Author: Higher Things

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Categories
Higher Homilies

Tetelestai!

Rev. George Borghardt

St. John 19:16b-42

In the name of Jesus. Amen. Tetelestai. Greek verb. Perfect passive. Completed action. It has been accomplished. It is finished. The account has been paid.

Say it. “Tetelestai.” Believe it. Be saved by Jesus’ cross alone. It is finished. Tetelestai.

He’s done. God’s dead on the Cross. Hell’s finished. Salvation has been achieved. God’s wrath is satisfied. The punishment due you has been paid for by the Son of God Himself. Perfect passive. Done deal. Jesus did it.

The conquerer of sin, death, and the devil is hanging, beaten and dead, on a Cross. He is God’s answer to sin. He is God’s remedy for death. He destroys death by dying. Death died in Him. For you. For me. For all.

Good Friday. The Cross. The Crucified Christ. That’s our theology, our Faith, our hope.

Luther said it this way: “Crux sola est nostra theologia,” The Cross alone is our theology. Christ and Him crucified for you. That’s daring to be Lutheran.

The Cross is justification by grace alone, received faith alone, from Scripture alone. The Cross is the Law of God. The Cross is the Gospel of God. The Cross is the righteousness God requires and the Cross is the righteousness God gives. The Cross is your salvation — your justification and your sanctification.

We try to dodge His Cross — the hideous sight of our salvation being won by His corpse hanging naked and lifeless on the Tree. We would get around Him. We’d take Him off the tree if we could. You know, “He’s not on the Cross any more.”

We would replace the Christ the Crucified with a present-tense religion that is more sanitized and sensible to us — one that looks a lot more like us! Our decisions, our giving Jesus our life, and our commitment (and re-commitments) to Him. We’d make a religion all about what we do, what we think, how we feel. What church means to me and how it can make my life better today.

Sure, you’ve got sins, but you will do better next time. You’ll do more good works and get your life together. That sin will never happen again. It’s not like it was that big of a deal anyway. It’s not like you killed someone.

But… you did. I did, too. Jesus was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The punishment that should have fallen on us fell upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. You crucified the Lord of Glory. You killed God. I did too.

But God has saved you in His death. You see, this dead God means a living you. Your sin, your evil, your transgressions have died with Him. Hell smolders no more for you.

Tetelestai. It is finished. Not “It’s almost finished and all you have to do is repent, choose, accept…” No, if you could do something, anything to fix your sins, God would not have had to die to save you.

So, “behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Crucified, hanging on the Cross having answered for your crimes. Look on Him. Behold Him. Fix your eyes on Him and be saved in His Cross.

What you couldn’t do, God has done for you in the Cross of Jesus Christ. He was crucified for your sins. He was raised for your justification, for you forgiveness.

Receive His Cross today. Take eat His Body. Take and drink the blood flowing from His crucified side of Christ. Be forgiven. Be enlivened.

For you have been crucified with Him in the waters of Holy Baptism. You died to your former sins. The way you used to live, think, feel, and tried to save yourself was tetelestai-ed. That’s over and done with, and buried with Jesus.

And you have been made alive, raised with Jesus. Perfect passive. Completed action. He lives for you. You live now for others. You live and love others as He lived and loved others too, as He lives and loves you.

Jesus was dead. Now He lives forever. You live too. Present tense. Right now. Never to die again.

And on the Last Day, with your own eyes you will see the One Crucified for your sins. St. John says He sits on the throne looking as a Lamb having been slain. Jesus is always and forever the Crucified One. That means that you and I are always and forever saved in Him.

Tetelestai. Greek verb. Perfect passive. Completed action. It has been accomplished. It is finished. The account has been paid.

Say it. tetelestai. Believe it. Be saved by Jesus’ cross alone. It is finished. tetelestai. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Categories
HT Legacy-cast

Episode 285: August 1, 2014

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Today on HT-Radio, Pr. Borghardt and Sandra Ostapowich are joined by Pr. Mark Buetow. Pr. Buetow talks about his breakaway from the Crucified conferences “Baptized, Not ‘Gay’.” In this episode he talks about how baptized Christians find their identity in their baptism, not in their sin.

If you have questions or topics that you’d like discussed on HT-Radio email them to radio@higherthings.org or send a text to 936-647-3235.

Categories
Catechesis

Sanctification: Jesus Living in You

Rev. Mark Buetow

But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.” – 1 Corinthians 1:30-31

Have you ever witnessed someone’s behavior and just wanted to tell them, especially if they are a Christian, “Stop it! Stop doing that! Do the right thing! Do the Christian thing! Act like a Christian! Behave!” All of us have particular sins which we like to judge in others. All of us have particular sins others enjoy judging in us. But aren’t we saved? Aren’t we supposed to be holy? Are we sanctified? Where is our sanctification?

“Sanctification” is one of those big words we hear in the Bible and in the church. It literally means “holy-fication.” It comes from the Latin word “sanctus” which means “holy.” Sanctification is being holy. Acting holy. Living holy. But what is holy? For most people who misunderstand sanctification, holy means a certain type of behavior that is Christian as opposed to pagan. People assume that we are sanctified and lead holy lives simply by being told what is wrong and being told to avoid it and do the right thing. What’s more, many preachers, even some Lutheran ones, assume that if they just tell people God’s Word of Law, it will enable a Christian to do what it says.

“Sanctification” is one of those things we’ll get completely wrong if we think it’s about us and not about Jesus. In fact, in the words above, St. Paul says that Jesus IS our sanctification. Whatever our sanctification is, it’s Jesus. So let’s clear up some of the myths and false ideas about what it means to be a Christian and be holy, that is, sanctified.

False Statement #1 “Jesus saving us is our justification. Our living for Jesus is our sanctification.” It’s like Jesus saves us but then it’s on us to live the right way. But St. Paul declares, “ I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). Jesus doesn’t save you and then leave it up to you to “stay saved” by living a good life. Rather, it is Jesus who lives in you. When you sin and break the commandments, forgiveness means God doesn’t count that against you. It’s covered up by Jesus. When you do good for another person, that’s Christ living in you, loving others through you. Sure, it’s your hands and mouth and mind and body. But Christ living in you means you are the instrument through which Christ loves and serves others. This rescues us from despair that we haven’t “done enough” because it is Christ’s to live and to do in us.

False Statement #2: “If you are a sincere and mature Christian, you will sin less and less as you grow.” Here’s Paul again: “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing…Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. (Romans 7:18-19,24-25) Does that sound like a man who is improving or getting better? Paul recognized that the more “mature” he got, the longer he lived, the more he sinned and the more he struggled against God’s will and Word. But he also knew his deliverance and peace were found in Jesus. Jesus’ forgiveness wipes out Paul’s sin, while at the same time working through Paul to make him a better person for his neighbor. You might say that the longer you are a Christian, the more sin you’ll see in yourself. And the bigger a Savior Jesus is!

False Statement #3: “God wouldn’t have given the Commandments if we couldn’t keep them.” Oh yes He would! He did! Why on earth would God tell us to do and not do what we can’t do and not do? To show us our sin. To teach us that we can’t make ourselves holy. Jesus said, “I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20). These words tell us that we are not going to inherit the kingdom of God by our works because we can’t be that righteous. But Jesus is that righteous and therefore because He lives in you, His righteousness, His standing, is yours.

The obvious argument to anything we’re saying here is this old saw: “Well, if it’s just Jesus living in you and you’re forgiven, you can live however you want!” And that’s exactly right. But how do you want to live? Here we are reminded of the saying, “simul iustus et peccator” (at the same time sinner and saint). The Small Catechism nails it: What does such baptizing with water indicate? It indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever (Baptism, Fourth Part).

So what does it all look like, this sanctification stuff? It looks like Jesus living in you. How does that happen? By Holy Baptism, Absolution, the preaching of the Holy Gospel, and the Holy Supper of Jesus’ body and blood. Which means the Christian life looks like this: You get up and go out into the world with all sorts of good works to do based on whatever your vocation and calling are. And when you mess those up, you live in the grace and forgiveness of Christ which is yours in His church, which He gives in His gifts of water, Word, and Supper. And so it goes back and forth. Round and round. Day in and day out. Christ lives in you to the world through your good works to your neighbor. He dwells in you by forgiveness and faith to cover your sins. Over and over, every day, Jesus lives in you until the day He raises you from the dead. That’s what it means to be holy. That’s what sanctification is: Jesus living in you; His Spirit working in you; Jesus being Jesus, and you along for the ride.

Rev. Mark Buetow is pastor of Bethel Lutheran Church in DuQuoin, Illinois and serves as the deputy and media services executive for Higher Things. He can be reached at buetowmt@gmail.com.

Categories
HT Legacy-cast

Episode 284: July 25, 2014

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In Episode 284 of HT-Radio, Pr. Borghardt and Sandra Ostapowich are joined by Pr. Donavon Riley, Pastor at St. John Lutheran Church in Webster, MN. Pr. Riley talks about his breakaway at the Crucified Higher Things Conference in Mequon, WI, “Christians: Leading a Double Life.” He takes a look at what Martin Luther taught – that Christians are simultaneously justified and ungodly. He also tells us a little bit about his first HT conference.

If you have questions or topics that you’d like discussed on HT-Radio email them to radio@higherthings.org or send a text to 936-647-3235.

Categories
Current Events

Marked Christians

Stan Lemon

“Do not fear any of these things which you are about to suffer.” – Revelation 2:10

Recently you might have seen this image on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. It’s the letter “N” in Arabic. Right now there is a lot of conflict in Iraq. There’s a group called ISIS, which is short for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and they’re a jihadist group. A jihadist group is following a specific teaching within the religion of Islam that leverage some particularly violent tactics to dealing with infidels, folks like you and me. What’s going on in Iraq right now is both sad and bloody. This past week ISIS told Christians to get out of the town of Mosul in Iraq or convert to Islam. If they didn’t, they would die. The “N” you’ve been seeing all over social media is for the word “Nasrani” (Nazarene) which refers to Christians. ISIS is using this to mark the doors of Christian homes. You can guess as to why.

Our Christian brothers and sisters in Mosul and throughout the world need our prayers. They are being persecuted for confessing Christ, for clinging to the Cross and the gifts which He, the very Son of God delivers to you. Christians are being marked by their enemies with this Arabic letter, but the reality of the situation is that these terrorists are too late. As ones redeemed by Christ, these Christians in Mosul, like you and I, have already been marked. It is not a visible stamp on our front door, but instead it is a sacred stamp upon the forehead and the heart. It’s a stamp that was sealed at the blessed font in the waters of Holy Baptism. A stamp placed upon you when a lowly “infidel” made the mark of the Cross and baptized you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. What’s more is this Arabic N intends to mark Christians for death, but you can’t kill the dead! In Christ your old man has already died, he has been drowned in those waters with that sacred stamp. Out of that death comes life, a life which cannot be taken away from you. A life given to you by the worst of the Nasrani, the Son of God, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. A life delivered to you in Holy Baptism and given over and again at the altar in His body and blood. There is no mark that can be placed upon you because you are already marked. There is no death which can conquer the death that Christ died for you. That is the hope of our brothers and sisters who suffer and flee.

What’s going on right now in Iraq is sad and scary. There is no doubt about that. But in Christ there is hope. There is the certainty that no death can overcome Jesus. And like the saints who suffered for the Gospel in days of old, the saints in Mosul shall bear witness to Jesus Christ and Him Crucified. With all the host of heaven we pray for our brother and sisters in Christ, that they might be spared the hand of their oppressor and that through their suffering they might be comforted by the greatest of Comforters and His very precious body and blood.

Lord Jesus Christ, before whom all in heaven and earth shall bow, grant courage that our brothers and sisters in Iraq may confess Your saving name in the face of any opposition from a world hostile to the Gospel. Help them to remember the long line of Your faithful witnesses who endured persecution and even faced death rather than dishonor You. By Your Spirit strengthen them to confess You before all, knowing that You will confess them before Your Father in heaven; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Collect for persecuted Christians)

Categories
Catechesis

The Life You Now Live

Rev. George Borghardt

You’ve already died. You did! Death’s already happened to you. There was no angel of death, no Grim Reaper, no Oscar-winning last breath. No, you died in the Baptismal Font. You were drowned in the water and in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus suffered for you. He was beaten in your place. He was crucified. He died. They pierced Him with a spear. The punishment which should befall you fell upon Him and, by His stripes, you are healed.

You died in the flood of blood and water flowing from Jesus’ crucified side. You were crucified with Christ. You died with Him. You no longer live—at least not the way you used to live before your Baptism.

You are dead to your sins.You are dead to having other gods. Dead to trusting to your works and stuff. You are dead to misusing God’s name and despising His Word. You died to disobeying your parents, hating and hurting others, fornication, porn, sleeping with those to whom you aren’t married, stealing, downloading music you don’t pay for, cheating on your taxes, lying, gossiping, slandering others, pushing others down to push yourself up, and wanting to have the things that belong to others.

Oh, you were that person. You did those things. You lived in that death and you called it “life.” You don’t any more. You’ve died with Christ. You are alive to God.

He rose from the dead on Easter morning. You were raised with Him in the water and the Word. He is sinless. You are sinless, in Him. He cannot sin. You cannot sin, in Him. He is holy. You are holy, in Him. He is righteous. You are righteous, in Him. He lives and you live in Him.

But you don’t live like you’re alive, do you? You live in your sins, as though you were still enslaved to them. You hang around the grave where your sins were buried with Jesus. Your world is a prison with shackles of the iniquity and filth that you feel you “must” do.

You want to stop. You can’t—not on your own, anyway. You know you are better than this, but you really aren’t, because if you were better then you wouldn’t be committing the same sins day after day.

It’s time to die again! Repent of your sins— that is, confess them to God or your pastor or your neighbor and then beg the Lord to have mercy on you. Hold your sins under the waters of your Baptism. Drown them. And if they should float back up again, drown them again. Pop up. Drown.

They resurface. Drown again. You die to sins. Jesus raises you from the dead again. Rinse and repeat.

This is the Christian life. It’s dying to your sins and rising again in Jesus. Die to the way you are doing things on your own, to the sins that enslave you, and be raised to new life—His life. Repent and believe that Jesus saves you. He must. He promised that He saves you in your Baptism.

His life is then lived in your life lived for others. It’s not you doing it, but yet it is. It’s your life lived in Christ. The life you now live you live by faith in the Son of God who loved you and gave up His life for you.

In Him, you fear, love, and trust in God above all things. You cherish the Lord’s Name and His Word. You honor Mom and Dad and all the authorities around you. You don’t hurt others but rather help and support them. You lead a chaste and decent life in all you say and do. You help improve and protect your neighbors’ possessions and income. You defend your friends, you speak well of them, and put the best construction on everything they do and say. And coveting? It’s not even something that comes to your mind.

When you fail, die and rise again in your Baptism. When you don’t fail, die and rise again in your baptism. For you have died to this world, to your sins, and you have been raised to new life in Christ—a life lived for the sake of others.

When you do die again, you won’t actually die, because you’ve already died once in Holy Baptism. Death will be just a nap. You will wake up. Jesus will awaken you to an eternal life where He is. You will be as you are now in Holy Baptism by faith—holy, perfect, and forgiven.

You will live eternally on that day because you are alive in Jesus right now. Right now, you are dead to your sins and alive to God in Christ. You have been crucified with Christ and now live in Him. The life you have now you live by faith in the Son of God who loved you and gave up Himself for you.

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

Categories
HT Legacy-cast

Episode 283: July 18, 2014

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This week on HT-Radio, Pr. Buetow talks about the Crucified theme, the theology of the Cross, Peter and Paul and more! Listen as we dare to be Lutheran and look at the 2014 Higher Things Conference theme.

If you have questions or topics that you’d like discussed on HT-Radio email them to radio@higherthings.org or send a text to 936-647-3235.

Categories
News

Trinity 5-10 Reflections Now Available

Higher Things announces the next set of Daily Reflections for July 20 through August 30, 2014. Covering the Fifth through Tenth weeks after Trinity, these reflections are full of the Good News of Jesus for sinners, delivered in His Word and Sacraments. Download them today as a printable booklet or in a variety of other formats available here.

In Christ,
Pastor Mark Buetow
HT Media Services

Categories
News

Higher Things Remembers Klemet Preus

Today, the board members and staff of Higher Things, along with “Crucified” conference attendees prayed for our dear friend and president emeritus, the Reverend Klemet Preus. We prayed again upon hearing the announcement that he had fallen asleep in Jesus this morning. Pastor Preus served as the president from 2001 to 2009. Through his tireless work and service, Higher Things always worked at its work, worshipped in its worship, and played in its play. Our brother’s work and play are now done, but his worshipping of Jesus continues for eternity. We who are privileged to serve in the Higher Things organization see that in the work, worship, and play of all the youth who Dare to be Lutheran, Klemet’s works do, indeed, follow him.

Following the announcement of his falling asleep, 1200+ Lutheran youth and their chaperones sang the following stanzas together, acapella, of “God’s Own Child, I Gladly Say It.” (LSB 594)

Death, you cannot end my gladness:
I am baptized into Christ!
When I die, I leave all sadness
To inherit paradise!
Though I lie in dust and ashes
Faith’s assurance brightly flashes:
Baptism has the strength divine
To make life immortal mine.

There is nothing worth comparing
To this lifelong comfort sure!
Open-eyed my grave is staring:
Even there I’ll sleep secure.
Though my flesh awaits its raising,
Still my soul continues praising:
I am baptized into Christ;
I’m a child of paradise!

Our prayers are with Jan and all the family. We will be thinking of Klemet tonight in the Litany of Evening Prayer, “For the faithful who have gone before and are with Christ, let us give thanks to The Lord. Alleluia!”

Jesus Christ is risen from the dead! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Rev. George F. Borghardt
President, Higher Things

Higher Things Magazine Articles by Pr. Preus:

Categories
Christ on Campus

His Name Is John

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

By Rev. Marcus Zill

Language and faith always go hand in hand. Songwriters and poets have always sought to capture the essence of the Christian faith. Having dabbled in poetry myself, I have an appreciation for those who are actually skilled at the craft.

You would probably be thrilled to find out that when you were born, your dad made up a poem in honor of the occasion. But what if the point of it had more to do with your cousin who wasn’t even born yet? Well, that’s basically what happened with John the Baptist (we celebrate his Nativity on June 24). When John was born, his dad, Zacharias, composed such a piece but it turns out that most of it was about Jesus.

Of course, this makes total sense, as the supreme purpose in John’s life was precisely to point people to Jesus. His ministry was with his finger! John once said of Jesus, “He must increase and I must decrease.” Ultimately, everything about John, beginning at his birth, found its meaning in relation to Jesus— including his name.

In many families, it is customary to name the firstborn son after his father or grandfather and to name the other children after other relatives—at least their middle name. My first name, Marcus, was my dad’s first name. While it’s just a custom and there’s nothing wrong with disregarding it (I went by my middle name Todd growing up and was called Toddzilla by my peers in my youth!) the custom does express the hope that the qualities about one’s father or other relatives will be carried on by their descendants.

In ancient times, this custom was followed much more frequently than today. It wasn’t an option. It was expected. But Luke tells us that something different happened with the naming of John. In fact, it was so different that the other relatives and friends protested. “There’s nobody in the family by that name!” “Nobody in the family has ever borne the name of John.” “Why don’t you call him Zacharias, like his father?”

The fact that Zacharias and Elizabeth have a child at all was a miracle. They had every reason to name him Zacharias. But they don’t. Instead they give him a name which indicates who he is in God’s sight and what he has come to do. And so Zacharias, who had been kept until that moment from speaking because of his lack of faith in the promise, proudly announces, “His name is John.” Words have meaning and here language and faith go together perfectly. John means, “The Lord is gracious,” and the grace of God is precisely the message that John will preach, namely through repentance and the forgiveness of sins.

Zacharias was certainly a proud father. But his excitement was not only in the birth of his son, but also in the birth of his, and his son’s, Savior. In the canticle known as the Benedictus (Luke 1:67-80), when Zacharias does get around to talking about John, it’s all in relationship to the coming Christ. He, and He alone, is the point for both father and son. And so Zacharias looks at his newborn son and, led by the Holy Spirit, proclaims: “And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him.”

John’s mission would be to prepare the way of the Lord by proclaiming repentance and administering Baptism for the forgiveness of sins. He would ultimately point to Christ CRUCIFIED even before Christ’s death. “Behold, the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world.” (John 1:29) So it is fitting that even the song surrounding John’s birth also points the world to Christ! It is always, always, about Jesus!

Of course, John was eventually killed for his faithful confession of Christ. Pointing out the sins of others in order to lead them to repentance and pointing the world to Jesus ultimately landed John in prison and led to his death. His wasn’t an easy life, but through it all, “the Lord was gracious” to Him and to you as well!

You, too, will experience hardships and trials in your life, not only because sin still clings to you and you live in a sin-filled world, but also because you bear the name of Christ. Pointing your friends and loved ones to Christ and Him CRUCIFIED will also be met with scorn, and ridicule, and perhaps worse. But when you face those trials and temptations, know that God’s Word still proclaims to you that the end of even these things is eternal life: “The Lord is gracious.”

John’s life, from beginning to end, found its entire meaning in relation to Christ. It is the same for you. Your life has meaning—wonderful, walking, wet meaning—because you are joined to Jesus. You have been baptized into Christ, you are privileged to hear His Words, and even receive His body and blood for the forgiveness of sins.

Dear ones, “The Lord is gracious.” That, and only that, is the whole point!

“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has come and has redeemed his people.”

Rev. Marcus T. Zill just accepted a call to serve the LCMS as the full-time Director of Campus Ministry and LCMS U.