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• My Hiding Place: Christ Is For Me • Theology: Gotta Love It! • Sing a Hymn at Satan • What If We Started Talking?
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H I G H E R
Contents T A B L E O F
Volume 18/Number 2 • Summer 2018
HigherThings
®
Volume 18/Number 2/Summer 2018 Bible Studies for these articles can be found at: higherthings.org/ magazine/biblestudies.html Executive Editor
Katie Hill Art Director
Steve Blakey Editorial Associates
Rev. Greg Alms Rev. Paul Beisel Rev. Gaven Mize Rev. Dr. Matthew Richard Copy Editors
Kay Maiwald Dana Niemi Bible Study Authors
Rev. Jacob Ehrhard Rev. Sam Schuldheisz Joshua Ulm Subscriptions Manager
Elizabeth Carlson ___________ Board of Directors President
Rev. George F. Borghardt Vice-President
Rev. Duane Bamsch Treasurer
Mr. Eric Maiwald Secretary
Rev. Joel Fritsche
Special Features 4 My Hiding Place: Christ Is for Me
By Rev. George F. Borghardt It’s been one of those days and you feel lower than whale spit. You might even wonder if God is on your side. Rev. Borghardt passionately declares that, for the sake of Jesus, the Father always has your back, your front, your sides, your everything!
6 How Baptized Are You?
By Rev. Harrison Goodman What an odd question! Either you’re baptized or you’re not, right? As Rev. Goodman points out, we live in an era where the world tries to measure everything on an emotional scale, even our spiritual status. Thanks be to God we have our Baptisms to help us remember Whose we are!
8 Theology: Gotta Love It!
By Rev. René Castillero Theology is not reserved for your pastor, a seminary student or that real smart kid in your youth group who’s just nerdy that way. Rev. Castillero explains theology is for YOU—a baptized child of God—because Christ is at the center of it all!
10 Sing a Hymn at Satan
By Rev. Joshua Ulm I’d like to dedicate this song to…Satan! Well, not exactly, but believe it or not, there are a few hymns in our liturgical arsenal that specifically address the devil himself. Rev. Ulm reminds us that if God is for us, who can be against us, which is why singing a hymn at Satan can be a beneficial thing.
12 Anxiety and the Sacraments
By Emilyann Pool Whether you are plagued by anxiety or only occasionally grapple with it, Emilyann shares some of her own struggles with anxiety and how she has realized that there’s no doubt the Sacraments serve to remind us of what is true and where real peace can be found.
14 I’m Yours, Lord!
By Katie Hill The sign of the cross is one of the most ancient, yet simple traditions in the Christian Church. Katie makes the case that it just might be something you want to practice as a visible reminder of Christ’s love for you.
20 What If We Started Talking?
By Emma Leistico Social media has created a lot of opportunities to talk… some positive and some not so much. Emma demonstrates that some of the best exchanges come when we talk with people right around us, face-to-face, making the most of opportunities to share the Good News.
Regular Features 28 Catechism: Liturgical Catechesis: Preparation
By Rev. William M. Cwirla Rev. Cwirla continues to demonstrate that there is not a single wasted moment in the historic liturgy. Everything has a purpose, and that includes the Introit, which helps to set the scene for rich, meaningful worship.
30 Bible Study: Sing a Hymn at Satan
Be sure to check out this sample of one of our student Bible studies which links up with Rev. Joshua Ulm’s article on P. 10.
Deaconess Ellie Corrow Rev. D. Carl Fickenscher Mr. Bob Myers Rev. Chris Rosebrough Mr. Kurt Winrich ___________
Executive Council Deputy Executive/ Conference and Retreats
Sandra Ostapowich Media Executive
Rev. Aaron Fenker Business Executive
Connie Brammeier Development Executive
Erica Jacoby
Marketing Executive
Patrick Sturdivant 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 2018. 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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My Hiding Place: Christ Is for Me By Rev. George F. Borghardt
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© Can Stock Photo / curaphotography
“You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word.” (Psalm 119:114)
W
hat happens when you look around your life and you feel like the chewing gum that’s on the bottom of God’s shoe and He’s tracking you around? It’s like I’m the insect and God has put the windshield in front of me! Splat! I’m done! You know this feeling, don’t you? Too many people tug on me and there’s not enough of me to go around! A little here, a little there—they each take a part of me that gets left behind. A little bit of me only goes so far and then I look down and I feel like there is nothing left. I’m not enough. I’m stretched too thinly—about to break. My feelings show on my face. How could they not? People see me and they say, “You don’t look like yourself. Is it me? Am I bothering you? Should I leave you alone? Why aren’t you any fun anymore? Where is that twinkle in your eyes? Do you have too much on your plate?” It’s not their fault anyway. They love me. I try not to let their concern add to my stress. So I press it down. I stretch myself out further. I can’t let anyone down; they’re depending on me. Now, not only do I have to get myself together for me, I need to do it for those around me. But who am I fooling? I can’t do it all and I know better than to try. I probably couldn’t tell you what’s wrong anyway. I can’t figure it out myself! It’s just everything at once. It has sapped all my strength and stripped me of my cape. And without my Superman symbol on my chest, I’m just done. I’m going to crash and burn and everyone is going to see me go out in a blaze of glory or collapse in a miserable heap. I just know it! And then on cue, all my lifelong enemies surround me. I see them smiling because they finally have me where they want me. They’ve always whispered behind my back, “He can’t do it—he’s too young and stupid. He’s too old. He’s just not enough.” Now, they are going to watch my colossal-epic fail. Just watch! Even my best friends will abandon me when it all hits the fan! No one will understand. All they will see is what kind of failure I am. I’m alone. I’m by myself. They all raise their weapons armed with the
very bullets that I have given them by my sins and failures. My arrogance, my pride, my self-righteousness, my stupidity, my vanity, my secrets, are all loaded up and about to be fired at me. Stripped of all my defenses, all that is left for me to close my eyes and spread my arms and let it hit me. They fire but I feel nothing. Another wave of artillery is launched at me. Nothing again! Did they miss? Maybe I got it hit and this is what death is like. Shouldn’t the whole thing have hurt more? I open one eye to see what’s up and there is only Jesus. It all hit Him first! Again, again, and again. It all hits Him—not me. They could pick up the kitchen sink (I have no doubt that some day they will!) and fling it at me and it will hit Him first. He’s a giant shield that blocks everything! Jesus. When there is nothing else, no other protection, no cape, no armor, no friends, no other sanctuary, there is only Him. Only Jesus saves me. Christ before me. Christ before you, too. He was despised. They surrounded Him. His friends abandoned Him. They betrayed Him. He was mocked as He was beaten. They finished Him off. Then He who knew no sin was done in by the sin of the world, having becoming sin in our place. Him for me and Him in my place! When stripped of my “S,” I have only Christ. When the twinkle in my eyes is gone and I am tracked around like gum on the bottom of a shoe, there is only Jesus. When there is no illumination in my world and I suffer in my own personal darkness, He alone is My Light. For in my weakness, in my sickness, in my failure, in my sin, and especially in my death, Christ’s strength is made perfect (2 Corinthians12:9). Jesus is right there: in front of me. Right there: protecting me. Right there: shielding me—even from me, for all my failures have been placed on Christ. All
my weaknesses, all my sicknesses, even my death, He has taken upon Himself and has redeemed me. He has bought it all back and has declared it holy. Pure. Baptismal. Forgiven. That’s me! Bodied and Blooded. That’s me, too. Absolved by the Word. Amen. That was me before my enemies and I imploded, I just didn’t believe it. That’s me now, too, even when everything looks dark. Christ is for me even when I’m not for me. Christ is for me when I’m not for Him. Christ is for me when everyone is for me. Christ is for me when no one else is for me. And if they do me in because I stepped around Him, He’ll save me then, too. He always does. Always—not because of me, but because He truly is so unbelievably faithful. This brings a smile to my face and the start of a twinkle in my eyes. It’s coming back. And I have just enough of a smirk on my face now to peek through Jesus’ nailed-scarred hands and wave at Satan and my enemies safely from behind Jesus, my hiding place. “Fire away. You may do me in, you may ultimately get what you want with those bullets that I gave you, but He’ll protect me. He’ll save me. He’ll take even your doing me in, or my doing me in, and use it to save me.” You can’t kill me—even if you actually do. I’ve already died with Christ in my Baptism. God will take whatever you do to me and make it good. And that makes all of this—every Word of Gospel—more real to me than it ever has been! Christ will save me. He always does. He already has. He’s that much for me. He is my hiding place. He is my shield. He is your hiding place and shield, too! Rev. George F. Borghardt is the pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Bossier City, Louisiana. He also serves as the president of Higher Things.
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Anxiety and By Emilyann Pool
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“Can’t you just...stop being anxious?”“Just smile
and you’ll feel better!”“Have you tried this homeopathic remedy?”“It’s not like you’re a starving kid in Africa. Count your blessings.”“You probably don’t pray enough.”“Just read the Bible more.”“Do you think the reason you have anxiety is because you don’t trust God enough?” “Is it a gluten allergy?”
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I have heard all these remarks and more since I started experiencing panic attacks brought on anxiety. Advice from friends, family, teachers, pastors, and counselors (most well-meaning) all ended with Law: just do this and your life will be better. But as Lutherans, we know that life—and anxiety—doesn’t work like that. The Scriptures tell us that we sin in what we do and don’t do. However, we must not forget that sin is primarily a condition. All illness is a part of this world—not necessarily as God’s judgment on our personal sins, but
because the whole world fell under the curse of the Fall (John 9:1-5). One of the ways we experience our sinful condition, or the world’s fallenness, is through feelings of anxiety and depression that affect both body and mind. God has made man so that the body and the mind are intertwined. And yet, we’ve adopted the Platonic (and pagan) idea that our mind and bodies have little to do with each other. We are not disembodied beings. On the contrary, the Scriptures tell us of the relationship between our mind and our matter (Genesis 1:27; 2:7; I Corinthians
6:19-20; 15:40-49; I Thessalonians 5:23). Just as everyone experiences some sort of physical sickness in this his life, every human has experienced some form of mental and emotional ailment like anxiety or depression—whether for a lifetime or just a season. For many of us, anxiety or depression is triggered by an event or an experience: the loss of a loved one, financial worries, a breakup, divorce, a sin we commit, or a sin committed against us. But some of us experience anxiety due to hormonal imbalances and defective nervous systems, and so it is a battle we fight our whole lives. The physical symptoms of anxiety and depression should be diagnosed and treated by doctors and therapists. Just like you wouldn’t go months without seeing a doctor for a persistent fever, you should not ignore your anxiety or decide to self-medicate through unhealthy and destructive habits. Reach out for the daily bread that God has given you in experts who can help. If you are uncertain about any advice you are given, take it to a parent or pastor. However, not every symptom of anxiety can be remedied by medication or counseling. As Christians we are given particular insight into the spiritual side of anxiety. As Lutherans, specifically, we are well-equipped with an entire arsenal for handling the spiritual symptoms of anxiety. We call these weapons the Sacraments.
Baptism When anxiety blurs our identity, Holy Baptism roots us in our identity as
Sacraments children of God. In my experience, panic sets in when I feel like I am not going to live up to an expectation that I have for myself or that I perceive others have for me. While our roles and vocations may shift, we remind ourselves that our identity as God’s children will never change. By remembering our Baptism in moments of anxiety, we focus our eyes on Christ. Instead of worrying about our status with God or with the people around us, we can rest in the promises and assurances in Baptism—God has marked us as His own through water and the Word and that can never be washed away or taken from us. Through Baptism, we are clothed in Christ and made new creations. We are no longer identified by our merit or by our sin; we drown the Old Adam and our sin is wiped away (Galatians 3:27; 2 Corinthians 5:17). Just as Christ delivers us from the grip of our identity as sinners, He releases us from the snares of anxiety. If we belong to Christ, it is not only our actual sin that is buried unto His death, but also our sinful nature and all the lies that anxiety causes us to believe (Galatians 5:24).
The Lord’s Supper When anxiety produces paranoia, discord, and restlessness, the Lord’s Supper gives us the blessing of rest in Christ and a fellowship in Him that goes beyond the loneliness we feel. While anxiety may cause us to think of ourselves as alone and misunderstood, the truth is usually the exact opposite. When we ask for help and fight against the throes of anxiety, we as the called ones care for
each other in weakness and affliction. The Lord’s Supper delivers forgiveness of sins won by Christ to each believer, but it is also fellowship around the Table: uniting all saints, on earth and in heaven, with each other in Christ. Anxiety divides us, causing tension and strife, but the Lord’s Table unites us in Christ’s Body and gives our minds rest from the plague of anxiety. In the Large Catechism, Luther says we should see the Lord’s Supper as “soothing medicine which aids and quickens us in both body and soul. For where the soul is healed, the body has benefitted also” (v. 68). Christ instituted the Lord’s Supper for the weak in faith (all His children) so that all who were tired and unsure could rest at His table (John 6:37; Matthew 11:28).
Confession and Absolution When anxiety produces guilt and lies, the Confession and Absolution of sin is the source of repentance and forgiveness for sin. Hearing the promise of forgiveness of our sins reconciles us even when we feel condemned by our sin, and healing for our hearts and minds comes from confessing our sins (James 5:16). While anxiety and depression generally are not active rebellion against God, no one is without sin and therefore without guilt (1 John 1:8-9), and nothing feeds anxiety more than secret sin and hidden faults. When we repent and receive God’s forgiveness we are cleansed from anxiety and the sins that we commit in our worry and fear. Through His Absolution, Christ delivers you from the emotion of guilt and the lies that
anxiety allows to fester. The words, “You are forgiven,” are entirely for your benefit and impart a peace which surpasses all understanding. The active ingredient in the Sacraments is the Word of God. Without the promises and truths of the Scriptures, water, bread, and wine would just be human elements with no power to save, forgive, and heal us from our anxiety. God is our bulwark never failing, and His Word pierces, heals, and equips us to fight temptation and wage war on sin. Through the Scriptures, we can know Christ who is the ultimate balm for all suffering, including anxiety. Christ is well acquainted with earthly suffering—Luther says that Christ is hidden in suffering, especially suffering on the cross (Heidelberg Disputation 21). Any symptom of anxiety you feel, Christ knows through His own death, and He delivers Himself to you through Word and Sacrament in the midst of the anxiety. One day, He will deliver us from all sin and death, soul AND body, in the resurrection. Take hope and do not believe the lies but find solace in the powerful Word of God. Jesus Christ is the Great Physician, who did not come for the healthy, but for all of us, His children—the weak who He makes strong (Luke 5:31-32). Emilyann Pool is a first year Deaconess student at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana and a Trivium teacher at Wittenberg Academy. Her home congregation is St. John Lutheran Church in Clinton, Iowa.
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