Issuu

d a r e

t o

b e

l u t h e r a n

igher Thing

Look Inside for Details On:

In This Issue:

Absolution Is the Answer • The Two Parts of Repentance • The Fruitful Downtime of Divine Service • Willing All This I Suffer for You

www

W I N T E R 2 0 1 7 _

. h i g h e r t h i n g s . o r g / WINTER / 2 0 1 7 1

T h is w a s K i r k fo u r y e a tr sh i s w a s k i r k faoguot.rh i ys e awrass akgi or k

four years ago

NNooww I Imm ggooiningg ttoo ss ee rr vv ee ee gwwootrroll ds! e r v e N GoGowoddI iminn gttohhin

God in the world!

Vocatio

June 21-26, 2014

Taste of the Sem January 18-20, 2014

or high school guys and girls)

(For high school guys only)

Ready to register? Visit www.csl.edu or call 800-822-9545.

Vocatio

June 21-26, 2014

or high school guys and girls)

Vocatio

Taste of the Sem January 18-20, 2014 (For high school guys only)

Taste of the Sem

Ready to register? Visit www.csl.edu or call 800-822-9545.

une 21-26, 2014

high school guys and girls)

January 18-20, 2014 (For high school guys only)

eady to register? Visit www.csl.edu or call 800-822-9545.

ut T h in k in g a b o

ikni ni sg tgarbayob?uotu t m h in in

T T h in k m i nm ii sn itsrt ryy??

T h e s e m in a r y h a s c h a n g e d K i r k s l i f e . Check out how you can serve God in ministry!

H I G H E R T H I N G S __

TT hh ee s e m i n a r y h a s c h a n g e d K i r k s l i f e . Check out how you can serve God in ministry! Check out how you can serve God in ministry!

Vocatio

Taste of the SemVocatio

Jun June 24-29, 2017(For hig e 24-29, 2017 Jan. 14-16, 2en01on7ly(For h schoo ) high school men and women)

Vol mcenaantd wioomen)

Taste of the Sem (For high school m

14-16, 2017 ) n.SEMINARY Ja801 PLACE en only

June 24-29

(For high s

, 2017

chool men 800-822-9545 801 SEMINARY PLACE 800-822-9545 hool m gh sc and wome (For hi n) ST. LOUIS, MO 63105 ADMISSIONS@CSL.EDU ADMISSIONS@CSL.EDU 2 ST. LOUIS, MO 63105 WWW.CSL.EDU

flir

WWW.CSL.EDU

flir

Contents T A B L E O F

Volume 17/Number 1 • Winter 2017

Special Features 4 Are the Scriptures ABOUT You or FOR You?

By Rev. George F. Borghardt While the Scriptures do indeed include a lot of dos and don’ts, those things aren’t central to the Bible’s core message. Rev. Borghardt focuses in on what that message is: Jesus doing all that the Law requires perfectly “for you” so that you can be “for others.”

6 Absolution Is the Answer

By Rev. Aaron T. Fenker There isn’t a sin that Christ’s blood can’t cover and Absolution is God’s way of making that crystal clear to us. Rev. Fenker reminds us that the forgiveness we are granted covers every thought, word, and deed, and that our pastors are here to deliver the comforts of Absolution to us.

8 The Two Parts of Repentance

By Rev. Jacob Ehrhard Repentance has been often misunderstood in our modern church era. One popular idea is that repentance means you’re getting your life together and following the right path. Rev. Ehrhard clearly defines repentance and explains where the fruit of repentance comes into play.

10 Loving Your Older Neighbor

By Kaitlin Jandereski Through her own recent experience with a dear friend, Kaitlin opens up our eyes to be more aware of our older brethren in our churches. To foster a relationship with an older believer in the Lord results in a host of Christ-filled blessings.

12 Resting in Christ in the Midst of Depression’s Betrayal

By Madison Ezzell Depression can suck the life out of you—it blinds, weighs down, and torments. Madison, who struggles with depression, sets out to encourage us as she continues to learn that the crucified, resurrected, and forgiving Christ is the one constant upon which we can rely during our lowest times.

14 The Fruitful Downtime of Divine Service

By Rev. Michael Keith For many of us, our phones are like extensions of our arms. It seems like we’re constantly plugged into something. While technology can be a gift from God it can, if we let it, so easily distract us. Rev. Keith reminds us of the necessity of a little peace and quiet in our lives and how the Divine Service is the perfect opportunity to harness some of that.

20 Willing All This I Suffer for You

By Rev. Gaven M. Mize Rev. Mize dissects a Lenten hymn and expounds on three significant symbols for Christ that date back to the earliest days of the Church.

Regular Features 28 Catechism: The Gift of Reputation

By Rev. William M. Cwirla Because we live in the era of social media it’s easier than ever to get caught up in harming or not preserving the reputation of our neighbor. Taking to heart Rev. Cwirla’s wisdom regarding the Eighth Commandment will not only increase your awareness of the pitfalls but will also encourage you with the forgiveness you have in Christ.

30 Bible Study: The Two Parts of Repentance

Be sure to check out this sample of one of our student Bible studies which links up with Rev. Jacob Ehrhard’s article on P. 8.

HigherThings

Volume 17/Number 1/Winter 2017 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. Gaven Mize Rev. Dr. Matthew Richard Copy Editor

Dana Niemi Bible Study Authors

Rev. Jacob Ehrhard Rev. Aaron Fenker Rev. Samuel Schuldheisz Subscriptions Manager

Elizabeth Carlson ___________ Board of Directors President

Rev. George Borghardt Vice-President

Rev. Duane Bamsch Treasurer

Mr. Eric Maiwald Secretary

Rev. Joel Fritsche Rev. Dr. Carl Fickenscher Sue Pellegrini Matt Phillips Rev. Chris Rosebrough ___________

Executive Council Deputy Executive/ Conference and Retreats

Sandra Ostapowich Media Executive

Rev. Aaron Fenker Business Executive

Connie Brammeier Marketing Executive

Ann Osburn

Development Executive

Erica Jacoby

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 2017. 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.

W I N T E R 2 0 1 7 _ 3

Are the Scriptures ABO

By Rev. George F. Borghardt

The Scriptures can be read two ways: about you and for you. One speaks about your condition before God and those around you. It’s all about you. The other delivers Christ crucified for you, for the salvation of sinners.

H HI GI GH HE E R R T TH HI NI NG GS S __ __ 44

Modern Christianity wants to look for what the Scriptures have to say “about us.” We are to read the Bible as though it were an instruction manual and then figure out what the words mean to us. How do the Scriptures make us feel? How do we apply them to our lives? What lessons do we glean from the written words in order for us to succeed or to have a better and more prosperous life? That’s how you read the Scriptures to find out about you. And, to be sure, there really is a lot of useful stuff about life in the Bible. You can find out how to be a nicer person. You can learn how to (and how not to) handle your anger and how to deal with the people who hate you. You can learn how to seem like the smartest person in the room and how to never make friends with the stuff you have. You can learn how to properly treat your neighbor and be a good steward of your money. All of that good stuff about you can be found in the Scriptures! Unfortunately, the more you read the Scriptures for what they say about you the more you’ll find out that what’s actually true about you is that you are blind, dead, and an enemy of God. The Scriptures say you sin daily and much and that nothing inside you is good. You’ll also learn just how angry God really is about you and the things you do and don’t do. How everything about you is evil, ever since you were in the womb; how all that you do, think, and feel is twisted by sin; how, even knowing this about you, you still want everything to be about you. You want it to be at the center of it all. You are that self-centered— even in how you are tempted to read the Scriptures: about you. Even if you could do all that the Scriptures say you should do, all by yourself, you couldn’t make up for all the things you haven’t done. And any message all about you, or your relationships, or how to be a better parent when you grow up than your crazy parents are, or what you can do for God to devote yourself to His Word, will inevitably end in guilt because you don’t or won’t do these things—not well enough and not perfectly, which is what God demands. Not doing what you are commanded to do always ends in condemnation. If your reading of the Scriptures is that all or most of the Scriptures are about you, then they are only Law for you—Law that ends in your death and going to hell. But the Gospel is in the “for you” of Scripture. All of Scripture speaks of Jesus. Jesus is all about you: born for you, baptised for you and for your righteousness. Jesus preached, taught, healed the sick, raised the dead for all those people and for you, too. For you, He kept every “about you” of the Law perfectly and then counted all those things He kept as having been kept by you. He died the death you deserve for

OUT you or FOR you? you—suffering on the Cross the penalty for you and your sins. After three days, He rose again from the dead for you. Everything about you became about Him on Calvary so that everything about Him is now for you. Jesus is your life, your forgiveness, your holiness, your justification, your sanctification, your eternal life. For Lutherans, the Scriptures aren’t merely a history book or a set of basic instructions before leaving Earth (B.I.B.L.E.). They testify of Jesus for you. Every word points to Jesus on the Cross for you. Every sentence delivers Jesus’ holy life and bitter sufferings and death for you. “For you” is how Lutherans read the Bible! And the “for you” isn’t just a little bit of the Scriptures and then you can get back to everything being “about you”. The Gospel is not just a single in the Scriptures’ virtual iTunes library. The “for you” of the Gospel is the center of every single song! Everything in the Scriptures points to Jesus for you! The “about you” of the Law kills you so that the “for you” of the Gospel can raise you again. The “for you” of the Gospel enlivens you to live no longer about you but for those around you. We read the Scriptures—or better, the Holy Spirit reads us the Scriptures—to see how the Word shows us Jesus. The Old Testament tells us how the prophets testified of the Son’s coming into our flesh to save us. The New Testament delivers this Jesus to us—God in the flesh for you—to save you from only being about you. That Lutherans look for Jesus in the Scriptures doesn’t mean that Lutherans ignore the Law. The Law was given to save you—not by you keeping it, but so that you would die to it. God gives His Law about you in order to kill the you-centered you so that you might be raised to life again in Christ by the “for you” of the Gospel. Without Jesus for you the “about you” of the Law is nothing but a word that accuses and condemns you. And apart from Christ, that’s all it can do. Only in Christ can the “for you” of the Gospel show you how the “about you” of the Law may guide you in living for others. For others! When you read the Scriptures centered on the “for you” of Jesus, you’ll see that God is not only for you but for those around you, too! He makes you alive not just so that you would go to heaven, but that you would do the good things in His Law for those around you! Your neighbor could really use you being “about them.” You’ll miss that completely if you are only looking for stuff about you! Jesus is so “for you” that He is even “for others” through you. So read the Scriptures looking for Jesus for you. The Words are more than just information on how to live. The Scriptures have been given by God to make you alive with Jesus. He’s the center of the Scriptures: the “for you” and the “about you”. Rev. George F. Borghardt is the senior pastor at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church and School in McHenry, Illinois. He also serves as the president of Higher Things.

WW II NN TT EE RR 22 00 11 77 __ 55

H I G H E R

T H I N G S __

12 Stained glass windows of St Botolphâ€™s AldersgateWard and HughesJesus Christ walking on water

Resting in Christ in the Midst of Depressionâ€™s Betrayal

By Madison Ezzell

My name is Madison and I am Peter.

here is a delicate line between depression and reality. In an instant you can cross it, and all of a sudden where you were is not where you are. Instead of joy there is indescribable pain. Emotions bottle up in your chest and scream at you. And while what you want to do is cry and rage against the world, all you do is sit in the bog of depression. This deep darkness reminds you of all your sins, of how far you are from God. You don’t remember that He paid for all of this, that by His death you live and that by your death in this world He lives in you. I sin. I don’t deserve anything I have, had, or ever will have. I should be dead. But, as a favorite song of mine says, the beauty of grace is that it makes life unfair. In spite of this depression with which I contend, the wonders of God’s mercy have given me life; He uses me so that through me He can give others this gift of grace. The riches of His love are evident in every corner of my life and being. So why I am sitting here crying over my sin? Why can I not let go of the past and instead look to the future where I think I can do better? Why am I trapping myself in darkness when there is light? Instead of this I must go, serve, love, and have faith. I must be determined to do better and live for Him every day. He has given His life for me, and so I know that the past is gone. I have another chance. So, while I ache to scream, I must let go and enter a new day. Trust in Him and be utterly thankful for this new day. So, Lord, help me to let go. People who know my outer shell say my heart is good. But really, my heart is black—only made white by the red blood of Christ who died for me. He cried out in agony as everyone abandoned Him while He saved them. Yet, my black heart cries out, “I love you, Lord!” But how can a person leave the one they love? I have denied Him. My name is Madison and I am Peter. I am Peter. Strong until the storm comes, where I wither and die. And, while I know this, I also know that Jesus died so that I could live. Living does not mean sitting and crying about the past. It means resting in Christ. It means to love as He loves, serve as He serves, show mercy as He shows mercy, and go make disciples for Him. Depression is a real and dangerous thing. It darkens even the brightest lights and casts shadows over the truth. When it comes, whether scattered over time or in crushing waves, we collapse. I have, many times. And each time I doubt, I fear, I hate, I, I, I…Each time everything in my mind suddenly becomes only about me. This time last year was the darkest period of my life. The monster that is depression and anxiety

gripped me so tightly in its hands and that I could not free myself from it. I would pray daily, hourly, every moment, for help. I just wanted the fear and the darkness to leave me. I ached to sleep better, I yearned to be healthier and happy again, I wanted to feel purpose in my life. But instead of regaining those things I found myself losing faith in the only thing I had ever known. For the first time in my life I doubted that God was real and true. Yes, I had doubted before. Everyone has doubts. But my mind was so clouded with lies that I could no longer recognize the truth. I don’t think I have ever cried as much as I did then. I grasped at what strands I could and prayed every night to a God I couldn’t see, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.” That was last November. Last Easter I sat in church with my family and listened to my pastor preach the gospel, I prayed the same prayer, but I was not so afraid. I had fought a long war with myself, and I still fight it now, but I am not so easily shaken. I believe, and I pray every night that God in His mercy would be with me and guide me through my unbelief. Now, as I am able to look at my past with a clear mind and hopeful heart, I see where the darkness takes me. It takes me to myself. It takes me to places so full of my own thoughts that I cannot see God. It turns everything inward. This life is not about me, it is about love—the love of Christ for me and the love of Christ I can give to my neighbor. If not for love, Jesus’ true and unending love, none of us would be here. Because of His great love, I am free to love my neighbors as myself. That’s what Jesus has already done for me. He went through darkness and pain for me. He rose from death to life for me. He’s washed and clothed me with His love. He’s fed me with His life—His Body and Blood—in the Supper. He does this for me and my neighbors. Loving others is hard, and I fail each and every day. Thank God in His mercy that He has forgiven me each and every time I fail. When next comes the darkness, I hope that I do not give in. But because I am human, I will. That is why my hope is not in me, but in a God who has promised to never forsake me. He can’t and won’t: I’m baptized through Him, and in Him alone, I live. My name is Madison, and I am Peter— saved by the grace of a glorious God. Madison Ezzell is an aspiring writer living in Boone, North Carolina. She is working to complete her Associates of Arts Degree in May. She is a member of Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hickory, North Carolina.

Author’s note: If you suffer from anxiety or depression, you are not alone. It is a hard battle and sometimes we have to fight it far too often. I am thankful for the support my parents and pastors give to me. Do not be afraid to seek help. Talk to your parents, your pastor, and doctors. I know how hard it is to do that, but it is worth it. An excellent resource is the book I Trust When Dark My Road, by Todd Peperkorn.

W I N T E R 2 0 1 7 _ 13

2016 Winter - Higher Things Magazine (with Bible Studies)