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Catechesis

The Church Year and the Liturgy

Dr. Jon Eifert

Why use the same liturgy every Sunday? For one thing, the liturgy is a framework which summarizes the whole history of salvation—a story which we all need to hear!

By now we know the story of the Baby of Bethlehem who grew up to teach, heal, suffer, die, rise from the dead, ascend into heaven, and send His Holy Spirit to create faith and sustain the church. We have learned this story in worship and Bible classes and Sunday school and confirmation classes. We have also experienced the church year—a means of reviewing our complete spiritual history as it outlines what God, in Christ Jesus, has done for us.

Our liturgy saturates our worship with Scripture. It also provides a framework though which God dispenses His gifts and we respond to His great love. Yet there is another reason to celebrate the liturgy regularly. The order of Divine Service is itself a mini-church year—a “microcosm,” if you will. Open your hymnal and follow along as we examine the various seasons of the church year and find them reflected in the Divine Service. For our purposes, we will use Divine Service III, beginning on p. 184 of Lutheran Service Book, but any of the five LSB settings will work.

@ ADVENT
This first season of the year is a time of preparation as we anxiously await the arrival of the Savior. As more of the advent wreath candles are lit week by week, the anticipation grows. Likewise, in the confession and absolution (pp.184-185) we prepare ourselves to meet the Savior who is about to enter into our midst by means of Word and Sacrament.

@ CHRISTMAS
We gather with the shepherds at the manger to welcome the Bread of Life. The overwhelming nature of this greatest Gift is underscored by the announcement which was given to the shepherds by “a multitude of the heavenly host” (Luke 2:13) singing praises to God. We are privileged to join with the angels in welcoming the Savior by singing. “Glory be to God on high, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (p.187).

@ EPIPHANY
During Advent, we anticipated the gift of the Savior. At Christmas, we received this gift. Now, in Epiphany, we open this gift and examine what the Savior came to do and teach. In Epiphany, we see that the gift of the Savior is for the whole world (as the Magi learned), that He came to take our place under the law (as He claimed at His baptism), and that the Father is well pleased with Him (see the baptism and Transfiguration accounts). We learn about the Savior through the Scripture readings and sermon, highlighted by the Gospel reading which recounts His exact words to His disciples. We also summarize all of His teachings as we recite the creed (pp. 190-192).

@ LENT
Lent is a penitential season in which we prepare ourselves to recall the suffering and death of our Savior. We are reminded that it was our sin that led Him to the cross, and we pray that He would forgive our sins and help us to lead more God-fearing lives. Psalm 51, one of the great penitential Psalms, is the text of the Offertory (pp.192-193). As truly penitent believers we ask that God would grant His Spirit to uphold us and renew us.

@ HOLY WEEK
Lent concludes with Holy Week, a special time when we focus on a number of separate events in the last week of our Lord’s earthly life. Specifically, we remember the following:

@ PALM SUNDAY
The crowd in Jerusalem greeted the coming King by shouting “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” (Matthew 21:9). We join in their song of welcome in the Sanctus (p.195)

@ MAUNDY THURSDAY
It was on this night, in the upper room, that Jesus gave to His church the Sacrament of the Altar. This story is recounted as the pastor speaks the Words of Institution (p.197) which give us this gift of Jesus’ body and blood, too.

@ GOOD FRIDAY
It was on the cross that Christ earned the forgiveness of sins for the entire world. We are reminded of this as we sing to “Christ, the Lamb of God, that takest away the sin of the world” (p.198).

@ EASTER
The risen Jesus first appeared to Mary Magdalene, then to the two disciples walking to Emmaus, and then to the gathered disciples in the upper room. What were His first words to the fully assembled group? “Peace be with you” (p.197).

@ PENTECOST
In this season, the focus is upon the church and the gifts that God gives to and through the church to help us fulfill the Great Commission. In the Benediction (p.202) we hear again the Lord’s promise to go with us as we leave His house and go into the world to proclaim the gospel. He blesses us, keeps us, and gives us His peace to share with everyone we meet.

So there we have it. In one brief hour or so we have the entire story of our salvation presented to us and we receive all the gifts of Jesus His words bring. Thanks be to God for the gift of salvation and for the liturgy which delivers this gift while teaching us how it came to us!

Dr. Jon Eifert is a teacher at St. Paul Lutheran School in Austin, Texas. He has served as organist for HT Conferences in Vegas, Bloomington, and Maryville. He can be reached at prinzipale16@yahoo.com.,

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Catechesis

Putting the Mass back in “Christmas”!

Rev. George Borghardt

You’ve heard the expression, “Keep Christ in Christmas,” haven’t you? That couldn’t be more true! The world has no problem talking about “God” at Christmastime, but wants to find God somewhere else other than on earth, wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying and sleeping in a manger. For us, the big deal about Christmas is that Jesus has come into the flesh. We most definitely should keep Christ in Christmas!

But no one ever says not to take the “mass” out of Christmas, do they? What does the “mass” mean? Did your Lutheran alarm go off when you first read the word “mass”? Did you think, “That’s Roman Catholic”? That’s not a bad thing to think for we have many disagreements with the doctrines of the Roman Mass. But we Lutherans do celebrate mass every time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper.The Divine Service in our hymnal flows from Luther’s Deustche Messe, his German Mass. When the “mass” is celebrated by Lutherans, this means simply that the Lord Jesus gives us what He won on the cross by grace alone at His Supper.

So we are gathered together by our Lord Jesus on December 25 to celebrate the Mass of Christ. What’s the connection between Jesus being born in the manger and the Lord giving us His Body and Blood in the Sacrament? Answer: everything!

Christmas is the church feast where we remember that the Babe of Bethlehem is born not to stay in the manger, but to go to Jerusalem. Mary’s Boy is born to die, born to be sacrificed for your sins and mine on the cross. He reconciles God and sinners by giving His life for the sin of the world.

But we can’t go back to the manger that first Christmas Day no matter how hard we try. Nor can we go back to the cross when grown-up Jesus died on Good Friday. Nor will we find Jesus there! So what does Jesus do? Christmas is the day when the Babe of Bethlehem comes to us not in the manger but in His Body and Blood at the Sacrament.

Jesus came that first Christmas not in heavenly splendor, but wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in the manger.He was born so down-to-earth, so one of us, so ordinary. He came to earth not with thunder and lightning, but humble, meek, and lowly. Jesus is God with us, God one of us, God for us.

Jesus comes to you at Christmas not in heavenly splendor. He comes to you in ordinary, down-to-earth bread and wine. He comes not with thunder and lighting, but with the forgiveness of sins put into your mouth.

Dr. Luther said it this way, “If now I seek the forgiveness of sins, I do not run to the cross, for I will not find it given there… But I will find in the sacrament or Gospel the word which distributes, presents, offers, and gives to me that forgiveness which was won on the Cross” (AE 40, 214). We don’t go to the manger to find God on Christmas; we go to the Sacrament where God delivers Himself to us, into our mouths, in, with, and under the bread and wine.

But don’t we have the Lord’s Supper often and not just on Christmas? Yes! The good Lutheran question is, “What does that mean?” It means that every celebration of the Lord’s Supper is a Christmas celebration! Our Lord Jesus loves us that much that He gives us His Body and Blood not just on Christmas, but every Divine Service.

Don’t let anyone take Christ out of Christmas. And don’t let anyone take the Lord’s Supper out of Christmas either! Jesus desires to come to you in His Supper. This Christmas, He breaks into your world, not wrapped in swaddling clothes, but bearing His salvation in His Body and Blood given and shed for you for the remission of all your sins. Take Eat, His Body. Take Drink, His Blood. A blessed and merry Christ’s Mass to you!

This article originally appeared in the Winter 2004 issue of Higher Things Magazine.

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Christ on Campus

Christ on Campus: Christendom on Campus

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Bethany Lange

It comes as no surprise that Christian students are facing theological challenges in the classroom. I witnessed this firsthand when I entered college for the first time in 2011. As I read the first chapter of my book in geology class I found anti-Christian statements, which I expected. However, when I took the first exam, I found three questions I had not anticipated—questions that referred to “absolute truths” when these “truths” were unproven. I discovered that, in good conscience, I could not say “the age of the Earth is 4.5 billion years old,” even though this was what the textbook said. I simply could not say that this was true, especially when I have seen and heard so much evidence to the contrary—including in the teacher’s very own lectures.

My difficulty was that false or unproven information, specifically about the distant past, was stated as fact. I had expected wording such as “according to the textbook, …” or “according to the theory of ….” I was completely unprepared for a multiple-choice online test. Given the questions, I decided to get the answers as right as I could get them—but according to research I trusted. I lost some points for my answers, but I realized that if I decided that grades were more valuable than truth, I would be compromising what is most important.

In the past year especially, Christians around the world have watched in horror as the Muslim Brotherhood has violently attacked Christians in various countries. Thousands of Christians have been brutally persecuted and martyred, and these attacks have prompted me to ask myself, What would I do if I were in this situation? Deep down, I fear I might compromise. Which type of Christian is more devout—someone who renounces his faith with his fingers crossed, or one who refuses to renounce his faith no matter what the cost? It is good to remember that ultimately, faithfulness is not something I can achieve on my own. Only by the Holy Spirit and the gifts of Jesus do I have any confidence that I will have the words to say or the courage to resist even if I am persecuted for my being a Christian.

While the persecution in science classes is clearly far less of a threat than martyrdom, the school system’s way of persuading youth to leave Christianity is still quite effective. Students are pressured to scorn Christianity and Christian principles by classmates, teachers, textbooks, school rules, and federal laws. Many of those who leave home for college lose their faith. In my church alone, ten out of fifteen youth have left the faith after high school. If we, as students, cannot even stand firm in school, how can we expect to be able to testify to Christ when it’s a matter of life and death?

The current scientific trend is to separate faith and fact entirely, in keeping with the separation between church and state. However, the Christian faith is based on facts—not just murky “truths.” The world asserts that religion is about morals and good deeds, not the reality around us, and therefore has no relevance to the real world and science. Our responsibility, however, is to understand how matters such as science point to God’s creation and laws. There is comfort in knowing that the Christian faith is not about proving science wrong but about God’s grace and forgiveness in Jesus. There is nothing that can overturn what Jesus has accomplished for us by His death on the cross and His resurrection!

I have often been told that I should just repeat what the teachers want me to say, but not believe it in my heart. How would the Apostles have responded to this philosophy? I cannot imagine St. Paul saying mildly, “I don’t believe that evolution is right, but I’ll say whatever you want me to say … for now.” Is it right to say and do nothing to defend the faith that Christ has given? I know that I can personally do nothing to stay in the faith, but I do know that Satan is constantly throwing out that old question, “Did God really say?” He wants me to question God’s Word. The Lord’s promise to never leave us or forsake us is a good defense when that worry comes.

What, then, is the solution? There are several options for Christian students to follow, and they don’t have to threaten your success in school. First of all, work hard in class, be respectful, and, when theological points cause conflicts, do not deliberately incite more conflict. Martin Luther explains the 4th Commandment in the Small Catechism by saying, “We should fear and love God so that we do not despise or anger our parents and other authorities, but honor them, serve and obey them, love and cherish them.” When in doubt, consult with a pastor and find a Christian support network to help you when you get discouraged or overwhelmed. Pray constantly for discernment and strength, for we cannot prevail against our own doubts and fears without the Armor of God. Most importantly, remember that we are not fighting “against flesh and blood, but against principalities … [and] powers” (Ephesians 6:12). Federal laws, teachers, classmates—they are not our enemies. Look to Christ for wisdom and faith! Your pastor is the Lord’s gift to help you answer questions that your classes might bring about your faith. He is also there to comfort you with the promises of Jesus that He is always faithful.

Even in the face of open challenges to Christianity within school, many students today are becoming more and more used to doing what is expected of them without thinking about or questioning their reactions. All Christians who see this type of attack in their lives should assess what is happening, what is true or false, and what their reactions are. Christians should not attack their teachers, but school should not be excluded from the areas in which we should be Christians. Our duty as Christian students should be clear: work hard, be respectful, and do not act or speak contrary to God’s Word. But above all, recognize that when the world brings you trouble, Jesus has overcome the world (John 16:33) and He has made you a part of His kingdom forever.

Bethany Lange is a lifelong Lutheran and the oldest daughter of nine children. She is a junior studying English Teaching at Utah State University. She lives in Wyoming and likes to spend her time reading, teaching violin, knitting, and crocheting. She can be contacted at prestissimo93@yahoo.com.

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Christ on Campus

Your Church is Too Sexy: Why Church Architecture Matters

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

Chad Bird

The chandelier is fashioned from fingers, toes, skulls, and a whole skeleton’s worth of other bones. There are chalices, candelabras, pillars, and other artwork, all forged from the remains of saints. In fact, over 40,000 people are crammed into this Sedlec Ossuary, a small church in the Czech Republic—at least, parts and pieces of them are. The obvious question is why? You might say that, inside this Bone Church, an artist has literalized the verse, “surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1). These skeletal “witnesses,”gathered from the nearby church cemetery when the citizens eventually ran out of burying room, were artistically arranged to form this most unique architecture. And while it’s a bit creepy, this creation confesses a truth about which today’s church is often mute: that within the walls of God’s house, we are never alone. Now let’s slip inside another church. This one is worlds away from the Bone Church’s rather raw architecture.

Welcome to Lakewood Church, in Houston, Texas, where Joel Osteen serves as pastor. Maybe you’ve heard of this popular preacher or seen his books. Osteen’s congregation has mushroomed over the decades to out-mega all other mega churches. To fit everyone in, they transformed the sports arena, where the Houston Rockets used to play, into a 16,000-seat worship facility. One end of the stadium was gutted and remodeled to become what traditionally would be known as the chancel. Two 30-foot waterfalls gurgle and splash on either side of this platform. Three massive screens project images of the preacher or other worship leaders. Several hundred LED lights allow for multiple mood settings. What is most obvious, however, is what is absent: crosses and crucifixes, altars and icons, baptismal fonts and stained glass, along with just about everything a traditional church might have. And, needless to say, in Lakewood Church, there hangs no chandelier of saints’ bones.

So from this tale of two churches, what can we learn? When you visit other churches with friends, or check out churches around your college campus, does the art and architecture of those churches really matter? Is it all just a matter of taste and practicality?

Here’s the point: There was nothing haphazard in the construction of either of these churches. From the carpet color in Lakewood to the bone choices in Sedlec, the architects of each venue did not work willy-nilly. They had a theological “vision” for what a church should be, even on the level of the senses—how it should look, feel, sound, smell, and what kind of taste it should leave in your mouth. In short, doctrine determined design. Theology designed architecture, and architecture signaled theology. Sometimes, when you walk into a church, what you see is indeed what you get.

If you’re like me, you wouldn’t want to sip Christ’s blood from a chalice of human bones, but neither would you want to sip Starbucks from a comfy stadium seat while gazing at Osteen’s smile beaming from a monstrous screen. Somewhere between the super-earthy of Sedlec and the swank-and-sexy of Lakewood, there’s a church that captures the reality of what church is: a gathering of wounded, hurting sinners around the throne of God and the Lamb, surrounded by angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, to become united with the crucified and resurrected Christ. That’s the church we need.

I mentioned earlier that within the walls of God’s house, we are never alone. That’s because the church on earth and the church in heaven are not two churches, but one. And never are they more together as one than in the liturgy. Earthly soil becomes heavenly ground. We are surrounded by heavenly believers and angelic hosts. So why not make the invisible, visible in art? That’s one purpose of pictures and icons of the saints; those images remind us that the church is bigger than what we see. Also, since Christ is not only the central message, but the sole message of the church, shouldn’t the architecture proclaim the same? For example, crucifixes preach the only knowable God; altars, the table from which we feast upon the body and blood sacrificed for us; fonts, the bath in which the filthy garments of sinners are made white in the blood of the Lamb; incense, the smoke of supplications wafting upward to Christ’s throne. All of these, in their own way, serve the Gospel. They preach the God who became a man with all His senses, that we, with all our senses, might receive His life and worship him.

The art and architecture of a church deeply matter. They are the embodiment of theology. They should be catechetical, teaching the faith; beautiful, imitating the God who makes all things well; catholic, expressing the totality of the church on earth and in heaven; and Christ-centered, focusing upon the One who is the be-all and end-all of the church. For when people step into the space in which the Lord is present, the goal is not for them to say, “This is none other than a stadium!” or “This is none other than a practical place for worship and, afterward, basketball!” No, they should confess with Jacob, “This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!” (Genesis 28:17).

Chad Bird is a member of Crown of Life Lutheran Church in San Antonio, Texas. His email address is birdchadlouis@yahoo.com.

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Catechesis

Heaven and Earth Come Together in Jesus

Rev. Mark Buetow

Rain down, you heavens, from above, And let the skies pour down righteousness; Let the earth open, let them bring forth salvation, And let righteousness spring up together.
– Isaiah 45:8

Truth shall spring out of the earth, And righteousness shall look down from heaven. – Psalm 85:11

Luther’s Small Catechism teaches us to say this about Jesus: “I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord.” The words above from Isaiah and Psalm 85 remind us that this joining of the Divine Nature of the Son of God to human flesh was always how God was going to come to us and save us. From above comes righteousness, the Holy Son of the Father. From the substance of the earth, dust, the flesh of Mary, is the human nature of Jesus. The divine and human natures in Christ are together one person we know as Jesus. Jesus is a man. Jesus is also God. This is one of the things that sets the Christian religion apart from other faiths. Many may believe that Jesus is a man, a good teacher, a prophet or whatever. But Christians believe, on the basis of God’s Word, that Jesus is true God. And we worship Him as true God.

The Son of God became man in Mary’s womb when the angel Gabriel spoke God’s Word to her. He told her that the Child she would bear would be the “Son of the Most High.” That means that baby will be God. Mary is the Mother of God! But the angel also said the Child would have the throne of His Father, David. That means the baby will be a true human being with a human family tree. And tying it all together? His name. Jesus. Joshua. “Yahweh (the LORD) saves.” God becomes a man to save sinners.

And that’s really what this is all about. What’s the big deal that God comes down? That He becomes a man? That He is born as a baby? Well, first of all, it means we can stop trying to figure out God as if He’s just some invisible, mysterious Being out there about which we don’t know anything. No more guessing what God is like or what He is up to. Now we know! He is about the business of saving sinners who have turned aside and made a mess of things. Of their lives, of other people’s lives. People who have turned away from God. Abandoned their neighbors. Failed in their callings. Ruined what was good. For them, what has God got in store? A manger. Diapers. A childhood. A baptism. A forty day fast followed by awful temptation. A secret arrest in the dark of night. A sham trial. A weak-willed Roman governor. A whip with razor blades. A crown of thorns. A cross and nails. Death. A tomb. And then an empty tomb. All of that is why God became a man.

As we get closer to Christmas, the church hears these words which came from the mouths and pens of prophets and psalm writers. These words invite us to behold the mystery of the incarnation, the “God-in-the-flesh” mystery which we could never make up or figure out. Rather, this mystery is revealed to us. The skies pour down righteousness. The earth brings forth salvation. The Son of God takes up a dwelling in Mary’s Womb and Mary gives to God of her own flesh so that when this Child is born, you have God and Man right there. God-with-us, Immanuel. In Jesus, heaven and earth have come together. Where man and God were as far apart as we could be because of sin, Jesus brings God and man back together in Himself. And by His death and resurrection brings us back to God the Father.

And then, baptized into Him, we in our dying dust, are washed with His righteousness in a new birth from above. And we see the beautiful parallels of Christmas. God became a Child so that we could become children of God. God is born as a baby so that we would be born anew from above. God takes on human flesh so that we would be joined to God through faith and Christ living in us. Christ came to have earthly life so that we would have eternal life. It’s all tied together in the Babe of Bethlehem.

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Catechesis

Behold, the Lamb of God!

Rev. Mark Buetow

John the Baptist (or, as some call him, John the Forerunner) was the preacher who came before and in anticipation of Jesus the Christ. To his old father and barren mother, John’s conception and birth was the event which signaled the beginning of the final fulfillment of God’s promise to save sinners. Not long after, Jesus was conceived in Mary’s womb. When he grew up, John preached and baptized, telling people the time was near. Then Jesus showed up to the Jordan River and John pointed to Him and declared, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

In that single sentence is contained the entire Christian faith. Here’s how: First, you have a preacher, preaching that Good News. The Christian church exists because the Lord sends preachers to proclaim His salvation. Your pastor’s job is to do exactly that: preach salvation in Jesus Christ. Your pastor’s job is to point you to Jesus. To be sure, John, prepared people by the preaching of the Law. He told people to repent and to love their neighbor in the various ways their callings life directed them. He preached the fiery judgment of God against those who rejected the Lord. But then, when Jesus showed up, John declared the Good News that this One was the Lamb who would take away the sin of the world. That’s your pastor’s job too. Preach the Law which shows your sin but also preach the Gospel which gives you Jesus.

So the Christian faith has preachers. And what do they preach? “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” John pointed to Jesus. This is the center of the Christian faith, this man, who is really true God and true man. John is pointing to Jesus as the fulfillment of all the promises and prophecies of the Old Testament. John points to Jesus who was born in Bethlehem, raised in Nazareth and has now appeared at the Jordan river. This man in particular, and no one else, is the One who is the Lamb of God.

And this short and to-the-point sermon tells us not just Who but What and How. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise because He comes to take away the sin of the world. Just as the Passover Lamb was slaughtered, so Jesus will be sacrificed and killed on the cross on Calvary. His death will pay the price of all sin. Not only that, Jesus defeats the curse of death, because He rose the third day on Easter. Jesus’ death for sinners and His resurrection from the dead are the center and substance of the Christian faith. The Lamb of God came for this one purpose: not to make the world a better place; not to improve our lives; not to make us better people. He came to take away the sin of the world. He came to save sinners.

John did not live to see Jesus’ death and resurrection. But, after Easter, Jesus sent His apostles and today still calls and ordains preachers to do what John did: proclaim to people that the Lamb of God has taken away their sin. Thus the Christian faith and church continue by the Lord’s grace and work. Preachers preach Jesus, the Jesus who is the sacrifice for the sins of the world. In the season of Advent, when the church is preparing to celebrate Jesus’ birth and watching for His final return in glory, preachers preach the Lamb of God. And like John the Baptist, such preaching gives us the truest comfort of all: peace with God because of Jesus. So, behold! Jesus! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! The Lamb who has taken away your sin.

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Higher Homilies

Higher Homilies: Thanksgiving

Rev. Mark Buetow

Give us this day our daily bread.

What does this mean?
God certainly gives daily bread to everyone without our prayers, even to all evil people, but we pray in this petition that God would lead us to realize this and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.

The Catechism we just read (Fourth Petition) teaches us that we pray for our daily bread so that we would learn to “receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.” In our Gospel lesson, Jesus wonders why only one of the ten lepers comes back to give glory to God. Brothers and sisters in Christ: We are not here tonight to learn good manners. If thanksgiving is merely a day to say a polite “Thank You” for the things we have been given, then we could just send in a Thank You Note to church: “Dear God, thank you for the nice sweater and the new video game and all that stuff.” Of course we should thank God and give Him glory for even the smallest little gifts He gives us such as each breath and every heartbeat all the way up to the biggest gifts He gives us: His Son and the forgiveness of sins. But what does it mean to be thankful? To be thankful is to have faith. To be thankful to the Lord is to do as the Samaritan did: come back for more. Be where Jesus is. Believe and trust that Jesus is the only one who can and will take care of us. To put it another way: Being truly thankful to our Lord isn’t about being polite. It’s about clinging to Him because only our Lord will take care of us and save us and give us everlasting life.

I suppose that band of lepers is pretty typical of most people. They want something from God. They get something from God and then they don’t need Him anymore until the next thing goes wrong. You know how it is: When everything’s going well and you’re healthy and have a job and your marriage is fine and your kids are doing well and there’s money in the bank—when all that’s going on, you don’t really need the Lord. But when trouble comes, you get sick, or financial trouble hits—then suddenly its time to make deals with the Lord. To suddenly start praying a whole bunch. You might even start feeling guilty that you’re having problems precisely because you weren’t doing those things faithfully. That’s Nine Lepers thinking! Repent! The nine lepers had a nasty, gross skin disease. They needed Jesus to heal them. So He did and then they were done with Him. They got what they wanted and until the next bad thing happens they won’t come looking for Jesus.

But the Samaritan, as soon as he realized he was clean, cured of his leprosy, ran back to Jesus. Why? That’s faith. Faith says, “Jesus healed me. If Jesus can heal a leper then He can save a sinner.” The Samaritan learns and knows that the only guy who can help him is Jesus. Jesus gives healing. Jesus gives life. So the only conclusion faith can make is that you’d better be where Jesus is. Where Jesus is, there is life. The Samaritan knows that Jesus has more gifts. He clings to Jesus. That’s true gratitude, true thankfulness: to receive the gifts of Christ and expect that He has more for you. Jesus came in the flesh to die for your sins. He came to take your sins, carry them to Calvary and suffer for them there. He came to conquer death by rising from the dead. He rose and ascended so that He might send the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins to you. He baptized you, marking you as God’s own child. He absolves you over and over and He feeds you with the never ending feast of His body and blood for your salvation. That’s not just for when you are in trouble, when things aren’t working right, when things aren’t going your way, when you a need shot of “pick me up” from Jesus! His gifts are for you always unto eternal life. His gifts are not just one shot deals but a continually flowing spring of forgiveness, life and salvation!

So how do you thank Him then? I mean, really, what do you get for the guy who has everything? What does God need from us? It’s not “good manners.” As if God is not great unless we tell Him so! No, to properly thank the Lord, we do as the Psalmist says (and we’ll sing these words in just a bit): “What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits to me?” That is, what can we possibly do to say thank you? “I will take the cup of salvation and will call on the Name of the Lord!” That is, I will come to Him and live in His gifts that He gives! I will take the cup of salvation. I will come and receive more of what He has for me. To be thankful is nothing other than receiving good things from the Lord and EXPECTING to receive those gifts and returning to Him over and over to receive them. To be thankful is to live in your Baptism each day, to open your ears wide to hear the voice of Christ absolve you through your pastor, to run to the altar of God as often as you can and feast upon His saving body and blood. Of course, we DO offer our formal “thank yous” as we pray, praise and give thanks, especially in our worship. But the real heart of thanksgiving is to live like the Samaritan leper: to be healed by Jesus and to run back for more. Because Jesus is all about that: giving gifts, then giving more gifts and giving still more, all the way through life into eternal life!

Ten lepers were healed. But only one was saved. “Go, you faith has saved you,” says Jesus to the Samaritan. What happened to the other nine? I don’t know. All I know is that the Samaritan was saved because Jesus said so. What is the faith that saved Him? Jesus. Jesus is telling Him: You asked me for help and I healed you. And you have learned by the Holy Spirit to come back and expect everything good from me.” That’s your salvation too, dear Christian, to to be where Jesus is and to glorify Him by receiving His good gifts. So be thankful! Come to hear His Word preached. Come to the font and remember what the Lord did there. Come to the feast as often as you can. Live as the Catechism teaches, that is, run to the Lord and spread wide your blanket or cloak so you can receive every good gift in Jesus. But that’s not all! Come now to HIS Thanksgiving Feast, to receive more gifts, more Jesus. More faith. And then you too go in peace. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Categories
Current Events

Typhoons and Suffering

Rev. Brandt Hoffman

Super Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines on the morning of November 8 as one of the world’s most powerful storms on record to make landfall. The Category 5 typhoon made landfall near Leyte Province in Eastern Visayas Region causing massive destruction and loss of life. The storm hit with wind gusts up to 235 mph, nearly 16 inches of rainfall and waves up to 45 feet in some areas. (Lutheran World Relief)

The Philippine government is reporting that they don’t know the full extent of the losses in the wake of the recent typhoon, but they have confirmed that nearly 2,500 people were killed. As I think about those numbers I marvel because that is the equivalent of wiping out 5 to 10 villages in my home state of Alaska! It’s then that the loss of those lives so far away can become very personal. No longer is it something that “simply happened” in a faraway place to a group of nameless and faceless people, but it is a tragic loss of lives in a terrifying display of wind and rain.

Certainly these are terrible times and the media has no shortage of people making commentaries regarding the possible connections to “God” and His role or plan in all this. Atheists are quick to mock the faithful by saying “Where is your god now?” Foolish preachers calling themselves Christians are decrying “God’s judgment on a world filled with fornicators, idolaters and homosexuals”. In the end, you find yourself in the middle asking “What does it all mean? What do we say about God in these situations?”

It seems that any time we experience a “natural disaster” (hurricane, earthquake, typhoon, etc) the question comes to light “Why God?” You might remember back in 2004, the Indian Ocean Tsunami claimed 150,000 lives and in 2005, Hurricane Katrina claimed 1,800 lives in Mississippi and Louisiana. In each case, when people are faced with these kind of horrors, they not only want answers, they want comfort. They want to know that sense can be made of such a shocking display of death and suffering!

We tend to only notice death collectively when it comes in such a dramatic fashion. When the death is exceptionally graphic or on a large scale. It doesn’t seem to strike us that every year, our world loses 259,800,000 to deaths unrelated to horrible and dramatic events such as we have witnessed in the Philippines recently. The news is not interested in sending reporters to visit a family devastated at the death of an 8 year old girl in the Netherlands who died of a congenital heart defect or the 52 year old man who lost a battle with cancer in Detroit, Michigan. As a pastor and volunteer hospital chaplain in a state with a high infant-mortality rate, I can say that a young mother holding the lifeless body of a child not one hour old is as great a tragedy as any wave or flood can produce. I can tell you that in these less-known, less-dramatic deaths, the exact same questions are asked by people who are hurting and suffering at a time of great sorrow and confusion. They look at me and ask “Why did this happen? Why did she have to die? Why me?” Like the deaths in the Philippines to villages in Alaska, death seems to only become “real” to people when it becomes personal, spawning very personal questions to and about the nature of God in these situations.

That’s the trouble. People have lost sight of the right question. Rather than asking “Why did MY daughter die, God?” or “Why did so many people in the Philippines die, God?” The right question is “Why do people die at all God?” or “Where does death come from?” When death is only personalized, God can only be seen as adversarial and vindictive. But as we look at the Scriptures, we see that although death comes to us in many ways, (violently, slowly or quickly), it comes only for one reason: because we are fallen and broken sinners. Since the fall in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3) God has told us that we will indeed die. There is nothing “natural” about death and disasters. They are both a product of the fall. They are a result of the curse under which this world lives. So now, in the face of all disasters (both great and small) we no longer ask “Why did he/she/they die?”, rather we ask “What does Jesus say about the world we live in?” In John 16:33 He is quite clear that people living in a world infected by the fall are going to suffer. “In the world you will have tribulation.” At no time did He say “Fires, floods and storms won’t affect you because you are a Christian.” Quite the opposite, really. Jesus told us that being his follower, being His child, His redeemed, means we will suffer (Acts 9:16, Phil 3:8, Col 1:24, Matt 10:39) and that the rain (from a typhoon or otherwise) falls on the just and the unjust (Matt 5:45). So to all of the trials and tribulation we suffer in the world, Jesus completes John 6:33 by saying ” But take heart; I have overcome the world.” In other words, when sin death and the devil show themselves, we need not ask “Why?” but rather take comfort in the fact that the world does not dictate our faith in good times or bad. Instead we may ask “How long, O Lord?”

In Revelation 3:11 Jesus answers that question. He says:”I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.” After the fall, God let us know that all death to Him is indeed very personal and the time is coming when He will bring a final end to death (1 Corinthians 15:26). By sending His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross and rise for you, God has indeed shown that He is the master over sin, death and the devil. At Christ’s ascension, He promised us that He would return in glory to judge the living and the dead. He promised to wipe away our tears and that this earth and heaven would be replaced with a new heaven and a new earth. Of course, in the meantime, He tells us our waiting for His return would not come without suffering. All of the evidence of the fall is there. So where is God in the midst of suffering? He is where He established Himself to be on that first Sunday in Pentecost nearly 2000 years ago. He is where His Word is purely preached and His Sacraments are rightly administered. Church is not a refuge for the righteous, but a hospice for sinners. It is where all the troubles of the world can be brought and where every sin you have, may be brought and all of that evil removed. It is where you are fed and washed with the food and water from God. When Christ ascended into the heavens, we were called to await His return, and we will wait. In the midst of joys and sufferings, in the midst of our prayers for all people who are caught dramatically in suffering and for those who suffer silently, we will wait in the hope of our Redeemer who has promised us rescue and redemption.

The Rev. Brand Hoffman is pastor of Zion Lutheran Church, Anchorage, Alaska.

Categories
Life Issues

Coming Down from the Mountaintop

by Jon Kohlmeier

Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. – Proverbs 22:11 NKJV

Throughout your lifetime, there will be moments that are considered “life-changing.” You get your first job. You meet your future spouse for the first time. A friend and classmate is killed in a car accident. Graduation days, bad breakups, relocation, and illnesses all change your life in some way.

In the same way, you will attend events that create a mountaintop experience that could very well impact your life. If you attended one of the From Above conferences, it will probably be an experience that you remember for the rest of your life. You might even look back on those four days and say that they were life changing for you.

But those moments fade. The emotional charge that came with the mountaintop experience gives way to the mundane, the routine, the boring. Some would give almost anything to feel something that strongly again. You want to feel something–good or bad–as intense as the sadness that accompanies the loss of a friend or a family member. You long for that unparalleled excitement caused by being surrounded by hundreds or thousands of people your own age who believe the same things that you do; to hear their voices joined with yours as you sing. You just want something that you can feel in your heart and your mind, something that you can remember, something that will break this boring routine in which you seem to be perpetually stuck.

Strangely enough such life-changing, mountaintop experiences aren’t the important things. The important things happen in between those moments and during those not-so-dynamic times.

Proverbs 22 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” The important things are in your training! A concert choir spends many hours rehearsing a piece that will take them five minutes to perform in concert. A cross country runner will run countless miles in preparation for their 20-minute 5K race. The important time is spent in his training, where things become so second nature that they don’t have to exert much thought when those big moments come.

Your training as a Lutheran is in your baptism: the daily drowning of your Old Adam and your being raised to new life in Christ. The Catechism shows you what that looks like. Upon waking up in the morning, you make the sign of the cross, “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” You repeat the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, Luther’s Morning Prayer, and go joyfully to your school or work singing a hymn. Before meals you ask a blessing and say the Lord’s Prayer. Afterwards, you repeat the Lord’s Prayer and return thanks for the gifts that God has given to you. At the end of the day you again make the sign of the cross, “In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” You repeat the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and Luther’s Evening Prayer before going to sleep in good cheer.

You begin and end each day with the sign of the cross as you remember your baptism. That is your training in Christ’s death and resurrection. You are trained some more as you regularly receive the gifts God gives to you in the Lord’s Supper. The body and blood of Christ, under bread and wine, are placed into your mouth for the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation.

When those those negative life-changing moments happen, you remember your training. You remember your baptism. You remember Jesus. When you are afflicted by death, sadness, depression and anxiety, you are baptized! In that baptism, Jesus remembers you. In baptism, Christ has given you life, joy, contentedness and peace. When it feels like absolutely nothing is going your way, you remember your baptism. In that baptism, Christ works all things out for your good.

And when those more positive life-changing moments happen, we still remember our baptismal training. When you get the job you really wanted, when she says “Yes!” and when your hard work pays off and you ace the exam, you are baptized! When you reach that mountaintop experience, you stay grounded in your baptism. When things go back to normal, in baptism, you receive all things as gifts from the Lord.

You will experience moments that you will look back on and say that they were life changing. Those aren’t the important moments. The important things happen regularly. They train you so that when those life-changing moments try to shake you to the core and turn your life upside down, you know how to respond as one who is born from above because Christ has called you by name and made you His own. When the life-changing moments come, this is most certainly true: In baptism, Christ has given you life from above. You are baptized!

Jon Kohlmeier is the Webmaster for Higher Things.

Categories
Catechesis

He Alone is Holy

Rev. George Borghardt

The Lord is קֹדֶשׁ (qadosh). He is “holy.” He alone is qadosh. He alone is holy.

The Lord’s “holy ones” are His “saints.” They are qadosh because He is qadosh. They are not holy in and of themselves. They certainly aren’t made of better stuff than other people. They’re holy because He sets them apart. He separates them for Himself in the death of His Son. He makes them His own in the waters of Holy Baptism. He marks each one and says, “This one is mine.”

The saints receive His holiness by faith in Christ and Christ alone. Christ lived the life they should live—qadosh before God. Then, Christ suffered the death they deserve on the Cross.

His saints are washed, they are sanctified, consecrated, marked, and holied in the waters of Baptism. They are enlivened by the Lord’s Words. They are fed His Body and Blood in the Supper.

You don’t become a saint when you die. No, you are a saint right now. You are His qadosh one. You are forgiven. You are holy. You are His own. Your saint-ness, your qadosh-ness, has splashed on you by Jesus’ cross. Your holiness is received by faith alone.

All Saints’ Day is the day in the Church year when we remember the saints who have already fallen asleep in Christ. They aren’t really dead. They haven’t become angels. Nor do they only exist in the past tense, or cease to exist entirely.

No, they sleep. Their hearts may have stopped, and they may be physically dead, but they aren’t really dead in Christ. They died with Christ in Holy Baptism when they. He now lives and they live in Him. He is the resurrection. He is the life. On the Last Day, He will raise them from the their naps to be with Him forever.

That’s why the saints don’t need our prayers anymore! They are Jesus-died-and-rose-for-me-fine. For them, there is no more pain. There is no more sickness. There is no more persecution or hurt. There is no more sin, temptation, or devil to torment them. There is only rest—finally—from the work of serving others.

When, at last, the trumpet sounds, and the Lord returns, they will be raised to stand before Him robed in the qadosh-Calvary-earned white robe that they received in Holy Baptism. The Lord will raise them up and they will live forever in Him.

We’ll see them again soon, on the Last Day. As surely as the Jesus who made them qadosh has made us qadosh, we will see them again. We’ll know them, recognize them, as well as we are known by our Lord Jesus. We will live with them and reign with them in Jesus to all eternity.

But you don’t even have to wait for the Last Day to be near them. At the Lord’s Supper, His Supper, the Holy Communion, you will eat with the angels and archangels and all the company of heaven. Right there, that’s the saints! Those are the Lord’s holy ones. You sing, pray, and commune with them every week practicing or foretasting the marriage feast in His Kingdom which shall have no end.

A blessed All Saints’ Day to you, as you remember and thank God for His sleeping holy ones. They touched our lives, changed us, made us who we are.

The Lord is קֹדֶשׁ (qadosh). He is holy. He, alone, is qadosh. He alone is holy. His saints are qadosh. He has made them His holy ones. They are forgiven. They live forever in Him.

Rev. George Borghardt is Pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in McHenry, IL and president of Higher Things.