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In This Issue:
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• Jesus Hits the Spot • Thank God We Are Beggars • Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up?
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H I G H E R
Contents T A B L E O F
Volume 17/Number 4 • Winter 2017
Special Features 4 Down from the Mountain
By Rev. George F. Borghardt It’s in our nature to seek out mountaintop experiences, and while such times can be a blessing, Rev. Borghardt explains via the story of Jesus’ Transfiguration that His first love is to be with us and among us below the clouds as we navigate the stuff of life.
6 Jesus Hits the Spot
By Rev. Aaron T. Fenker Through Luke’s account of Jesus healing of the 10 lepers, Rev. Fenker affirms that no matter what spot you may find yourself in, Jesus is there, for YOU.
8 Metaphors, Grammar, and Scripture, Oh My! By Rev. Samuel Schuldheisz The words we read in the Scriptures are not there by accident. As Rev. Schuldheisz demonstrates, God has masterfully used particular language choices to share His Good News.
10 Thank God We Are Beggars
By Rev. Harrison Goodman Does being beggars in relation to the God of the universe mean He just expects us to deal with whatever lot we are given? By no means! Rev. Goodman reminds us that it is all about to WHOM we are begging—an abundantly gracious God who has given us everything we need, and more, through Jesus Christ.
12 Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up?
By Rev. Dr. Matthew Richard In a world that constantly pulls our eyes toward false christs, Rev. Richard returns our focus to the true Jesus and directs us where He is to be found—in water, Word, Body and Blood for salvation and the forgiveness of our sins.
22 He Is Always There
By Erica M. Olson Times of struggle are inevitable in this life. Sometimes we feel desperately alone. Erica’s personal account of God’s working in her life will encourage you to remember God’s faithful, constant presence through His Word and Sacraments.
24 “Pray Then Like This…”
By Katie Hill Whether you’re at a loss for words when praying, distracted when you do pray or even think your prayer time isn’t a struggle, Katie makes the case that tools like the Lutheran Book of Prayer help to stimulate and maintain a joyful and rich prayer life.
Regular Features 28 Catechism: Invocation
By Rev. William M. Cwirla Let’s start at the very beginning…of the Divine Service liturgy, that is! Rev. Cwirla gets the ball rolling with the liturgy/catechism connection by examining the very first words we hear in church on a Sunday morning.
30 Bible Study: Thank God We Are Beggars
Be sure to check out this sample of one of our student Bible studies which links up with Rev. Harrison Goodman’s article on P. 10.
HigherThings
®
Volume 17/Number 4/Winter 2017 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 Deaconess Ellie Corrow Rev. D. Carl Fickenscher Mr. Bob Myers Mrs. Sue Pellegrini Rev. Chris Rosebrough ___________
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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.
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Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” Luke 17:17-19
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Jesus Hits the Spot By Rev. Aaron T. Fenker
W
ell, that hits the spot,” you might say on occasion. So, what hits the spot for you? For each of us it’s different. Let’s look back on some of the recent holiday meals we’ve enjoyed. Perhaps we fought over which part of the meal we liked the best—the cheesy potatoes, perhaps? Maybe what hits the spot for you also hits the spot for someone else. Then things can get a bit tricky around the dinner table. It’s all a bit subjective, though. What you like, they might not. What they like, you might not—or at least not as much (that’s the hope) so that you can make sure you get enough of “what hits the spot” for you.
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We need something more than personal preferences. We need more direction in life than just what we feel hits the spot. The account of the 10 lepers in Luke 17 is like a map or a signpost—something objective—that shows us that it’s not a matter of “what hits the spot?” but rather “who marks the spot?” And all the movement in our text—and there’s a lot of it—actually makes it easy to figure it out. There’s only one Target, one Spot, one Person it all revolves around: Jesus. It all hangs on Him. It must. He put Himself in a particular spot, in a place— Bethlehem, in fact. God was then not God far-off but God near, not God apart-from-us but Immanuel (God-withus, God-one-of-us)—not God of our making, but God made flesh. God has flesh and blood, “body and soul, eyes, ears,” and all the rest—even fingers and toes! God has feet! All of God Himself was in that Baby, “wrapped [up] and lying in a manger.” He came to the Bethlehem spot, came in flesh and blood, to go willingly into a real tight spot, and so we find Him in our text “on the way to Jerusalem.” There was only one reason to go there—only one reason to take His now grown fingers and toes, to bring His flesh and blood, to the Jerusalem spot. The reason for His coming was because we sin—we miss the spot or the bullseye on the target— daily and much. In fact, the Greek word for “sin” (hamartia) means precisely that: to miss the mark! And at Calvary, with His pierced hands and feet on the Cross,
Jesus, who hits the spot without fail each time, died for our not hitting the target. It all really did hang on Him. But before that, Jesus took a detour to “between Samaria and Galilee.” And where did He go? What scenic spot did He pick? A leper colony, and a Samaritan one at that! There, in the middle of nowhere, Jesus picks the right spot. He’s exactly where He wants to be, which was the same place they were: amongst lepers! And it had to be them—10 of them. They were lepers from their heads to their toes. Their hands and feet were not just diseased, but worse: they were considered unclean! These 10 had no one else but other lepers. No one, until Jesus. He picked their spot as His spot. He came for that, for them. Jesus did all this—Bethlehem, Samaria, and Calvary—for the one, for the nine, for you. No part of you is left out of the Lord’s FOR YOU. Not just your soul, but your body, your “eyes, ears, and all your members.” You—inside and out, body and soul, from your head to your feet— are all covered by the Lord’s doing, working, and walking FOR YOU. So, off to the Jesus spot. There was no place else to try, after all. All that these poor lepers had was each other. All 10 together:“Jesus, Master, have mercy!”“Off to the priests with you,” He says. Off they go, and then came the cleansing! No more spots! No more blemishes could keep them separated from their family and loved ones, nor could they keep them from the Lord either. It was true body and soul cleansing.
Immanuel Jesus, God-with-Feet Jesus, isn’t just for Jews or Samaritans, or even just for Americans. No, He’s certainly for all, came for all, died for all. But He’s much more personal than all that. He doesn’t just come for all. He came for all 10 of them, for the nine who need nothing more of Him, and for the one who needs nothing else but Him. He comes for you, too. Yes, you. Only you. So, off to the cleansing spot. He makes your spot His spot. He comes here for you. Your spots were His spots, and now you’ve got none of them. He went His way from the Bethlehem spot to the Calvary spot to do it. Godwith-feet Jesus is that way for you. Where He is, there is cleansing. He puts it right at the font, where He’ll meet you, ordinary you, with His cleansing. Your leprosy, your sin, will be baptized away. He’ll give a Word of forgiveness, an Absolution, private, just for you. He gives you the medicine of eternal life through His Body and Blood. So, what hits the spot? Depends. Enjoy it, though! All good gifts are from Jesus’ and your heavenly Father. But He gives such gifts to all, even the unbeliever, given from sea to shining sea in particularity to each, some more, some less. The Lepers needed a God who gave undiminishedly. They needed a God in a spot, and that’s the God they got. He’s yours, too. He’s God with you, God with all of us, Immanuel, God made flesh, always more and more, both now and forever. Rev. Aaron T. Fenker is the pastor of Bethlehem and Immanuel Lutheran churches in Bremen, Kansas. He is also the media executive for Higher Things.
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Metaphors, Grammar, and Scripture, Oh My! By Rev. Samuel Schuldheisz
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For as long as I can remember, I have always loved reading good books. Ironically though, when I was in junior high and high school, grammar, sentence structure, and verb tenses in English class made my eyes glaze over quicker than a donut on a Krispy Kreme conveyor belt. It wasn’t until Greek and Hebrew class in college that I began to appreciate and love those elementary school grammar lessons. Language, grammar, and words are important in our daily life. There is homework at school, projects at work, and correcting the autocorrect on our text messages. Not to mention, a little comma is all that might stand between a polite dinner reminder and outright cannibalism.“It’s time to eat, Grandma.” Or “It’s time to eat Grandma.” You see, grammar saves lives. Words, grammar, and language are not only important in our daily lives at school or work, but in our Christian lives as well. Words matter. Theological words have important definitions, meanings, and significance in the Christian faith. This is one reason why Martin Luther filled his Small Catechism with a simple, yet memorable question: “What does this mean?” Think about how important words are in the Christian faith. By His Word, God speaks creation into existence: “Let there be light,” and it was so. By His Word, God promises Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that all nations of the earth would be blessed through their Offspring, who is Christ. By His Word, God spoke in many and various ways to the prophets of the Old Testament and to the apostles and evangelists in the New Testament. By His Word, God promised that the Word would be made flesh for us in Mary’s womb. By His Word, Jesus raised the dead (like Lazarus), and promised to die and rise for you. By His Word, Jesus promises to forgive our sin in Holy Absolution. By His Word and water, Jesus adopts us, clothes us, and cleanses us in Holy Baptism. By His Word with bread and wine, Jesus promises to feed us with His Body and Blood for our forgiveness, life, and salvation. To communicate this good news, God uses words.“Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ,” St. Paul tells us in Romans 10:17. God’s
Word comes to us in words. To bear His message of salvation, God uses writers, language, and grammar, all guided by the Holy Spirit. God used the linguistic skills of the prophets and apostles to weave together a rich tapestry of verb tenses, sentence structure, and language that communicates, proclaims, and delivers God’s saving Word to us. In our Christian life we are called to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest God’s Word. It is our food, life, and light. We do this when we study the words that are written as well as how they are written. We can better appreciate what God is communicating to us through His Word when we better understand how He is speaking to us through language. One of the primary ways the Gospel is communicated in the Scriptures is through a rhetorical device known as metaphor. Metaphors are figures of speech—a way we communicate by relating one thing to another. Scriptures and some of our beloved hymns are full of metaphors. The Psalmist declares that our Lord is a shield and buckler, our refuge and strength. Martin Luther used metaphors like these in his famous hymn “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” In the New Testament, John’s Gospel is full of metaphors that Jesus declares about himself. We call these the “I AM” sayings. I AM the Bread of Life. I AM the Light of the World. I AM the Door. I AM the Good Shepherd. I AM the Vine. I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I AM the Resurrection and the Life. Does this mean that the Gospel itself is metaphorical, or somehow untrue? By no means. To say that God communicates His Word to us through parts of speech, such as metaphor, doesn’t mean that the Gospel is fake, false, or that God doesn’t mean what He says. Quite the opposite. The historical events of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection for us are communicated to us through language. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the prophets and apostles
make use of rhetorical devices, such as metaphor, simile, and many others, to communicate the very real, historical, and true Good News, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. Jesus truly is our Bread of life who gives us His body in the bread of Holy Communion. Jesus truly is the Light of the world who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. Jesus truly is the Door, who gives us access to the Father. Jesus truly is the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for us, His sheep. Jesus truly is the Vine who grafts us wild branches into His tree of life, and pours out His saving blood for wine. Jesus truly is the Way, the Truth, and the Life for us. Jesus truly is the Resurrection and the Life in His death and life for you. So, it’s not just good English grammar that saves lives. God’s Word is unlike any other word. When God speaks, our sins are forgiven, the dead are raised, and new life is given, all through the blessing of His Word. God’s divine grammar saves us. Rev. Samuel Schuldheisz is the pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Huntington Beach, California.
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