Category: Pop. Culture & the Arts

Rev. Gaven Mize

Johann Sebastian Bach. Few are confused as to who he was or what he did for a living. His name has been spoken in many pipe smoke-filled rooms by men with patches on the elbows of their favorite sports coat and listening to a lovely sonata, while discussing the third movement in the Brandenburg Concerto. But, that’s not how most people know him or discuss him. Ask many people in our congregations if they know who Bach was and they will probably say that he was a German of some kind. Ask the lady in who always sits in the third pew if she knew that he was a Lutheran and you will get an, “Of course!” But, is that all that we should know about one of the greatest (if not the greatest) musicians of all time?

Perhaps we could wonder if he was influenced more by those in northern or southern Germany. But, to understand what it was that enlightened the heart and motivated Bach a better question would be, “Did Bach’s theology and piety play an important role in his composing?” Again, “When he composed works for the church were they composed for the sake of the music alone or for the sake of highlighting the reality of what scripture confesses regarding the Christ, the son of the living God?” We could, of course, continue with such questions for hours and barely scratch the surface of Bach’s catalog. However, we can take an in-depth, although brief, look at Bach’s theology and how he influenced the church of his day and even the German church in America today.

Some biographers have tried to link Bach to a sense of national Germanic spirit, however this remains a tall task to prove. The fact of the matter is that Bach and his music were constantly tied directly to the liturgy. It’s impossible to throw Bach into a bucket of other classical composers and pull out a Bach that is separated from the church. It simply can’t be done. For Bach, Lutheran orthodoxy was the centrality of his work. The liturgy and the Gospel could not be separated in the work of Bach any more than they can be separated from one another in corporate worship. That is to say that they (liturgy and the proclamation of the Gospel) are synonymous and build upon each other in an expression that was natural for Bach. Even when we look at the smallest notes from Bach’s work we find a kindly confession to the faith that he held so dearly. The famous J. J. (Jesu Juva=Jesus, help) and SDG (Soli Deo Gloria) notes were but small indications of the faith of Bach and also how dearly he held to the work of the Reformers. I suppose one could argue against such small notes made at the beginning and ending of Bach’s pieces, though what was placed between these notes highlighted the subject matter.

From Bach’s work coming out of Luther’s Deutsche Messe (German Mass) to his work with “A Mighty Fortress is Our God,” it is clear that his piety and devotion to orthodox Lutheranism was front and center. Regarding his Deutsche Messe, Luther once wrote, “In the first place, I would kindly and for God’s sake request all those who see this order of service or desire to follow it: Do not make it a rigid law to bind or entangle anyone’s conscience, but use it in Christian liberty…” This, however never meant that Luther didn’t respect the liturgical form or its content. Quite the opposite, in fact. Germany was in many ways able to keep its liturgical form and content even as the western Christian world was dismantling it during the age of enlightenment and the plague of pietism. And for Bach the liturgical form and content was the jumping off point from which his works were built. Robin Leaver wrote in regard to Bach’s formation and fortification under the Deutsche Messe, “While this process had begun during Bach’s lifetime, traditions of liturgical worship remained strong in Leipzig. Thus much of Bach’s music was written to be heard within the liturgical framework and context that owed much to Luther’s Deutsche Messe.” Following Leaver’s thoughts here it is clear that Bach was not only a wonderful artist in his own right, but also took from theologians from the Reformation era and even from the spirit of the Reformation itself. For Bach, the Christian liberty Luther spoke of regarding the Deutsche Messe was not a liberty of destruction or dismantlement, but a brilliant use of liberty and the practice of piety and reverence.

Regarding Bach’s theological prowess and piety, Hans Metzger wrote, “The importance of his really being at home in the worship of the congregation we must view as the central force for his creativity and for his piety.” Along with this as the “central force,” the theologians in Leipzig helped to shape Bach’s texts as well as the liturgical works that he produced. There can be no doubt that Bach, while not a theologian in the professional sense, was certainly a theologian in the musical sense. The theology that he so dearly loved shaped him into the musician that he was. If one were to take the theology out of Bach’s experience he would be left with empty chords. As it was, theology lifted Bach’s heart and filled his notes with joy. Proper orthodox theology and piety leaps from his pages.

While it certainly is true that Johann Sebastian Bach stands as a giant in the musical world, it is also true that he stands on the shoulders of the theologians from the German Reformation church. For Bach, Christ’s atonement on his behalf filled his work and his heart. So, from Jesu Juva to Soli Deo Gloria, Christ was proclaimed by Bach. May our hallowed halls of worship be filled with the proclamation of Christ that was dug out from the Reformation and painted most beautifully on the pages of the competent theologian and musical genius that is the work of Johann Sebastian Bach.

By Monica Berndt

The Church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord; she is His new creation by water and the Word, from heaven He came and sought her to be His holy bride; with His own blood He bought her and for her life He died (LSB 644 v.1).

This image of Christ and the Church has been stuck in my head for a while now. It is a wonderful image to think about- that Christ gave up the glory of heaven to come down to earth to redeem His bride, the Church, from the powers of sin, death, and the Devil. However, as the first stanza of this hymn points out, the price to redeem the Church was high, so high that the almighty, immortal God had to be sacrificed on the cross to buy back His bride.

Why? Why go to all that trouble? The Church is made up of people, and it’s not as though church people are better than other people and deserve to be saved. In fact, often we look at what goes on in the Church and see a bunch of miserable, sinful people constantly hurting each other and running after all kinds of idols. Like the children of Israel, we are so quick to run to God when trouble occurs, but the minute everything is going well, we turn away yet again to our own selfish desires. So, why did God want to save us?

Jesus gives us the answer to this question in the Gospel of John. “For God so loved the world that he gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16. God loves us poor, miserable, unfaithful sinners. Jesus came down to earth to suffer and die because He loved us too much to let us die in our sins, separated from God. He comes and seeks out His bride, the Church, and holds fast to her though the waves of sin, death, and the Devil threaten to tear her away from Him.

In all this trial, in all the pain of sin and being hurt by sin, the Church’s foundation is and always will be Christ. Yes, we are still sinful and yes, we will still hurt each other and sin against God, but Christ has bought us back. He has already sanctified us with water and His Word in our Baptism, and strengthens us for the fight with His own body and blood. We need nothing else, for Christ has done everything that we might be with Him.

Yet she on Earth has union, with God the Three-in-One and mystic sweet communion with those whose rest is won. O blessed heavenly chorus, Lord save us by your grace! That we like saints before us, may see you face to face. -LSB 644 v.5

Bethany Woelmer

Can you hear it? It’s still beating—the heart of Lutheranism still flowing through time, not just once during the Reformation service we anticipate every year, but from our new heart of faith. Can you hear it? It’s there in God’s Word, renewed in your baptism, restored by faith in the Lord’s Supper, refreshed by the words of absolution. Can you hear it? The Law pounds into us our need for a Savior, and the Gospel frees us with a new rhythm of faith, flowing forth forgiveness of sins and love for the neighbor. It is the beautiful sound of God’s love to us in Christ.

Oh, and you thought I was talking about music! Yet without the heart of faith, how could we have received such strong hymns we can hear even now as we read them? “A mighty fortress is our God, a trusty shield and weapon,” “Dear Christians, one and all rejoice with exultation springing,” “Lord, keep us steadfast in your Word,” or “These are the holy ten commands,” just to name a few. If they’re stuck in your head the rest of the day, you can thank me later.

We all know Martin Luther as the leader of the Protestant Reformation, a faithful preacher of the Word, and a strong defender of the truth and clarity of Scriptures against the false doctrine that clouds the message of forgiveness that rings forth to all nations. Did you know that Luther was also an integral part in the music of the Reformation that began a new musical movement, affecting the church here and now?

Martin Luther’s life in the monastery and as a priest gave him the education and experience of singing within the church. Luther became completely familiar with the ritual of seven services within the Augustinian monastery at Erfurt, where he was devoted to the religious exercises of singing, praying, and other ascetic practices that were required to the sanctification of the self. Early Luther, as taught from early church fathers, would have regarded music in mystical or allegorical speculation, meaning that music was emphasized as a science rather than as a performed art.

One of the ways in which Luther sought to preserve the truth of the Scriptures was through music. The new musical movement of the Reformation did not mean that Luther threw away the old copies of music and started over. Certainly not! He used the traditions of the past but altered them in new ways and with new teachings. This change of attitude and thought toward music affected the style and place of music in relation to the worship and life of the church. Instead of creating a theology for music through mystical speculation and self-sanctification, Luther sought to create music for theology, ultimately for the glory of God. Music was regarded as the handmaiden to the Gospel and deserved the highest praise next to the Word of God.

This living voice of the Gospel (viva vox evangelii) thus served as the church’s “sung confession” in proclamation and praise for what Christ has done for us. It became lyrical, congregational, and confessional. The Reformation transformed spectators into participants in the dialog of the worship service between God and His people. Melodies in the form of Lutheran chorales were constructed—not on a particular period structure or harmonic scheme but rather they “enlivened the text,” interpreting it according to the important stresses placed on the important words of the stanza. For example, in the hymn, “A Mighty Fortress,” Luther emphasized the German words feste, Burg, Gott, gute, and waffen through the rhythmic stress of music to hammer into us the teaching of God as our mighty fortress, shield, and weapon. Sing it, and you can feel it, too!

Our rhythm of faith creates a rhythm of strength and weakness throughout the Christian life. Luther recognized this in his preaching of Law and Gospel. Music during the Reformation reflected this rhythm of preaching by its own rhythmic vitality that served to bring vigorous encouragement to our confession. Faith is an ever-flowing fountain of the New Song of the Gospel in the life of forgiveness; therefore, finding delight in hymns and liturgy that support this New Song encourages us to sing as forgiven sinners in Christ. Luther remarked, “We often sing a good song over again from the beginning, especially one we have sung with pleasure and joy.”

Luther not only viewed music as a liturgical song through the participation of all the people in worship, but he also viewed music as the song of the royal priests, meaning all Christians—that means all of you! Therefore, praise, proclamation, and adoration was not just for the priests, choirs, and leaders of worship, but included the whole people of God. Thus, many Gregorian chant melodies were adopted into hymns, such as “Come, Holy Ghost, Creator Blest,” “Christ Jesus Lay in Death’s Strong Bands,” “O Lord, We Praise Thee,” and “Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word.” Hymns were also written in catechetical nature, in order to teach, bind, and aid memory. Luther’s hymn, “We All Believe in One True God,” teaches the creed, “Our Father, Who from Heaven Above” teaches the Lord’s Prayer, and “These Are the Holy Ten Commands” teaches the Ten Commandments.

So, there you have it! Luther grew up listening to music that accompanied the Mass, which was perverted into a good work. He instead sought to use music as proclamation and praise. Luther regarded external ceremonies as necessary, good, and beautiful, but stressed the importance of their edification to the truth of Scripture. The rhythm of faith from the Reformation still continues, and you, as the Church, can contribute to the spread of the Gospel’s message every time you sing those treasured hymns and liturgies in all truth and purity. Can you hear it? Forgiveness still rings forth! Though you may fail to uphold the Gospel, receive God’s gifts, or sing with delight, Christ still died for you and gives you new life in Him. As Luther clearly states, “I have no one to sing and chant about but Christ, in whom alone I have everything. Him alone I proclaim, in Him alone I glory, for He has become my Salvation, that is, my victory.” That’s certainly something to sing about!

Rev. Bror Erickson

“Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…” – Psalm 23:4

In 1513, Albrecht Dürer produced “The Knight, Death and the Devil,” in the wake of his mother’s death. To this day, this copper engraving is recognized as a masterpiece of its genre, but is perhaps more cherished for its spiritual content that prefigured the Reformation teaching of faith alone by several years.

By 1513, Dürer had already attained fame throughout Europe for his work as an artist, and had even secured the patronage of Maximilian I, the Holy Roman Emperor and grandfather to Charles V who would receive the defiant words of Luther at the Diet of Worms in 1521. Dürer, who had worked and apprenticed in Venice, had attained this fame by bringing the ideals of the Italian Renaissance with him north to Germany, setting up shop in his hometown of Nuremberg where he took what he had learned in Italy and blended it with Gothic influences and spirituality.

All of these ideals and influences themes converged in this copper engraving through which Dürer displayed his skill with the burin he used to engrave the spiritual distress of his soul onto the copper printing plate.

Copper engraving was a favorite art form of Dürer’s because of the economic benefits of quickly reproducing the product of his many hours of work allowing for massive sales. This was something that could not be done with painting, an art form in which he also excelled. At times he would paint animals on a wall just to watch his dog bark at them. However, the popularity of this engraving shows that Dürer was far from alone in his spiritual distress for which he and many others would find great solace in the work of and writings of Luther in later years. Indeed it captured the sentiments of society then, even as it captures the imagination of people today.

The symbolism is rich. A lone knight travels through the valley of the shadow of death trampling over evil as it flees from him in the form of a lizard scampering in the opposite direction. Death meets him upon his pale horse, and hell follows after-a one-horned goat demon represents the devil. Yet the knight goes forth undaunted, his faith, represented by a loyal dog with his head held high, is his only source of comfort as he nears the fate that meets us all at the end of the road, a solitary skull.

The theme mirrors the distress of the soul often encountered as one confronts his own mortality in the death of a loved one, but Christ is noticeably absent. It seems this distress continued to plague Dürer for many years to come. In 1520, he wrote to thank Elector Fredrik the Wise for sending him one of Luther’s books from which he gained great solace. He even asked the esteemed Elector to protect this man who had given his faith something to believe in, the forgiveness of sins in the death and resurrection of Christ. Now he knew that his faith was not alone, and neither was he alone in his faith. He would fear no evil, as Christ accompanied him, in the preaching of Luther he heard the Shepherd’s rod and staff, a constant comfort in law and gospel. Dürer, despite all his ties to the Emperor and his family from whom he received financial support, himself became a champion of the Reformation.

Rev. Bror Erickson is pastor at Zion Lutheran Church, Farmington, New Mexico.

Josh Radke

In the Bond movie, Skyfall, agent 007 is captured and forced into an audience with the story’s villain (a deeply scarred, former MI6 field agent). During their exchange, the villain rattles off a series of terrorist acts he allegedly has committed as if recalling items on a shopping list. Refusing to give his opposition satisfaction, a sardonic Bond deadpans, “Well, everybody needs a hobby.” The villain attempts to return Bond’s impertinence with an off-hand inquiry about the master agent’s hobby of choice. Bond’s answer is succinct, defiant, and appropriate to his character: “Resurrection.”

I love that matter-of-fact line from Daniel Craig’s “James Bond”; it is one of my favorites from the character in the whole canon of films, and it reflects closely the Christian mindset. Along these lines, my pastor likes to refer to Christendom as an “Easter people.” What does this mean? Consider these words from Jesus in the pivotal sixth chapter of St John’s gospel: “And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day” (v. 40), as well as, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day” (vv. 53-54).

Our LORD isn’t waxing philosophical here; the reaction of revulsion by the people bears this out. Jesus is also not just referring to the eating and drinking of His Word through His person: He is directly and personally connecting the feasting on His Word to the physical resurrection we confess in the Creed–four times, between verses 39 and 54, Jesus refers to the physical resurrection He will bring. Four times in such a manner means our LORD urgently wants our attention. The immortality Jesus promises is not some vague form of a spiritual, utopian plane for phantoms. It is the soul and flesh, reunited as one and inseparable, on an actual day to come, for a tangible new creation that He will bring. There are examples of this in Scripture: the Nain widow’s son, Jairus’ daughter, Lazarus, and the people walking out of their graves on Good Friday, after the gruesome and ignoble death Christ paid for our sins and to undo the death-curse of the Fall. These are demonstrations of the Truth in Jesus’ words.

Then on Easter, the victorious Lamb of God shows us the real deal: Himself. The opening verse of the popular medieval motet, Christus Resurgens, bears witness to this singular event in history: “Christ, rising again from the dead, dieth now no more. Death shall no more have dominion over him.” Jesus’ resurrection on Easter by our Father is the reason the church (quickly) adopted Sunday as the proper day to gather for the Divine Service. And what is the culmination of the Divine Service? Holy Communion. “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” The Lord’s Supper provides us forgiveness of sins, and also remembrance and confidence in the sure promise of our resurrection, for the sake of Christ. Thus what is said and sung concerning Jesus’ resurrection is also true for the resurrection that awaits each Christian.

So unlike Bond’s semi-flippant remark, for the Christian, resurrection to life with the Triune God is no mere hobby. Our resurrection in Christ is part of God’s essential Truth, given us to walk in daily by faith. Jesus’ physical resurrection, as the first-fruits of our own (I Corinthians 15:20-23, Philippians 3:20-21), saturated the language of the early days of the persecuted New Testament church, and it should continue to do so: in the liturgy, and in our conversations with fellow Christians, family, friends, co-workers. Indeed, this Truth is hammered home nowhere more profoundly than when we often receive it through faith, and by each one of our senses, on the day that weekly commemorates the first Resurrection Day, and also points forward to the eternal Resurrection Day to come.

Josh Radke is deacon at Hope Lutheran Church in Bangor ME, and awaiting acceptance to Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary–St. Catharines Ontario. He is also the author of the historical-fantasy novel, Stitched Crosses: Crusade.

Rev. Bror Erickson

“They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.” – Jeremiah 8:11 ESV

This movie chronicles the rise and fall of the N.W.A., an American hip hop group, with a focus on the early careers of gangster rap icons Ice Cube, and Dr. Dre, with an emphasis on the life and untimely death of Easy-E. The characters Arabian Prince, DJ Yella, and MC Ren have more or less supporting roles in the movie’s story line, which tells the story as Ice Cube and Dr. Dre would like to have it remembered. They themselves admit in interviews that they have left some of the uglier parts of the history out of the movie. And can you blame them? In many ways they were just ugly times, and N.W.A. always maintained that they just rapped about what they saw, which is to say ugly. They held up a brutal reality in the face of society that people didn’t want to see. This has led to some to compare these rappers with Old Testament prophets like Jeremiah berating those who cry peace when there is no peace. Perhaps it wasn’t all about that, but then sometimes a person finds himself an unwitting prophet. The movie doesn’t tell the whole story, but then as time separates from you from your past, sometimes it’s what you don’t include in the story itself that says, “Yeah, I’m not proud of that. Perhaps, I could have made a better choice then. I don’t want to be remembered for that.” Not everything they did was as glamorous as being arrested in Detroit for rapping “F-the police,” the prophetic anthem that needed to be heard rather than shut down. Most people with a few years behind them can sympathize, and those who can’t really ought to get out more.

I went to see Straight Outta Compton to visit demons of the past, to see how the other side of life lived in the early 90s on the outskirts of Los Angeles County where the urban sprawl of the ghetto met the alfalfa fields of the Mojave. They were tumultuous times in a high school where racially motivated fights would break out on routine to kick off the weekend festivities. Amidst gangbangers and wannabes a person learned quick where to be and where not to be. As smoke from Compton’s Rodney King riots wafted over the San Gabriel Mountains my friends and I ditched school, showing up only long enough to see a sign in the main quad saying “No Justice, No Peace.” Anger fueled anger in a cauldron boiling over with teenage angst and vice. We all wanted out, we all wanted peace.

I didn’t like rap of any sort back then. I’ve grown to appreciate it a bit more as time has given time for reflection on the realities. Rap was something I didn’t even want to understand when it was becoming popular. I can’t say I particularly objected to the content. What angered others about the content was what I and others, even it seemed the critics themselves, enjoyed about other forms of pop music that bore far less scrutiny. Though the attempts to inhibit free speech in the 80’s were legion. It celebrated drinking and drugs, violence and promiscuity. I will say, I never really understood the visceral hatred of cops in the music. As a white boy without a car my run ins with them were, to say the least, limited. I’ve come to love “Cop Killer Ice-T” for the irony of his life though. It makes watching “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” much more enjoyable. Today with the resurgence of rioting around the country, and videos of cops using excessive force, I pause to think that perhaps those we charge with keeping the peace could do well to watch this movie, before threatening to taze another motorist for smoking. Twenty some years later, and we are still looking for peace.

No doubt, the actual history wasn’t quite as pretty as the movie, and the answers perhaps won’t be as easy. The raw side still comes out, but so does the eventual maturity. The movie will have plenty a parent might find objectionable, nudity, language and violence are as prevalent in this film as one might expect. In the end, finally the misogyny and womanizing gives way to respect and love as strong women come into the lives of the Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and Easy E. It’s only then that their lives begin to come back together. It’s the women that give them the support and direction they need to find forgiveness for their failures, to find enough peace with themselves that they might find peace with others in their life. It is not good for man to be alone.

No, we can’t blame them for editing their story. Perhaps comparing them to prophets is much hubris too. They were boys channeling the anger of teenage angst to chase the American dream, lashing out at times indiscriminately even at those trying to help the situation. The other side of the movie is the complete lack of Christ in any of it. This is a reality for today’s America. I laughed when shortly after the riots I started seeing bumper stickers saying “No Jesus, No Peace, Know Jesus, Know Peace.” Still the truth of the cliche is profound. The Prophets of the Old Testament held up the ugly reality of this world where frankly there won’t ever be any real peace. They also pointed to the promises of God, to Jesus Christ who did not come to condemn the world, but to reconcile the enemies of God, you, me and Easy-E to his Father through the cross. It was the Jesus who brought what it was the prophets promised, the peace of God that surpasses all understanding.

Pastor Bror Erickson is pastor at Zion Lutheran Church, Farmington NM. He can be reached at Bror0122@hotmail.com

Rev. Randy R Sturzenbecher

It’s just a pair of boots, leather and wood.
Black leather with a little white stitching.
They fit well and will offer many miles of taking the path less traveled.

The boots do tell a story other than a gift from good friends or made in Texas.
The boots cover my broken ankle and foot with the Hide from another.
Blood had to be shed for me to walk.

The leather is black, the color of dark, death and sin.
The hide was not that color originally as God made it.
Man did this.

The heel is wood, from a tree somewhere that carries the weight of my brokenness.
Very much like the tree that carried the weight of Jesus.
His blood shed as the perfect sacrifice for my hide, my darkness, my sin.

Around the outside of the black leather and just above the wooden heel are two rows of white stitching. The thread weaves in and out of the soul of the boot binding it all together.
In and out the white strands stand in stark contrast to the black of the Hide and then it hides again. Much like my life, saint and sinner day in and day out.
The light of Christ’s holiness and forgives shines and then is hidden by my darkness and sin.
The prefect white stitch holds it all together…. the soul the hide God’s perfect redeemed Creation in Jesus.

There in only one hole in the boot for me to put my brokenness into. Jesus said “I am the way the truth and the life no one come to the Father except through me.”
There is only one way in… to walk…in Jesus.

These boots will walk and kneel in front of the altar as they lead me to the pulpit to preach.
They will carry me as I walk with hurting families through the valley of the shadow of death.
They will support me as I promise hope in a dead Savior who sacrificed His blood and hide for me.
Jesus now lives and has covered my brokenness that I may live to walk in His ways.
They will protect my feet from all the things that seek to stumble and stain me.

The boots are a gift. Underserved, but given out of love from good friends, very much like Jesus giving His life for mine out of love and so underserved.

Rev Randy R Sturzenbecher is pastor at Divine Shepherd Lutheran Church. Black Hawk, SD.

Rev. Mark Buetow

When Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” movie came out, a group of us from our congregation decided to go see it. I asked one lady why she wasn’t going. Her reply: “No thanks, I read the book.” In the past month, we have seen two big movies (“The Son of God” and “Noah”) released supposedly based on the Bible. There are other movies, too, such as “God is Not Dead” that are exploring Christian themes and attempting to make a defense of the Christian faith.

The interwebs are full of people saying these movies are great! They’re awesome witnesses to the truth of God’s Word. They are important for giving voice to religious themes. And so on. Others have thrashed them as completely unscriptural, a horrible representation of God’s Word and not worth the time or money to watch. So what should you do? See these movies or not see them? I probably won’t see them only because if I am spending money to watch a movie, I want to see action stuff like car chases, explosions, spaceships, or Lego people. After all, I’m a pastor. I spend my week writing and speaking about Jesus and the Bible. Movie time is downtime for escaping from the world for a bit.

My advice to you is not to get worked up about these movies if you go see them and realize that they are not showing what’s in the Bible. Aside from the fact that no movie perfectly duplicates the story in any book, movies based on the Bible are always full of the writer’s own interpretation of things. The movie will always reflect the writer’s and director’s particular imagining of what they have read. Even “The Passion of the Christ,” which is, in my opinion, one of the most accurate retellings of the Gospel story, takes certain artistic liberties which betray Mel Gibson’s Roman Catholic theology and vision about what the movie should portray. If anything, these movies ought to make you ask your pastor questions and hear the answers from God’s Word.

Christians really don’t need to get upset that movies don’t accurately reflect the Word of God as written in the Bible. Art is like that. It interprets. But it is the Word of God that actually says what it says. An example: A lady told me once she was upset because she had seen on TV that Leonardo DaVinci’s painting “The Last Supper” probably showed Mary Magdalene in it. “That’s not in the Bible,” she said. “So what’s the problem?” I replied. “We don’t learn about the Lord’s Supper from Leonardo DaVinci but from the Scriptures.”

And that, ultimately, is the point. What we believe as Christians isn’t based on what we watch in a movie or see in a painting or read in some commentary. It’s based on what the Holy Spirit has delivered in the Bible through the writings of the apostles and prophets. In the movies, details are there to help us visualize and make real what’s in our imaginations. In the Bible, however, details are written to point us to Christ. Another example: In Mel Gibson’s movie, one of the hardest scenes to watch is Jesus being whipped by the Roman soldier. There was hardly a dry eye in the theater when audiences watched that for several minutes. But, remarkably, all the Gospels say is that Pontius Pilate had Jesus “scourged.” The point is that the Gospels record this detail so that we might know the suffering our Lord endured (a Roman scourging was awful) for our sakes but it’s not presented in a way that the purpose is to make us cry or elicit some reaction of sorrow or guilt.

And that leads me to this final consideration about the Bible versus Hollywood’s versions. Almost always the movie version of Biblical events is done to bring about some emotional reaction. That’s what a good movie does. It draws you in and you feel the struggles and triumphs of the characters. The Bible, on the other hand, was written so that “you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, you have life in His name.” (John 20:31). The Bible is more than just about telling WHAT happened. What is missing from so many of the movies about these things is the WHY it happened. The Word of God reminds us that everything that happened, all that Jesus did—His life, cross, death, resurrection, and ascension— He did to save sinners. To save you and me. To reconcile us to God. The faith that receives and believes that Good News doesn’t come from a movie that leaves us in doubt as to why we are watching. Faith is given by the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the Good News in Christ’s own church.

So go watch the Bible movies if you feel like it. Don’t expect them to be a faithful rendition of what’s in the Bible. Sure, it’s good that these sorts of movies get us talking. But if anyone asks me, I’ll probably say, “No thanks. I read the book.” And the Book is about Jesus. And now we have something real to talk about.

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

by Rev. Rich Heinz

One of the many threads running through the plot of this summer’s blockbuster, The Dark Knight Rises, is a computer program codenamed “Clean Slate.” This program is supposedly able to take just a little information about an individual and completely erase any record of him/her on any computer throughout the world. In essence, giving him or her a “clean slate” so that one could escape or start over. No criminal records. No credit reports. No driving tickets. However, it also means no bank records. No insurance. Nothing.

This could be used for evil, robbing others of their identity, and plundering what is rightfully theirs. Or it could be used for good, forgiving and getting someone on a fresh start in life. No matter what, an almost god-like quality is given to whoever possesses the program.

The mastermind criminals in The Dark Knight Rises are seeking the “Clean Slate” to engage in some massive stealing, and wiping out any trace of the proper owners of what is taken. Perhaps they will even frame others as they do it. There is a definite superior attitude that comes from the arch villain, who would gladly wipe any traces of his victims and plunder from the innocent, whom he views as evil.

Stop for a moment and ponder the real-life connection. Not one of you is innocent. You are evil, by your fallen, sinful nature. You are just as wicked as any criminal mastermind. You are just as deserving of hell as the real-life deranged gunman who attacked film-goers. And the catalog of sin that follows your names in the divine database of the mind of God would be horrifyingly damning.

But the Lord in His boundless love does not want that for you. He has sent His Son to be your absolute and perfect Hero, who has rescued you from sin, death, and hell. He has purchased and won your salvation, sacrificing Himself and dying in your place on His cross. And now, He provides you with a clean slate. He removes all record of your sin and guilt. You have a fresh start.

“Daily [you] sin much,” the catechism reminds you. True. But your dear Lord Jesus has taken care of that. He sends His Spirit to bring you to repentance, and removes all record of sin. Your identity as a poor, miserable sinner in the sight of God is gone! He constantly gives you the fresh start from that clean slate, gifting you with the identity of God’s own child, baptized into Christ!

Christ is risen. And thanks be to God! The Risen Lord comes in His Holy Gospel and Sacraments, bringing you the forgiveness, life, and salvation that give you His clean slate!

Rev. Rich Heinz is pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church & School in Chicago, IL. He is also Worship Coordinator for HT conferences. Pastor Heinz even before becoming a Star Wars geek has long been a Batman fan. He experienced the entire Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy on the night of July 19-20.