinctive Lutheran teaching is that of vocation. Being an artist or craftsman is an honorable and God-pleasing calling when our neighbor is served by the good works that are done. As such, using art in the church is not categorically decried as a “waste of money.” Communicating truths about God through the arts, and doing it well, is a very important task for those creating church art. (And, of course, church art isn’t the only kind of artistic vocation honorable to God.) Doing art poorly can, perhaps inadvertently, communicate things about God or worship that aren’t true.

So, art isn’t an indifferent thing—it’s meant to tell you something. Next time your mind wanders at church, let your eyes rest on the art that you see, and ask yourself why it was put there. The answer is always the same—it’s meant to point your eyes, ears, and heart to Jesus.

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News

2019 We All Believe VBS Now Available

We All Believe

Now Available

Learn more about We All Believe and Download a Preview of Day 1

What the Father abundantly promises, Jesus the Son graciously provides in His death and resurrection for you, and then the Spirit joyfully brings all that to you in the Word and Gifts of Jesus. That’s what the Apostles Creed confesses from the Holy Scriptures.

Higher Things® We All Believe Vacation Bible School delivers all that to your children over a 5-day curriculum, which is specifically designed to highlight the knowledge and enthusiasm of your church’s youth for God’s Word. We believe the talents of your church’s youth can play an important role in engaging an even younger generation and teaching them to recognize God’s gifts to us in His Word and Sacraments. It’s our desire that this curriculum will help both the young and the young at heart to bring the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ to the children of your congregation and community.

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Visit the Higher Things® Vacation Bible School page for more great options to dare your little ones to be Lutheran!

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Pop. Culture & the Arts

Stanley Spencer, The Meaning of Life in Christ

Rev. Bror Erickson

I was introduced to the work of Stanley Spencer in the late 90’s while visiting the Hirshhorn museum on a day off from my duties at Bowling AFB. They had on display that day many of his paintings, and the intense Christianity of them intrigued me. “Crucifixion” held my attention for the better part of an hour with its grotesque distortion of time and space in the death of God. At the time I remember contemplating the almost empty room, and wondering where all the detractors of “Piss Christ” were now that a national museum was exhibiting an artist with overt Christian sympathies. Here was a man who understood the meaning of the death and resurrection of God, and hence the meaning of life.

Stanley Spencer (1890 -1958) was an English painter who grew up in the town of Cookham in Berkshire, England. He was for the most part homeschooled until attending the Slade School of Art before enlisting in the military to fight in World War I. At first in the ambulance core, he would later see combat in Macedonia fighting against both German and Bulgarian forces. He is recorded to have said that he buried so many of his fellow friends and soldiers that he could not believe death was the end. After the war he found it a bit difficult to paint as he had before. Yet, “In 1922 Spencer had journeyed with the Carlines to Munich and Vienna, and his encounters there with the work of Northern masters such as Cranach and Breughel helped reconcile him to a less idealized reality.” (Source: tate.org.uk).

The Crucifixion caused almost as much controversy as the violence shown in the Breughelian faces adorning its canvas. It was not well received at the Aldenham School that had commissioned it, a school funded by the red capped brewers shown to be nailing Christ to the cross. Stanley helped matters even less by explaining the meaning of the painting to the students. “It is you govenors and you that are still nailing Christ to the Cross.” Echoing the words of Peter “you killed the author of life” (Acts 3:15). It is as true of each and every one of us as it was to the council before which Peter spoke. It is our sins that caused the death of God to be necessary, it is our sin that pound the nails home. And though the events of Christ death and resurrection belong to the historical record of time, they are eternal realities of an ever present and loving God who gave His life for you. Or as Stanley Spencer himself puts it:

“When I lived in Cookham I was disturbed by a feeling of everything being meaningless. Quite suddenly I became aware that everything was full of special meaning, and this made everything holy. The instinct of Moses to take his shoes off when he saw the burning bush was very similar to my feelings. I saw many burning bushes in Cookham. I observed the sacred quality in the most unexpected quarters.” (Source: gresham.ac.uk).

 

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News

Reflections for Lent and Holy Week, 2019 Now Available

Higher Things® is pleased to provide free daily devotions, called “Reflections,” for youth and their families.  These Reflections are centered in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and are based upon each day’s texts from the weekly readings in the one year lectionary and from Luther’s Small Catechism.

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HT Legacy-cast

Episode 9: October 31, 2008

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Happy Reformation! This week we’ll be celebrating the Festival of Reformation in episode 9 of Higher Things Radio. In a brand new segment called “Define the Terms”, Pastor Borghardt will pose Rev. Brent Kuhlman with a word and ask him to define it in a simple way for Lutheran youth. This week’s word is “Justification”, tune in to hear Pastor Kuhlman catechize us about this often used and often misunderstood word. In a foretaste of the feast to come, Pastor Borghardt will interview Rev. William Weedon on the Reformation. Pastor Weedon will be one of the plenary speakers at this summer’s conferences Sola. Join Pastor Weedon as he discusses the Reformation.

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Christ on Campus

Uncle Walther Wants You!… to Become a Lutheran Teacher

Article PDF | Bible Study PDF | Leader’s Guide PDF

By John Brandt

When Crucified 2014 on Concordia Wisconsin’s campus ended, I greatly enjoyed listening to my daughter recount her week as a College Conference Volunteer (CCV). She mentioned President Harrison’s outstanding plenary session, the intriguing breakaway sessions she attended and her circle of CCV chums that keeps expanding with every Higher Things conference. I was happy for her and the young men and women that would return to their families, friends, congregations, and schools with a week’s worth of Divine Service, Matins, Vespers, Evening Prayer, Compline and Lutheran instruction by confessional Lutheran pastors and speakers.

Now what? How can the ripple effect of a great, confessional Lutheran youth conference benefit the young men and women long after Chris Loemker has played the last note of the last hymn during the closing service of a Higher Things conference?

Consider becoming a Lutheran school teacher.

Before I attempt to convince you, let me digress. Perhaps it was because I was in the middle of reading my students’ Beowulf essays, but when I glanced at the C.F.W. Walther poster in my room (Yes, I really have his poster on my high school classroom wall) I thought it resembled the iconic Uncle-Sam-Wants-You poster. The connection clicked. C.F.W. Walther… and principals and teachers and parents and future students want you to be a Lutheran school teacher.

Visually, Walther as Uncle Sam isn’t that much of a stretch. Well, not if you squint long enough. Not seeing it? Keep squinting. In the meantime, let me explain why I think you should consider my proposition.

Your interest in Higher Things is what every Lutheran school needs. We need young men and women who desire to become experts in English, history, math, music, physics and other subjects. We need young men and women who understand the importance of teaching God’s Word in all its truth and purity (Titus 1:9). We need young men and women who understand the important distinction between Law and Gospel. We need young men and women who possess a passion for the Divine Service and liturgical worship. We need young men and women who know the difference between teaching about the saving Gospel and actually teaching the saving Gospel. We need young men and women who understand and use hymns that teach Christ and His redemptive work on the cross.

As a Lutheran teacher you will have daily opportunities to share God’s Word with your students. You can instill the value of great hymns by teaching and singing them with your students. Remember what singing “We Praise You and Acknowledge You, O God” was like at the conference? What about “God’s Own Child I Gladly Say It”? As a teacher at a Lutheran school, you are free to share the hope and truth of those and many other hymns by teaching and singing them for chapel or a classroom assignment or even during indoor recess.

This past year, my A.P. literature class was reading George Orwell’s 1984 and we were discussing the destruction of words and the harm it causes. It was a perfect transition to the importance of remaining steadfast in God’s Word and examining this excerpt from Luther’s Large Catechism, “Therefore, you must always have God’s Word in your heart, upon your lips, and in your ears. But where the heart is idle, and the Word does not make a sound, the devil breaks in and has done the damage before we are aware.” (LC I 100) The night’s assignment was to explain parallels between Ingsoc’s Newspeak and Matthew 13:24-30. Now that’s my version of a Lutheran teacher’s trifecta: literature, the Book of Concord, and God’s divine Word!

Each day will be filled with opportunities like 
that to share God’s wisdom, love and mercy with your students.

As a Lutheran teacher you can also be a Lutheran drama director, forensics leader, choir instructor, and coach. These roles will present many opportunities to teach, counsel and remind your students they are cleansed in Christ’s blood and their worth is found in Christ crucified, not in trophies, ribbons or conference championships.

The final reason you should consider becoming a Lutheran teacher is the day of your installation where you will vow…

  • to uphold the Word of God as the only infallible rule of faith and practice.
  • that the “three ecumenical creeds are faithful testimonies to Holy Scripture and that you reject the errors they condemn.”
  • “to faithfully serve God’s people in the teaching ministry in accordance with the Word of God, the Ecumenical Creeds, and the Confessions, or Symbols of the Church.”
  • “to grow in love for those you serve, strive for excellence in your skills, and adorn the Gospel of Jesus Christ with a Godly life.” (Lutheran Service Book: Agenda)

Lutheran schools desperately need young men and women who dare to be Lutheran and who 
dare to teach Lutheranism.

Lutheran schools want you to be a Lutheran teacher!!