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Going to church isn’t about being better than everyone else. It’s about receiving the holiness that God gives there. Holiness can’t come from our works. God sets the standards, but He also fulfills them, and then gives you the reward in word and sacrament. If God makes you holy, then you are.
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How do you make up for what you did? Nothing! Holiness isn’t from you. It’s from Jesus to you. This week on The Largely Catechized Life, Pr. Harrison Goodman takes us through paragraph 91 of the 3rd Commandment in Luther’s Large Catechism. It’s there that we learn that God uses His Word to make you holy. Nothing from you. Just Jesus and His Word.
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God’s not crazy. He gives abundant gifts to you to make you holy. This week on The Largely Catechized Life, Pr. Harrison Goodman takes us through paragraph 87 of the 3rd Commandment in Luther’s Large Catechism. It’s there that we learn that God gives you all His gifts to make you holy.
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This week on The Largely Catechized Life, Pr. Harrison Goodman introduces us to the Third Commandment in Luther’s Large Catechism. We can’t find holiness in ourselves, but only in Jesus Christ.
Questions or Comments? Contact us on our Contact Page or Facebook Page.
This week on The Largely Catechized Life, Pr. Harrison Goodman takes us through paragraph 75-76 of the 2nd Commandment in Luther’s Large Catechism. It’s there that we learn that God’s Word is powerful and actually works to bring forth faith and good fruit.
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Please join Higher Things in wishing farewell to Stan Lemon and Jon Kohlmeier, and welcoming Bob Myers.
Stan Lemon became involved with Higher Things around 2005, and spent more than 10 years in an official capacity developing technology for the organization. He most recently served as Technology Executive for Higher Things, before being elected to the Higher Things Board of Directors earlier this year. Stan coded the first Higher Things database, managed the Higher Things website for years, and created the Higher Things mobile conference app that was used to provide a daily schedule and more at the 2016 Bread of Life youth conferences. Thank you, Stan, for your service!
Jon Kohlmeier served as a College Conference Volunteer before becoming the Higher Things webmaster and social media manager in 2008. Jon co-hosted Higher Things Radio for many years, edited countless Higher Things video shorts, and used his photography talents at Higher Things conferences. Jon was promoted to Technology Executive this year upon Stan Lemon’s departure, and has now left the organization to pursue other opportunities. Thank you, Jon, for your service!
The Higher Things Board of Directors has selected Bob Myers to fill the layman opening left by Stan Lemon. Bob is retired from the US Navy, an active member at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Pensacola, FL, and has driven the Jesi truck across the country to Higher Things conferences the past couple years.
Higher Things plans to fill the interim Technology gaps with an IT manager, webmaster, and social media manager.
Stan, Jon, and Bob—Your dedication to Higher Things and its mission of assisting parents, congregations, and pastors in promoting a distinctly Lutheran identity among youth and young adults is so appreciated. Dare to be Lutheran!
Higher Things presents the next set of Daily Reflections for the weeks of Advent 1 through the Saturday after Epiphany, November 27, 2016 through January 7, 2017. Reflections are available as a printable booklet and in a variety of other formats below.
Download the Advent through Epiphany Saturday Reflections as a booklet by clicking here or in a variety of other formats at higherthings.org/reflections.
In Christ,
Rev. Aaron Fenker
aaronfenker@higherthings.org
Media Executive
Higher Things, Inc.
This week on The Largely Catechized Life, Pr. Harrison Goodman takes us through paragraph 71 of the 2nd Commandment in Luther’s Large Catechism. It’s there that we learn that God’s Name and Word drive away the devil.
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Rev. Eric Brown
Before we think a bit about politics and such, let’s just review the First Commandment. You shall have no other gods. What does this mean? We should fear, love, and trust God above all things. With this, we as Lutherans have our working definition of what an idol is. An idol isn’t just something false that you worship or set up a shrine to—it is anything that you fear, love, or trust above God.
Politics is full of idols. This year has been an especially wild and surprising election season. If you were watching election returns come in or scrolling through social media and seeing reactions, you saw a lot of fear, a lot of love, a lot of trust. Wild emotions raged all over the place. In reality, what you saw was a lot of idols being revealed. Possibly some of your own idols were revealed, too.
Politics so often touches upon that First Commandment because we think it’s the way in which we get to control things, the way in which we get to make things work the way we want them to work. We trust in our candidate while we fear the other candidate, and we think everything hinges upon whether or not we get our way.
Over and against this sort of thinking, the Lutheran Church has taught the idea of the Two Kingdoms: that there is a kingdom of the left which deals with laws and temporal lives, and that there is a kingdom of the right which proclaims the Gospel, forgiveness, and faith. However, this is NOT the modern American idea of the separation of church and state. The Lutheran point is that God Himself rules in BOTH these ways and that God is truly in charge of both kingdoms. God is in charge, not us. This is true whether we’re voters in a democracy or rulers ourselves.
Proverbs 29:26 reminds us of this truth: “Many seek the face of a ruler, but it is from the LORD that a man gets justice.” This is why Luther writes the following to the German princes in his great essay “To the German Nobility”:
The first and most important thing to do in this matter is to prepare ourselves in all seriousness. We must not start something by trusting in great power or human reason, even if all the power in the world were ours. For God cannot and will not suffer that a good work begin by relying upon one’s own power and reason. He dashes such works to the ground, they do no good at all. As it says in Psalm 33[:16], “No king is saved by his great might and no lord is saved by the greatness of his strength.” (LW 44:124)
We are taught and reminded at all times, no matter what we see, no matter what we think we can or cannot accomplish, God is still in control over this world. Ours is not the might; God is the mighty one.
So, whatever your thoughts or reactions to this election happen to be, flee from idols. Rather, remember that God rules this world, but also that He has won for you abundant salvation in Christ Jesus, and that the day will come when you will see the Lamb upon His eternal throne. Until then, we in the Church will continue to do what we have long done—gather together and pray for our rulers, whether we think them good or bad. Then we will join in and pray as our Lord has taught us “Thy kingdom come.”
Rev. Eric Brown is pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Herscher, Illinois.
Justin Chester
Murray, Kentucky is not exactly what I would call a Lutheran-rich environment. There is one LCMS congregation in Murray, and the next closest Missouri Synod congregation is about an hour or more away in any direction. Murray is dominated primarily by Baptists, Methodists, and Church of Christ congregations. We have about six active members in our college campus ministry group here at Murray State University, while the other denominations boast numbers of 20 or more. These groups offer flashy programs and activities to involve the kids, and some kids would prefer to be in these rather than be in the minority. Or even still my friends will stop coming because they just want to make the weekend a relaxing time for them, rather than learn alongside fellow Lutherans, where God gives us strength, comfort, and a place to rest.
That said, there are two main areas I have struggled with while on campus: time management and my studies. Learning to balance work, classes, a social life, and church is a true test of our time management skills as young adults. Sometimes these things clash. It is easy to want to go out and have fun rather than study, or sleep in and have some “me time” rather than go to church. My sophomore year I had a professor who gave my humanities class a paper to write, proving how the Bible was wrong and that Jesus never rose from the dead because that’s impossible. I had the option to stand up for what the Bible says—that Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Man, died and rose again for you and me—or I could save my grade, give in and contradict my beliefs and convictions. I did write the paper, and I included a defense of the resurrection to my professor, and ultimately I got an A on my paper. Standing up for what we believe isn’t always easy, but it’s important that when we are in these situations that we do stand up for faith, and proudly dare to be Lutheran whether it is in the classroom or in our personal life. Sometimes standing up for your faith simply means to make time for church on Sunday mornings during your time in college.
The world is not our friend, and the devil is always looking for ways to slip us up. By threatening our social lives, our grades, and our wellbeing Satan will stop at nothing to snatch us out of God’s flock the church. He will point us to the flash and flair that perhaps bigger denominations or ministries have.
The fact is, even on the college campus, the devil has no power over you. God loves you and me and has He sent His Son to die for us. By the death of His Son, sin, death, and the devil were defeated and the cross became a source of life and comfort for all people. The cross is the place where water and blood flow from Christ’s side, and we are washed with this water in our baptisms, uniting us in Christ’s death. Just as we are united in Christ’s death we are also united in His resurrection (Romans 6:5) and we are clothed in Christ’s righteousness (Galatians 3:27) and God gives us the gift of eternal life. Therefore, we are invited and we should gladly gather around on Sunday mornings and receive the true Body and Blood of the lamb, because that is the only thing that will give us strength and comfort to get through this life. It is at the cross that we find safety from all the threats from this world, and it is at the cross that we receive the means that give us the strength to dare to be Lutheran on campus and in our lives, no matter where we are.
Justin Chester served as a College Conference Volunteer at the Higher Things 2016 Bread of Life conference at Vanderbilt University.
