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In This Issue:
Tasting God’s Goodness • Lent: Jesus’ Resolution for You • The Gospel According to St. Lucasfilm • Shaming the Shamers
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Contents T A B L E O F
Volume 15/Number 4 • Winter 2016
Special Features 4 Lent: Jesus’ Resolution for You
Rev. George F. Borghardt Lent is a great time to recycle your failed New Year’s resolutions, right? Not so much. Rev. Borghardt will help you get to the heart of the reason for the season of Lent!
6 Shaming the Shamers
By Rev. Mark Buetow We’ve all seen the Facebook posts expressing outrage— veiled or overt—about how so-and-so did such-and-such. Maybe we’ve made a few posts like that ourselves…c’mon… admit it! Rev. Buetow explains how, in in Christ, we are rescued from wallowing in the shame of others.
8 The Gospel According to St. Lucasfilm: I Have a Bad Feeling About This
By Rev. Rich Heinz In light of the phenomenal success of The Force Awakens, HT’s resident Star Wars aficionado, Rev. Heinz, makes the case that it’s the perfect time to look at the Gospel connections that run throughout this enduring science fiction saga. (No spoilers!)
10 So Turn into a Dinosaur
Rev. Harrison Goodman “All things are possible for those who believe!” Nowadays, these words of Jesus are on tee-shirts, posters, and the occasional “inspirational” meme. Without any context, this declaration is a sobering reminder that we fall miserably short in our belief. Rev. Goodman demonstrates that Jesus’ words are only truly understood in light of His fulfilling the Law on our behalf.
12 Apologists Every Christian Should Know, Part 6 The Studious Sleuthing of Lee Strobel: Why the Gospels Are Historically Reliable
By Rev. Mark A. Pierson Once again, Rev. Pierson brings to the table a Christian apologist with impressive credentials: Lee Strobel. Learn how Strobel’s personal journey to disprove the Scriptures revealed far more evidence about the reliability of the Gospels than he ever imagined.
20 The Bright Light of Jesus
By Amber Scarbeary The victim of a vicious sexual assault, Amber reminds us how God’s mercy and grace can redeem even the darkest of days and that it is through Christ’s righteousness that we—His Bride, the church—are presented to the Father, pure and spotless, and continue to live in this life by His grace.
22 Tasting God’s Goodness
By Bethany Woelmer Bethany relates how we worship a God who comes to us via our senses. From water, Word, Body and Blood, Jesus keeps His promise to be with us until the very end of the age...giving us a delightful taste of the heavenly feast to come!
24 Living in Light of Our Justification
By Hayden Smith Pietism, an misplaced emphasis on Christian living as the proof of our salvation, is an -ism that we all have to fight against, whether we realize it or not. Hayden shows us that the only way to shake off the doubt it can create is to keep our eyes on the Cross and partake of Christ’s gifts, for they are outside of us.
Regular Features 28 Catechism: The Fourth Commandment
By Rev. William M. Cwirla This first commandment with a promise reflects how our God of order loves us and wants what’s best for us in this life. Although we struggle with and may even rebel against those authorities He has placed over us, we can trust in Christ’s perfect obedience to His Father in our stead.
30 Bible Study: Shaming the Shamers
Be sure to check out this sample of one of our student Bible studies which links up with Rev. Buetow’s article on P. 6.
HigherThings
®
Volume 15/Number 4/Winter 2016 Bible Studies for these articles can be found at: higherthings.org/ magazine/biblestudies.html Editor
Katie Hill Art Director
Steve Blakey Editorial Associates
Rev. Greg Alms Rev. Paul Beisel Rev. Bart Day Rev. Gaven Mize Rev. Dr. Matthew Richard Copy Editor
Dana Niemi Bible Study Authors
Rev. Mark Buetow Rev. Jacob Ehrhard Rev. Samuel Schuldheisz Subscriptions Manager
Elizabeth Carlson IT Assistant
Jon Kohlmeier ___________
Board of Directors President
Rev. George Borghardt Vice-President
Rev. Dr. Carl Fickenscher Treasurer
Chris Loemker Secretary
Rev. Joel Fritsche Rev. Duane Bamsch Eric Maiwald Sue Pellegrini Matt Phillips Rev. Chris Rosebrough ___________
Executive Council Deputy Executive/Media
Rev. Mark Buetow Conference and Retreats Executive
Sandra Ostapowich Business Executive
Connie Brammeier Technology Executive
Stan Lemon
Higher Things® Magazine ISSN 1539-8455 is published quarterly by Higher Things, Inc., PO Box 156, Sheridan, WY 82801. No portion of this publication may be reproduced without the written consent of the executive editor of Higher Things Magazine. Copyright 2016. Higher Things® is registered trademarks of Higher Things Inc.; All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States. Postage paid at St. Louis, Missouri. For subscription information and questions, call 1-888-4826630, then press 4, or e-mail subscriptions@higherthings.org. (This phone number is only used for subscription queries.) For letters to the editor, write letters@higher things.org. Writers may submit manuscripts to: submissions@ higherthings.org. Please check higherthings.org/magazine/ writers.html for writers’ guidelines and theme lists.
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Jesus’ Resolu It was such a good idea.
You gave something up for the new year. You needed to do it. You almost had to do it. So you resolved never to do it again. It was great!
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Until, suddenly, you did it again. But it only happened once. You easily justified it. Then, next thing you knew, you were right back to where you before you made that resolution. “Don’t worry,” you say to yourself, “I’ll start again on Ash Wednesday! I’ll give it up for Lent, which is right around the corner.” Well, hold up. Lent isn’t supposed to be your New Year resolutions 2.0, self-improvement program. That’s not why the Lord gave you a Lent! Lent is about Jesus being tempted for you and overcoming temptation in your place. Lent is Jesus riding into Jerusalem, headed to have a sign hung above His head which said how much He’s for you: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. Lent is Jesus betrayed into the hands of sinners, beaten, mocked, rejected by His people. Lent is nails being driven into His hands
and feet, and Him hoisted above the earth. Lent is Jesus dead—God dead—in your place. Lent is Jesus buried and hallowing your grave, making it a holy resting place for you and those whom you love. Lent isn’t about you changing; it’s about God changing. God repented of punishing you. He relented from giving you what you deserve. He took all the punishment due you and cast the full weight of it onto His Son. And His Son died as the propitiation—the sacrifice for your sins and the sins of the whole world. The real problem about you isn’t just that you eat a little too much junk food or have some bad habits you really should stop doing sometime. The thing that will get you tossed into hell is your sin! Your sins are the reason for the suffering and death of Christ. Jesus does a Lent for you because He alone can save you. Your sins crucified the Lord of Glory! Your sins should bring the wrath and hatred of God upon you. If you have any doubts about this, look at Jesus on Good Friday. He took God’s punishment for you and it killed Him. God died to save you. And then God rose again on Easter. Lent is all done by faith! That’s what Lent is for you— it’s about you receiving Jesus. And that’s
ution for You By Rev. George F. Borghardt
where fasting and giving up stuff is a Gospelly gift for you, too! It’s about preparing for Jesus’ resurrection. Get rid of everything that would make this life about you! Repent of your sins! Fix your eyes on Jesus! Stop doing your sins. Turn from them. Die to them. Don’t hide from them—confess them. Don’t just give them up for a few weeks—stop doing them for all time. Never go back to them. Run from them like you would from something that is going to kill you, because left alone with your sins, they will kill you. But you haven’t been left alone in your sins. God has acted! He has sent His Son who Lented in your place to save you from...well...you! Lent is about Jesus doing that saving. You are on the receiving end of His doing Lent for you. And what you give up is given up, not because you need to change something about yourself. Give it up to help you fix your eyes on Jesus as the One who has saved you. You fast from Monday to Saturday, remembering that He died for you. You don’t give up what you do in Lent on Sundays because that’s when you remember the Lord’s resurrection. But whether you are fasting or Sunday-not-fasting, you are doing
everything for the Lord. If, after all that, you still need to change something about yourself, just change it. Do that thing you want to do, or need to do to turn from sin. Make whatever change in your life that you have to make. Stop doing that thing, eating that thing, drinking that thing, being that thing. Improve. Restart your New Year’s resolution. And even better than changing for yourself is to change for others. Be the person you want to be for the sake of others. They really could use a Jesus-died-for-you-and-rose-againfor-you neighbor. Be that one for them as they are that neighbor for you in Jesus. But Lent is always all about Jesus for you and Jesus in your place. It’s about Christ taking on all that is you so that you would be the child of God that Adam was created to be. It’s about Jesus’ Lent for you, received by faith alone. So be repented. Believe He has forgiven you. Fix your eyes on Jesus. That’s Lent: a new year, a new life in Jesus. Rev. George F. Borghardt is the Senior Pastor at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in McHenry, Illinios. He also serves as the president of Higher Things.
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The Gospel According to St. Lucasfilm: I Have a Bad Feeling About This By Rev. Rich Heinz
“
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Well, the Force is
what gives a Jedi his power. It’s an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together,” explains Obi Wan Kenobi. There it is: the moment when Gen-Xers and anyone older were first introduced to this “ancient religion.” In the real world, this is describing a false religion, with aspects of pantheism or panentheism, where “god” is (or is in) everything, seemingly sprinkled with Buddhism. The Star Wars galaxy as envisioned by George Lucas is really filled with mysticism from the Far East. But maybe there is something worth another glance. When we look at these films, we can find some unintended Gospel themes.
Sacrifice In Episode IV: A New Hope, we are given classic examples of sacrifice. Princess Leia knows how dangerous her mission is. There is a good chance she will be intercepted and die for the cause of freedom. Still, she and the rebel troops press on, in the hopes that their potential deaths would serve the greater good. When Obi Wan realizes that Luke and Leia are both on the Death Star, as well as R2D2, who has “vital information” for the Alliance, he knows what must be done. Without hesitating, he speaks
some parting words and heads off to set things in motion for the others to escape. Obi Wan, however, knows he will not leave the space station alive. He confronts the evil enemy and purposefully gives himself up, so that the enemy is distracted, and the others can escape. “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John15:13 ESV). Obi Wan displayed great love in laying his life down for his friends. Of course, infinitely more perfect, and loving, and godly is the Lord Himself, who laid down His life, not only for His friends, but also for His enemies—every last sinner. “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8 ESV). Good and Evil/Light and Dark The epic story continues in Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. Once again we are drawn into this heroic tale of the neverending fight between good and evil/light and dark. Yet, while Han, Luke, and Leia embody the good, and Vader and his Emperor are surely evil, the talk of a Light side of the Force and a Dark side is all impersonal. The Force is described like a thing, not a person. Sometimes we get pulled into such talk in real life. Good and evil become more like concepts and philosophy, rather than real personal beings, such as the Lord God and His holy angels fighting Satan and his fallen legions. In the end, that makes it easier to deny their existence. Good and evil are not just some vague or generic ideas. God the Son, perfect, holy, and sinless, became incarnate for you. He took on flesh so that He could take on your sin, and suffer and die to rid you of it, dragging your sorry “Dark side” self through the waters of Holy Baptism, so that He could “call you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9 ESV). As He poured forgiveness
and rescue over you, the perfect Christ delivered the righteousness that He won for you at the cross. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV). Nothing vague or abstract there! Redemption We get more bad theology sprinkled with Christian themes in Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. The final chapter of the original trilogy is all about redemption. In the Old Testament, God established guidelines to “redeem” extended family who had lost their inherited land, or fallen into debt through widowhood. Debts were paid, and they were freed from the shadow of poverty. This foreshadowed Jesus coming to redeem us from sin, death, and the devil. “There is good in him yet!” claimed Luke regarding Vader. He hoped to persuade Vader to leave his evil in the past and return to the good. The root of the problem for us, biblically, is that we cannot choose the good. We cannot redeem ourselves. St. Paul reminds us that even when brought to faith, we still struggle with the Old Adam and “daily sin much.”“For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing” (Romans 7:19 ESV). In the film, Anakin finally returns to the Light side, by the work of his son, who saw that he still had good in him. In real life, you have been brought to the light of Christ, through no work of your own, with no good in you, through Christ alone. He is your only true Redeemer. Yes, the Star Wars galaxy as envisioned by George Lucas is really filled with mysticism from the Far East. It’s not a deliberately “Christian” story. And yet, we can always find topics with themes from the true Gospel that compare or contrast with Lucas’ story. While his literary devices are by no means good for a real-life religion, we can rejoice in the Epiphany Lord, who sacrificed Himself to redeem us and bring us into His marvelous light! Rev. Rich Heinz is Pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church and School in Chicago, Illinois, and has been a Star Wars fan and aficionado since, “Oh, before you were born” — 1977. He has taught breakaways at Higher Things conference on this and related topics, and enjoys talking about these fictional heroes. And by the way, he is thrilled with Episode VII, but will gladly absolve anyone who (wrongly) disagrees. You can reach Rev. Heinz at revfrheinz@gmail.com
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