Author: Higher Things

Rev. Mark Buetow

This is a series of articles explaining what the Apostles’ Creed teaches and why we use it in church and in our prayers.

The Third Article:
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Amen.

The First Article of the Creed teaches us that God the Father made all things. The Second Article teaches that Jesus Christ is true God and true man, who was born, lived, suffered, died and rose again to take away our sins. The Third Article tells us what the Holy Spirit does. The Bible teaches, and the Creed therefore summarizes the work of the Holy Spirit this way: He delivers what Jesus did for us and thereby makes us holy. That is, Jesus died for our sins and rose again; He accomplished our salvation. The Holy Spirit delivers that salvation through the church.

The Christian church is where the Word of God is preached and baptism, absolution and the Lord’s Supper are administered and given. Through the Word (which is preached but also written in the Bible), the Holy Spirit turns the hearts of those who hear it to faith and trust in Jesus. Without these “means” or “instruments” or “tools,” the Holy Spirit doesn’t work. But through these gifts, we can be certain that the Holy Spirit is active and delivering Jesus and His forgiveness to us.

In fact, the Christian church is about nothing other than the forgiveness of sins. Jesus did not establish His church by the preaching of the Apostles and the sending of the Holy Spirit to be a place of correcting morals. He didn’t establish it to be a place of self-affirmation. He didn’t establish it as the center of judgment against what is wrong with the world. He establishes His church, through the work of the Holy Spirit, to forgive sinners. To deliver to the world the Good News that no matter what we’ve done, no matter what sins we have, they’ve been wiped out by His death and resurrection. Baptism, the absolution, the Gospel and the Supper all testify of this, proclaim it and deliver it.

But there’s even more! The Third Article of the Creed teaches and reminds us that just as the Spirit breathed life into Adam when he was created, so on the Last Day, the Spirit will breath life into us and our bodies will rise from the dead. Often we get sidetracked into thinking that eternal life is just our disembodied spirits floating around “heaven.” The Bible teaches there will be a new heaven and new earth and that our bodies will rise from the dead. In other words, ours will still be a physical existence, though we will be changed in that resurrection so that we never die again and every tear is wiped away.

There is always a temptation, when talking about the Holy Spirit, to make Him be some impersonal force or working of God which isn’t so much about the Lord as it is about what we want or feel or decide. People can do lots of things and then say, “Well the Spirit led me.” The Apostles’ Creed helps us by reminding us the Spirit’s job isn’t to be an excuse to do whatever we want. Rather, the Spirit’s job is to forgive our sins, and give us everlasting life, by giving us Jesus and His salvation. And the Holy Spirit doesn’t just do that anywhere, He does it in and through the Word and gifts he gives to us in the holy, Christian church.

Now hopefully you see that the Apostles’ Creed, though its words are not directly from the Bible, doesn’t teach anything that isn’t in the Bible. In fact, the Creed is just a short summary of what God’s Word teaches. When we say it in church, or in our prayers at home, we are simply hearing the summary of the what the Bible says. On the one hand, we glorify God when we speak the truth that He has revealed to us. This is an act of worship, as we speak His Word and hear who He is and what He has done for us. On the other hand, these words teach and remind us what the Truth is, so that we are not easily led astray by teachings and ideas that are not taught by God’s Word. The Creed reminds us of what is true and protects us from what is false.

So say the Apostles’ Creed! Learn it! Memorize it! Recite it! Pray it! The Apostles’ Creed is a gift because it fills our ears with the wonderful list of the Father’s, Son’s, and Holy Spirit’s gifts to us!

Rev. Mark Buetow

This is a series of articles explaining what the Apostles’ Creed teaches and why we use it in church and our prayers.

The Second Article:
And [I believe] in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.

The center, foundation, focus, emphasis, big deal and whole point of the Christian faith is Jesus Christ. But there are lots of Jesuses out there. So we learn and pray and recite the Apostles’ Creed to confess, teach and be reminded of what the Bible says about the real Jesus. Who is He? Why did He come here? What did He do?

Jesus is true God, the Son, eternally begotten of the Father. He is true man, having taken on flesh in the womb of the virgin Mary. So Jesus is God. Jesus is a man. He suffered, died, rose again. He ascended into heaven and will come back in a way we can see with our eyes one day. That’s why we call Him “Lord.”

Notice that the words of the Creed about Jesus are all about Him. Not us. Him. The sum and substance of the Christian faith is not us. It’s not our faith. It’s not how much we believe. It’s not how much we change or improve our lives. It’s not how we live or how holy we can act or seem. It’s about Jesus. Jesus being born for us. Suffering for us. Dying for us. Rising from the dead for us. Ascending into heaven for us. Coming back for us.

One of the reasons that we learn to recite and pray the Creed every day is that then our hearts and minds and ears will be filled with Jesus and not us. It’s very easy to make religion about how well we can fix what’s wrong with us. About how well we’re doing. About how we are better than others. The Creed doesn’t play that game. These words that the church pulled from the Bible put it to us straight and simply: Jesus saves sinners. He came to do all that He did to save us from everlasting death and separation from God. He came to forgive us and make us new.

The Creed reminds us, before we head out into the world, that the only Jesus that matters is the One who is Lord by saving us. The only Jesus that saves us is the One who gave His life for us. The only true God is the One who sends His Son and the Son who comes in the flesh to be our Lord and to rescue us from sin and death. The Creed reminds us of all that.

And we need to be reminded. We need to hear it daily. We need to rehearse it. We need to say it and believe it. That’s because we’re always inclined to look for the god who works on our terms. Fixes what we want fixed. Does what we want done. Makes me happier and better off. The Creed doesn’t play that game either. The Creed summarizes what the Bible teaches from front to back: We are doomed unless God saves us. So He does. And He does so by becoming one of us so that He can suffer and die like we do. Then He rises from the dead, doing what we can’t do so that one day we will do like He did: rise from the dead.

When you look at these words of the Creed, particularly these words of the Second Article (the second part, about the Son), there are really no other words which so simply, beautifully, and comfortingly tell us what God and religion and church and the faith are all about.

Learn these words. Recite them. Pray them. Cherish them. For in these few words, we have the summary of what the whole Bible is about: a God who becomes man to save us. The Creed tells us the “who” and “how” of what Jesus Himself says in John 3:17: “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” The Creed, then, is not just some man-made bunch of stuff. It’s a display case that illuminates and shows the beauty of God’s Word and what it says.

In the First Article of the Creed, we are taught that God is our Father. Here in the Second Article we are taught that God is our Redeemer, that is, the One who saves us from sin, death, devil, and hell. That’s worth hearing every day, not just in church but in our homes and always in our hearts and minds.

Rev. Mark Buetow

This is a series of articles explaining what the Apostles’ Creed teaches.

The First Article:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

The first thing that the Creed teaches us is that God is our Father. People like to stick lots of adjectives on God: He is almighty. He is all-powerful. He is present everywhere. He is mighty and eternal and so on and so forth. While those things are true, what matters most for us is that God is our Father. What do fathers do? Well, they give us life and, if they are doing their job, they provide for their children.

God the Father made everything there is out of nothing, by speaking it into existence by His Word. Last of all, He made man and gave everything else to him as a gift. When man disobeyed God and fell into sin, the Father promised He would send His Son to save us from our sins and make all things new again. The Creed teaches and reminds us that from the very beginning, the Father has made all things–including us–and still takes care of and preserves them.

Some earthly fathers abandon their children. They may hurt or abuse them or just leave them altogether. It’s hard for people who have experienced a bad earthly father to believe that they have a heavenly Father who is loving and gracious. But even if we have a decent family life, it is still hard to believe that God could be a loving Father when there is so much suffering and want in our world. Sure, the Father may give you health and provide you daily bread, but what about that person who is sick and dying or doesn’t have what they need?

When the Father made things, He made them in such a way that the things He makes do the work He wants. For example, in order to give life, the Father makes parents who have a child together. Through those same parents, the Father takes care of that child, providing all he or she needs. Therefore, if it seems like our heavenly Father is not doing something, the more likely explanation is that man and his sinfulness have intervened to ruin and corrupt things. In fact, since the Garden of Eden, we creatures have been turning our backs on our Creator and doing things our own way. We have, as it were, run away from home, telling our Father to stay away from us and leave us alone. And, doing that, we have the audacity to blame HIM for our problems when all He would do is love and provide for us!

But here is what makes our heavenly Father a great Father: He sends His Son to bail us out. To rescue us. To save us. God the Father would give up His own eternally begotten Son to suffering and death to bring us back to Him. Suddenly, God being our Father isn’t just about getting what we want or avoiding stuff we don’t like. God being our Father means that when His children don’t want Him, He sends His Son to save them. The simple fact is, God can never disown us and the proof He cannot is that Jesus died and rose from the dead.

When the Creed says that God is “Almighty,” that’s more than just super powers that can flood the earth or whip up a tsunami or let loose a volcano. The power and might of the Father is that He is merciful and saves sinners, at the cost of His own Son’s life!

When we speak and confess and recite and pray the words of the Creed, in particular the First Article about the Father, we are reminded and taught that everything we have comes from Him. And whatever we suffer, whatever we lack, whatever seems bad–none of that can overcome what the Father has given us in His Son. And what the Father has given us in His Son is everlasting life. It’s pardon for our offenses, rescue from the things that would ruin us, and the promise that because of what His Son has done, now we are the Father’s dear children forever.

To say, “I believe in God, the Father Almighty.” is to say nothing other than what God’s Word teaches. The Father has made all things. He made you. And even when you don’t acknowledge and thank Him, He sent His Son to save you. Such a heavenly Father, full of patience, grace, and mercy, is what the Bible teaches, and what the Creed says simply and clearly.

Rev. Mark Buetow

Friends, Romans and Youth, “Lent me your ear.” Ash Wednesday begins the Holy Season of Lent. What is Lent? Lent is a Holy Season of the Church Year lasting 40 days. But what is Lent about? Well, it’s not about things people borrowed from you and it’s not about that fuzzy stuff that sticks to your pockets. No, Lent is a season in which Christians pay close attention to Jesus going to the cross for sinners and taking the opportunity to receive even more of Christ’s gifts to us in Word and Sacraments. (Usually with the Supplemental Church Lenten Wednesday Service).

The season of Lent has a long history in the church. First of all, the 40 days of Lent remind us of a bunch of “Top 40s” in the Bible. There was the 40 days and nights that rained during the Flood in which Noah was safe in the ark. There are the 40 years of the Children of Israel wandering in the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land. There is the 40 days of repentance declared to the city of Nineveh by the prophet Jonah. Jesus was in the wilderness for 40 days fasting and praying when He was tempted by the Devil and laid the Word-of-God smackdown on the Evil One. There were 40 days after Jesus rose on Easter until He ascended into heaven. All of these “40s” were the basis for a time of reflection and devotion in the Church Year. The 40 days of Lent was a time to remember that God’s people are still in the “wilderness” of this life and our Lord is there taking care of us.

But, as sinners like to do, Lent gradually became a season that was less about Jesus and more about “me!” When sinners pulled a big whopper, the priests would say that they could only come back into the church after a time of fasting and prayer. That was the main part of Lent: the “penitents,” the people who had really blown it, were working their way back into the good graces of the Church. Think of it as a Spring Semester with no Spring Break. But, of course, that had more to do with people trying to overcome their sins than Jesus overcoming them for us.

So, after the Reformation, Lent was again given its place as a time to focus and rejoice on the suffering and death of Jesus for our sins. Sure, we think about our sins because they caused Jesus to go to the cross. But we rejoice that He went to the cross to take away our sins. Think of Lent as the time to pay close attention to what exactly Jesus has done for you. In Lent, we have more opportunities to hear the Good News that Jesus is our Savior and to receive His holy gifts of absolution and His body and blood.

But beware! Most people, when they hear of “Lent” only hear “giving something up.” Some people give up chocolate for Lent. Some give up TV or candy or other things they like. I once joked with my Dad that we should only use slow Internet for Lent. Why do people give things up? It has to do with the tradition of fasting. Fasting means having less of something or giving something up. That’s a good idea if there’s something that you really like so much it consumes you. Lent is the time to give it a rest and learn to live by God’s Word rather than the things you love more than God’s Word. But be careful! Some people think the point of giving something up in Lent is to deny themselves some pleasure and so make themselves more sad or mopey. Baloney! Remember: Lent isn’t about YOU. It’s about Jesus. If you want to give something up, give it up so you can have more Jesus not because Jesus will like you if you stop eating ice cream or brownies.

You might get ashes on your forehead on Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. The ashes remind us that “we are dust and to dust we shall return.” But pay close attention! Those ashes are smeared on your forehead in the sign of the cross so that you never forget that the Lord came and died and rose for us crumbly piles of ashes. He gave Himself into death for our sins so that we, who die, will have eternal life with Him who rose again and conquered sin and death. So off we go into Lent! It’s solemn. But it’s not joyless. After all, how can we not rejoice when our Lord is headed to Calvary for our sins? He died and rose for us and that makes Lent a really great time of year! 40 days of what, you say? 40 days of Jesus all for you!