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Life Issues

The Church Musician in You

by Bethany Woelmer

You know who you are: the musician fervently practicing in your room when no one else is listening. The musician fighting to perfect those precious sounds and finding new ways to set them free. The musician whose talent is a bit rusty and unfortunately neglected, yet still there. There is something for every musician—a secret that we musicians must acknowledge.

And you, yes, you—the reader whose music skills are lacking and who are now considering turning the page with the assumption that this article provides no clear implications for your life whatsoever—you are part of the secret, too, so don’t feel left out!

There is a musician inside each of you. You’ve been caught tapping your pencil in the library to the beat of the music streaming through your headphones. You’ve sung those famous pop songs in the shower, in the car, and in web-cam videos with friends. You’ve picked up a harmonica or ukulele to discover that inner voice of harmony and rhythm. Don’t deny it. You are a musician. And that’s a good thing!

However, music is misused when the world teaches us its own theology apart from God’s Word. Too often are we swayed by the princes of this age and swept away with the passions of our flesh. Too often do we trust in the music that teaches us false notions apart from the truth and that honors self-worth apart from Christ. Too often do we neglect the beauty of music found in the liturgy and hymns that proclaim the words of Christ and carry them to our ears.

And what about you, the well-known musician, seeking glory for yourself through your talents? What about you, the musician who would rather boldly sing in the car yet utter no song of praise in church? As sinners we develop pride through our efforts and glorify the means that help us attain self-gratification and accomplishment. As sinners we fall short of the glory of God by our vain measures to succeed, and we fail once again by satisfying ourselves instead of serving the neighbor.

But here’s where the real secret comes out. There is a church musician inside every single one of you, struggling to be present in the community of believers centered around God’s Word. As God’s child, it is a natural response to sing about what He has done. When the Israelites safely crossed the Red Sea, they responded with a song of thanksgiving to God. Zachariah sang what is known as the “Benedictus,” and Mary sang what is known as the “Magnificat,” both of which proclaimed what God has done and continues to do for our salvation. The liturgy and hymns that present the Gospel to us also beckon us as God’s baptized children to sing the faith, whether we are a young child confessing “Jesus Loves Me this I Know,” or an adult seeking comfort in the words “Salvation Unto Us Has Come.”

The Gospel comes to us extra nos, meaning “from outside of us,” just as music enters our ears to calm our sadness and turn it into joy. Luther said that next to the Word of God, music deserves the highest praise. It comes to us as a gift, just like the Gospel. Through faith, music is our prayer for peace, our bold confession, and our desperate plea for mercy that cries out, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

Because of Jesus’ death on the cross for our salvation, we are free to serve our neighbor in our many vocations. Just as God has given us the vocations in the workforce and at home, He has offered many possibilities in the church to use our talents for His glory and for our neighbor. As musicians, the possibilities are endless. We are free to bring out that dusty violin, warm up that glorious voice for the choir, ring some bells, or even utilize our keyboard skills to learn the organ. There is no stage or spotlight for musicians in the church. Our humble abode is in the back, from which God’s music is directed toward the message of Christ on the cross.

Even if you are in the pew, you have the vocation to sing God’s Word that the musicians in the back, specifically the organist, do not always have the chance of singing. The words sung by the congregation of believers enter the ears of musicians and proclaim to them God’s love through Christ.

We are all part of the Body of Christ, partaking in the gifts of God and singing as a witness in faith to one another. With the whole company of the heavenly host, we can join together with our voices and instruments, praising God and saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord, God of Sabaoth. Heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Hosanna in the highest.” May God bless you as you sing and play music to His Holy Name.

Bethany Woelmer is a freshman at Concordia University Wisconsin and is studying Parish Music. She can be reached at piano_1130@yahoo.com

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Life Issues

Father May I?

By Heidi Bliese

Right now life feels a little like a childhood game I used to play called “Mother May I?” One person was “mother” and would stand at the end of a long sidewalk and grant requests for how far participants could move forward towards the finish line. My siblings and I enjoyed playing this game and did so all the time, but on occasion (probably more often than we’d like to admit) the frustration of the competition got the better of us and it ended in a not-so-pretty display of complaining that it “wasn’t fair” and “you were choosing a favorite.” As Christians, we can take a different approach and see it as “Father May I?” with the participants being God’s children spread out around Him on their journey to the finish line: Heaven.

In hard times, my sinful nature causes me to view this earthly life as a competition, and return to the views of my 6-year-old self who believes because I am not “winning” God doesn’t love me as much as He must love everyone else. Thanks to social media, comparing ourselves is fairly easy, for instead of only experiencing the joys and sorrows of our own lives, sites like Facebook allow us to now be a witness to every-day events in the lives of others whom we would classify as acquaintances, friends of friends, or even strangers. It is at these times that Satan starts to whisper lies of discontent into my heart, seeking to draw my attention away from the Father. But even as I am browsing someone’s status or pictures and am feeling unsure about my own future, something always happens in my life that awakens me to my sin of coveting and sends me running back to the Father. Instead of seeing myself in competition with those around me, I need to keep my eyes focused on my Lord and Savior, for “The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). My life is unique and most importantly, every step has been planned by my Father, for “The Lord knows those who are His” (2 Timothy 2:19). Instead of viewing the events of others’ lives as a reason to lose contentment with my own, I strive to remember that the dreams I hold so dear to my heart and pray about every day were put there by Him, and He will fulfill them in His time.

Some days will be harder than others, because we are human and will continue to sin (Romans 3:23). But after a long night of weeping, nothing is more comforting than returning to His word and reciting the words of Psalm 116:7, which states “Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.” And He has. It doesn’t take long to look around at my room, friends, and family, and be reminded that I have been blessed beyond measure. It is also a reminder of what our prayer life should look like; to have a humble heart in prayer is to remember that our Heavenly Father hears all prayers, and answers them, as we are reminded in 1 Peter 5:7, which states, “Cast all your anxieties on Him because He cares for you.” True, these answers may not always be what we want, but in the hardest of times, continue to seek your heavenly Father in prayer, asking Him to give you peace and whisper the words of Psalm 46:10 into your heart, “Be still, and know that I am God.”

Although it can sometimes be so easy to play the comparison game, God sees each one of us as individuals, and holds our lives in His loving and more than capable hands. He may not be granting you that one giant step that you’ve been waiting and longing for—but our loving Father will never deny you any kind of movement that takes you closer to Him. Whether it is a baby step in the form of a whispered thank you to Him, or a giant leap into His arms during your most desperate moments of prayer, God, our Heavenly Father, will always be there waiting with the promise of love, grace, and compassion. And you can be certain of that love and forgiveness by the sure promises of your baptism, His absolution, and His Supper. This message is so clearly stated in verse two of the hymn “Lord, Take My Hand and Lead Me” which states, “Lord, when the tempest rages, I need not fear, for You, the Rock of Ages, are always near. Close by Your side abiding, I fear no foe, for when Your hand is guiding, in peace I go.”

Heidi Bliese is a graduate student at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois and sometimes wishes she had never heard the word “thesis.” In her spare time, she enjoys reading and writing scholarly articles and promoting a Christian worldview while debating social issues. You can email her with questions at Heidi.bliese@gmail.com.

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Catechesis

True Confession

By Dr. C. Matthew Phillips

May I hear your confession? That may seem like an odd question. Most people who hear it would associate it with confessing sin to a pastor. However, Christ also calls believers to confess their faith to one another and the world (Matthew 10:32). St. Paul wrote that those who believe in Christ’s Word will also confess Him (Romans 10:8-11). Additionally, Lutherans learn the Apostles’ Creed as a confession of faith in their confirmation classes.

While a confession of faith may take place spontaneously in response to hearing God’s Word, Christians have often made formal confessions of their faith, such as a public recitation of the Nicene Creed during the divine service. It is often during times of persecution or the growth of false teachings that the church has found it necessary to formulate its creeds and confessions. Therefore, it’s easy to see how during the Reformation, formal, written confessions of the faith became necessary again.

In the sixteenth century, Lutherans wrote significant public confessions of their faith. The most famous one is the Augsburg Confession. When the Reformation took place in the 1520s, it divided the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation politically. This empire consisted of principalities and free imperial cities in central Europe. Martin Luther lived in Wittenberg, which was part of a principality known as Electoral Saxony, a territory that is in eastern Germany today.

Emperor Charles V gave Luther the opportunity to confess or deny his own teaching in 1521 at an imperial assembly known as the Diet of Worms. Here Luther defended his teaching as supported by God’s Word and refused to recant his previous writings critical of the papacy. You may recall that this is where his most well-known words were proclaimed, “Here I stand, I can do no other.” Luther made this bold confession of his faith before powerful secular and church leaders. As a result of this action, Charles condemned Luther as a heretical outlaw and commanded all German princes to reject Luther and his teachings. However, Luther’s prince, Frederick the Wise, protected Luther and Electoral Saxony began the process of church reform. This profound theological reform led to social and political transformation. For example, when most priests and former monks and nuns began to marry, monasticism ceased to be a significant institution. City councils and localities enacted reforms related to social welfare and education that more closely reflected Lutheran doctrine and practice. Additionally, Luther and others reformed the late medieval liturgy to bring the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins for Jesus’ sake back to the center of Christian worship.

Wars against France and the Ottoman Turks forced Charles to delay any attempt to prosecute Luther and his political supporters throughout the 1520s. With Europe on the verge of invasion, Charles needed political allies more than condemned “heretics.” By 1526, Philip of Hesse and Albrecht, duke of Prussia, and some imperial cities had adopted and begun to implement the Lutheran Reformation. These leaders joined John the Steadfast of Saxony in a makeshift coalition of Lutheran rulers. John had become the Elector of Saxony after Frederick’s death in 1525. This Lutheran coalition staunchly resisted the Emperor’s plans to enforce his decree regarding Martin Luther at two imperial assemblies at Speyer in the late 1520s. By 1529, Charles and his brother, Ferdinand of Austria, had become increasingly frustrated with the religious and political divisions between Roman Catholic and Lutheran princes and cities in the empire. Therefore, Charles commanded the Lutheran princes and cities to present an explanation of their faith and practices to him at a new imperial assembly.

And so, John the Steadfast sought a theological statement from the Wittenberg theologians. In response to Elector John’s request, Dr. Luther and his colleagues wrote the Torgau Articles in March 1530. The Lutheran princes and theologians attended the imperial assembly at Augsburg in the spring and summer of 1530. Since Luther was an outlaw, he remained at Coburg Castle near the southern border of Electoral Saxony. This is where we see Philip Melanchthon lead the Lutheran theologians and become the primary author of the Augsburg Confession. He wrote and re-worked portions of the document until its official presentation to Charles on June 25, 1530. The original signers of this document included John the Steadfast and his son John Frederick (later called “the Magnanimous”), Philip of Hesse, George, margrave of Brandenburg, Duke Francis of Lüneburg, Wolfgang of Anhalt, and the leaders of Nuremberg and Reutlingen. These princes and civic magistrates risked their wealth, power, and very lives by signing this document. This Augsburg Confession contained 28 articles or statements concerning subjects related to the Christian faith. These included short explanations of the Lutheran teaching on the Triune God, original sin, Jesus Christ, justification by faith, pastors, sanctification, the church, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, the absolution of sins, and the return of Christ. The Augsburg Confession soon became the basic foundation that defined what Lutherans believed, taught and confessed: the Good News that we are justified freely for Christ’s sake through faith alone, proclaimed loudly and clearly for all to hear. I cannot encourage you strongly enough to ask your pastor, if he hasn’t already, to conduct a study of the biblical foundation for the most significant articles of the Augsburg Confession. The more you know it, the more you can clearly communicate your Christ-focused confession to one another and the world.

Dr. C. Matthew Phillips is Associate Professor of History at Concordia University, Nebraska. He teaches various courses related to world and European history. His research has focused on medieval monasticism and the Crusades. Additionally, he has scholarly interests in the Reformation and the writings and life of Martin Luther. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Higher Things. His blog is entitled, Historia et Memoria, and can be found at http://wp.cune.edu/matthewphillips/.

Categories
Pop. Culture & the Arts

The Occult: Hollywood or Holy War?

This article originally appeared in the Spring 2013 Issue of Higher Things Magazine.
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By Rev. Christian Tiews

Books and movies on angels, demons, exorcisms, and the occult have been popular for years. Are supernatural things just a clever moneymaker, or are they really in the Bible—and thus to be taken seriously?

Angels and Demons
We do, in fact, find angels all throughout the Bible—whether as messengers in Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19), announcing to Mary that she would conceive our Lord and Savior (Luke 2), or at the empty tomb (Mark 16). In the Book of Revelation we even see whole armies of angels as warriors. What about demons? These are former angels who rebelled against God and, as punishment, were cast out of heaven (Luke 10:18). Demonic activity occurs throughout the New Testament (Matthew 8, Luke 10, Acts 19, Revelation 12, etc.). In fact, did you know that the casting out of demons is Jesus’ second most common miracle in the Gospels? The leader of the demons is Lucifer (Latin for “The Light Bearer”), also known as Morning Star (Isaiah 14:12), Apollyon (Revelation 9:11), Abaddon (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Revelation), a “roaring lion” (1 Peter 5:8), “prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2), the Evil One (Matthew 13, John 17, Ephesians 6, etc.), or Satan (the accuser, all throughout Scripture). Being a former angel, Satan is only a creature. Therefore, he is not capable of producing anything original and he is not all-powerful and present everywhere as God is but he is a deceiver, tempter, and accuser. The Evil One is also a con artist, taking the good things of God and twisting them into evil. Some examples: Darwinian evolution is a counterfeit of creation. Works righteousness is a counterfeit of salvation through Christ alone. We find works righteousness in all religions except Christianity, with the claim that humans can “work” their way to God/heaven/Nirvana, etc. Some counterfeits of the legitimate intimacy between husband and wife are fornication, pornography, and “gay marriage.”

The Occult
The occult (that is, the “hidden” supernatural activities of the Evil One and his demons) is mentioned in the Old and New Testaments (Exodus 7, Leviticus 19-20, Deuteronomy 18, Acts 8, 13, Galatians 5, etc.) and includes mediums, psychics, and necromancers (people who communicate with the spirit world and the dead), sorcery, black magic, etc. What does the Bible say about the occult? Hands off! Don’t mess with it!

So you see, the Bible discusses the supernatural and thus it is quite real—not just a figment of Hollywood’s imagination. The problem is that our Western culture tends to hide its head in the sand and pretend that the supernatural is nothing more than myths and fables. But closing your eyes does not make something go away. Interestingly, most cultures outside of Western civilization are very much aware of the supernatural. It is we—the “enlightened” people in Europe and North America—who have blinded ourselves to this unseen reality!

So what’s behind all of this? Ephesians 6:12 reveals: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

This Bible passage, in addition to many others (2 Corinthians 10:4, 1 Timothy 1:18, Revelation 12:9, etc.), shows us that spiritual warfare is real. By the way, this line of thinking is also fully in line with Lutheran teaching: “If we would be Christians, therefore, we must surely expect and count on having the devil with all his angels and the world as our enemies” (Large Catechism III, 65). In fact, demons and evil spirits are still being cast out in the name of Jesus, except we now have a special word for it: exorcism.

You Are Armed
On the Cross and by the empty tomb our Lord defeated death and Satan—the deceiver, tempter, and accuser. Jesus Christ fights our spiritual battles for us in His “whole armor of God:” the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, Gospel of peace, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and prayer (Ephesians 6:10-19). All of these riches are embodied in the Means of Grace, which you regularly receive in the Divine Service. I don’t know about you, but knowing that spiritual warfare is real makes me want to receive Christ’s gifts and protection of Word and Sacrament all the more. These Means of Grace are my body armor, flak jacket, and IED-repelling Humvee in the spiritual war zone!

So, DO NOT explore the things of Satan and meddle with Ouija boards, the occult, fortunetellers, psychics, etc. But DO make going to church regularly a life-long habit, DO receive the Sacrament regularly, read Scripture daily, and lead a “godly life” (1 Timothy 2:2). But most of all, remember that you do not have to fight against Satan, the tempter and accuser, and his demons, because the reality is that Jesus Christ has ALREADY won the war for you. And because Jesus has won, you have won as well!

Rev. Christian C. Tiews serves as the associate pastor of Grace Lutheran Church, Tulsa, Oklahoma. He can be reached at RevTiews@glctulsa.org

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Current Events

Taking the Place of Murderers

Rev. Mark Buetow

And he released to them the one they requested, who for rebellion and murder had been thrown into prison; but he delivered Jesus to their will. (Luke 23:25)

We know we live in this world surrounded by the horrors and tragedies of sin. Often, we’re so accustomed to these things that they don’t even strike our conscience. We are not aware of them. Maybe we’ve become desensitized. Maybe we just don’t have the emotional energy to care. Maybe we just don’t want to know what goes on. Every so often the curtain is pulled back and events like the trial of abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell brings these horrors vividly to light. This man ran a clinic that not only provided women with the service of killing their unborn children but in many cases, he murdered babies born alive by cutting their spinal cords. For just a little while, the graphic horrors of sin are made known for all to see.

OK, Kermit Gosnell is a murderer. If we take seriously the teaching of God’s Word that He Himself is the one who gives life and takes it away, we can clearly conclude that taking the life of any child is murder, born or unborn. Many were surprised to hear that these horrors exist in a world where we were promised 40 years ago that legalizing abortion would make it a safe procedure. Are we surprised that when taking the life of an unborn child is made legal and seen as OK it leads to such sadness? It is easy to take the examples and opportunities that such a case presents to stand in stern judgment, wagging our fingers and supposing that now we have a clear example to prove to the world that these evils are real. Here we can point to a man and say, yes, that’s a murderer. A modern day King Herod who would kill babies. If there ever was a murderer, it must look like this guy, Kermit Gosnell.

So take a moment then to ponder the words of St. Luke above. A murderer is just the sort of person with whom Jesus traded places! Maybe Barabbas, the man Pontius Pilate let go, didn’t kill babies. It doesn’t really matter. Somebody died at Barabbas’ hands and for no good reason. And he was on his way to be nailed to a cross for six hours and have his legs smashed to make him hurry up and die. Painfully. Badly. Except he didn’t go. He didn’t make the death march to Golgotha. Pilate released Barabbas and sent Jesus to be crucified in his place. And, what’s worse, that choice was made because people would rather have the murderer saved than the innocent man who never did anything but heal and forgive and preach good news!

Whether or not you’ve followed the trial of these abortion clinic horrors; whether you’ve paid attention to this murderer and his fate or not; ponder this: You are a murderer too. The Fifth Commandment, YOU SHALL NOT KILL, convicts every person of murder because of what Jesus taught us about it. He said that it doesn’t just mean killing babies after they were born or committing homicide. He says it also takes place in the heart. Murder happens in our hatred and anger and rage at others even if we don’t actually act on it. (See Matthew 5:22).

So if you’re a murderer too, then what? Good news! Jesus takes the place of murderers! That’s what He does. That means that Jesus came to trade places with you and people like Kermit Gosnell who kill babies for a living. And here is where true repentance comes: We don’t want to believe that what Jesus did counts for everyone. At least not people like that. We can intellectually acknowledge that, “Yes, I’m a murderer by my attitude or anger” but our thoughts say, “And while that may be true, it’s just simply not the case that I’m as bad as that guy.” It should be a great warning to us not to stand in judgment against a man like that. It should also warn us away from trying to show the world that we think we’re better than such a person merely because we offer hope and life to people where he only offered death.

The only answers to such horrors is Jesus. Jesus who became the murderer so Barabbas, and Kermit Gosnell and you could go free. Our prayer ought to be that what has been given to us by Christ in baptism, absolution, the Gospel and the Supper–the forgiveness of sins–will be declared to this man. And we should give thanks that we are able to hear that forgiveness again and again and over and over. There is a temptation to declare with some relief that this man will get what he deserves for what he has done. But let there be this fervent prayer that while the state will give him what he has coming, the Lord would make known to Kermit Gosnell that he won’t get what he deserves from God. Instead, pray that He would receive what Jesus has earned by taking His place.

Jesus once told His disciples, when questioned about some tragedies in the news, “Unless you repent, you will likewise perish.” (Luke 13:5) By “repent” Jesus doesn’t mean here “fix your life in such a way that you can avoid the consequences of doing bad things.” Rather, by “repent” He means “believe that there is nothing in heaven or on earth that can get rid of our sin except Him.” And that’s exactly what He does when He works things out so that He is the one who goes to Calvary and sinners are the ones who are set free. Thanks be to God for His Son Jesus Christ who came to trade places with the murderers. All of them.

They rise and needs will have My dear Lord made away; A murderer they save, The Prince of Life they slay. But cheerful He To suff’ring goes That He His foes From thence might flee. (My Song is Love Unknown, LSB 430:5)

Categories
Life Issues

Marching for Life with the LCMS

By Megan Hammond

It wasn’t your normal day at the mall. At this mall—the National Mall in Washington, DC—more than half a half million people gathered on Friday, January 25, not to shop, but to march. I joined hundreds of Lutherans, including LCMS President Matthew Harrison, at the National March for Life. We united on behalf of the weak, the defenseless, and the unborn on the 40th anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion in the United States.

At the March for Life, I met people from all over the United States who made the trip to DC and braved the bone-chilling cold of that January day. We heard speakers from both political parties and many faiths, of whom shared a common cause: to preserve and protect God’s gift of life. Some were women who told us of the terrible regret they experienced following their choice to have an abortion; others shared stories of hope in the face of tragedy. One speaker I’ll never forget was a young man who was conceived as the result of rape. This young man’s mother courageously gave birth to him; he now speaks out to defend life, even “unwanted” life.

As I listened to each story, I watched as the National Mall began to fill with people. It wasn’t just me and my fellow Lutherans. Soon we were surrounded by people standing shoulder to shoulder as far as my eyes could see. They were young, middle-aged, and old from almost every religion and nationality. Many were high school or college students who spoke about the devastating effects of abortion on our generation and carried signs like mine, “I am the pro-life generation.” After the speeches ended, we began to make our way toward the United States Supreme Court building—the site of the Roe v. Wade decision forty years ago. We slowly and prayerfully walked past the museums and Senate office buildings along Constitution Avenue. As snow started to fall, we sang hymns like “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” “Beautiful Savior,” and “I Know That My Redeemer Lives.” Our group included LCMS pastors, synod officials, and seminary professors, but most were concerned people like me and my mom who traveled a long way to march for life.

During the two-hour walk to the steps of the Supreme Court, I could not stop thinking about the babies whose lives have been taken since losing their legal protection in 1973. Although the enormous crowd assembled for the march seemed almost infinite to me, I realized we were miniscule compared to the more than 55 million babies whose lives have ended since Roe v. Wade. The march concluded at the steps of the United States Supreme Court where we joined together in the Lord’s Prayer and silently prayed for an end to abortion.

After we had a chance to thaw out, my mom and I joined my sisters (who work in DC) at the LCMS Life Conference, which was the first one ever. At the conference, I had the opportunity to meet fellow Lutherans, worship with them, and learn from them. The conference speakers shared stories about their involvement in life issues: how Jesus’ love enables them to value and defend life from conception to natural death and how we can share God’s forgiveness with those who have had an abortion.

My sister, Stephanie, who works for the United States Congress to promote and defend international religious freedom, spoke on a panel at the conference. She told us about cases of religious persecution happening around the world, how she has been involved and, most importantly, why she has been involved. “My faith has shaped my concern for human dignity,” Stephanie said. “All life has value.”

That was the message I heard again and again throughout the March for Life and LCMS Life Conference: All life has value. Every single life is precious because it is precious to God. He creates human life in His image, He preserves life—and He sent His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to redeem and give eternal life to sinners like you and me. There is no life, not even one, beyond His love and care.

My march for life may have started at the mall, but it won’t end there. I am praying that you will join me in Washington, DC next year as we march for life—all life—with the LCMS!

To see more photos of the March for Life, the Life Conference, or learn about LCMS Life ministries, please visit www.lcms.org/life.

Megan Hammond is a high school junior from Weldon Spring, Missouri. In college, she plans to continue advocating for life while pursuing a major in history and a minor in music. Megan also enjoys tennis, piano, choir, and duct-tape crafts. She can be reached at Megan@hammond.net

Categories
Catechesis

A Little Bit of Latin Goes a Long Way

By Rev. Mark Buetow

Have you ever heard someone say, “He’s all about himself?” or “She only think about herself?” “Looking out for Number One.” These are all just sayings that reflect the original sin and corruption we inherited from Adam. One of the phrases used to describe this state of being turned inward, focusing on ourselves, and putting ourselves above others is the Latin phrase incurvatus in se (in-coor-VAHT-oos in say). It means, literally, “curved inward on himself or herself.” It’s a shorthand way of describing what original sin does to us. It makes us turn inward—away from loving God and our neighbor.

Now that sounds like a pretty good description of sinners. We love ourselves. We put ourselves first. But this doesn’t magically go away when we hear the Gospel and are made Christians. In fact, the Old Adam thinks he can play the religion game. And suddenly, our religion goes all incurvatus in se! Our faith and piety get all all inwardly turned. Our Old Adam loves to make religion about himself. Look how we pray! Look what we do for God! Look how much I love Jesus! See how good Jesus makes me feel! And so faith becomes something that gets twisted and aimed at ourselves, and we make our “being Christian” all about us.

This is where we are rescued by Jesus in a way that is described by another little bit of Latin: extra nos (EX-tra nohs), which means “outside ourselves.” The Gospel, the forgiveness of sins for Jesus’ sake, is outside of us. It doesn’t depend on us. It’s there and it’s true, whether we believe it or not, whether we can feel it or not, or whether we like it or not. Extra nos means that Jesus is the Son of God, no matter who you think you are. It means He died for you, no matter how good or bad you consider yourself to be. It means He rose for you, whether you are afraid of death or not. It means baptism, absolution, His Word and the Supper of His body and blood bestow forgiveness upon you whether you really feel like they do or not.

Extra nos means that your salvation and standing before God are never dependent on how much faith you have. They aren’t determined by how many sins you’ve committed. It’s not based on whether you feel happy or sad. It isn’t about if it makes you feel good or not. It’s not attached to your attitude or even how much sleep you got. The extra nos of Jesus and His gifts means that you can rely on them even when you don’t feel like relying on them! There is a great example of what this all looks like in the Garden of Eden. Consider Eve. The serpent shows up to deceive her into thinking God is lying. Eve has the Word of God extra nos: “If you eat of it, you shall die.” That command/promise of God doesn’t change whether she eats it or not. That Word is sure and certain. But Eve and then Adam chooses the incurvatus in se path. They look to themselves. What does Eve think? The fruit looks good; it’s good food and it will make her wise. Those are deductions that Eve makes based on her own heart and emotions and reason, and not based on God’s Word.

The same thing happens with sin. We choose to do something only because it makes us feel good (because we’re turned inward, thinking only of ourselves) and not because of the clear Word of God extra nos that something is right or wrong. But it happens in our piety, too. We think some way of worshiping or being religious that makes us feel good (because we’re turned inward, thinking only of ourselves) is better than something that doesn’t seem to get us excited or out of which we don’t “get something.”

The answer to both is the extra nos Gospel. By the Word outside of us (in water, Word, body and blood), the Spirit works in us to turn us to Christ in repentance and faith and turn us toward our neighbor in love and service—like a spring, only an external force can unravel it. Let it go, and it snaps back into its coiled self. In the same way, the Word acts on us outside of ourselves, to crucify the Old curved-inward Adam and to bring forth that New Man upon whom is bestowed forgiveness of sins, life and salvation.

Now when someone says about you, “You’re only into yourself,” you can reply, “Well of course, because I’m incurvatus in se.” Then you say, “But extra nos, Christ counts me as His own. A sinner forgiven. And the Spirit is at work to keep turning me away from me and toward God and my neighbor.” Or if someone says, “You’ve got to feel like you’re changing and loving Jesus,” you can reply, “Well of course we think that. We’re incurvatus in se. But outside me is something that isn’t so fickle and changing and unstable. Outside of me is Christ and His baptism, Word, absolution and Supper. And those things don’t change. The promise they declare to me, that my sins are forgiven and I am the Lord’s, doesn’t change either.” When you say that, then it’s about Jesus and not about you. Besides, who doesn’t like to throw a little Latin into their conversation every once in awhile? Incurvatus in se means me and my love of me. And extra nos is about Jesus and His love for me. And without a doubt, it’s the extra nos that wins every time.

Rev. Mark Buetow is pastor of Bethel Lutheran Church in DuQuoin, Illinois and serves as Media Services Executive for Higher Things. He can be reached at buetowmt@gmail.com.

Categories
Catechesis

One Hundred Percent Free-One Hundred Percent Servant

One of our Lutheran distinctives is the desire to work out that delicate balance we call Christian liberty. This is just what Rev. Borghardt successfully communicates in his capable handling of the some of the principles from Martin Luther’s work, On Christian Liberty. This article is from the Spring 2013 issue of Higher Things magazine. You can find more awesome articles like this one here.

By Rev. George F. Borghardt

“A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.1”

You don’t have to do the Law. You don’t.

You don’t have to obey the Ten Commandments.

You aren’t even subject to them. There’s no test afterwards. There is no time when God will catch you on the last day and say, “Tsk-tsk, you missed one.”

Christ has fulfilled the Law for you. He took all the tests that God requires of you on your behalf. He turned in His assignment from God with your name on it. What God requires of you, Jesus did for you. What God wants you to do, the way God wants you to live, Jesus did in your place. Each step, each move He made. It was as if He said, “I’m doing this—not for me, but for you.”

Check the Commandments. Read them. Mark them. Take them to heart. You’ll see for yourself what your Savior has done for you.

In fact, looking at the Commandments, you’ll see what you’ve done in Christ. You did all of them in Christ—every last one of them! You didn’t miss even one in Jesus. There’s not a single commandment left for you to do.

It’s like someone did your homework and took your tests, and you got the perfect grades. It’s like God has given you a snow day from the Law!

No, it’s not “like” God has done these things, He actually has done them all for you in the Cross of Christ. There is no Law waiting around the next corner—no extra work hiding just out of sight. Jesus did it all. Every last commandment. Every last precept that God could come up with for you to do.

Faith receives Jesus. Faith has everything because faith lays hold of Christ’s holy life and His sufferings and death. Faith hopes, loves, believes in nothing other than Christ’s cross alone.

The Law has been perfectly done by Jesus’ holy life. That leaves you perfectly free. Completely free. Totally free! Christ is the end of the Law for those who have faith in Him.

“There must be something for me to do.” “It can’t be that easy.” “If that were true then anyone could be saved.” These are those pesky objections we often hear or toss out there ourselves. Yes, yes, anyone could be saved. But many are not saved because they reject this very faith by trying to put themselves into the equation and do something for God.

God is pleased in Christ’s work alone, not your work. In fact, God doesn’t need you to do the Law. The Law can’t make you better in God’s eyes. In Baptism you have already been covered in Jesus before God.

Now, there are some around you who could use you being so free as to be free for them. They could use you taking up the commandments, not to save yourself but for their sakes. They could use some love. They could use a break. They could use you serving them with some of Jesus’ cross-won forgiveness.

Mom and Dad really need you to honor them. Your teachers and pastor could really use some respect, too. Your friends and neighbors need you to love them and give your life for them. Your girlfriend or boyfriend needs you to be chaste and decent. The people around you need you to respect their stuff and not take it from them. Your friends (and enemies) need you to defend them and speak well of them. And coveting? Nobody wants you wanting to have their stuff!

Christ loved others. He put them first. He loved them more than He loved Himself. He loved you more than He loved Himself. He loved those around you, too. He gave up His life for all. He is Lord of all, and He served everyone. You are completely free, and you serve others…in Him. By faith in Christ, you have all that you need before God. You don’t need more works for God. You couldn’t get more works, even if you tried. How could you? You have Jesus’ works!

Jesus has more works than you could ever do! He has works that He’s going to do through you for your neighbor.

1 Luther, M. (1999). Vol. 31: Luther’s works, vol. 31: Career of the Reformer I (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald & H. T. Lehmann, Ed.) (344). Philadelphia: Fortress Press.

Rev. George F. Borghardt is currently the Conference and Deputy Executive for Higher Things but will begin his first term as President of the Board of Directors on May 1. He also serves as Senior Pastor at Zion Ev. Lutheran Church in McHenry, Illinois.

Categories
Current Events

A New Boston Massacre

Rev. Mark Buetow

And they said among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away — for it was very large. – St. Mark 16:3-4

Here we go again. Bombs. Carnage. Mayhem. Evil. Suffering. Horror. Innocent people killed. It’s a chance for the atheists to shout, “Where’s your loving God now?” It’s a chance for people to say, “Yeah, but look at all the good in people who are helping.” It’s a time for Facebook to be inundated with well wishes, political arguments and conspiracy theories.

The fact of the matter is, this new Boston Massacre is one more stone rolled over the tomb. One more heavy rock that shouts to the world that men are evil and death is real. It is a stone that declares our mortality, our inability to overcome it. Who will roll it away? Who will make the pain stop? Who will make it so these things don’t happen? How will we get in to put spices on our dead God to make Him smell better now that He’s a corpse? What can we say to take away the pain and stench of burned flesh in what was supposed to be a healthy competition and exciting athletic event?

But the stone WAS rolled away when the women arrived. It was laying on the ground. The tomb was open. And it was empty. Well, except for the angels who said, “He is risen! He’s not here! See the place where they laid Him!” The place where they laid Him was a tomb cut into the rock for a dead guy. It was a place of the dead. Like the finish line for the Boston Marathon. A place where death seems to be king. But it’s not. Because the stone is rolled away and Jesus is not there.

If you think the video of the bombs going off in Boston was scary, you should have heard the bomb Jesus dropped on hell. Defeat. Disgrace. Undoing. Sins paid for. The devil’s power done. Where that liar and father of lies would deceive us is in the belief that God doesn’t care about such suffering as we see. We’re on our own. Nothing but misery. So Jesus shows up and tells the devil the deal: His cross means sin is finished. His resurrection means death is done. His Ascension means your righteousness can’t be snatched by that roaring lion.

Let’s put it another way: the answer to horrors and tragedies like the bombing of a marathon is that Jesus is alive. Bombings and all the other suffering we see in the world are like stones that remind us that our destination is a grave. Graves sealed with stones and covered with dirt. But what the women find is the answer to that: death has been defeated. Whatever suffering and death take place out there, they can’t overcome Jesus being alive. He died to overcome sin and His victory over sin means death can’t hold Him down. The stone’s got to go. And it does. And now there’s nothing but good news inside: He is risen!

And that risen Jesus is the one who stands behind your baptism, who proclaims through your preacher, and who gives Himself in His Supper. These are the gifts that confess that the stone has been rolled away. Death has been defeated. The devil is powerless. These aren’t gifts that remove evil from this world. They are gifts that protect you from all things and promise that on the Last Day, the stone on your grave will be rolled away; the dirt covering your casket will be removed. And you will stand, risen and alive and with the Lord forever.

Horrors happen. People ask questions. The investigators will investigate. The relief agencies will relieve. The living will mourn the dead. And when someone asks who can roll away the stone of such a sad thing that points us to death and our mortality, you can answer, “What stone? You mean the one lying on the ground because Jesus is alive?” Indeed, the only thing to say when we see such things is that Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Yes, Easter beats even bombs at the Boston Marathon because Christ is risen indeed.

Rev. Mark Buetow is pastor of Bethel Lutheran Church in Du Quoin, IL. He is also the Media Executive for Higher Things.

Categories
Catechesis

Easter 2013: Did the Resurrection Really Happen?

Blessed Easter! Easter is everything! The resurrection of Jesus is the center of the Christian faith. Check out Pastor Fisk’s article on ways we know the resurrection really happened and that the tomb was actually empty. It will help you as you confess the resurrection to those around you.

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

Rev. Jonathan Fisk

It’s kind of an important question. I mean, if the resurrection didn’t happen, what on earth are we Christians doing? It’s not like it’s gaining us any power or money or anything. But if the resurrection did happen, then why is it that so many people in the world don’t believe it?

The resurrection did happen, and I can tell you how you can be certain of it. More than that, I can do it without telling you that you have to believe it just because the Bible says so. That’s the key thing. A lot of non-Christians in our world think that Christians are just a bunch of willfully ignorant nincompoops who believe in some book that fell out of the sky. But nothing could be further from the truth. Christians are Christians because something happened in history unlike any other thing ever: A guy named Jesus was murdered, but refused to stay dead. It’s not a leap of faith. It’s an historic fact that is as easy to prove as any other bit of history, if you aren’t too close-minded to consider the evidence.

  1. Jesus was a real human. Even without the Bible, modern scholars have to admit that there was a Jewish man named Jesus who lived in the first century. Non-biblical writings like Flavius Josephus, Mara Bar-Serapion and the Jewish Talmud all mention Him as a real, historical figure.

  2. The real human Jesus died by crucifixion and was buried. In the same way, some of these extra-biblical texts mention that Jesus was killed. They don’t go into detail, but only an ignorant person who gets all their information from internet forums will try to tell you that the real Jesus didn’t die, and wasn’t even buried.

  3. This Jesus had real followers who took his death very hard. At this point, we have to start trusting the books of the Bible as eyewitness accounts. We don’t have to believe they are true. We just have to trust that they tell us what the people who wrote them actually thought. That’s what we do with every historical document about any piece of history, at least, until we find other history that tells us something different. So the guy who wrote John’s Gospel around 90 AD also claims he followed this real guy Jesus, and believed He was the Savior of the world before He was murdered, watched Him die, and then fell into despair.

  4. Jesus’ tomb was found empty three days later. Next, the followers of Jesus who despaired after His death also tell us that they stopped despairing because He appeared to them as risen. But not just to them. Extra-biblical sources from Roman historians tell us that after Jesus was killed, “a most mischievous superstition…again broke out.” Yet another document, traced to Jewish sources, tells of a gardener named Juda who stole Jesus’ body. When you put all of these pieces of history together, and combine it with the fact that Christian belief in Jesus’ resurrection all started within walking distance of His tomb, there is only one reasonable historical answer: Somehow, some way, that tomb was empty.

  5. The disciples stopped despairing and started preaching, even though it meant their own deaths. Both biblical and extra-biblical documents tell us that Christianity came from the meeting together of these followers, in order to worship their leader “Christ” and listen to his teachings. Rather than give this up, the same disciples who once fled, willingly faced gruesome and painful deaths.

  6. Antagonists convert. James, Jesus’ brother by blood, and Saul, a man who made a business of killing Christians, were among these converts. More so, Saul’s own writings claim his reason for conversion was a face-to-face meeting with the risen Jesus.

  7. This is the event upon which Christianity is founded. Christianity is not direct proof that Jesus rose, but it is proof that people who knew Jesus personally before His death believed that He rose.

  8. Christianity was founded in Jerusalem. No one in the town where all this was happening could present the dead body so as to put a stop to it. Instead, the “stolen body theory” is preached even 
by the first skeptics.

  9. They worshiped on Sunday. These new Christians, a bunch of Jews (whose religion insists they worship on Saturday) start worshiping on Sunday, because Sunday is the day when they 
believe the resurrection happened.

  10. Do the math. The challenge for the non-Christian or the skeptic (which they are usually unwilling to take up) is to find an alternative historical explanation for where this Christianity came from which also fits all of these simple, documented facts. What could make orthodox Jews change their most sacred rituals, and go to the ends of the earth to tell others about it even though it only gets them killed? They say it was because they themselves saw this man risen from the dead. On top of this, the tomb was clearly empty and the man was nowhere to be found. So, what other explanation for all the facts can you come up with?

Over the last several hundred years the skeptics have tried. There’s the hallucination theory, and the swoon theory and that good ol’ stolen body theory. But none of those theories explain all of the above facts. You can’t steal a swooned body that gets up and walks away. Separate groups of people don’t experience the same hallucination. A Jesus who needed to be taken to the hospital would hardly have convinced terrified disciples to go out and die for him.

The simple reality is that there is only one explanation of the evidence that fits all the facts. It might be unbelievable, but it is anything but unreasonable. So put it in your pocket for the next time a skeptic attacks you with his claims that you are ignorant. Ask him how he explains what Tacitus says. Ask him why the Talmud called Jesus a sorcerer. Ask him to explain all the historical facts. Then, when he won’t (since he can’t), feel free to go right on believing the truth: that the resurrection did happen. Not only is it the best explanation for all of the real historical evidence, it also happens to be what the Bible says was God’s plan for the precise purpose of saving you.

Pastor Jonathan Fisk serves as pastor at Bethany Lutheran Church in Naperville, Illinois. He is also on the board of Higher Things and host of the popular Worldview Everlasting videos. He can be reached at revfisk@gmail.com.