Author: Higher Things

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Categories
News

HT Seeks Development Executive

Higher Things is looking for a Development Executive to oversee and coordinate our development and marketing efforts. Responsibilities include management of all marketing, fund raising, donor development and grant application. The qualified candidate will have experience in fund raising, grant writing, and donor base development along with a commitment to confessional Lutheran orthodoxy, and a zeal for Higher Things’ mission to assist parents, congregations, and pastors in cultivating and promoting a distinctively Lutheran identity among our youth. A good sense of humor and the ability to fly by the seat of one’s pants is very helpful.  Check out the job description here.

Higher Things is a not-for-profit organization that relies heavily on volunteer workers dedicated to the cause of youth work. This position will pay a whopping $6K plus the benefit of working with creative, intense people in the greatest Lutheran youth organization on the planet.

If you are interested, please send a resume and cover letter to Pr. William M. Cwirla at cwirla@higherthings.org.

In Christ,

The Rev. William Cwirla
Vice President
Higher Things, Inc.

Categories
Current Events

HT-Wake & HT-Afterglow

by The Rev. George F. Borghardt
 http://blog.higherthings.org/borghardt/article/2938.html

It’s the HT-wake or HT-afterglow. It goes like this…

The Lord takes His Word and flings it haphazardly at 2200 kids and their counselors. He gives them the FOR YOU delivering faith where and when He pleases in those who hear the Gospel (AC V).

The Lord splashes the youth with His Words and promises and their pastors get caught in the wake of His splashing. Into their ears goes forgiveness, into our ears goes forgiveness too. Joy into their lives, joys into our lives too. Light in darkness for them. Light in darkness for us.

It’s not why we do what we do, the Lord does what He does through us for the sake of the youth. But, as He’s flinging seeds around and they are bouncing off walls, they even land into our ears.

Or the light goes on in a youth’s mind. “Pastor, that’s just what I learned in confirmation. Pastor, that’s the same Gospel that you taught me. That’s just what you preached!” You get it. We sees you get it. Talk about sharing all things with the one who instructed you!

And for a moment, no one is complaining that someone looked at them funny in church. For a second, no one is trying to remove us because we said their son’s name wrong in the prayers. No one is asking us to commune their pentecostal uncle who really loves Jesus but doesn’t believe that Jesus actually gives His Body to eat and His Blood to drink in the Sacrament.

Is it the theology of glory? No, the Light of the World shines so brightly that His light reflects off the faces of the kids and our eyes even see it. It’s like a cup of water for the least of these dear little ones…

Is it dangerous? Sure. There’s always danger when we sinners do our thing. Oh how wonderfully popular I have become! Look at me! Praise me!

But it’s not about me, is it? Never was. Always Christ crucified for them. In the wake of His love for them delivered in the Word and Sacraments, even pastors go home changed.

It’s the HT-wake or HT-afterglow. From Christ to the kids and then to their pastors. You can see it on the face of your pastor who is smiling a bit more than he did before the conference. INI. Amen.

 

myHT thanks the Femlems for the use of the photo of the new Conferences Executive (Pastor Borghardt) receiving a heavenly massage!

The Rev. George F. Borghardt III is the assistant/youth pastor of St. Mark Lutheran Church in Conroe, TX.  Pastor Borghardt is also the former Internet Services Executive for Higher Things, now enjoying (too much?) his new post as HT Conferences Executive.

Categories
News

Your Pastor Can Beat Up Our Interim IS Executive

The Rev. Mark T. Buetow, S.T.M. was recently asked to serve as the Interim Internet Service Executive for Higher Things. We are excited to welcome him to the table! 

Pr. Buetow received his Master of Divinity in 1998 but stayed at the seminary and got his Masters of Sacred Theology because he didn’t want to graduate until Pr. Borghardt did in 2000.

He served Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in New Orleans for 5-1/2 years until Hurricane Katrina huffed and puffed and blew him up to Kentucky. After a brief stint as a mediocre TV salesman, Pastor Buetow was called to Bethel Lutheran Church in Du Quoin, Illinois. (Du Quoin is in the part of Illinois that is not Chicago). He has been serving there since December of 2006. He now also serves as the Interim Executive as well as the Editor for the Higher Things daily Reflections. 

Pastor Buetow has been married to Susan for 13 years and they have three children, twins Naomi and Anna, and Emily. In his free time, Pastor Buetow enjoys playing strategy and board games you’ve never heard of, as well as fiddling with computer operating systems you’ve never heard of either.

Categories
News

New HT Conference Executive!

Higher Things welcomes the Rev. George F. Borghardt as our new Conference Executive!

Pastor Borghardt serves as Assistant/Youth Pastor at St. Mark Lutheran Church in Conroe, TX. For the last two years, he has served as the Internet Services Executive for Higher Things.  If it’s been on our website, he was watching our webmaster and programmer Stan Lemon put it there!

This past year, Pr. Borghardt served as the FOR YOU Asheville Conference Chairman. He was last seen skipping through Ridgecrest following the closing Divine Service proclaiming the FOR YOU conferences, “DONE! DONE! DONE!”

You’re not done at all, Pastor Borghardt.  We have more work for you. As Conferences Executive for Higher Things, Pr. Borghardt will be overseeing and planning for the future of all HT conferences.  To prepare for that task, he wants to hear ideas and feedback from the those who attended conferences this year and in past years. You can email him HERE.

Categories
Current Events

yourHT: For You NC, Day Four

by Mrs. Lynea Sander

The gifts Christ freely gives
He gives to you and me
To be His Church, 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.

It’s the end of another wonderful conference, and things are winding down quickly. Yawns abound as the late nights and early mornings finally catch up to everyone. It’s difficult to stay awake at this point in the week, despite every effort to pay attention to the excellent catechesis!

I’m going to re-order the “categories” for today…

WORK

“Work” today consisted of the last breakaway, plenary, and in-depth. I attended Pr. Heimbigner’s breakaway “It Takes a Year to ‘Get’ the Church” – an excellent explanation of the church year. Our last in-depth with Pr. Mallie (“Pastor Unplugged”) was just as good as the first two; one or two questions at the beginning of the session sparked many others so that we quickly used up our 45 minutes – and very well-spent it was! For the final plenary, Pr. Cwirla taught on the Lord’s Supper. Even though I’m a “cradle Lutheran”, this plenary caused me to understand several things about the Supper more clearly than I had before. What a blessing these conferences are!

PLAY

There wasn’t space for free time today, as the conference officially ended at 3 after Divine Service. The morning was packed with as much catechesis as it could possibly hold! In order to make the 11 o’clock check out, my youth group loaded up our tour bus at 7:15 this morning so we wouldn’t have to miss any of the remaining sessions.

WORSHIP

Once again, I can’t even begin to describe how wonderful the worship is. Our morning began with a Service of Corporate Confession and Absolution – instead of Matins – in preparation for receiving the Lord’s Supper.

Then – Divine Service! The best, and in my opinion, only way to end a conference – with the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation! We sang several hymns from previous conferences, which brought to my mind many memories. It also caused me to thank the Lord for such a wonderful opportunity for Lutheran youth to not only gather together every year, but to clearly hear the Gospel through such excellent catechesis, worship and preaching.

 

Before I end this article, I would like to mention a couple things I noticed over the course of the week. First, the CCVs (Christ on Campus Volunteers): kudos to y’all! You did an excellent job this year! Second, the choir: their voices blended so beautifully, and I continue to be impressed by the amount of participants in the choir each year.

This brings us to the end. Everywhere you look, people are saying goodbye to friends, new and old. Email addresses are being exchanged, pictures taken, vehicles loaded, and the clean up has begun. Another awesome conference has come and gone, and 900+ participants have certainly benefited from it! May the Lord continue to bless Higher Things as we look forward to next year in Pennsylvania and Missouri. The theme is the word of faith: Amen!

For us he rose from death again;
For us he went on high to reign;
For us he sent his Spirit here
To guide, to strengthen, and to cheer.

All glory to our Lord and God
For love so deep, so high, so broad;
The Trinity whom we adore
Forever and forevermore.

 

Lynea (nee Theiss) Sander lives with her husband Jason in Conroe, Texas, and is a member of St. Mark Lutheran Church in Conroe. She is a lackey for Internet Services and myHT.

Categories
Current Events

Pray for Minneapolis

by “Luvable Lutheran”

With some 1200 youth and adults from our Higher Things community having been there, blocks away from an eminent disaster, we thank the Lord for preserving our conference from such harm and danger. At the same time, our hearts go out to those who have been forever affected by this trauma. We ask the Lord of Life to console, strengthen, and bind up wounds with the oil and wine of His Word and Sacrament.

Luvable Lutheran is a regular HT blogger, a student, and works fo a Twin Cities hospital.  She also recently served at a FOR YOU and was a member of the conference planning staff for FOR YOU MN. She shares her experience from the first evening of the disaster on her HT blog, which we pass on to you here. 

I want to let my family and friends know that I’m safe and okay after today’s bridge collapse in Minneapolis near the UMN.  Second, I encourage you to pray for those injured, missing, the families of the dead, and those otherwise affected by tonight’s terrible tragedy.

Many of you were blocks from this site at the FOR YOU Conference in Minneapolis last week.  Perhaps you drove over the bridge on your way to the conference.  Perhaps you went jogging or exploring up River Road underneath the span.  The conference host congregation is located two blocks away. Perhaps you walked over the 10th Street Bridge and/or 19th Ave during the conference.   I myself have traveled the bridge many times to the UMN campus.  You may have noticed that the bridge has been undergoing concrete rehabilitation and lanes have been reduced.  Yes it has caused traffic headaches and nightmares, but nothing like what folks are dealing with now.

At 6:05 pm this evening during evening rush hour when the two open lanes in each direction were packed with commuters and construction personnel were still working on the bridge, it collapsed.  Approximately 50 cars plunged into the Mississippi River and onto the roads and riverbanks below.  Unfortunately, at this time 4 people have been confirmed dead and numerous others have been taken to area hospitals.  More information will be forthcoming in the press in the days ahead.

I am a graduate student at the UMN and only 24 hours previously was traveling on a parallel bridge to and from campus due to the construction.  I noticed the green metal supporting the bridge and thought to myself, why are they just resurfacing the bridge, why don’t they replace it?  Little did I know what would transpire.  I was called into work earlier this week at a local hospital (I’m a temp while in school).  Fortunately that kept me from being at campus where events transpired and in the hospital and prepared to help take care of victims if needed.  Some of my coworkers began coming back from the dinner breaks asking if we had heard of the bridge collapse.

I was in awe and disbelief.  Immediately we went online to get more information.  Knowing that cell phones frequently become overloaded and that folks can frequently call out, but not into a disaster scene, I began to make a few phone calls to my family.  Fortunately my mom’s cable was out and she was unaware of the situation, but asked her to contact my dad.  He tends to worry a bit about things and would have the state police looking for me if need be.  I also wanted to communicate the events to Sandra and Pastor Borghardt so that prayers could be made at FOR YOU Asheville.  I also communicated via Instant Messaging with members of my congregation to make sure that they are all accounted for and let them know that I was ok and at work.  Our church president and pastor continued to make sure that the sheep in the flock were safe as a number of members travel over the Mississippi River between their homes and workplace.

As we assessed things at the hospital at which I work, we began to prepare for casualties even though there are a number of other hospitals and trauma centers much closer to the scene (a Blessing in disguise).  Our hospital did go into disaster standby mode and was still that way when I left.  I am still in disbelief that this happened and have been running on adrenaline most of the evening.  Now that I’ve returned home from work, and with the images on TV, the emotions and the reality of it all has started to set in.

Looking over what transpired, there are a number of blessings and stories that are beginning to emerge.  One is that there was a school bus full of 60 kids that fell with a span, but landed over land so they could all safely escape.  The center span stayed mostly intact as it fell into the river instead of buckling or crumbling leaving some vehicles on top of the concrete instead of under it.  There are a number of vehicles that did end up in the water and some are under the concrete.  I just pray their occupants are the ones that the news are reporting that had to be rescued, but are those that are still alive.  Another blessing is that a coworker that did show up at the hospital had just left her home blocks away from the bridge and traveled safely over the bridge within an hour of the collapse.  How close she came to the tragedy is starting to hit her.  Another blessing is that Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC), a level 1 trauma center received the majority of the victims since it is within a mile of the collapse.  It is well prepared to handle the types of injuries from this incident.  In addition two Fairview hospitals, the two next to the dorms used for the HT Conference, are within close proximity for other victims.  Other twin cities hospitals also received some victims and are prepared to receive the walking wounded should they show up later.  Yet another blessing is that two of the lanes of traffic were already closed in each direction so only half of the total capacity of vehicles that could have been on the bridge were traveling on the spans.  This probably prevented the tragedy from being twice as bad and victims being twice as many.  Yet another blessing is that storms headed towards the area affected fell apart so that rescue workers didn’t have to deal with the rain too.

In addition, I later found out that the conference host congregation shook from the falling of the bridge.  The pastor and his wife were there and rushed to the scene, along with several members that lived nearby.  They assisted getting the victims to safety.  The church even provided shelter for one dazed victim who waited for a ride home.  The church has continued to provide facilities for the gawkers, a place of respite for the emergency workers and other services to the community.  Thankfully the bridge sections remained stable throughout this rescue effort and the railroad cars that were crushed did not contain hazardous materials.

Recently several victims have been identified and several have gotten the dreaded news that their loved one had died.  One was a lady who worked at Thrivent and never arrived home to her husband and two daughters.  Another was a father to a two month old that wouldn’t be returning home to his wife that evening.  Please pray for these people as they cope with the tragedy that has changed their lives forever this day.

So where is Jesus in all this?  Right in the midst of it all.  It may seem like a coincidence to some, but God is at work doing his Will as evidenced in the many miracles and blessings mentioned above.   After such an intense week at FOR YOU Minneapolis from the height of worship falling down to the low of this tragedy it is hard to believe what a difference a week makes.  However, I hope that we all can cling to the hope that we have in Jesus.  He went through more on the cross than we ever have to go through, even though this tragedy is still wracking my brain.  I pray that people look to Christ and Christ alone for their comfort.  Perhaps this event will bring folks closer to Jesus too.  I don’t know God’s Will, but do trust that He guides us to do it each day.  I trust the wisdom that God only has and what will result from this incident.  Despite all the events, I can rest tonight knowing that God will take care of his baptized children no matter what.  What comfort this gives in the midst of chaos!

I also am looking forward to Sunday in the Divine Service where I can sit back and relax, receiving all of God’s wonderful gifts including the peace that passes understanding to calm all of our concerns and fears.  In the days and weeks above many things will turn back to normal and life will move on. It may be different for some, with a different route to work or school.  For others it may be the reality of moving on without their loved one by their side.  Thankfully Christ gives us the strength we need to live each day and to continue serving our neighbor, as we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, by giving us our Daily Bread.  Despite the tragedy, Christ is right there beside us providing for our every need even though it may not be easy.  Christ is my sure foundation, even if there are those that are crumbling around me.

Categories
Current Events

yourHT: For You NC, Day Three

by Mrs. Lynea Sander

 

O Trinity, most blessed Light,
O Unity of sovereign might,
As now the fiery sun departs,
Shed Thou Thy beams within our hearts.

To Thee our morning songs of praise,
To Thee our evening prayer we raise;
Thee may our glory evermore
In lowly reverence adore.

All praise to God the Father be,
All praise, eternal Son, to Thee,
Whom with the Spirit we adore
Forever and forevermore.

Thursday is now upon us: the last full day of For You. You can tell it’s Thursday by the way everyone behaves – we’ve figured out the schedule, burned our adrenaline, and finally discovered which hallways to take to get to the cafeteria!

WORSHIP

Matins, Vespers, Evening Prayer and Compline continue to bring us all together at their appointed times. I always find it very encouraging to see that the Word, preaching and worship are held in such high esteem by so many youth from across the country – attendance hasn’t wavered all week!

WORK

A quote from Pr. Cwirla’s plenary session: “If you’re looking for Christ in a parable, find for the dead thing – that’s usually Him!”

Catechesis continues to be excellent in all quarters. My husband and I attended Pr. Esget’s “Driving the Devil Away” (he had some great Luther quotes!), Pr. Henrickson’s breakaway on Paul Gerhardt’s hymns, and Pr. Zielinski’s “Let us Fix Our Eyes on Jesus: Icons and Images”. All of them were extremely informative and well-presented.

PLAY

I don’t know if this would fall under “work” or “play”, but since it was during free time, I’ll put it here. My husband and I were asked to tend to one of the vendor’s booths in the “exhibition hall” while he went white water rafting with one of the groups. I got to talk to a couple of my friends that were also tending booths, meet several new people, and found out that the man who was tending one of the booths knew and had graduated a year ahead of one of my close friends! Let’s all sing the LCMS theme song now: “It’s a small world after all…” Conferences are great for that sort of thing!

Overall it was another wonderful day here in Asheville. At the beginning of the week the weather was dreary; now it’s absolutely beautiful. Praise the Lord for blessing us with sunshine and cool temperatures!

Stay tuned for the last post of the week, coming tomorrow…

Categories
Pop. Culture & the Arts

D’OH!: The Simpsons Jump the Shark

by The Rev. Charles Lehmann

Full frontal Bart. I doubt that anyone really wanted to see that. Homer giving the double bird. Yup, really necessary. The Simpsons Movie is out, and it’s earned it’s PG-13 rating honestly and with very little to show for it.

I’ve been a Simpsons fan for longer than some myHT readers have been alive. The movie could have been a culmination of much of the intelligent, witty humor that has been the staple of the series since day one.

It wasn’t. Most enduring from the film in my memory will be Homer’s theological pronouncements as he enters church. While loudly confessing his own atheism, Homer simultaneously mocks anyone who would take religious belief seriously. This is very different from the mild mocking of religion that takes place occurs in the series. It can nearly always be taken interpreted as the writers poking fun at those aspects of popular religion that are worthy of ridicule: unthinking zealotry, corrupt clergy, commercialization of the church, even the theology of ex opera operato.

The movie takes the mockery up a notch. The screenplay for much of the film could have been written by Sam Harris or any other representative of the “New Atheism.” The Simpsons Movie leaves no room for the existence of a thoughtful, confessional Christianity.

On every level, at every opportunity, The Simpsons Movie begins with the subtle humor of the series and takes it to an obscene extreme. The humor of the Simpsons series is funny because it is intelligent and pushes the envelope a bit. I appreciate it for its restraint and its satirical savvy. The movie is neither subtle nor restrained nor savvy. It doesn’t push the envelope; it shreds the envelope. It doesn’t show intelligence. It shows reckless disregard for good taste.

If these were the only disappointments of the film, I might be able to stomach it. Unfortunately, the movie fails to pay off in the ways that a feature- length version of a television show really has tomust. Sideshow Bob is totally absent. Apu is largely ignored. Some characters that are included are diminished by their inclusion.

Otto’s one scene shows him smoking a bong in the bus, oblivious to the peril that Springfield is in. The suggestion that he was a drug addict was an important feature of the show. Confirming it destroys the mystery and diminishes his character. One will never be able to view Otto in the same way again.

One bright spot is the relationship established in the film between Bart and Flanders. Unfortunately, it serves two purposes. First, it shows what the relationship between a father and a son should properly be. Second, it makes it difficult to respect Homer by comparison.

Marge reinforces the negative impression of Homer when she records a “Dear, John” letter over their only copy of their marriage video. She’s had it, and one gets the impression that she should have abandoned Homer long ago for the good of her family. Such a pro-divorce message is problematic even when it seems justified.

The Simpsons Movie does a good job of pushing the franchise over the edge of the cliff. Everyone’s favorite family has jumped the shark, and if the fish is worthy of its name, it can already smell the blood in the water.

 

Rev. Charles Lehmann, Assistant Pastor for Youth and Education at Peace With Christ Lutheran Church in Fort Collins, CO.

Categories
Higher Homilies

Nuclear Jesus

by The Rev. Marcus Zill

Psalm 2, Hebrews 1:1-6; Matthew 1:18-25

 

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

How does one even begin to comprehend the enormity of the holiness and the glory of God? Imagine a being so great and powerful that He created everything that is, everything that ever was, and everything that ever will be. Almighty, eternal, knowing all things. It’s just plain beyond all of our understanding.

Now there was a time when we did seek to grasp the wonder and power of the almighty God. In the Garden man had a perfect relationship with God, one based on love and trust, not fear. But Satan, that great deceiver, stole that away from us. He blinded our eyes to God, so that all we can now do is look inward at ourselves and think that we understand everything.

But it is not so. There is nothing inside you that is worth looking at. A great chasm separated you from God because of your sin. The only way that God could give you Himself, the only way He could restore your blindness and raise you up from the death of your own sin was by taking on your very life.

And so, as our conference hymn puts so well:

“He sent no angel to our race,
Of higher or of lower place,
But wore the robe of human frame,
And to this world Himself He came.”
(LSB 544:2)

Yes, God became one of His creatures.

So when you see Jesus, poor and helpless, an infant lying in the manger, you see God Himself. Hard to imagine? You bet. It’s more than hard. It’s impossible to imagine. But it is true. This is the very nature and character of faith. We can all imagine a God of judgment and fear and wrath. That somehow seems to come naturally to us. But a God who would come as a baby? Now that seems pretty strange.

And yet in that sublime mystery lies the heart and soul of the Christian faith. As we confess in the Creed: “Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was made man.”  Did you catch that? For us men, that is, for us sons and daughters of Adam, He became Man. It’s incredible, and beyond all imagination. And God did it all for you.

And this is no small task.

The Bible declares that God is holy, and God’s holiness burns so hotly against sin that no one can see His face and live (Exodus 33:20). [You just don’t want to get close to someone like that!]

God warned Moses at Sinai that His people Israel must not approach the mountain, because if they forced themselves through to see God, they would perish (Exodus 19:21). Much later, the prophet Isaiah despaired of his life, because his eyes had seen “the King, the LORD Almighty” (Isaiah 6:5). St. Paul described this holiness as an “unapproachable light” (1 Timothy 6:16), and when St. John realized in the book of Revelation that he was looking at God Himself enthroned in splendor, he passed out cold (Revelation 1:17).

So how can we be restored in the presence of a holy God without being consumed by His wrath?

Well, let me try an analogy on you: Nuclear power.

Nuclear power gets generated when a high-speed neutron strikes an atom and splits it in half. The resulting energy is so violent and so destructive that special containment buildings must be constructed around the nuclear reactor to control its wrath.

Of course, God’s wrath is unimaginably and infinitely hotter and more violent than any nuclear reactor. And so a special containment building had to be built to house and to hold this all-powerful divinity whose holiness ferociously destroys sin.

And so the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

God gave us Jesus. He built Him. He knit His eternal Son in the womb of an earthly mother. An infant child who sleeps in a hay-filled manger and suckles on His mother’s lap. Jesus is the special containment building that God has provided so that we would not be obliterated during His special forces operation.

When this Holy nuclear Child was miraculously conceived in Mary’s womb, it is as if our God said, “Mankind cannot see Me and live. Therefore I must bury My holiness and hide it somewhere so that they will not be afraid of Me any longer. I will conceal the fullness of My godhead and holiness here in the flesh and blood of this woman’s Son.”

And so the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

Jesus’ physical body became the covering and the shield by which Mary and Joseph and you and I are all protected from the righteous wrath of God. Everything that God is and does now reduces itself to the confines of a baby boy.

Do you want to see the God of eternity, the one through whom the heavens were made, the one who fills all things? Well here he is! And guess what? The Gospel according to Ricky Bobby is actually true – He really is some 8 pounds and 6 ounces. “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.” (Colossians 2:9).

Some people fear their earthly governments or those in power. But what does the Almighty and all powerful God do for you? He comes to earth in the most helpless and harmless form of all – the form of a baby.

This little infant holds in His clenched little hands the full scope of your existence! He possesses, beneath His swaddling cloths and his well-sucked thumb, the divinity and might necessary to overcome every enemy who would oppose you. He is God Himself, not the God who comes to inspire your fear, but the God who hides and conceals everything you might fear about Him so that He can destroy everything that makes Him seem so fearsome in the first place – your sin that would damn you from His presence if you were left in it.

When Jesus takes your sin from you and carries it upon Himself, God’s wrath no longer burns hot against you. When He robes you in His holiness and washes you with His perfection, nothing unclean remains in you that would stir God’s holiness against you. Jesus is God’s containment building and shield and defense for you, for in this Child even death gets swallowed up in victory.

And so the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

And “blessed are all who take refuge in him.”

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

The Rev. Marcus Zill is pastor of St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Laramie, Wyoming, which serves as the campus congregation for the Lutheran students at the University of Wyoming.  Pastor Zill also heads the Christ on Campus work of Higher Things.

Categories
Higher Homilies

God is For Me

by The Rev. David A. Kind

John 3:16-21

You have come to a conference entitled “For You”. I’m sure as you’ve planned for this trip you’ve considered just what that title is meant to convey. Simply put, God is “For you”. Christ is “For You”. His love is “For You”. His gifts are “For You.” But every Christian wonders at one time or another whether or not all of this, God, His love, His blessings, really are for him or her. You know what the Gospel says about Jesus’ love, but you are also assailed with other voices that want you to doubt that love – the voice of your own conscience as you consider your sins, the voice of the devil who wants to amplify what conscience says so that you are lead not to repentance but to despair, the voice of the world that calls your faith foolish. This deadly chorus cries out that God surely can’t be for you. And yet the Gospel says very clearly that Jesus loves you and died for you. But when your feelings and your experiences cry out something different, you find yourself wondering if it’s really true. And if it is true, as it surely is, then how can you be sure about it? How can you know that God is “For You”?

The ancient Israelites must have struggled with the same questions. In the Old Testament lesson you heard today they are just about to cross over the Jordan river into the promised land when Moses addresses them as to the faith God desires to give them and to find in them. At one point Moses says: “The Lord delighted only in your fathers, to love them; and He chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples, as it is this day.” The people’s own recollection of history and of their own experiences in the wilderness, could have been interpreted in a completely different way by them, and probably was by many of them. Where Moses proclaims God’s love to them, they see only trouble and wrath and hardship. The Lord chose Abraham, but then caused him to leave his homeland and his family and go to a foreign land, and to trust in a promise that he would not live to see fulfilled. The Lord sent the offspring of Abraham down into Egypt where after a brief period of prosperity they were enslaved and suffered for some 400 years. The Lord at last raised up Moses to lead the people of Israel out of their captivity, but instead of taking them directly into the land promised to Abraham, caused them to wander around in the desert for 40 years until the generation that came out of Egypt as adults had died off. And now as their children were about to enter into Canaan, a land they would have to take by force of arms, they hear again the message that God loves them. And many of them must have wondered if God really was “for them”.

And yet the Lord God had shown His love for them throughout all of their trials and hardships. He had called Abraham out of the land of Ur in order to make a great nation of Him, and in order to fulfill His promise of sending the Messiah to save mankind. He had sent the children of Israel into Egypt to save them from famine, and though they ended up being enslaved there, the Lord kept them and blessed them, so that by the time Moses leads them over the Jordan they are “as the stars of heaven in multitude.” Yes even in this darkest period of their collective memory God was bringing about good for them. Moreover He brought them out of Egypt with a strong hand, gave them the wealth of Egypt to bring with them, brought them through the Red Sea in safety while destroying their pursuers in the same waters, fed them with heavenly bread for forty years and provided them with water in the desert. And above all He provided for the forgiveness of their sins by giving them the Tabernacle and the liturgy of the sacrifice. And these to whom Moses spoke had seen the Lord’s presence among them and had received His blessings in a very direct and tangible way, so that Moses can say to them: “He is your praise, and He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things which your eyes have seen.” Surely God was for Israel and for each person in Israel. He explicitly stated His love for them. He proved His love for them by pouring love out upon them even in what felt to them like the worst of times. And His love would continue to be poured out upon them in the promised land and later in the sending of His Son as their Savior. If you were an ancient Israelite you could say for certain that God was “For You”.

But looking out from this pulpit, I do not see any ancient Israelites here today. So what about you? Is God for you or not? Your life at times may seem to testify that God is not for you, but against you. When you find yourself being treated as an outcast by your classmates or find yourself the brunt of their jokes; when you are rejected by one whom you care for deeply, or even just by one whom you think cute and interesting. When you are persecuted for being a Christian by your friends and maybe even by your teachers; when you see one of your parents or grandparents or someone else you love dying; you may well wonder is God really “for me”?

God is certainly for you, even in the most difficult times. Your conscience may accuse you of being a terrible sinner unworthy of God’s love. Your life may cry out to you that God has abandoned you or is perhaps punishing you. But Christ cries out even more powerfully with His Gospel and with His love. “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Yes God has sent to you and to the whole world a new Moses; one who not only speaks about the promises of God, but who is the fulfillment of those promises; one who is not only God’s prophet, but is God’s Son. His having been sent is the living expression of God’s love for all people. His having become the propitiation for our sins is the enactment of that love. And what is that about, being the propitiation for our sins, that is about being the atoning sacrifice, that is about death and blood, that is about the cross. But in that sending and propitiation is found our forgiveness and life. Jesus said: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” And so just as with the ancient Israelites, God has explicitly stated His love for you. And He has proven His love through what He has done.

But how can you know for sure that you are on the receiving end of these promises? How can you know that you are included here, especially when there are so many who are part of the world, but have not received Christ’s grace? Look not only at what God has done for all, but also at what He has done for you individually. That which God has accomplished in Christ Jesus, our salvation, after all, is given to each one of us and applied to us individually. Have you been baptized? If you can answer “yes” then you know that what Christ has done has been given to you and that God really is “for you”. Here you have crossed the Red Sea from bondage and death into freedom and life. Here you are sealed with God’s name. Here you are washed from your sins and given eternal salvation. Jesus has promised it after all, and has sealed His promise with His own death. This is why Luther anchors baptism first of all in the promises of God. He writes in the Small Catechism: “What does Baptism give or profit?” It works forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare. “Which are such words and promises of God?” Christ, our Lord, says in the last chapter of Mark: He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” If you are baptized you have proof that God is “for you”. God is not tricking or deceiving you here. Do not doubt, but believe Him and trust His promise.

And having taken you from the wilderness of your own Egypt in Baptism, He also feeds and nourishes you on your way. He gives you the living heavenly manna of His own flesh and His own blood. Is God for you in this? Of course He is. Again Luther quotes Jesus words in the Catechism: “What is the benefit of such eating and drinking?” That is shown us by these words, ‘Given and shed for you for the remission of sins’; namely, that in the Sacrament forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are given us through these words…” This is Jesus own promise to you. Eat and drink Him in faith, and believe what He says. Know by this also that God is “For You”.

And by these things you can know that in all things this is true: that God, His Son, His love, His gifts, are all “for you”. He has given His Word and that cannot be broken. His love cannot be broken, for Christ has died and rose again to prove it, enact it, and fulfill it.

“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you…?” He requires you to believe. That’s it. Just trust Him. Just believe Him. And such belief looks to Him for all good and all blessings. Such belief loves Him in return. Such belief loves others too for His sake. But these are not additional requirements. They are simply the results of believing and of receiving God’s love and living in it. Hard times will certainly come. Your faith will be tested. But remember that all of these things will eventually pass away. Christ’s love never will. Believe Him and trust Him. In all times He is “For You”; to whom be all honor and glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, to life everlasting.

+ Soli Deo Gloria +