Category: Articles

Looking for past articles from our website? Find them here categorized.

Servant Jesus

Post author By Higher Things
Post date August 1, 2010

Isaiah 42:1-9

You didn’t even ask. You didn’t even merit it. And you probably thought you could do without.

But the Lord interrupts your life. The Lord speaks up when you’d rather be talking, texting, tweeting or facebooking. He has something to say. He preaches a sermon. The old fashioned way. No Apple iPhone 4 message. A word from His mouth. And He’s in a giving mood. Always is. And the sermon? “Look here everyone! Behold, my servant! I’ve chosen Him! I’m absolutely delighted with Him! And He’s my gift – to you!”

Did you catch that? The Lord gives you – A SERVANT! How odd. God gives a Servant. His Son. Jesus. For you. A sinner.

What will you do with this gift? Take advantage of Him? Abuse or spurn the gift? Mock the gift? Would you rather not have Him interrupt your life? And so make plans to eliminate Him? What was that you said? Was it … “Crucify Him”? “Crucify Him”? That was you, wasn’t it? You handed the Roman soldiers the hammer and the nails, didn’t you? Didn’t you offer your assistance to hoist up the cross with the Servant Gift hanging on it? As He screamed in immense agony and then died?

The answer’s yes. Yes you did. And so did I. We’re responsible for hanging Servant Jesus there. You and I crucified Him!

And yet the Father who created the heavens, who spread out the earth, who gives breath to all living things, is still delighted!

With Jesus! His gift to you. Servant Jesus. Who came not to be served but TO SERVE and to give His life into death for you!

Behold a “new thing.” We don’t go to God. God comes to us. The Father’s only begotten Son is conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. Immanuel – God with us. Christmas Gift Servant Jesus. To save you from your sins.

How? Good Friday. You meant it for evil. But He uses it for good. Your eternal good. He just goes ahead and does the Friday we now call “Good.” Your sin is His. He answered for it that day. All of it. He left none out. His Blood cleanses you from all sin.

Yes, that’s right. I said it. All! You name the sin. Little. Big. Or if you’d rather not – it doesn’t matter – it’s all taken care of in Servant Jesus.

Behold a “new thing.” Servant Jesus interrupted your life. Called you by the gospel! Took you by the hand, gave you His holy name, and washed you clean at the font. Comes right into your midst and sets you free from the chains of your sin and death by saying: “I forgive you. I died for you.” And then He invites you to His supper table. He speaks something very new. What had never been said before: “Bread. Eat it. My body given for you. This cup of wine. Drink it. It is the new testament in my blood. My promise – my absolute promise – that I don’t hold your sins against you.”

No wonder the Father says: “Have you seen my Servant! I chose Him. And I’m so delighted with Him!” Because Servant Jesus is His gift to you. The one and only gift of salvation. And because of Jesus – He is most pleased with you.

In the Name of Jesus.

Catechesis

“Dear God, I’ve got an empty sack…”

Post author By Higher Things
Post date July 29, 2010

by Rev. Matthew Harrison

My dad loved to go to the early service—always the early service, and the earlier the better. He would have loved to have Easter sunrise service every Sunday of the year! But it was a different story for my brother and me. Church? Forget it. I’d rather sleep in since my brother and I liked to stay up as late as we possibly could on Saturday night.

Dad had the habit of saying the most un-cool things at 7:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning: “Come on boys! Up and at ‘em!” Then, if we lay in the sack too long, he’d go grab a towel or wash cloth, soak it in the coldest water possible, and come and throw it on any exposed skin (usually a face, sometimes a back).

Then the routine was simple for me. Get dressed. Wolf down any available food. Hassle my little sister until she lodged a formal complaint with my parents—you know, normal stuff.

I thank God now for my dad’s dogged persistence and his no-questions-asked, we’re-going-to-church-buddy-so-change-your-attitude attitude. My parents gave me something very important. They taught me that Christians go to church, but it wasn’t until many years later that I managed to figure out just why we go to church!

Why go to church? To learn about God. To give our time, talent and treasure back to God. To show God how we care about him. To worship God. Great answers, but they all miss the main point—Jesus.

I once read a sermon by Martin Luther, which forever changed how I look at going to church. Luther said to think about going to church with an empty sack. What’s the first thing you do in church? You confess,“I, a poor miserable sinner…”How we love to confess,“Oh Almighty God, my brother, my dad or mom, is a poor miserable sinner,” or “I thank Thee, Lord, I’m not like other men” (Luke 17). But here, finally, there are no more excuses. The problem is ME. This is simply saying,“Dear God, I’ve got an empty sack.”

Then what happens? The pastor says, “In the stead and by the command of Christ, I forgive you.” It’s as good as Jesus saying it himself (John 20)! And at just that moment, God throws a heap of grace, mercy, and peace into your empty sack! You do nothing; you only receive, mouth hanging open, looking down into your bag, amazed at the gift. And what do you say? “AMEN!” That is,“Yep! I got it God! It’s in the bag!” And then comes more.

The lessons are read, and more grace and love and mercy from God are piled into the bag! After the gospel is read you say,“Thanks be to God! Yep! In the bag!” Hymns are sung which speak of Christ and His birth, life, death, and resurrection for you. Then the sermon is preached. The gospel of free forgiveness from Jesus is dished up and delivered to you. And the very forgiveness spoken about actually happens (Rom. 1:16)! The sermon ends with an “Amen!” And don’t just let the pastor have that “Amen” at the end of the sermon. You say it with him. By doing so you say,“Yep! I believe it! Jesus is mine. It’s in the bag!”

Then comes the Lord’s Supper.“Take and eat…” and you respond,“Amen! Got it!” Then comes the blessing,“The Lord bless you and keep you, and make His face shine upon you….”You respond,“Amen, Amen, Amen! I got it! It’s in the bag! And it’s heaping full!” By the end of the service your sack is heaped full of God’s forgiveness and grace and mercy. All your sins are forgiven. Do you see how foolish it is to whine,“I don’t get anything out of it” even when the sermon doesn’t strike home?

Then, bag full, you merrily head out of church. First thing you know, your dad sins against you by thinking you did something when you didn’t; or your sister proceeds to generally make life miserable for you; or that kid at school whom you really actually hate makes you seethe with anger. What do you do? You pull that full bag off your shoulder and smack ‘em right over the head with it? –No!

You pull that sack of forgiveness off your back and say, “Christ has given me this sack of forgiveness and love and mercy. Here, I want to give you some forgiveness.”

And so it goes through the week. Mercy and love for the teacher who drives you insane. Forgiveness and prayers for the bully who makes your life miserable. Grace to “put the best meaning” on things, instead of gossiping. Strength of faith and hope and love, to help someone in time of need. But you fail time and again, and scoop up that grace and mercy for yourself, until you’re back at church, back on your knees, confessing something true: “Dear God, I’ve got an empty sack.”

Luther got it exactly right. Jesus told a parable about a Pharisee and a tax collector. The Pharisee went to church and prayed loudly,“Dear God, I thank you that I’m not like other men. I pray. I fast. I give a tenth of all I get.” He was saying, “I’ve got a full sack, God. I filled it. And I’m proud of it.”

He did not realize that our relationship with God is not primarily about what we do. It’s about what God does for us in Christ. If we won’t have an empty sack, we’ll have no God to fill it for us. But standing far off from the Pharisee, there was another man. He beat his chest, knowing full well that he was a sinner. He prayed,“God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

“I tell you the truth,” Jesus said.“that man went away justified—forgiven.”

This Sunday, every time you say “Amen” in the liturgy, or after the sermon, or at the Lord’s Supper, take note of what just got dropped in your sack! It’s Jesus and His forgiveness, grace, and mercy.

This article originally appeared in Winter 2003 ed of the Higher Things Magazine.

Higher Homilies

Divine CPR

Post author By Higher Things
Post date July 15, 2010

Gen 2:4-7; 1 Pet 1:13-23; Jn 3:13-21

In Nomine Iesu

“Oh, you shouldn’t have. No, really, you shouldn’t have. It’s too nice. It’s too expensive. I don’t deserve it. You shouldn’t have bothered. Why did you do this? Wow. I’m totally blown away by this! You really shouldn’t have.”

Isn’t that how it sounds when we receive an unexpected gift? “You shouldn’t have.” Why? Because now I have to give you something back. Because now I’m obligated to you. Because now there is a debt between me and you.

We’re natural-born transactionalists. Deal-cutters. Bargainers. When we give gifts, it’s to get something in return. Isn’t it? Guys? Hmmmm? We bribe. We bargain. We butter up. We control and manipulate. “If you really loved me, you’d buy me that ring.” “How do I love thee, let me count the ways: One carat, two carats, three carats, more.”

Thusly God loved the world: He gave Jesus. This is His love: He sent His only-begotten Son into the world, into our flesh, born of a Virgin, born under Law, to redeem the world, to buy it back, not with gold or silver, but with His holy precious blood and his innocent suffering and death. Not to condemn the world but to save it.

It’s not a deal, it’s a gift. God loved the world in His Son. God gave His Son to the world. A gift given. Wrapped in swaddling clothes. Hung on a cross. Raised from the dead. It’s a fact whether you believe it or not, want it or not, like it or not.

God gave Adam life. Body and breath. He breathed into Adam’s clay His breath of life and Adam became a living being. It’s one of the most remarkable verses of the Bible,and I defy anyone to rationalize it. There was no transaction. No bargaining. No deal. Just lifeless clay and the breath of God. Divine CPR.

God has given you body and breath too. Not out of the mud, but from your mother and father. Biologically reasonable, yes, but no less mysterious. We know about the genetic code and conception and all that, but we are no less fearfully and wonderfully made. Your eyes, your ears, your parts, your reason, your senses, your psychology, your intellect, your intuition, our talents. All are gifts from your Giver God.

Adam and Eve refused the gift, and you know the story. It’s written in Genesis 3 and also in your life. The rebel will. The refusal to be given to. The gift used against God. That’s what evil is. God’s good used against God. A tree becomes a weapon of defiance; its fruit the sacrament of death. “On the day you eat of it, you will surely die.” “You will be dead to me. Adam, where are you? Where are YOU?”

They loved darkness rather than light; themselves rather than God; the devil’s instead of God’s truth. You know the outcome. Ashamed, hiding, fearful, accusing each other, accusing God.

We love the darkness. We love the deal. We love the notion that we are gods and that we have God wrapped around our little fingers. We love the idea that we can be like gods. Some people think they are. What better religion can there be than one where you are a god? We love the notion that we can work our way up the ladder, and we’ll devise ladders small enough for us to climb. Oh we love the darkness for what it hides. We hide from each other and from God.

You too. Your inner sinner, the old Adam, Adam 1.0, loves the darkness, the shelter the darkness affords for sin. Who will see when no one is watching? Who will know when no one has knowledge? Who will judge when you don’t get caught? God does. His light penetrates the darkness of sin and death, exposing the evil and bringing it into the truth.

Here is the truth: God gave His Son. This is His love for the world, for you. Behold, the Lamb slain and living whose blood pays the price for your sin, whose death conquers your death, whose life is your life. It’s all given, to be received by faith, simple trust that it is finished, it is so. This is the judgment: Light or darkness, life or death, Jesus or self. “He who believes, who trusts, is not condemned; he who does not believe, does not trust, is condemned already.” Believe it, my friends, believe it. Trust this Jesus who saved you. He is all you have and all you need. He is given you.

He gives you His gifts. You were dead in trespasses and sin. You still are, in yourself. Dead as dead can be. The Law says so. Your sins are the hard evidence. But God breathed life into you. New life. The Spirit. In your Baptism you were born anew from above. As you had no choice in your first birth, so there is no choice here either. Baptism is not a deal but a gift. Forgiveness, life, salvation – all are given you in water and Word. And again in Absolution, given you in the word of forgiveness. And still more in the Supper, His death destroying, sin forgiving, life sustaining body and blood given you in your own mouth, His words ringing in your own ears. “Sinner, I have not come to condemn you but to save you.”

God can’t help Himself. He loves to give. He loves giving out gifts to His children. And He loves when His children receive His gifts. It is the Father’s joy that you receive the gifts of creation, the gift of His Son, the gift of salvation, the gift of the Spirit and new life and adoption and the opportunity to call Him Father with delight.

So what do you say to such gifts? What can say? “Oh, you shouldn’t have?” Of course not! Simply Amen! Gifts received with joy and thanksgiving. This is most certainly true.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Catechesis

THE HOLY SPIRIT: Shedding Light on Christ

Post author By Higher Things
Post date May 23, 2010

by Rev. Marcus T. Zill

Now, kids, don’t try this analogy out at home. Just take my word on this one, okay?

A flashlight is not very helpful if you hold it before your face and simply stare into the beam of light. In fact, if you use a flashlight like that you might just end up blind.

A flashlight functions not by drawing you to gaze at the light bulb in it, but by throwing light on an object which you need to see. Ultimately, seeing that object is the whole point. ;

It’s kind of like that with work of the Holy Spirit. We do not gaze directly on the Holy Spirit but instead the Spirit causes His light to shine through His Word so that we see it’s object – Jesus Christ. That is why the Holy Spirit is often called “the shy member of the Holy Trinity.” He’s there. He’s at work. He’s just not about drawing attention to Himself.

Just as we do not focus our eyes on the flashlight but on the object which the flashlight sheds light on, so we do not focus on the Holy Spirit per se but on the Savior to whom the Spirit testifies. Faith clings to Christ. We know the Father through the Son, and we know the Son, because of the Spirit’s “shy” work in pointing us to Him.

You may have friends that come from other churches where they talk about speaking in tongues and other charismatic gifts of the Spirit. They may even tell you that they are trying to draw attention to the Holy Spirit because they believe that He has been neglected for centuries.

But that is the exact opposite of what the Holy Spirit wants to happen! The Holy Spirit does not call attention to Himself. The Spirit’s focus is to illuminate Christ. Faith’s object is Christ and so the Holy Spirit wants your focus to be on Christ too, and not on Him.

Ultimately, the Pentecostals and Charismatics end up celebrating the flashlight and in doing so they are in danger of being blind to Christ. Instead, we celebrate Christ, which makes the Spirit quite happy, even if He goes seemingly unnoticed in the process. He is quite content to illuminate the eternal Son of God, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

The work of the Holy Spirit is to shed light on Jesus Christ so that we know Him alone as “the way, the truth, and the life,” the only way to the Father. And this work the Holy Spirit accomplishes through Christ’s Word, for His Word is a “lamp to our feet and a light to our path,” to paraphrase Psalm 119. Through God’s Word, the Spirit sheds light on Christ that we may see Him and none other.

You see, God’s Word and the work of the Holy Spirit go together. You can’t ultimately have one without the other. That is why our Lutheran Confessions make the point that “In these matters, which concern the external, spoken Word, we must hold firmly to the conviction that God gives no one his Spirit or grace except through or with the external Word which comes before…. Accordingly, we should and must maintain that God will not deal with us except through his external Word and sacraments. Whatever is attributed to the Spirit apart from such Word and sacraments is of the devil.” (SA III:VIII, 3/9).

And so when Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit, “the Helper” whom the Father will send in His name (John 14), He also speaks of how those who love Him will keep His Word. To keep Jesus’ Word means to hang on to what Jesus says. That, in fact, is how the Holy Spirit teaches us. He does not bubble up inside of us as a warm emotion, or turn us into some sort of ecclesiastical lip-syncers. Neither does He gives us some special, secret insight into the plans and purposes of God that is revealed outside of God’s Word. Rather, the Holy Spirit works precisely through God’s revealed Word to bring us to, and keep us in and with, Christ.

It really is just as we confess in the words of the Small Catechism: “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.”

This is what the Spirit does. He works through Means, means that are given to you through God’s Divine Service to you. The same Holy Spirit who breathed the gift of new birth into each of you through the waters of Holy Baptism, comes to you, still today in the preaching of Jesus’ words. Where these words are received in faith, we have what they declare unto us. That is the Spirit’s work.

Jesus says in St. John 14:21, “If anyone loves Me, My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” How deeply God makes His home with us we know from the Sacrament of the Altar. There He gives you His own body and blood to eat and to drink. The flesh born of Mary and nailed to the cross as the atonement for the world’s sins is given you to eat and to drink for the forgiveness of them. The blood that poured from the Savior’s veins to blot out your sins is given you to drink in the cup of the New Testament.

And so the Holy Spirit is not given once but over and over again wherever the Lord’s words are going on. That’s the Spirit’s gig and He is quite content with it. He isn’t worried about not being noticed, rather He is thankful that we are seeing and receiving the One onto whom He is shedding His Light.

For the Holy Spirit and for us it really is all about Jesus. This is why we speak of Solo Christo (Christ Alone) and you’ve never probably heard the phrase Sola Pneuma (Spirit Alone).

The gift of the Spirit is the gift of Jesus Himself, His peace. Yes, the Spirit does drop in sometimes in great measure once and awhile as at the first Pentecost, but He is not here today and gone tomorrow. He does not swoop down on us to give us some spiritual high, which soon fades away leaving us empty. No, He comes constantly and surely in Jesus’ words spoken to us in Absolution and Sermon, in Baptism and with Christ’s Body and Blood. These are His gifts and with these gifts we have peace because through these gifts we receive Christ. This is a peace that the Holy Spirit will never stop testifying to and illuminating for us. Thanks be to God.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Higher Homilies

The Ascension of Our Lord

Post author By Higher Things
Post date May 14, 2010

Rev. Mark Buetow

People often think that by ascending into heaven, Jesus has gone away from us. He was here on earth and now He’s “up there” somewhere and isn’t really around until He comes again. But pay close attention to what Luke wrote down in the book of Acts: “A cloud hid Him from their sight.” The Bible doesn’t say that Jesus went away when He ascended. It says they couldn’t see Him anymore. But if Christ isn’t gone then where is He? That is answered in St. Mark’s Gospel in which Jesus gives His apostles the command to preach the Gospel to every creature. And so they did, writes Mark, “the Lord working with them.” When Jesus ascends and is hidden, it is only to be hidden to our eyes so that instead, by the preaching of the Gospel, He would go to the ends of the earth. Before Elijah was taken away in the fiery chariot, he ordained Elisha to be the preacher after him. Before our Lord’s Ascension, He ordained His Apostles to preach the Gospel and Baptize. Understand this: the big deal is not that Jesus Himself is here speaking to us but that His Word is delivered into our ears whether its by His own mouth or the mouths of His preachers. The Good News of the forgiveness of sins is what our Lord gave to His preachers to deliver to the world.

Jesus’ Ascension is the celebration and seal of His work for sinners and it is the beginning of the delivery of that forgiveness. Christ’s perfect life and His bloody death have destroyed the power of sin and the power of Satan to accuse us before God. His resurrection from the dead stripped Death of its power. Now His ascension means that all our righteousness is kept safe for us and no one can take it away from us. Imagine the big tall kid holding the ball while the little kid jumps up and down trying to grab it and can’t. So it is with our salvation and righteousness. It is kept safe by Jesus so that the Devil can’t snatch it away! Our Lord Himself holds on to your righteousness in heaven so that nothing can take it away from you. It is this forgiveness and salvation that is splashed upon you at the holy font; spoken into your ears by preaching and absolution and fed into your mouth with Christ’s own body and blood! These earthly gifts that are given to us with Christ’s Word attached have His promise that where they are given out faithfully, He Himself is there. Jesus isn’t far away in outer space somewhere! He’s right here, on earth, in His church. Hidden to our eyes, true, but plainly visible to the eyes of faith. And you have this promise that everything He gives you in this life: Baptism, Absolution, the Gospel, the Supper, all have the crucified, risen and ascended Jesus standing behind them so that their promises smash any opposition of Satan and cannot be overcome!

Notice that after Jesus ascended, the Apostles weren’t sad. They rejoiced! They were happy! And what did they do? They worshiped! The angels preached that Christ will come again. His Ascension reminds us that just as He departed, so He will come again and one day Jesus will again be seen with our eyes. But until that day, we aren’t sad. We rejoice! And we worship. Until Christ comes again we worship. And “worship” just means we receive Christ where He has promised to be: in His church in His Word and Sacraments. That’s why the angel’s say, “Why are you looking up into the sky?” You don’t look for Jesus “up there.” You don’t look for Him just anywhere. You look for Him where He has promised to be: in His church in the means of grace. There He comes to you and will never leave you. Here He comes and delivers His forgiveness, life and salvation which can never be snatched away from you! On this day, Christ ascended on high! Not to get away from us! But so that He would be with us always and among us to forgive and save us right here where His Word is. All thanks and praise and glory be to our Lord Jesus Christ who has conquered all our enemies and now lives and reigns on high at the right hand of the Father while yet dwelling among us in His holy church through His holy gifts. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Higher Homilies

“My Sheep Hear My Voice”

Post author By Higher Things
Post date April 27, 2010

Rev. Rich Heinz

John 10:22-30

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

“Hear My voice.” Have you ever watched a baby’s reaction to his mother’s voice? He reacts. He turns toward his mother, and is soothed by the comfort of His mother’s voice. He has heard her from within the womb, and finds comfort and nurture and care in her voice.

Dr. Shinichi Suzuki recognized the importance of listening, even when we are not aware of it. He stressed the importance of listening to a piece of music over and over to help in learning to play it. Playing that same piece well is aided immensely by repeatedly listening to it played well. And he even noted instances when children recognized pieces of music in utero.

The same is true for the pastor’s voice. A family that comes to the Lord’s house throughout pregnancy, will have a child that recognizes his pastor’s voice, and responds. Like his mother, the infant finds comfort and nurture and care in the voice of his pastor. And even if not from infancy, the more a person gathers around Christ’s gifts in the Church, the more he will know the voice of the Shepherd, and the more he is nourished and known by Christ, and thus follow Him.

In Holy Baptism, the Good Shepherd stretched His hand out over the waters, and pulled you to Himself. He called you by name, placing His own Name upon you, and brought you to hear His voice. As God’s new, baptized creature, you recognize His voice through His Sacred Scriptures, as well as the voice of His servant through whom He speaks to you.

Yet you do not always want to listen. There are many voices out there competing with the Lord, and to the sinful mind, sometimes they sound better. In fact, sometimes your own voice sounds better to your sinful self.

The contestant stares blankly, dumbfounded. “No. I am the best,” she thinks. “I am the next American Idol! These judges don’t know what they are talking about. They don’t know real talent!” In her frustration, and perhaps even delusion, the singer is refusing to listen. She does not hear the voice of the judge that says, “I’m sorry. It’s just not for you.” She lives in her own fantasy, hearing that she is great, talented, and amazing!

You do too, when your Old Adam is winning. You fancy yourself as great, talented, and amazing, rather than recognize the sin in your life that makes you as lowly, dumb, and plain as a sheep.

But Christ, our Good Shepherd, overcomes Old Adam. Our Lord has saved you, and He knows you. Yes, your Shepherd knows you! And it’s not just some passing knowledge!

In English we lump it all together with the verb “to know.” But our German crowd here at St. John’s could tell you there is a difference between “wissen” and “kennen.” “Wissen” is to know as in to know facts and things. “Kennen” is knowing something or someone with whom you have a relationship. The Lord knows you. Not simply as an object or fact. Der HErr kennt euch! The Lord KNOWS you, personally!

Christ, our Good Shepherd, knows each and every one whom He has saved and forgiven. He calls out to His sheep and leads them — not blindly or generically, but personally and with deep thought and care, for He knows them.

For one hundred years, the Good Shepherd has tended His youthful sheep at Luther Institute, and then Luther High School-North. When lambs have strayed, He has searched for them, and carried them home. While the school walks through the valley of the shadow of debt, in reality He has not abandoned the lambs or sheep of the school; His rod and staff of His Law and Gospel will see every one through the hardship, and the Table He spreads will lavish His Means of Grace upon us all. How so? He knows us! He knows us personally as His own. We know [His] voice, and follow [Him.]

So just how do we know His voice? Where do we hear Him? The confirmands can tell you. They spent Friday night’s lock-in hearing about these Means of Grace: Baptism, Absolution, Gospel and (the Lord’s) Supper. In these holy and precious gifts, the Good Shepherd speaks to us and we hear His voice. He nurtures His relationship with us, and so He continues to truly know us! He brings us to regularly and faithfully receive these gifts, and thus we are following Him.

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” The Good Shepherd called out: “I baptize you in the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.” And He knows the child whom He has called, and that baptized Christian follows Him.

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

The Good Shepherd cries out again and again: “I forgive you all your sin, in the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” And you are absolved – the sin is gone; you are freed from it! You hear the voice of God that has passed judgment – a judgment that makes you “not guilty!” He does this out of love for you, as He truly knows you, and He now leads you to follow Him.

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

The most important words that blessed voice utters each week: “This is My Body, given for you. This is My Blood, shed for you.” Jesus gives absolutely everything to protect and nourish and nurture His sheep. He even gives Himself! When you hear these sweet and blessed words, you are embraced by them, wrapped up in the ultimate and boundless love of Jesus. You hear His voice – the voice of God’s mercy – the voice of our Good Shepherd who knows you perfectly – better than you know yourself! And He brings you to follow Him!

Other voices may clamor for your attention. Others may claim to know you. But your sweet, loving Savior is your Good Shepherd. And now and always, He causes you to hear His voice, and He knows you, and you follow Him. Amen!

The Rev. Rich Heinz is Pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church & School, Chicago, IL. Having grown up in a congregation with a large window depicting our Good Shepherd, and continuing to love the art and music associated with the day, this Sunday of Easter is especially dear to him. The reference to Luther North is regarding our local Lutheran high school. Luther North is working through some major financial challenges, and is undergoing a national campaign for funds.

Higher Homilies

Easter Vigil 2010

Post author By Higher Things
Post date April 4, 2010

Rev. Mark Buetow

St. John 20:1-18

What has fallen has been lifted up again. What has been lost has been recovered. What was ruined has been made whole again. What was destroyed has been repaired. What was cursed has been blessed. We who expected death have been given life. All this because He who was dead is now alive! Christ who was slain is alive again.

When the Lord made man He gave him life and put him in a garden. When Adam and Eve left the garden it was in shame and death. Our Lord enters the garden in shame and death; He is laid in the tomb. But He leaves the Garden alive and the tomb is left empty. Where man brought death into the world in a garden, Christ brings forth life from the garden.

When Adam and Eve were driven from the Garden, an angel with a flaming sword was stationed to keep them from ever going back. The flaming sword of God’s judgment blocked them from that paradise ever again. Now angels are in the empty tomb, no longer swinging deadly flaming swords but pointing to the risen Christ who is the Life of Mary and Peter and John and all the world. In this Garden the angels are not enforcing the bad news of the curse but proclaiming the Good News of Jesus’ resurrection.

The Lord walked in the Garden and Adam and Eve hid themselves. Now in this garden of the empty tomb, Jesus comes, hidden to reveal Himself to Mary as the risen Savior. A serpent preached to Eve. Eve then shared these lies with her husband. The result was the Fall into sin and the judgment of death. Now, Christ speaks to Mary and she goes to proclaim that He is alive to the disciples. The lies of death are replaced by the Good News of life. What happened in the Garden of Eden is reversed in the Garden of Christ’s empty tomb!

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, by His death that conquered death and His life which restores life, Christ has overturned the work of sin and death in this world. By your Baptism into Him, you have died and rise with Him. By the preaching of His Gospel He has called your name and turned you to Him. By His Holy Supper He lives in you and promises to raise you up at the Last Day. All the powers of hell and death have been defeated and they cannot hurt you. By his death He has rescued you even from death. By His resurrection He has promised you to be raised and have eternal life. All of the curse that you have been under has been undone by your Lord Jesus and paradise is once again yours. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Catechesis

“A Death On A Friday Afternoon”

Post author By Higher Things
Post date March 24, 2010

Rev. Brent Kuhlman

There he is! He’s just hanging there. He refused to come down. Stayed to the bitter end. Breathed his last and said: “It is finished”(John 19:30). The veil in the temple split in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked. The rocks split. Dead people came out of their tombs (Matthew 27:51-52). Do you see him? Jesus of Nazareth! Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven Jesus of Nazareth! Yes, that’s right, he’s hanging there. His body hangs limp. Dead. Graveyard dead on a Friday afternoon we now call “Good!”

Good for you that is! “Really? Doesn’t look that way! Looks rather grisly and horrible.” Indeed. But dead on the cross Jesus is work that he does for you and for your salvation.

Take another look at him. Hidden in this brutally beaten and nailed to the tree corpse is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Yes, he looks so foolish. But dead on the cross Jesus is God’s highest wisdom. Yes, he looks so weak. But suspended lifeless on the cross Jesus is God’s most magnificent power. All for you!

St. Paul puts it this way: “God made him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin so that we might become the righteousness of God,” (2 Corinthians 5:21). As he hangs on the cross the Father heaps all sin on his Son and says: “Now you be Peter the denier, Paul the persecutor, King David the adulterer and murderer, Adam and Eve who ate the forbidden fruit in Eden, the thief on the cross, and Kuhlman the worst of sinners. Be the one who has committed every sin of every sinner who has ever lived and ever will live. See to it that you make satisfaction and pay for all sin and for every sinner!”

And that’s precisely what Jesus does. He offers himself on the altar of the cross as the sacrifice that atones for all sin. Yours. Mine. The world’s. Despised and forsaken he is for you! He bears your griefs and carries your sorrows. Crushed he is into death and condemnation because he answers for all your sin. In his death on a Friday afternoon Jesus insists on carrying your sin in his body in order to answer for it. On the tree your sin is his. His righteousness is yours. He is damned with your sin. But his sacrificial blood renders you righteous. What a sweet swap! What a blessed exchange!

In the latest Star Trek movie, Kirk’s father sacrifices himself for the entire fleet by steering his ship into the belly of the Romulan enemy Captain Nero. In the movie Gran Torino, Clint Eastwood’s character “Walt” dies in place of his friend Thao as an act of love and sacrifice. Walt’s death is the only solution to an impossible situation. His death provides freedom for Thao and Thao’s life is changed forever as he will live in the shadow of Walt’s death for him. Both James T. Kirk’s father and Clint Eastwood’s “Walt” only hint at the power of Christ’s death for you on the cross.

That Jesus does the salvation job as he dies there on the cross means that you cannot do it! You’re a lost a condemned person. You are a helpless self-centered sinner who deserves God’s temporal and eternal wrath and condemnation. Jesus is not. He is holy and perfect. On the cross he is crucified as the lawbreaker sinner in your place. He dies the death you deserve as a sinner. He receives the damnation you deserve as a sinner. And in his death he satisfies God’s judgment against you. Jesus has redeemed you: “in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our sins,” (Ephesians 1:7). He has purchased and won you from all sins.

What are your sins? What is it that you fear, love and trust above all things? Where do you look for all your good? Behold your idols! The false gods and saviors in your life! Some of the sin and sinning you know. There is a lot that you don’t know (that’s how bad it is with you). Some sin you hate and desperately want to stop. Other sin you love and want to keep on doing. Name the sin. Whatever the sin Jesus shed his blood on that Friday afternoon to cleanse you from it all (1 John 1:7). Yes, all sin! The whole enchilada of your sinning and sin! In thought, word, and deed! Even all the sin that has been committed against you! Imagine that!

So Jesus just goes and does it: a Good Friday just for you! While you were yet a sinner Jesus died for you! (Romans 5:8) Your sins then are forgiven. He left none out of his dying for you! Jesus refuses to hold them against you because he has covered them in his blood!

So, blessed are you! Salvation is yours. The resurrection of the body and life everlasting are yours too. All because of his holy precious blood and his innocent suffering and death on a Friday afternoon that we call good. Good for you! Everything has changed for you as you live in the shadow of His cross. “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” (Romans 8:1).

In the name of Jesus.

Rev. Brent Kuhlman is Pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Murdock, NE. He is also Vice-President of Higher Things and a Regular Guest on HT-Radio.

Pop. Culture & the Arts

Losing Muchness and Believing Impossible Things

Post author By Higher Things
Post date March 16, 2010

by the Rev. Rich Heinz

Warning: Spoilers follow.

Alice in Wonderland Characters “You were much more… muchier. You’ve lost your muchness,” laments the Mad Hatter to Alice in the newest version of Lewis Carrol’s “Alice in Wonderland.” The film briefly introduces Alice as a child, then skips over ten years to what is to be her engagement party. Alice once again sees the White Rabbit from her “dreams” and again falls down the hole, drinks the bottle labeled “Drink me” to shrink, and eats the cake to grow large, encounters the “Red Queen” (Queen of Hearts), Knave of Hearts, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, and all the others from her childhood adventure.

However, upon discovering that she will have to take the vorpal sword and slay the Jabberwocky, the grown Alice must dig deep inside and find the child that she was – the little girl who could indeed be muchier and defeat this monster, and therefore defeat the wicked queen.

Once she realizes she is not merely dreaming, the young adult Alice is convinced that killing the Jabberwocky is impossible. “I don’t slay,” she maintains, before the caterpillar points out some obvious wisdom she already had, in her deep, “inner child.”

A realization comes over her: “Sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” And with her belief comes the strength, courage, and muchness that she needs to slay the monster.

While the entire film celebrates that people have choices and can choose to believe – choose to be strong and slay their Jabberwockies. Theologically, we call this mistaken notion “decision theology.” This is the idea that you can actually choose to believe, receiving Jesus as your Savior. We know from the Scriptures, that this is not true. He has chosen us! Luther rejoices over this in the Catechism: “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord, or come to Him. But the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified, and kept me in the true faith” (Small Catechism, Creed, III.)

You have the joy of being in amazing wonder that Jesus does call you to faith. He gives you belief! And not only does He give you faith, but He gives you the faith of a little child! “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it,”says our Savior (Luke 18:17 ESV.)

Through Holy Baptism, His Spirit comes and makes us children of our Heavenly Father. He gifts us with child-like faith and welcomes us into His kingdom. As He plunged us into the mighty waters of the font, Christ Himself brought us into the Wonderland of His Kingdom. Don’t worry that you don’t slay; on the cross He slew the dreaded Jabberwockies of sin and death, and rescued us from the clutches of the devil. At the font, He delivered those gifts to us.

The world thinks that the Bible is full of myths and fairy tales. Many would say we are mad, and that the Scriptures fill our minds with impossible things. To that, we reply with Alice, “Sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” Yet we don’t even need six! We have the joy that the Holy Spirit has placed the “impossible thing” of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection as the foundation for our faith.

We also have the joy of continually gathering as His children at His Table. But we do not gather for some mad tea party. Instead, our Lord blesses us with the wonders of His Body and Blood, given and shed for us—and that drives the devil mad!

Thanks be to God that He keeps you forever childlike in the faith. Our crucified and risen Savior will preserve you from losing your muchness! You haven’t lost your muchness at all! Jesus gives you muchness in believing the “impossible things” that He has truly done – and given – for you!

The Rev. Rich Heinz is Pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church & School in Chicago, Illinois. Since the Heinz’s are huge Disney fans, he enjoyed going to Navy Pier’s IMAX and seeing “Alice in Wonderland” with his wife for her birthday!

Current Events

Where was God?

Post author By Higher Things
Post date January 26, 2010

by The Rev. Bruce Keseman

If God is as great as the Bible says He is, then why didn’t He stop that earthquake in Haiti? Why didn’t He step in to prevent the destruction? Weren’t the poverty-stricken people on that island suffering enough already? Did God take a vacation on the day the earthquake struck Haiti? And the day Katrina hit the Gulf Coast? And the day the tsunami overwhelmed southeast Asia? No. God never takes a vacation. Which means He isn’t vacationing when tragedies strike your life, either. So where was God when the earthquake destroyed Haiti?

God was on His throne

God was at the same place He was on Good Friday when His Son was suffering for you and for the people of Haiti. God was at the same place He is right now. God was and God is reigning on His throne, ruling all things for good.

Satan points to Haiti and says to you, “See, God isn’t good. A good God wouldn’t allow something so horrible.” Don’t believe His lie. Believe the truth. The truth is that we sin. The wages of sin is death. So if God gave us what we deserve, we would all suffer much worse than a devastating earthquake. We would be dead. We would be in hell.

Since we deserve to suffer, how come we aren’t experiencing the kind of devastation that the Haitians are suffering? Because God is merciful. God does not give us what we deserve. He gives His Son what we deserve. At the hands of Pontius Pilate and Roman soldiers. I don’t know why He allowed an earthquake to destroy Haiti instead of striking the New Madrid fault near where I live. I don’t know why their lives were wrecked, and I was spared. Despite his claims, Pat Robertson does not know either. But God knows. And that is what matters.

Our Lord has a plan. It is a plan that includes your salvation, my salvation, and the salvation of a whole lot of people in Haiti. God is carrying out His plan. God is using this tragedy for good. Romans 8: “All things work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose.”

I can already see a few ways that God is using the earthquake for our good. We Americans tend to be self-obsessed individualists. But for the past two weeks, we have reached out to help in ways that are absolutely amazing. Our priorities have been rearranged. We’ve contributed vast amounts of money to charities, and we’ve helped fill airplanes and ships with supplies and rescue workers. Even so, I can’t see how God is going to bring more good than evil out of this earthquake. Then again, if I had been standing at the foot of Christ’s cross 2000 years ago, I would have been sure that God could not possibly accomplish anything good out of that execution. Yet God used that gruesome event to accomplish the greatest good in all of history–that cross was His power of salvation for you, for me, and for the people of Haiti. So when He allows an earthquake, do not doubt that God is using it to do His incredible mercy work.

Where was God when the earthquake devastated Haiti? On His throne working for good in ways we can’t possibly see.

God was here with His people

Where else was God when that earthquake hit? He wasn’t just on His throne above. He was also down here with His people. He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things” (Romans 8:32). Since God cares enough to provide for our greatest need of all by giving up what is dearest of all to Him–His Son–there is absolutely no doubt that He’s going to take care of all our other needs as well–including getting Haiti through this tragedy and us through every tragedy in our lives.

We do not have a God who is unable to sympathize with our weakness. We have a God who came down out of heaven and lived a life filled with nothing but suffering on this earth—suffering even deeper than what the Haitians are enduring. We have a God who has been through the carnage of the cross. Jesus knows exactly the feelings of the people who are homeless, hungry, mourning, and even dying because of that earthquake. He knows exactly what you are going through when you face tragedy. He’s been through it Himself. That’s why He is able to help.

That’s why Christ’s baptized people respond with love in times of tragedy. Maybe you’ve contributed to the earthquake relief. Maybe you’ve been praying for the Haitians who are afflicted—and for all the relief workers, many of whom are putting themselves at risk to help. Jesus says, “As you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it to Me” (Matthew 25:40). You are baptized. You belong to God. You were redeemed at the holy cross. Unlike the blood that so often gets shed in tragedies, Jesus’ blood was shed for a good purpose, for our salvation. It is the blood that He serves us with His body at His holy altar. It is the blood that He serves with His body to our brothers and sisters in Christ who live in Haiti. It is His promise to them and to us: “I will not leave you or forsake you” (Josh. 1:5).

Where was God when the earthquake hit? Right here with His people.

He was in heaven preparing a place

Where else was God when that earthquake hit? Not only was He on His throne working all things for good, not only was He here caring for us, but He was also in heaven preparing a place for us.

People ask, “Why didn’t God do something about all the destruction caused by that earthquake?” God did do something about it! He came down to earth as a human and dropped dead on the holy cross. He took into His body all the death and destruction that we should have experienced.

After 9/11, I remember reporters struggling to find words to describe all the rubble and ruin. One simply said, “This is hell.” No doubt the same has been said about Haiti. There has been so much heartache and so much hurt that it might in a few ways resemble hell. But as gruesome and painful as the tragedies of earth may be, they pale in comparison to the real hell.

God gives His help even to unbelievers in Haiti. But in hell, there is no God to help anyone. There is no God to end the suffering. Hell is what we all deserve. But hell is what none of us will suffer when we’re clinging to Jesus. Because He suffered hell for us. I don’t mean he suffered hell figuratively. I mean he suffered hell literally. He endured on the cross what we should have endured for all eternity—total abandonment. That’s why He said, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46). He was totally abandoned by His Father, so that you and I and all the people of Haiti can be sure that, no matter how horrible the tragedy, we will never be abandoned by His Father. He suffered hell for us so that we can have heaven—where tragedy and suffering, earthquakes and floods and hurricanes and even death will never ever happen again.

Jesus says that earthquakes are one sign that the end of the world is near (Mark 13:8). This earth is falling apart. This planet is passing away. And I say, “Good riddance!” I can’t wait for this fallen world to be replaced by the new heaven and new earth that our Lord has promised. Then we won’t have to worry about earthquakes, terrorists, hurricanes, tsunamis, or any other tragedy. Have you heard some of the incredible confessions of faith Christians in Haiti have spoken? Those sisters and brothers in Christ remind us that we, too, can stare tragedy in the face–we can even stare death in the face–and say, “I’m not afraid of you. My Lord went to the cross for me, came out of His tomb alive for me, and even now is preparing a place in heaven for me. Even if I die, I live.”

Where was God when that earthquake hit? He was not on vacation. He has not abandoned His people. He is on His throne working all things for good; He is here, caring for His people; and He is in heaven, preparing a place for us because this messed up world is coming to an end. We do not need a God who is a meddler. We do not need a God who steps in to stop every tragedy. We need a God with nail-scarred hands, we need a God whose death guarantees the day when all tragedies will be forever ended. Look at the holy cross and see: that’s exactly the God we have.

HT-Online subscribers will find a bible study on the Haiti Earthquake at the HT-Online members page.

The Rev Bruce Keseman is Pastor of Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church in Freeburg, IL and a member of Higher Things Board of Directors.