Author: Higher Things

Daniel Baker

As I walked down the middle aisle of the auditorium, along with many other Lutheran youth at the Higher Things Crucified conference this last summer in Logan, Utah, I soaked in the glistening hymns being sung. I stepped down toward Pastor Mark Buetow, who served me the body of Christ saying, “Daniel, take and eat the body of Christ given for you.” Again, when I received the blood of Christ, my name was spoken, and I was given Christ’s blood, which was shed for me. How great it was to hear it proclaimed BY NAME that Christ is for me! He is real. Communion is for REAL.

For those of you who have seen the movie Heaven Is For Real, I have no doubt that the movie itself was heartwarming and encouraging in its own way. I am not using the “is for real” part of the name for any specific disregard of the movie. Rather, I am declaring that the Sacrament of the Altar, Holy Communion, should be held to at least the same standard of reality as heaven. The Lord’s Supper is a taste of heaven on earth and points to the time when Jesus comes again and we celebrate/feast with Him forever. After all, it is Jesus’ own sacrifice for us on the cross, made personal and tangible to us through His very own Body and Blood given with the bread and wine, as expressed in An Explanation of the Small Catechism, “The bread and wine in the Sacrament are Christ’s body and blood by sacramental union. By the power of His word, Christ gives His body and blood in, with, and under the consecrated (blessed) bread and wine” (An Explanation of the Small Catechism, CPH, 1991). The beauty of this is that we are not simply eating and drinking in remembrance of Christ, but that we, through Christ’s word, are forgiven of our sins by looking to His sacrifice as we eat of His Body and Blood. By our faith in Jesus, we freely receive the gifts of forgiveness, life and salvation.

Honestly, I think our non-Lutheran brothers and sisters miss out on a great deal when it comes to Communion. I have watched them look for Jesus, or try to get close to Jesus, in all the wrong places, like in the emotions they feel through music, various church programs and even through Jesus “speaking to them.” If you believe Communion is only symbolic, then it’s like closing a door in Jesus’ face when He’s coming to YOU. Think about it. Jesus took on flesh and blood for us. He became human in every way but was without sin. He created us to think and experience things in physical terms, so how good He is to us to give us the gift of His Supper—something we can taste, smell and see with our senses. It’s like when Thomas said, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” So what did Jesus do? He offered Himself for Thomas to do just that. “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:25-28). Communion is for REAL.

Pastor Timothy Pauls had a great breakaway session in Logan, where he compared various teachings of Lutherans, Roman Catholics, Reformed and other Protestants. I was surprised at some of the background information, especially how it came to be that many Christians see Communion as a memorial only. He had it laid out so well and really helped me to understand the differences and appreciate what we celebrate as Lutherans. Surely non-Lutherans do partake of the Lord’s Supper, however they often serve it inconsistently and rarely, but it seems to me that what it really comes down to is the lack of value they give it. I have learned over the years and personally experienced myself that this gift from Jesus may seem like only bread and wine to most, but in reality, it is the REAL Body and Blood of Christ, the REAL sacrifice broken and shed for us, and is the REAL deal. Communion is for REAL.

Every conference I attend (Logan was my third) has magnified this reality for me. We begin and end with the Divine Service. Whenever I am blessed to receive the Body and Blood of the perfect Pascal Lamb, who was crucified for all of the sins I have and will ever commit, I get to depart in peace because I have true peace, completely confident that I have received REAL forgiveness of sins, from Christ himself. What can be more REAL than this?

Daniel Baker is a freshman at Northern Arizona University, in Flagstaff, where he attends Peace Lutheran Church. He spends his time studying exercise science to become a physical therapist and playing soccer and has his sights set on being a CCV at the Te Deum conference next summer in Las Vegas. Feel free to contact him at dkb99@nau.edu.

By Rev. George F. Borghardt

Dare to be Lutheran. It’s been our motto at Higher Things from the very beginning. We even trademarked it a few years ago! We dare you to be Lutheran, to live Lutheran, to grow up Lutheran, and continue to BE Lutheran.

But isn’t that arrogant? Isn’t that closed-minded? Shouldn’t you be daring youth to be Christians? Isn’t that good enough? Do you seriously think that Lutherans are the only ones who are right? Don’t you think that this just feeds more of that “only Lutherans go to heaven” stereotype?

A Lutheran is a Christian who believes that Jesus alone saves by grace alone, received by faith alone. We know this from Scripture alone. It’s as certain as 2+2=4. No one was ever called arrogant or closed-minded for believing that 2+2=4. It’s not five. It’s not three. Those other answers are wrong.

It’s not arrogant for Lutherans to believe we’re right either. It’s absolutely true that Jesus alone saves. He alone is right. Oh, we aren’t the only people who are right. The Gospel has a way of slipping through in places you wouldn’t expect! And we should never say we are right simply because we are Lutherans or that we are right in and of ourselves. We are right by Jesus alone, by grace alone, according to Scripture alone. We confess this Gospel only by the working of the Holy Spirit in us. We don’t make ourselves right. We certainly don’t deserve to be right. We are Lutherans by grace alone.

“Daring to be just a Christian” can’t be enough because so much of Christianity today is filled with all sorts of things that aren’t really Christian at all. It’s Evangelicalism. It’s filled with grace-talk that is followed immediately by works-talk. They say contradictory stuff like, “Jesus saves you by grace alone, all you have to do is this, that, and the other thing. And once you’re saved, Jesus expects you to change, to be better, to make your salvation sure or maybe you weren’t really truly Christian in the first place after all.”

That’s not daring to be Lutheran! That’s daring to be the same old sinner you were the day you were conceived, living out your inborn, self-made religion-that’s the religion that believes what you do and don’t do will put you in God’s good graces and make Him like you. That’s no dare at all.

Jesus lived His life for you. Jesus died the death you deserve on the Cross. He now lives, and true Life is found only in Him. What you do doesn’t save you-all it can do is damn you. But He was damned for you so that in Him, you will never see hell. So dare to be different. Dare to be Lutheran.

Not every Lutheran is the same, either. There is an alphabet soup of Lutheranism out there-some of which you need to dare NOT to be. If it looks like generic Christianity, worships like generic Christianity, is centered on you and not on Jesus crucified for you…it’s not Lutheran.

What kind of Lutheran do I need to dare to be? The Christ’s-cross-alone, received-by-faith-alone from-Scripture-alone kind of Lutheran, of course! The-Lord-be-with-you and with-thy-Spirit kind. The Holy-Baptism-saves kind. The Lord’s-Supper-gives-me-Jesus’-True- Body-and-True-Blood kind. The my-pastor-forgives-my-sins kind. The Bible-is-the-authoritative-Word-of-God kind of Lutheran. Dare to be THAT kind of Lutheran.

So why is this important? I’ve not always been Lutheran. I grew up Roman Catholic. The Lord converted me my freshman year of college. I had always heard what I had to do to be saved…maybe. Only in the Lutheran church did I hear that Christ saves totally by grace alone. It changed my life.

I’m mostly grown up now. I have three kids. I don’t want them to go on the same journey I went on. I want them to grow up Lutheran. I want them to believe what we believe and to receive the comfort and peace that comes only from the pure Gospel. I want them to receive the Sacrament with me. It’s important to me; it’s a matter of life and death. I’ll bet it’s important to your parents, too.

For, if you are a Lutheran, why would you want to be anything else? If the Gospel has become clear to you that salvation and heaven and faith and life are all about Jesus’ cross alone without any merit or worthiness in you, why would you want to trade that for anything else? Why would you want to be anything else?

Dare to confess that Jesus alone saves you. Dare to believe that His salvation is by grace alone, not by what you do or don’t do. Dare to confess that Jesus is received by faith alone. Dare to base your faith only from Scripture alone.

Dare to be Lutheran!

Rev. George F. Borghardt serves as the Senior Pastor at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in McHenry, Illinois. He is the President of Higher Things. His email is revborghardt@higherthings.org.