Category: Catechesis

Rev. Brandt Hoffman

While walking home one day, a man witnessed a terrible car crash. Without thought, he dialed 911 and ran to the wreckage. There were injured persons in both vehicles. Amidst smoke, glass, and twisted metal, he managed to free the drivers and pull them to safety before one of the cars caught fire. It was a horrible sight to see. A burning wreckage and a trail of blood that stopped at two bodies. Two people lying unconscious on the side of the road.

When the paramedics arrived they took one look at the scene and said to the man, “We need to take care of this guy first!” The man, taken aback, said “Don’t worry about me, take care of those two. I think one or both of them is bleeding.” The paramedic said, “Sir, you need to sit down so we can take care of your injury.”

He looked down then and noticed that the trail of blood wasn’t from the accident victims. It was his own blood. While he rescued the people from the wreckage, he’d drug his arm across a jagged piece of metal. It had drawn a six-inch gash along his forearm, ending at his wrist. The injury, even he could see, could end his life. The paramedic didn’t talk anymore. He treated him. He saved the man’s life.

But what does this story have to do with anything of import for you, the reader? Well, as we are now in the season Lent–a season of repentance, of turning away from chasing that which is not God, to God–there are a couple of points in this story that may serve as a helpful example for you. As your pastor preaches, God will undoubtedly give him His Word of Law to preach to you. It is this Word of Law that says: “That blood there on the ground isn’t someone else’s. It’s your blood. Death is sniffing round for you. It’s got your scent. It’s on your trail.” Then God will give your pastor another Word. Like the paramedic, your pastor will no longer point out the nearness of death. Instead, God will give him the promise, the good news that heals your sin-riddled body–the sweet, wonderful, life-saving Word of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Speaking God’s wonderful Word of Gospel has always been the primary mission of Higher Things, too. It is founded on the life-saving good news of Jesus Christ. For all those souls who have learned of the mortal wound of deathly sin, Higher Things is here to be a salve: preachers who point us all to the hope we have received in Jesus Christ because we are all in desperate need of His life-saving grace. To this end, everyone is invited to take advantage of the many Higher Things® resources, to help you better understand this important Church season.

We pray that this Season of Lent is one that not only alerts you to the deathly reality of sin, but ultimately to the good news of Jesus Christ for you, which God gives to you as free gift in His Word and Sacraments.

Rev. Brandt Hoffman is the Pastor and principal at Christ Lutheran Church and School in Coos Bay, Oregon.

Philippe deBlois

When I first joined the Lutheran Church, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of the Church calendar and all of its holy days and seasons. As with most evangelicals, I was accustomed to an abridged calendar where Christmas and Easter were celebrated and that’s about it. What was particularly perplexing to me was the season we now enter: Lent, a period of penitential reflection. Those words would bring me back to my evangelical days where the entire focus of the Christian life was on reflection and doing. Church teaching was geared towards making me read more of God’s Word, meditate more, pray more, be more mission minded, join the worship band, get involved in small groups, serve more, fast more…

Don’t get me wrong. Some of those activities can be good things. The problem is there is no Jesus there. And if He is there at all it’s only as a distant helper who helps me do more and somehow grow closer to Him. What I need is a Savior. What I need is the life, death and resurrection of Christ that happened 2000 years ago FOR ME and my sins of today.

I can fast or meditate on Scripture for hours, days, years, and still not find the forgiveness of sins FOR ME. Is my repentance genuine? Am I really truly sorry for those sins I committed? Am I acting Christian enough? Am I growing closer to God? Penitential reflection left to itself leads to despair. No matter how much I look into myself and repent of my sins, no matter how much I reflect on the sufferings of Christ, there is still no Jesus FOR ME. Remembrance doesn’t give me Jesus. Repentance doesn’t give me Jesus. And the more I look into myself, the worse it gets. I remember this as a very sad reality for many people I knew growing up. Older people who had been in church for years would not take the Lord’s Supper because they felt unworthy. They knew all the theology, read their Bibles and prayed daily, knew all the works of Christ, His dying and rising, but they could not be certain they were part of the elect. They felt too sinful, hadn’t repented genuinely enough or seen enough fruits in their lives. They abstained from the Lord’s Supper so as to not eat and drink in an unworthy way. How sad! They had misunderstood the Lord’s Supper and turned it into yet another act of devotion rather than the pure gift of the true body and blood of Jesus given to sinful beggars.

What brought me to Lutheranism was it’s Biblical understanding of the means of grace. As Martin Luther said:

“If I now seek the forgiveness of sins, I do not run to the cross, for I will not find it given there. Nor must I hold to the suffering of Christ as Dr. Karlstadt trifles, in knowledge or remembrance, for I will not find it there either. But I will find in the sacrament of the gospel the word which distributes, presents, offers, and gives to me that forgiveness which was won on the cross” (AE 40:214).

There I found true comfort and certainty! The Lord’s Supper is not some mental act of remembrance of Jesus and how He once lived, died and rose again. The Lord’s Supper is where I come as a beggar and am nourished with the gift of His true Body and Blood, shed for the forgiveness of sins FOR ME. In this Sacrament, Luther affirms, “Christ takes me and devours me and gobbles me up together with my sins. I partake of his righteousness such that His godliness swallows up my sin and misery so that I have nothing but righteousness” (All become One Cake: A Sermon on the Lord’s Supper, 1523¹).

Lent is a time of penitential reflection indeed but no amount of reflection, no amount of reading and meditating on Scripture, no amount of fasting brings me Jesus and His forgiveness. I get all of Him in the means of grace. So what better way to do Lent than to, as Dr. Norman Nagel once said, “Best way to celebrate Lent is close to the means of grace, rejoicing in our Baptism, rejoicing in the body and blood of Christ given and shed for the forgiveness of your sins.”

Philippe deBlois is a member of Glory of Christ Lutheran Church, in Plymouth, Minnesota.

¹ http://www.lcms.org/Document.fdoc?src=lcm&id=718.

Rev. Brady Finnern

“Ughhhhh…more church?” I recall the exact moment those whining words left my mouth one Ash Wednesday afternoon in high school. My parents had just told me that we were going to worship that night. I was a bit selfish in those days (now, I just hide it better) and in my mind I lamented over a list of things that, to me, were more important. “I’m so busy with basketball, I have to get ready for track season, homework is piling up, and I just want to get outside and hang out with friends! Now you want me to take an hour of my precious time and go to church?”

These conversations are happening in many households between young people and their parents this Lent. Each year it begs the question, why go to worship in the middle of the week during Lent? What is the purpose when I am already so busy? Why should I gather with old people who sing old songs and rarely use any kind of modern technology? Sure, most of us understand that Lent is about repentance, focusing on the cross, preparing for Easter, and meditation on God’s Word, but why take another night to do it? The answer is simple: to be filled with the gifts of Jesus.

Each day we are filled with different things: some good things and some not so good things. When I head to my local gas station for my daily soda, I am filled with the joy of different friendships, but I am also filled with sugar, carbonation, and empty calories. When I arrive at school I’m filled with knowledge and wisdom, but also the feelings of insecurity and pain from other people’s words and reactions. When I sit at my computer, I’m filled with the news of the world in an instant, but also with unhealthy webpages and meaningless relationships. When I attend college, I’m filled with a top notch education, but also the fear of future jobs and the instability of life after college.

This is why we need to be filled with the gifts of Christ. Scripture is very clear that when we gather around Christ’s gifts–Word and Sacrament–we are filled with His benefits. When Christ is present in the preached Word (Romans 10:17, 2 Timothy 3:16), our Baptism (Romans 6:4-5), Absolution (John 20:22), and the Lord’s Supper (Matthew 26:28), we are filled with the Holy Spirit, forgiveness, life, and salvation (Small Catechism)–not partly filled like we are after an appetizer at a restaurant, but completely filled with His holiness that gives us a taste of heaven here today.

We are filled all the day long, and since nothing can separate us from the love of Christ (Romans 8), His gifts are always there for us and they are free to us sinners. While you are busy this Lent, the gifts of Christ are there for you. When you have every excuse to not to go worship, Christ’s gifts are there for you. When you skip a week here or there, the gifts of Christ are there for you. This Lent the gifts are offered to you more than once a week, thanks be to God. Go and receive.

Rev. Brady Finnern is the pastor at Messiah Lutheran Church in Sartell, Minnesota. He is also a shotput and discus coach.

Molly Buffington

The church year has cycled through once more, and the season of Lent–a season of repentance–is here again. But what does that even mean? Well, it can mean that we say to ourselves, “I need to give something up–something BIG. I’ll remind people of what I’m giving up, because it’s a big deal and I’m doing such a good job. I’m being so faithful and strong! I’ll compare myself to people who don’t make as big of a sacrifice as I do, or to those who don’t even make a sacrifice at all. They’re so sinful! But I’m not. I’m doing it right; they’re doing it wrong. They sure aren’t as good at Lent as I am.”

Or, Lent can mean we roll our eyes and say, “I can’t believe them! I can’t stand those people bragging about their sacrifices. I don’t give anything up for Lent. That’ll show them. I make sure to tell people, because they ought to know that I’m not like those other people. I’m the one who’s really faithful. I’ll compare myself to people who are making sacrifices. They’re so self-righteous! But I’m not. I’m doing it right; they’re doing it wrong. They sure aren’t as good at Lent as I am.”

Repent! Repent of making Lent all about us: our works, our decision, our actions. Lent is a time of seeing our sin and our need for a Savior. And we can’t even do that right! We want to make everything about us. We say, “It’s all about me, even Lent.” We live like there is no God and we hate our neighbor. But it doesn’t end with that. What does Lent mean? Lent means Easter is coming and that Jesus, the very Son of God and yet a man, died and was raised from the dead, taking our sin and giving us His righteousness. He comes to forgive us of all of our sin, including our sin-ridden repentance, and even our sin-ridden Lent.

This Lent, we are free to give something up, and we are free not to. Neither choice makes us righteous; neither choice will make us better in the eyes of God. We all stand as helpless sinners, but sinners covered by the holy blood of Christ, washed in baptism, clean in God’s eyes. During Lent, we see our sin, we repent, and try not to fall into it again. There’s no “I’m righteous,” “I’m good,” “I’m pleasing God.” Instead, just like the rest of the church year, there’s “I’m a sinner. Christ died for me and redeems me.”

Molly Buffington is a member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Cullman, Alabama, and studies history at the University of Alabama.

Rev. Michael Keith

I love food. A lot. I love trying different kinds of food. I like trying foods that I have never had before. I love going back and eating the old tried and true favorites. Food is a big part of my life. In fact, the grade eight kids that I teach a class in Christian Studies to each morning at our school have said that I talk about food a lot in class. Apparently many of my illustrations end up talking about food. I wasn’t aware that I do that, but they have noticed a pattern. I guess it is subconscious! I like food.

There are traditionally three customs that are associated with Christians observing the penitential season of Lent:

1. Increased time for God’s Word and prayer
2. Almsgiving
3. Fasting

It is quite common for Lutheran congregations to have mid-week Lenten Services to provide the opportunity to God’s people for increased time in God’s Word and prayer. It is also common for the offerings at those Services to be directed outside of the parish’s needs to support some charity, mission, or other cause. But what about the third? What about fasting? Did I mention I like food? I don’t know if I like the sound of that one!

Why would a Christian “fast” during the Season of Lent? Well, let’s clear away some of the junk before we go there. No, it’s not to punish yourself for your sins. No, it’s not some way to show God how sorry you are. No, it’s not some way to show God (or any other people who happen to notice) how sincere you are. No, it’s not a way to impress God or earn anything from Him. And no, it’s not to lose weight!

Why then? We Christians might fast during Lent to learn to discipline the desires that so often rule over us. It is not unlike going to the gym and lifting weights–the more you exercise the muscle the stronger it gets. The flip side of this is when you go and do something that you don’t normally do and use muscles that you don’t normally use you often find it very difficult and that the next day you are really sore! When you exercise your will over your desires you learn to exercise self-discipline. So, fasting during Lent is one way to exercise the “discipline muscle” over your desires.

What does fasting look like? How do you fast? There are different ways this is done among Christians and there is no “right” way. Some people will talk about “giving something up for Lent.” This is one form of fasting. You are “fasting” from that “thing you gave up.” It takes willpower to deny yourself whatever you have “given up for Lent.” Some common examples of this is a certain food or drink that you like or watching TV. Recently it has become common for people to fast from social media during Lent.

Another form of fasting is the reduction of food at meals. Fasting is not starving, nor should it be as that is unhealthy! However, one form of fasting is to consciously eat less. One tradition is to eat only one full meal a day with two considerably smaller meals. The idea behind this is that not only is it an exercise in self-discipline but it is also an opportunity to turn our hunger and desire from the physical to the spiritual. We fast to turn away from self and toward God. As the hunger created by the fast is directed towards God in prayer, we grow in understanding what Jesus said: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” (John 6:35).

So, does it matter if you fast? Nope. Not at all. You are free in Christ to eat all you want during Lent. Your relationship to God does not depend upon your fasting. Your salvation has nothing to do with fasting. Your salvation was secured for you by Jesus and His perfect life, His death on the cross, and His resurrection. It was given to you as the waters of Holy Baptism were poured over you. Your sins are forgiven as the words of the Holy Absolution are spoken into your ears. Forgiveness, life, and salvation are yours in Christ as it is placed in your mouth in the Holy Supper. Fasting has nothing to do with your salvation. Period. However, some Christians through the centuries have found it helpful in their life of faith. It has been a common practice among Christians since the earliest times. It sets apart the Season of Lent from the rest of the seasons. It also has the effect of connecting our spiritual life to our everyday physical life. It is a practice that has largely been lost among us North American Lutherans. Perhaps this Lenten Season would be a good time to rediscover this practice?

One last piece of trivia for you concerning the Season of Lent: The Sundays are not a part of Lent. All the Sundays are Sundays “in Lent” but not of Lent. Why? Because Sundays are always a feast day! Sundays are always a day when Christians gather around our resurrected and ascended Lord. Sundays are always days when we gather to rejoice and receive the gifts Christ comes to give. It is true that the Sundays in Lent will often reflect the penitential themes of the Season, but make no mistake about it: Sundays are always Feast days! So this means that during the Season of Lent–if you choose–Sundays are days during which your fast does not apply!

A blessed Lenten Season to you–however you choose to observe it–as we contemplate the wondrous love shown to us by our Savior, Jesus.

Rev. Michael Keith serves as pastor at St. Matthew Lutheran Church and SML Christian Academy in Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada. He can be reached at keith@st-matthew.com

Rev. Gaven M. Mize

“Things happen for a reason.” Such ambiguity never actually offers comfort to a person. What this well-meaning platitude does end up doing is cause the hearer to interject their own reason as to why this thing happened to him. It is a horrible form of self-medication. And the worse the situation, the less meaningful this phrase actually is, and the more insulting it truly is. But, we can’t just stand there in the midst of tragedy and say nothing. We want to fix what is broken. But sometimes it’s not possible. You can’t fix a crack in the heart with a hammer.

“Things happen for a reason,” just doesn’t cut it. And Christians have adopted their own version of this. It often happens when standing by the casket of a loved one. “Why did this happen?” “Sin,” says the good-hearted friend. This is, of course, correct. But it is also incomplete. Yes, Christ makes it clear that the wages of sin is death. And God never promised us that all things would be great. But, where is the hope if we stop at “sin” as the reason?

So we must not stop there. People are confronted with their sin at their death and so the craving for the Gospel is a present reality. They desperately need Christ on the cross, more than ever. And why would we ever give those who survive the saint in the coffin a false gospel in the words of “it happened for a reason.” These words imply that God has a plan that hasn’t been carried out. He took them for a reason. What could that reason be?


God’s will has already been carried out: His own Son there on the cross. He looked down on Good Friday and saw those whom He would soon save from the sin that leads to death. And nothing has changed except the tense of the verbs. You have been bought at a precious and ever-giving price. Jesus. He is the reason that we have been rescued from the grave.

The number one promise that God makes throughout Scripture is that He is with us. And He has told us where He is. The presence of God is found in the baptismal Font and on the Altar in His Body and Blood. And this reality of the forgiveness of sins doesn’t leave us as we leave the church building. It doesn’t leave us as we grow weary and tired of this wicked world. It doesn’t leave us when our eyes grow heavy in death. It doesn’t leave us ever.

God never promised that life would be easy. He didn’t promise earthly happiness. He promised His Presence. “Lo, I am with you always,” in the Supper and in the waters. We may wrestle with God over the stuff of life that rattles us and then try to hold Him to promises of glee and bliss on this earth that He never made. But in the end there is only the Incarnation and the Resurrection. And in between those there is only the crucifixion. So, when our time of dying comes, and we look around for the promises of God we will find the death of Jesus and in that death we shall find life in God.

When all else fails, which includes our hearts, there is always Christ crucified and the forgiveness from Him that flows to font and cup, upon and within us. And I’m good with the true comfort that offers.

Rev. Gaven M. Mize serves as pastor at Augustana Lutheran Church, Hickory, North Carolina.

Bethany Woelmer

Those images are still etched in my head-the picture of Christ, His eyes sunken with the weight of what is yet to come, His head pierced with thorns encircling his brow, and His own bride behind Him. Her arms are crossed and her head is down. She is clothed in a white garment that covers her and makes her beautiful-the kind of beauty that is not found within this world and the kind of beauty that is holy and pure because of Christ. And there’s another picture: the bride, with her arms still crossed and her eyes gazing at her Husband, slain and wounded on the cross, His body hanging in suspension and coming down to meet her, looking at her with eyes filled with love and mercy.

Those sounds are still ringing in my ears-the sounds of hymns that deliver such sweet Gospel, the sounds that carry the words of Christ’s bride, “Zion hears the watchmen singing / And all her heart with joy is springing; / She wakes, she rises from her gloom,” sounds that sprout forth from the faith she has been given, these sounds that blossom in such beautiful harmony and soaring melody. And there’s yet another sound, the sound of the Bridegroom himself, who “comes down all glorious, / The strong in grace, in truth victorious,” the sound of grace in the midst of suffering, triumph in the midst of war, and love in the midst of sin that fights everyday to remove this love found in Christ.

The picture of the church is a glorious one. God’s holiness, as manifest before Moses in the burning bush and in the temple before Isaiah, is full of perfection, power, and loving-kindness. It was made manifest in human form, in the person of Jesus Christ, to bring forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation to a world wounded with suffering and stricken with sin and death. God’s holiness comes from heaven to earth where He has promised: in His Word, His life-giving Body and Blood for the forgiveness of sins, His Holy Absolution, Baptism, and the preaching of the Gospel for sinners.

Sinners. That means all of us, poor and miserable, beating our breasts in utter depravity and crying out, “Lord, have mercy on me.” That means all of us, who “daily sin much and surely deserve nothing but punishment.” We have been ashamed of our nakedness since the time we were stripped of our perfectness in the Garden of Eden.

The Church. That means all of us, too, washed and cleansed in the waters of Holy Baptism, fed by the Word made flesh, and filled with the words of the sweet Gospel melody that says, “You are saved by Christ alone. He bought you with His blood. You are His Own to live under Him in His kingdom.”

The picture of the Church is a glorious one, because she is adorned with salvation. Her jewels sparkle with the light of Christ’s truth, her garments flowing with the eternal blessing of life and salvation, her robe adorning her body with righteousness as she shares in the union with God, the Three in One-this “mystic, sweet communion” in which she delights and rejoices in hope for the eternal life that is to come.

This picture is a mere glimpse and a foretaste of the fuller picture that is to come on the Last Day when the Lord will come again in triumph to bring His bride, the church, to a more perfect home in heaven. The pictures and sounds we experience here on earth that connect us to the true picture of Christ and the Church are mere fragments of the bigger picture of perfectness that we will experience when God will “take us from this valley of sorrow to Himself in heaven.” There, the picture, given to us by faith, of those bright jewels and white garments of righteousness will find its place with all the saints surrounding God’s throne of salvation. There, the sounds carried to us by words and music of glorious truth and splendor will find a place amidst the faithful warriors, triumphant soldiers, and saints of Christ whose “gleaming robes of white” shine bright within this sweet land of paradise the blest.

Here on earth, the sinful flesh needs Christ. It needs to be reminded of the image of Christ and the Church, over and over again. Such blessed imagery fills our eyes and ears with this glimpse of heaven, while our souls are forgiven time and time again by the Gospel. Here on earth, as long as suffering and sin continues, the church will always remain, because Christ will never leave us nor forsake us. He is with us every step of the way on our journey to heaven, as a true Bridegroom leads His bride, reminding her of the eternal joys yet to come when He will “wipe away every tear from her eyes” and present her as His Own to live with Him in heaven forever.


Bethany Woelmer is a member of St. John’s Lutheran in Topeka, KS.

Rev. Randy Blankschaen

“You are the same species as God.” That’s what a visiting presenter said about a month ago at Immanuel Lutheran Church of Pensacola, Florida. As I sat there, I’d like to say that you could hear a pin drop, but that wasn’t the case. What I saw instead were people who had their systems shocked. They weren’t angry or appalled. The audience didn’t disagree. It was just that the gears got jolted. We all paused. We all pondered. We all thought, “Yep. Can’t argue with that.” Of course, context is everything.

How could we disagree? St. John wrote, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). We confess Christ in the Nicene Creed: “who (that’s Jesus!) for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made man.” Jesus is true God. Yep. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit. God was in the Virgin’s womb. God was in the feeding trough all swaddled up. Although He was stripped and crucified for you, Jesus didn’t take off His flesh or slough off His body when He rose from the grave. He is evermore true man. You are the same species as God.

This Christmas, take a pause. After cramming down cookies, sing a carol. After you’re done inserting silly stuff into “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” maybe attend service at your church, and hear and sing of Christ the Lord who was born for you. Receive God’s true Body and Blood under bread and wine for the forgiveness of sins, for your life, for your salvation. After all, Jesus isn’t in the manger and stall. But He is where He has promised to be.

Take a pause and take some time to ponder God’s love for you. Slugs or worms can’t say that God became what they are. But we sinner-slugs and bags of worms can. God became flesh. Jesus is true man. How honored are you? How graced are you? How much does God love you? God came down to earth from heaven so that He’s with you and you’re with Him evermore.

Merry Christmas!

Rev. Randy Blankschaen serves as pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church, Pensacola, Florida.

Paul Soulek

Christmas, Christmas time is near
Time for toys and time for cheer
We’ve been good, but we can’t last
Hurry Christmas, hurry fast

I love Alvin and the Chipmunks as much as the next guy. But hearing “Christmas time is near” makes me think of the endless to-do lists and stress that often mark this season. Real Christmas music doesn’t direct us to holiday-themed, liturgically colored overfunctioning. It replaces “Do this!” with “It is finished!” Take a quick journey down a road of comfort and joy…

“You came to share my misery that You might share Your joy with me.” No reindeer or elves are included in Luther’s Christmas hymn From Heaven Above to Earth I Come (LSB 358). God’s love in Christ faces real challenges in a real world (Hebrews 4:14-16).

Irish hymn writer Cecil Frances Alexander served in charitable homes for the sick and destitute, so it’s no surprise that her hymn Once in Royal David’s City points out “With the poor and mean and lowly Lived on earth our Savior holy.” We sing that Christ dwells only with sinners. We qualify (Luke 5:27-32).

“For me. For me. For me. And not alone for me.” Twentieth century hymn writer Jaroslav Vajda places us in the middle of the Christmas story in his hymn Where Shepherds Lately Knelt (LSB 369). The first half of each stanza describes part of the birth of Jesus–and the second half speaks of Jesus for you (Ephesians 2:8-9).

During this season, like any other, we sing and confess finished and completed work of Jesus. Amidst all of this time’s to-dos, He is our comfort and joy–our strength, our song, and our salvation. It is finished.

O sing of Christ, whose birth made known The kindness of the Lord,
Eternal Word made flesh and bone So we could be restored.
Upon our frail humanity God’s finger chose to trace
The fullness of His deity, The icon of His grace. (LSB 362:1)

Paul Soulek serves as cantor at St. John Church and School, Seward, Nebraska.

Bethany Woelmer

“Are we wearing angel costumes tonight, Miss Bethany?” asked one of my Sunday School choir students right before the Christmas program. As much as my heart sank to tell her, “No, will not have costumes to wear,” I continued to beam with joy in the anticipation of the children’s voices during the Christmas program that afternoon. All around me the “Shepherds’ Christmas stage” was set. Parents, grandparents, friends, and neighbors flocked in like shepherds, familiar with the toils and struggles of this life. As good parents, of course, they wanted to hear their children. But as sinners, they were ready to hear the Gospel, which was proclaimed on this night from the “mouths of children…a stronghold against [God’s] enemies,” the true good news of salvation through Jesus Christ. These “shepherds” sat in the pews with nothing but empty hands, ready to hear, ready to receive.

We, like the shepherds that Christmas night, carry the weight of sin upon our shoulders, tending to the suffering and cares of this darkened world. We shudder with the coldness of our hearts, knowing that there is nothing from within ourselves that can provide warmth. Our idols cannot save us, the world cannot save us, and our own works cannot save us. We are left only to receive what comes to us outside of this world. We look for a light amidst the darkness, a rose amidst the thorns, a sign of life amidst the ever-present gloom of death, a true treasure of joy and comfort amidst the world’s own treasures of wealth and glory.

Though there were no white robes flashing with brightness, no wings hovering behind little shoulders, no sparkling gold on the children that afternoon, the words from the mouths of angels still resonated in splendor, “Peace on the earth, goodwill to men, from heaven’s all gracious King!” The children spoke of the Word made flesh, our Savior as foretold by ancient prophecies, the One who would “save us all from Satan’s power when we have gone astray.” Their music sparkled like stars and floated to the shepherds’ ears with true gift of the Gospel, and their faces lit up with joy that filled their hearts with the gift of this Baby, born to save us from our sins.

We may await the angel costumes every year, but that doesn’t mean that the “Shepherds’ Christmas stage” is set only once a year as well. Since the beginning of creation, God’s Word continues to shine everyday, and it carries the Gospel in full splendor exactly where He has promised. Shortly after the angels appeared, they directed the shepherds where the Savior was to be found. From the mouths of angels came the good news, along with the proclamation of the place in which this good news is actually present.

This “Shepherds’ Christmas stage” is set every week in the Divine Service, where we come before God as sinners with empty hands in need of forgiveness. The “Gloria” that we sing at the beginning is the message of the angels, taken from the Christmas narrative, and it proclaims the true peace given to us in Christ, who takes away the sin of the world. It directs us toward the readings of this Word made flesh, the preaching of God’s Law and Gospel for sinners, and the presence of Jesus in the Lord’s Supper-our true “Christ’s Mass” given to us as we share in the blessings of the cross.

The shepherds ran to the presence of Jesus because of the faith they had received. This faith sees Jesus’ manger as a paradise for meek souls, His humble stall as a cradle that holds heaven on earth, and the little town of Bethlehem as the place in which the true glory of God came to dwell in mercy mild. The shepherds heard and received, just like Mary and Joseph, and just like you and me.

God continues to use what is meek and lowly to reveal His glory to us. Even out of the mouths of children He continues to silence the devil and His foes, to still the broken hearts of sinners, and to turn the hearts of his faithful people from sadness into greater gladness and bliss that holds fast to the death and resurrection that we share with Christ. We approach Jesus’ manger of Himself because of the cross, and we, in the cradle of faith, share in this cradle of eternal life brought to us that Christmas night.

Whether or not there are angel costumes, the Gospel still comes as it did from the mouths of angels that Christmas night, and it sings a song of salvation more beautiful than any treasures this world holds:

O Jesus Christ,
Thy Manger Is
My paradise at which my soul reclineth.
For there, O Lord
Doth lie the Word
Made flesh for us; here in Thy grace forth shineth.

Remember thou
What glory now
The Lord prepared thee for all earthly sadness.
The angel host
Can never boast
Of greater glory, greater bliss or gladness.

The world may hold
Her wealth and gold;
But thou, my heart, keep Christ as thy true treasure.
To Him hold fast
Until at last
A crown be thine and honor in full measure.

– LSB 372:1,5,6

Bethany Woelmer is a member at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Topeka, KS, and a graduate student in church music at the University of Kansas.