Category: Catechesis

“Be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far off,” (Acts 2:38-39).

Whoa there Peter! Better try that again! After all, we Americans are told time and time again by the popular TV, radio, and book pastors that Holy Baptism is a nothing! That Holy Baptism is only for the adults! “The Bible says! The Bible says!” is their never-ending mantra. And yet here you are, Peter, saying just the opposite. And it’s right here in the Bible.

Peter won’t try again. No, do it over for him. He only confesses what the Lord Jesus has taught. Peter doesn’t make things up. No creative, innovative stuff with him. “Make disciples of all nations,” Jesus said, “by baptizing,” (Matthew 28:19). Jesus died for all. Won salvation for all. In Holy Baptism He dishes out the forgiveness of sins salvation stuff that He accomplished on Good Friday.

And so Peter’s invitation. Not to an American Protestant tent-like revival altar call where you give your heart to Jesus. But to the baptismal font! To the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5). “Be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.” In other words, receive this gift from the Lord Jesus. Be given to by the Lord Jesus Himself. Baptism is His gift. His giving. His doing. For whoever is baptized in God’s name is baptized by God Himself.

Who is to be baptized? “Every one of you!” What part of “every” don’t you understand? “Every one of you” leaves no one out! Peter doesn’t discriminate and says that Holy Baptism is only for a few. Jesus died for all. Holy Baptism is for all.

And then the benefits or gifts of Holy Baptism. Check this out! Baptism is not nothing! Peter proclaims quite clearly that this gift is “for the forgiveness of your sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Forgiveness of sins! All your sins! No sins left out of Jesus’ dying for you. So now, no sins not forgiven in Holy Baptism. Such is the work of the Holy Spirit that Jesus Himself promised: “He [the Holy Spirit] will bring glory to Me by taking from what is Mine and making it known to you,” (John 16:14). Indeed!

And it’s all not just for the adults! Holy Baptism and its magnificent benefits are for the kids too. “For the promise [the promise of forgiveness and the Holy Spirit in Holy Baptism] is for you and your children, and for all who are far off.” For you! For your children! For all! No age restrictions. It’s all gift. “For you” talk is Gospel talk. Gift talk. Holy Baptism and its benefits are for everyone.

So, are you forgiven? Of course, you are. How do you know that? “Jesus died for me. He rose for me. He put His Name on me in Holy Baptism.” Are you Holy Spirit-filled? Of course! How do you know that? I am baptized in Jesus’ Name! “Be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Great stuff Peter! Thanks a ton. Your pastoral care in Acts 2:38-39 is for faith. After all, Jesus promised: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved,” (Mark 16:16). So when your conscience, the devil, or the world, accuse you because of your sin, the only reply that counts is faith: “I am baptized! And since I am baptized I have the promise of the forgiveness of all my sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit who is the Lord and giver of life.”

Happy living in your Baptism! In the Name of Jesus.

by The Rev. Brent W. Kuhlman

“And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense, and myrrh.” Matthew 2:11

“When anyone brings a grain offering as an offering to the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour. He shall pour oil on it and put frankincense on it and bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests. And he shall take from it a handful of the fine flour and oil, with all of its frankincense, and the priest shall burn this as its memorial portion on the altar, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord.” Leviticus 2:1-2

Discussions of using incense in worship always tend to come up much more around The Feast of Our Lord’s Epiphany  (one of the magi’s gifts being frankincense and all). Unfortunately, the discussions are usually missing something. They’re missing something big. They’re missing the gift of incense! They miss how it points to Jesus.

Now, of course, there are many who really, really don’t like incense. Maybe they associate all smoke with the smell of not-so-good smelling smoke. Maybe they have trouble breathing when there is too much incense smoke or countless other reasons. On the other hand, there are people who love the smell of incense, they love burning incense and end up burning too much for the space that they are in and what the ventilation is like. That certainly isn’t very helpful for those who already don’t like incense.

But let’s put all of that aside and assume that everyone can sit (in good health) in a sanctuary where an appropriate amount of incense was burned before the service or during select points of the liturgy (like the singing of Psalm 141). Now what? Why should we use incense?

Here are the answers you usually tend to get: “Shouldn’t church smell like church?” “Incense visualizes our prayer before God.” Along with that, “It’s biblical! The Psalms say, ‘Let my prayer rise before You as incense.’” “No one was ever allergic to incense before – People just don’t like it because they think it’s too Roman Catholic.” I’m sure you’ve heard some of those before. None of those are completely terrible answers but they still miss the gift of incense. Some of them get close but just don’t get to it.

Those answers miss the gift of incense because they have nothing to do with Jesus! If you ask someone why they do what they do during the liturgy and their answer has absolutely nothing to do with Jesus, they’re probably better off not doing it. There are times when incense is burned for the sake of having incense without even a passing thought of what it confesses about Jesus. When incense is burned because that’s how the liturgy is really SUPPOSED to be done, there’s no gift there. No gift at all!

Then comes the Feast of Our Lord’s Epiphany. The magi bring Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. We always hear a lot about the gold and myrrh – how they are fitting gifts for Jesus. What about the gift of frankincense?

What was frankincense used for? It was used with sacrifices to make the aroma, the smell, of the sacrifice pleasing to the Lord. Pastors who have studied Biblical Hebrew usually mention that in the Old Testament when God was angry with Israel the text literally talks about His nose burning. The incense was meant to soothe the nose of God so that the Israelites might once again be in His favor.

That’s where the gift of incense lies. The magi bring frankincense to Jesus which point us to why He is born in the first place. He’s born to be the ultimate sacrifice, the final sacrifice, for them, and for you!

So, now what? What purpose does incense serve? How does it point us to Jesus? The gift of incense is that it reminds us that God is angry with His people no more! Incense proclaims that there has been a sacrifice whose aroma was pleasing to God. Jesus, on the cross, taking upon Himself the sin of the world, for you! No longer will God’s nose burn against you because the sweet fragrance of Christ’s sacrifice has soothed it! Jesus has taken the full blow of God’s anger so that you might have forgiveness and everlasting life!

That’s the gift of incense. It’s always pointing to Jesus, who makes you smell good to God! Happy Epiphany!

by Jonathan Kohlmeier

Everyone focuses on Mary as being the mother of our Lord, especially at Christmas time, and for good reason! God thought so much of women, so much of motherhood that He created us with the ability to bear children. He gave His Son a mother who would carry Him in her body, nurse Him at her breasts, change his dirty diapers, and protect and love Him as only a mother can. Pretty amazing!

Mary’s faith is what has always astounded me. If some strange guy appeared out of nowhere and started talking to me, telling me that I’d suddenly be pregnant, but not by any man–by the Holy Spirit; that my son would be the Son of God, and reign forever on the throne of David, “Amen, may it be to me as you have said,” would hardly be my response.

But Mary is utterly unflappable! No matter what comes her way, she takes it all in stride. If a doubt crosses her mind, if she’s ever worried or scared, she doesn’t text all her friends, venting all her fears to them. I doubt she’d even put it on her Facebook status.

Pregnant outside of marriage? No fun, but no problem either. The rumors about what kind of girl she was have been flying for a while now. They still continue today with some modern scholars. But God won’t have Joseph dump her or scandalize her any more than she already has been. He’s going to be good to her–especially in this. He’s going to do great things for her. He has to. Holy is His Name.

Just when she’s getting used to it all and getting ready for the big day, there’s a new twist. Joseph has to go to Bethlehem and Mary has to go with him even though she’s literally about ready to give birth. It’s a really long journey, even if Joseph finds a donkey for her to ride on, like in the Christmas card pictures. Either way, her doctor wouldn’t approve.

Of course, that’s when things really start to get crazy! Her water breaks while they’re in Bethlehem. And all the hotels are completely booked because everyone and their uncle is in town for Caesar’s census. The best Joseph can find for them is a stall in a barn. Seriously? But not even so much as a tweet from Mary to complain about her incompetent husband, the less than 5-star accommodations, or the pain of having to deal with it all during the throes of labor.

No doctor, no nurses, no latex gloves, no anti-bacterial soap, not even a reasonably clean bed to put the Baby in once He’s born. She has to lay Him in a manger. It’s a good thing she packed extra swaddling cloths! Just when she’s about to catch some rest after a really long, hard day, visitors show up. Dirty, smelly, low-class shepherds from the hills outside of Bethlehem. Come on, God! Can’t she even get a decent nap?

The shepherds tell Joseph and Mary about the miraculous visit from the angels and how they were told where to find the Baby. The whole heavenly host had shown up in the skies to announce the birth of God incarnate to the shepherds, continuing their praises of Him on earth just like they do without ceasing in heaven.

Wait a second. Do these filthy men get the big angelic show and Mary gets the stinky shepherds? That’s so not fair! “But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.” (St. Luke 2:19 ESV)

Mary just takes it all in. She treasures it all up–each precious moment. She doesn’t get negative. She doesn’t complain or whine. She doesn’t even get pouty. She’s not ungrateful or ungracious, for even a second. Why would she be? Mary actually believes what the angel told her.

She receives it all–that’s faith! She believes that she is one of God’s favorites! She knows without a doubt that everything that happens, no matter how unbelievable and unexpected, is a gift from her heavenly Father who loves her and only has good things for her. How could He not? He’s given this little Baby, cooing and gurgling in her arms, to save her from everything that could possibly harm her.

The thing about Mary is that it’s never really about Mary. Her faith is in Jesus, her receiving is from Jesus. Her salvation has been accomplished by Jesus. Yours, too. So be at peace. Trust that, in Christ, you are also one of God’s favorites and He has nothing but good for you. How could He not? He’s given you His Son.

Pause for just a brief moment as you think about Jesus and contemplate Mary. She is the epitome of femininity, but not simply because she gives birth to Christ and is His mother. She is a miraculous example of faith, of receiving, of trusting, of submitting. On her own, she’s just as full of doubts as the rest of us, but in Christ, she is quiet and full of peace. Mary is an example, not just for women, but for all of us who are the Bride of Christ.

This article originally appeared in the Winter 2011 issue of Higher Things Magazine.

by Sandra Ostapowich

Just tell me what I have to do and I’ll do it. I don’t care. Scrub scuzzy toilets with my toothbrush? Ok! Walk barefoot over a mile of broken glass? Well…alright. Cover myself with sackcloth and ashes to show how sincere I am that I want to do better? Yes! I can do that. Anything. Just make this feeling go away.

You know the feeling. The one where you’ve been busted. You thought you had it all figured out, covered all your bases, did everything just right. But you didn’t. Someone saw. God saw. And now as everything is coming apart at the seams. Life has become a train wreck you can’t even look away from, you’ll do darn near anything to stop it before it gets to that point.

Darn near anything…except admit that You. Did. It. I did it. Yep, me. I screwed up, and look at the colossal mess it’s made for me…and for people around me. Not that. I’d rather die than do that. So please, tell me what to do to fix this!

And don’t give me that “repent” business. Please. While I’m being brutally honest here, I might as well just say that I’m not really all that sorry for what I did, I’m just sorry that it blew up in my face now that I’m standing here in the mess of it. See what I did there? I’ve even made myself a passive observer of my own sins, like I could actually nudge the person next to me and say under my breath, “Wow…she really messed that one up.” Repent? You’ve got to be kidding.

So I deflect. Those people. Those sins. Not mine. Definitely not mine. Look over there. Squirrel! The gays! The fornicators! The abortionists! Those people really need some Law. They need to be told how to be good Christians because they’re really messing up the world. Look at our culture, it’s swirling ever closer to the proverbial drain. Don’t look at me. Please don’t look at me.

Me, I just need my list. And then with my handy-dandy notepad, I can check off when I’ve done what I need to do and know that it’s done and I’m getting better. I’ll be that person with two checkmarks on my list, and that’s at least better than that loser who only has one. Or that poor sot who’s still scrambling to find a list as their sins tear them up.

I already have a list though. All of us. It only has 10 items on it too. “Here consider your station according to the Ten Commandments, whether you are a father, mother, son, daughter, master, mistress, a man-servant or maid-servant; whether you have been disobedient, unfaithful, slothful; whether you have grieved any one by words or deeds; whether you have stolen, neglected, or wasted anything, or done other injury.”

Oh boy. Yeah, I have. Just look at my life. And look at how I’ve tried to cover up my sins. And how the more I try the worse I’ve made it. Ugh. That feeling is coming back…

But, it was me. I did it. I can’t run from it anymore. This is my life after all. And I have been disobedient. I’ve been unfaithful. Actual sloths are green with envy over my slothfulness. Grieved others with my words AND my deeds. Yes. I can’t deny it. You pick a commandment, I’ve broken it.

Oh wait…I see what you did there. You sneaky, sneaky Holy Spirit! I just got repented. Instead of digging in and pulling myself up by my bootstraps to do better and get about the work of sinning less, I ended up doing something different, going another way. You turned me around and made me look into that blasted mirror. You got me to confess!

Now I’ve had to look at that the steaming pile of destruction and pain that I was “nobly” working hard to cover up. Yup, that’s mine. But I can’t let on that it is. No one can know how bad I really am – even though many probably already do. I need that checklist now, more than ever! That’s how I can still at least look like I’m better than I really am, and maybe even delude myself for a little while…

So, um…if everyone would do me a favor and please just look the other way while I casually kick some grass over this to hide even the scent of it. (I learned this trick from Adam: If God catches you in your sin, hide it with some greenery.) God’s not fooled though. He knows, nothing can be hidden from Him. That probably just made it worse. Ugh. How does one brace oneself for the condemning wrath of God?

Well, Jesus sweat blood that night in Gethsemane. Wait…Jesus. Jesus!! Jesus already paid the price for my sins! God’s not going to condemn me for what Jesus has already died for, right? He can’t, that was the whole point of Jesus dying, after all. My sins, all of them, even those ones I’m horrified about – especially those – are forgiven. That’s all real, right? It has to be. Oh dear Jesus, it has to be! I’ve got nothing else.

“Do you believe that my forgiveness is God’s forgiveness?” my pastor asks.

Well, Pastor, since I really don’t care about your forgiveness and wouldn’t be admitting any of this if that’s all you had for me… duh. “Yes!” That’s why you wear the fancy robes and God put you here, after all.

“Let it be done for you as you believe. And I, by the command of our Lord Jesus Christ, forgive you your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Go in peace.”

by Sandra Ostapowich

Since I began attending and coordinating Higher Things conferences, I’ve witnessed no fewer than 22 miracles. It’s always in different cities but from pretty much the same place. I always watch it happen in the very back of the chapel-lectern side-I don’t know why I stand there and rarely sit. That’s just where and how I end up.

The miracle is that what goes on is not supposed to happen. Kids don’t like this sort of thing. It goes against all the rules of “successful” youth ministry. Young people aren’t even supposed to like it. They aren’t able to worship meaningfully this way.

Youth ministry gurus have taught that if you want to keep young people coming to church, you’re supposed to make it a comfortable, familiar experience. Get a fancy espresso machine and some couches. Convert the sanctuary into a less imposing worship center, cobble together a praise band, and start playing the popular songs from the Christian radio station. That’s what youth want, so that’s how you get them there.

But we don’t do that. It’s completely absurd! Youth attend fourteen (yes, that’s 14) “stuffy,” traditional services with pre-written liturgy and hymns out of the hymnal. Pastors wear vestments. An altar and a pulpit. And an organ. Fourteen services in just four days. We fill their ears with Christ and Him crucified for their sins. It sounds intense. It is intense.

Teenagers should be running in the other direction! Or at least they should be tuned out, asleep, or texting. But they’re not. I can see them from my vantage point in the back.

They’re engaged! They receive Jesus. They don’t complain or ask for more “relevant” music. No, they want more hymns. We have videos of them singing hymns on the way home. They want more liturgy. They can’t wait until Advent and Lent and, especially, Holy Week-because that’s when there are more services at church!

And young people today aren’t supposed to understand hard, multisyllabic, jargon-y words like “concupiscence,” or “Christological.” And they certainly don’t want to feel judged or guilty by hearing about things like actual sin.

Have we forgotten what these same young people are studying day in and day out in school: chemistry, literature, biology, calculus, and memorizing plays for sports, as well as pages upon pages of music?

If teenagers can do all that, they certainly can handle learning real theology, too. At Higher Things conferences there are lots of different breakout sessions for them to attend. Teenagers really can be challenged. They’re not stupid. The quickest way to run them off is to treat them like they are.

Conference after conference, I see young faces light up because they’re looking forward to singing the “Te Deum” that morning. (Which they do in parts.) They’ve even corrected chant tones after the pastor or organist has botched them. I have listened to them confess in unison that they have sinned in thought, word, and deed by what they have done and what they have left undone.

That’s just not supposed to happen! They’re supposed to sit there, all angst-ridden and bored! “Lord, I believe, help now my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24) It really is nothing short of a miracle.

It’s strange, and yet a kind of mind-numbingly obvious concept at work here. When youth are taught what being Lutheran is all about what we believe, teach, and confess-and why we do the things we do (because there are usually pretty good reasons for them)…they are more likely to stay Lutheran. When young people are conversant in their own faith, beyond spiritual-sounding words and warm-fuzzy feelings, they’re better equipped to withstand the challenges they’ll face from the world.

Attending a Higher Things conference is kind of like going to language immersion camp, only for four days youth are immersed in the waters of Baptism. They return home, dripping with the Gospel. They spend the bulk of each day learning various facets of what it means to be Lutheran, and repeatedly join their voices with those from of all believers before them, as the Church confesses as one in worship.

If you don’t have a very organized youth group, getting your congregation’s young people together to attend a Higher Things conference is a great way to kickstart them or get them moving in a new direction. It’s also a really good way to keep the momentum up, and for your youth to see they’re not the only ones who believe and worship as they do.

In the offseason, to get things going at home, there’s no better advice I can give than to get together regularly with your youth (even if it’s only a couple of them) and open the Bible together. Pray together. Create an environment so that youth are comfortable talking about their faith and their lives outside the church. HT magazines and Bible studies are great resources to get those conversations rolling.

Gather up the younger kids and bring them to a retreat. Or hold one for your area! A Higher Things retreat provides a brief taste of what goes on at a Higher Things conference. It’s a great way to get junior youth excited about learning more about their faith even while they’re still preparing for confirmation!

It’s tempting to doubt and worry that it’s all suddenly going to flop. Thankfully, Jesus forgives my unbelief. Yours, too. But it’s not about us doing a great job putting on a few conferences, or getting the youth trip planned. And it’s certainly not about us trying to be cool and exciting. It’s about His Word. His Sacraments.

When I doubt, there’s always next year’s conferences to remind me. I’ll be in my usual place, in the back, on the lectern side-watching yet another miracle.

by Sandra Ostapowich

“Did God say, “You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?'” A subtle, subversive question. A devilish question. What did God say? You may eat the fruit of all trees of the garden except one. Eat of that one and you will die. That’s what God said, and the serpent wants to get between Eve and the Word.

This is where temptation begins, a crack of daylight between the creature and the Creator, between you and the Word. Did God really say…honor your father and mother, do not kill, commit adultery, steal, lie, covet? Did He really say that? Maybe you misheard.

“We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but God did say You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden….” Eve answers correctly. But then she adds something more. She doesn’t fully trust the Word: she needs to add a little bit of her own.”Neither shall you touch it.” Eve is the first pietist. More religious than God Himself – she tries to outdo God.

God has said nothing about touching. Adam and Eve are free to touch it all they want, roll around in its leaves, have a food fight with its fruit if they want. They’re just not supposed to eat it. From that, they are not free, and in not eating, they are free to eat everything else. Freedom always involves the option to say both yes or no, or it is not genuine freedom.

“You will not die.” A lie from the father of lies! The devil is a liar to the core. With the lie, the hook is set. The serpent opens a crack in the door with a devilish temptation. “You can be like God. You can be gods, too. Wouldn’t that be great? Why worship God when you can worship yourself?”

Eve is tempted. She plucks the forbidden fruit and studies it closely, not in light of God’s Word but in the darkness of the Lie. She rationalizes. She sniffs. Mmmmmm. It is good for food. How could something be wrong that tastes so right? It is beautiful. Surely a dangerous and deadly thing would be ugly, right? And stink. But this is beautiful and delicious. And it will make you wise. Wouldn’t God want you to be wise? Doesn’t the end somehow justify the means?

She eats, and Adam eats without so much as a recorded syllable of protest, and the rebellion begins. It is a Fall so great it plunges the whole creation into disorder and decay. A Fall so great that humanity cannot save itself.

“Lead us not into temptation,” we pray. God doesn’t tempt us. But the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh do. The devil would tempt us to trust the Lie. The world would tempt us to despair that God is good and great or that He even exists. Our sinful selves, the old Adam in us, would tempt us to great shame and wickedness. Every time, it’s the same old pattern: Did God say? You won’t die. You can be like God. Go ahead, bite down on the Lie.

Jesus was tempted in every way as we are, yet in such a way that He did not sin. With us, temptation and sin are nearly the same things. No sooner are we tempted, than we have already sinned in our desires. But not Jesus. He was tempted to destroy stones to make bread to feed His hunger. He was tempted to test God’s Word by throwing Himself off the top of the temple. He was tempted by all the world’s riches and power and glory in exchange for a brief secret moment of false worship. Yet Jesus did not sin, even in thought or desire.

Don’t be fooled. You will be tempted. You have the devil, the world, and your own sinful Adamic flesh with you all the time. You will be tempted in thought, in word, in action. You will be tempted by power, by pleasure, by unbelief. But here’s the good news: Jesus resisted the temptation for you and in Him, there is no condemnation. You are not alone; everyone is tempted in some way. God is faithful; He does not abandon you in your weakness. He won’t let you be tempted beyond your strength. He will always provide a way through every time of temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Remember who you are: a baptized child of God. Remember your Baptism, hearing the words of absolution. Eat and drink Jesus’ body and blood, given and shed for you. Where the forbidden tree brought sin and death, Jesus’ tree of the cross brings forgiveness and life. On the day you eat of it, you will surely live.

Our Father in heaven…lead us not into temptation.

Rev. William Cwirla

This article is featured in the Fall Issue of Higher Things Magazine. For more great articles like this one, subscribe now. http://higherthings.org/magazine

Evolutionary biologist and outspoken atheist Dr. Richard Dawkins writes, “Faith is the great 
cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is the belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence.” He asserts that people who believe in God suffer from a “god delusion” and might as well believe in a “flying spaghetti monster.”

So, is religious faith, specifically the Christian faith, unreasonable? Must you check your brains at the door of the church to be a Christian?

The book of Hebrews speaks of faith in terms of a conviction about unseen things. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). It goes on to say, “By faith, we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible” (Hebrews 11:3). What is unseen cannot be tested scientifically the way Dr. Dawkins would like. But does that make faith unreasonable?

We reason in different ways. One way is to evaluate evidence and draw conclusions. This is the way of science, history, and crime scene investigations. Much of our day-to-day life is occupied with this way of thinking.

But we also think beyond the level of evidence. When someone says, “I love you,” you don’t reply, “Do you have any evidence for that?” If you say that, you probably won’t be hearing “I love you” very much, so don’t try this at home.

We also reason about abstract concepts such as love, beauty, justice, mercy, and goodness. We write poetry and tell stories. We paint images of things we have not seen. We compose melodies we haven’t heard before. We are creative beings who think far beyond what is needed for our survival. To limit ourselves purely to “evidence,” which Dr. Dawkins proposes, would be a terrible failure of the imagination and our most human ways of thinking

The book of Ecclesiastes says, “[God] has made everything beautiful in its time; also He has put eternity into man’s mind, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). We have “eternity” planted into our minds, causing us to look beyond and outside ourselves and imagine the transcendent and the holy.

In his letter to the Romans, the apostle Paul wrote, “Ever since the creation of the world [God’s] invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made” (Romans 1:19-20). God has left His fingerprints on the creation so that His creatures might recognize His existence, power, and deity. Only a creature with imagination can look at the creation and ponder his Creator.

Consider the vast intricacy, order, and complexity of the universe, and the lavishly diverse beauty of life around us. Which is more reasonable? To say, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth,” or “In the beginning, nothing became everything all by itself?”

Skeptics like Dr. Dawkins argue that there is no convincing evidence for God. But what would constitute “convincing evidence?” How can an infinite, transcendent Being who is beyond the confines of time and space show His existence to us finite creatures who are bound by time and space? The only way would be for God to occupy time and space, which He did. “The Word became Flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).

Is it reasonable to believe that Jesus is the eternal Word become flesh? What would constitute sufficient evidence? He did all sorts of miracles, “signs and wonders” that only God, or someone with the power of God, can do. He predicted that the temple in Jerusalem would be destroyed within a generation, which would have been like someone predicting the destruction of the Twin Towers on 9/11 forty years before it happened. And at least three times, Jesus predicted His own death and resurrection. To quote the great baseball pitcher Dizzy Dean, “It ain’t braggin’ if you can do it.” Jesus did it!

Is it reasonable to believe that Jesus rose from the dead? Consider the evidence. Over 500 eyewitnesses saw Him at one time. People ate with Him, touched Him, and heard Him speak. These people may not have been as scientifically sophisticated as we are, but they all knew that dead men do not ordinarily rise from the dead. Thomas wouldn’t even believe the news until he saw and touched the evidence for himself.

The apostle Peter went from being a wimp who wouldn’t even admit to a servant girl that he knew Jesus to become a powerful preacher of Jesus’ resurrection willing to risk his own life for the name of Jesus. All in 50 days! That’s quite a transformation, don’t you think? Many who claimed to have seen Jesus risen from the dead were tortured and killed but never changed their stories, even though they could have saved their lives by denying it. I wonder how many people who claim to have seen Elvis or Bigfoot or UFOs would stick to their stories if they were slowly tortured to death.

The people who were in power, the Romans and the Jewish religious leaders, had the means and the motive to get Jesus’ body and parade it through the streets to put an end to the rumors. Only one problem: There was no body.

What do you reasonably conclude? Jesus is risen from the dead. And if Jesus was right about His own death and resurrection, wouldn’t it be reasonable to listen to the other things He said? He claimed that Moses and the OT prophets spoke about Him and His death and resurrection. He promised that His apostles would be guided into all truth by the Spirit He would send. He promised forgiveness and eternal life to all who trust in Him. Given that He rose from the dead, doesn’t it seem reasonable to take His word on the Word, too?

Certainly, we cannot by our own reason or strength “believe in Jesus Christ our Lord or come to Him” (Small Catechism, 3rd article). We cannot reasonably know the depth of our sin, the nature of God as Three in One, that Jesus’ death atones for the sin of the world, that faith in Jesus is righteousness before God, that Baptism is our spiritual birth, and that the bread and wine are Christ’s Body and Blood. Those things must be revealed to us by God’s Word and received by faith. But even these things are unreasonable. They are simply beyond our reason.

Dr. Dawkins calls faith a great cop-out and an evasion of the evidence. I think, on the basis of the evidence, faith in Christ is quite reasonable. In fact, it’s more than reasonable.

This article originally appeared in the Spring 2012 Apologetics Issue of Higher Things Magazine

by Rev. William M. Cwirla

Why the Liturgy?  First a definition and a disclaimer.  By “liturgy” I mean the western catholic mass form as it has been handed down by way of the Lutheran Reformation consisting of the five fixed canticles – Kyrie, Gloria in Excelsis, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei.  Pardon the Greek and Latin, but it sounds cool and we still use ‘em.  “Liturgy” also includes the assigned Scripture texts for the Sundays, feast days, and seasons.  Most of what I will say about the liturgy of the Divine Service will pertain to “liturgical worship” in general.

Now, why do we worship according to the western, Catholic liturgy?

1.  it shows our historic roots.  Some parts of the liturgy go back to the apostolic period. Even the apostolic church did not start with a blank liturgical slate but adapted and reformed the liturgies of the synagogue and the Sabbath.  The western mass shows our western catholic roots, of which we as Lutherans are not ashamed.  (I’d rather be confused with a Roman Catholic than anything else.)  We’re not the first Christians to walk the face of the planet, nor, should Jesus tarry, will we be the last.  The race of faith is a relay race, one generation handing on (“traditioning”) to the next the faith once delivered to the saints.  The historic liturgy underscores and highlights this fact.  It is also “traditionable,” that is, it can be handed on.

2.  It serves as a distinguishing mark.  The liturgy distinguishes us from those who do not believe, teach, and confess the same as we do.  What we believe determines how we worship, and how we worship confesses what we believe.

3.  It is both Theocentric and Christocentric.  From the invocation of the Triune Name in remembrance of Baptism to the three-fold benediction at the end, the liturgy is focused on the activity of the Triune God-centered in the Person and Work of Jesus Christ.  Worship is not primarily about “me” or “we” but about God in Christ reconciling the world to Himself and my baptismal inclusion in His saving work.

4.  It teaches.  The liturgy teaches the whole counsel of God – creation, redemption, sanctification, Christ’s incarnation, passion, resurrection, and reign, the Spirit’s outpouring and the new life of faith.  Every liturgical year cycles through these themes so that the hearer receives the “whole counsel of God” on a regular basis.

5.  It is transcultural.  One of the greatest experiences of my worship life was to be in the Divine Service in Siberia with the Siberian Lutheran Church.  Though I spoke only a smattering of Russian, I knew enough to recognize the liturgy, know what was being said (except for the sermon, which was translated for us), and be able to participate knowledgeably across language and cultural barriers.  I have the same experience with our Chinese mission congregation.

6.  It is repetitive in a good way.  Repetition is, after all, the mother of learning.  Fixed texts and annual cycles of readings lend to deep learning.  Obviously, mindless repetition does not accomplish anything; nor does an endless variety.

7.  It is corporate.  Worship is a corporate activity.  “Let us go to the house of the Lord.”  The liturgy draws us out of ourselves into Christ by faith and the neighbor by love.  We are all in this together.  Worship is not simply about what “I get out of it,” but I am there also for my fellow worshippers to receive the gifts of Christ that bind us together and to encourage each other to love and good works (Heb 10:25).  We are drawn into the dialogue of confession and absolution, hearing and confessing, corporate song and prayer.  To borrow a phrase from a favored teacher of mine, in church we are “worded, bodied, and bloodied” all together as one.

8.  It rescues us from the tyranny of the “here and now.”  When the Roman world was going to hell in a handbasket, the church was debating the two natures of Christ.  In the liturgy, the Word sets the agenda, defining our needs and shaping our questions.  The temptation is for us to turn stones into bread to satisfy an immediate hunger and scratch a nagging spiritual itch, but the liturgy teaches us to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

9.  It is external and objective.  The liturgical goal is not that everyone feel a certain way or have an identical “spiritual” experience.  Feelings vary even as they come and go.  The liturgy supplies a concrete, external, objective anchor in the death and resurrection of Jesus through Word, bread, and wine.   Faith comes by hearing the objective, external Word of Christ.

10.  It is the Word of God.  This is often overlooked by critics of liturgical worship.  Most of the sentences and songs of the liturgy are direct quotations or allusions from Scripture or summaries, such as the Creed.  In other words, the liturgy is itself the Word of God, not simply a packaging for the Word. Many times the liturgy will rescue a bad sermon and deliver what the preacher has failed to deliver.  I know; I’ve been there.

Ten is one of those good numbers in the Bible signifying completeness, so I’ll stop at ten.  I’m sure there are more.

by The Rev. William Cwirla

My little church had a wonderful organist play for our services during Holy Week. He was amazing! I had never heard our little organ make such wonderful sounds. The walls shook, the people sang with more zeal, it was truly amazing. It was the same organ but it in the hands of this wonderful musician, it was heavenly.

That’s pastors. We are just like my church organ. No pipes, nothing special, sometimes old and out of date. Often times, we need to be replaced with another organ.  Or at least, get a bit of a tune-up.

The One who is doing something special is the Lord. He’s playing us. He’s using us for the delivery of His Calvary won gifts. He’s the Shepherd who lays down His life for His Sheep. He feeds them. He speaks to them – through His men.

Just tools. That’s all pastors are. Not special. Not super. No indelible mark. Nothing exceptional. No being a pastor apart from sheep. No sheep without a shepherd. We’re just instruments.

We don’t make the Word special. We aren’t a big deal. The people we serve are – “For the Son of Man didn’t come to be served, but to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). And forgiveness certainly isn’t made “better” when we deliver it.

Yes, Holy Absolution is unique. The Office of the Keys is unique. Forgiveness between sinners is unique too – it has a human element – an element that is missing when the Office is involved.

But, we mustn’t ever pit the Lord’s forgiveness against His forgiveness. It’s not better. It’s not greater. It’s not surer. Both are gifts from a God who excels at forgiving – any way He can!  He’ll deliver it through from a mom to her child or from the pastor to the penitent.  Forgiveness doesn’t get stronger or better when a guy in a penguin suit gives it! There is only the Lord’s forgiveness – won on the Cross and delivered through the Word.

I’m a pastor. While I still have no idea why He did it, the Lord in His wisdom called and ordained me into the Office of the Holy Ministry. The great temptation all the time is to think myself to be something. Like all this playing that He’s doing makes me a better organ.  It’s hard not to when people think your prayer will be answered and is better than theirs.  Or the lady who sees me sitting next to her on the plane says, “Now I know, Father, we are going to have a safe flight.”

No. The plane might go down. I’m just an instrument. So, if the plane begins to fall, He’ll deliver Jesus through my frail voice on the way down. And, if there is time, as the ship is sinking, the Tractate says you might give me a bit of forgiveness too. One to another… same forgiveness – the Lord’s. There is no other.

I try to teach my confirmands to always be aware of what we sinners add to the Word to make it “surer.” The Evangelicals want to add “my personal experience.” The Word + Experience = real religion.”

When the Office of the Holy Ministry has to be added to the Word to make it sure or certain (or better!), we have the same problem. It’s not Jesus plus a Pastor that makes for salvation. The Lord can turn stones into children of Abraham, He just has chosen to use means – the Word, the Water, and His Body and Blood. He can speak through a donkey, but He has chosen in His wisdom to speak through men. Some of them may act like donkeys, but they are still men (thanks Madre!)

The Office is instrumentum secundum – the means of the Means of Grace. The Lord delivers His gifts through His sent ones. The gifts give the Holy Spirit (Augustana V). The Holy Spirit delivers faith, which is nothing more than receiving gifts from God (Apology IV).

Pastors are just the tools, the instruments. Nothing special. Just men in robes. And when our little hearts run out of beats, God will get someone else and put him in our robes and continue the gift-delivery.

Men, just men. Men who fail. Men who can’t do the job given them to do. Men who offend. Men who screw up. Men who blame others for their faults and sometimes think themselves to be more than they are.  But, in the end, they are still just men.

And to such men, He entrusts the delivery of His Word (John 20). Just like the old organ at my church, when the Master is playing it, wonderful heavenly sounds come out it! So, too, when the Lord speaks His Gospel through your pastor, Christ is speaking (Luke 10:16). After all, the organ is only as good as the one playing it!

“He who has ears, let him hear! In the name of Jesus.” Amen.

by The Rev. George Borghardt III

“Why make the sign of the cross, isn’t that Roman Catholic?” was a common expression I heard when I was in the parish. I responded first by mentioning that Luther’s Catechism teaches us to make the sign of the cross. “The catechism doesn’t teach that,” they say. I respond by “Lookup Luther’s morning and evening prayer and the meal prayer. What does it say?” Actually making the sign of the cross is one of the oldest traditions in Christianity and it spans across the world both in the Eastern and Western hemisphere. Why is this practice so important that among other practices, Luther would teach the young to make the sign of the cross and consider it fundamental because of its inclusion in his small and simple teaching of the catechism?

My Grandfather grew up in Altenburg (Perry County), Missouri and became a pastor. In his day, those who made the sign of the cross were considered as “Roman Catholic,” “liberal,” or people who flaunted their religion. There were also practices that differentiated Lutherans and Roman Catholics such as the crucifix compared to the empty cross and certain outward gestures. Today there is a movement back to the fundamentals such as Lutheran doctrine, liturgy, and practice. This is done in the face of an American culture where religion itself is becoming a melting pot of practice and belief. In our day those who make the sign of the cross may now be considered conservative or in other words, “confessional” in their beliefs.

What is making the sign of the cross all about? A huge paper could be written on this subject. Here are some considerations, however. The Scripture considers the cross as the center hinge of our faith in which our life revolves. It is precisely there that our salvation was won for us, not on Easter but on Good Friday. But yet many of our churches are half-empty on Good Friday but full-on Easter. Truly Easter is a joyful day but it cannot be seen outside of Good Friday and vice versa but in a strange way, many tend to avoid the crucifix or the “crucified Christ” as the center of our confession and therefore miss the Good Friday experience. St. Paul says that he preaches nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified which is accompanied with many other passages that convey this very important Gospel of the cross (1 Corinthians 2:2).

Christians made the sign of the cross for a number of reasons. One because it was the center of our confession and marking us as one redeemed by Christ thus pointing us back to our Baptism. It is at the cross where God revealed Himself to us through His Son so we make the sign of the cross while naming God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Secondly, we make the sign of the cross on our body. Christianity is a flesh and blood “religion”, not merely a spiritual one but a very physical one. The main job of the Holy Spirit is to bring Christ to us in His flesh and blood through His Word and Sacrament. The sign of the cross is made upon our body knowing and confessing that God has redeemed not only our soul but also our flesh, that is, our bodies as we confess, “I look for(ward) to the resurrection of the dead (body) and the life of the world to come.” Since our flesh and blood cannot enter into the kingdom of God, Christ gives His flesh and blood as a replacement.

Also, the suffering and death of Christ have become our own in Baptism. St. Paul says, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” (ESV, Roman 6:3) and “For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.” (ESV, II Corinthians 4:11-12) Again, what was once Christ’s now has become our own in Baptism. So we sign ourselves as one marked as redeemed in death but in death we see life. So in some of the old movies, you may see a Christian, in the face of demon possession or something terrible, make the sign of the cross, marking themselves with the mark of salvation in the face of evil. There are also other times in which Christians traditionally make the sign of the cross during the liturgy and daily devotions. Ask your pastor what the practice is at your church.

In conclusion, being a Christian does not mean that you have to make the sign of the cross, on the other hand, we should not treat such practices as if it was merely an old Roman Catholic tradition or something of no real importance. It is a very central confession and substance of our faith in the true God who has come to us through His Son for our life and salvation.

by The Rev. John M. Dreyer