2005 Fall - Higher Things Magazine (with Bible Studies)

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Contents T A B L E

O F

Volume 5/Number 3 • Fall 2005

FEATURES

COLUMNS

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16 Ladybug Lies and Sliding Shirts

Heaven: Why It Doesn’t Matter

By Rev. George F. Borghardt III

By Kathy Luder

HigherThings

Handling Hell By Seminarian Ryan Fouts

Kathy helps her friend Molly with fashion tips, dating advice, and learns a lesson about letting it slide.

Executive Editor REV. TODD PEPERKORN

Do you think about heaven and hell? Are you nervous about your eternity? Read a pair of articles by Pastor Borghardt and Seminarian Fouts to think about eternity beyond the grave.

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Dare To Be Lutheran Conference Photos Equal to the Apostles

By Rev. Dr. Norman Nagel

“DTBL rocked!” one participant gushed. See how awesome it was in this photo collage, and get a taste of the worship life at DTBL by reading the sermon preached by Dr. Nagel at the DTBL Divine Service at Concordia Seminary.

10 Having Ears to Hear

By Rev. William M. Cwirla

Do you come to church with ears to hear what God will say to you? Or do you plan on power napping during the sermon? Pastor Cwirla lends some thoughts on exactly how to listen to a sermon. Lend him your ear.

12 From the Manger to the Stable: Finding the Truth in Narnia

By Dr. Angus Menuge

Many people are becoming reacquainted with C.S. Lewis’s fantasy world due to the upcoming movie based on his novel “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” Dr. Menuge reflects on some of what Narnia represents. Take a look.

It might be more than you know.

14 Cosmetic Surgery: Reality Check By Darren Eliker Cosmetic surgery, reality TV’s hottest trend, blends fairytale beauty with ordinary looks.

Darren Eliker’s article helps us think about beauty, reality, and finding contentment in Christ.

20 MINING THE RICHES: Enslaved, Seduced, and Shackled: And ‘The LORD was with Joseph’ By Rev. Peter Cage In Genesis we read about Joseph’s long saga: being sold to slave traders, betrayed by brothers, falsely accused, and imprisoned— and the Lord was with Joseph?? Pastor Cage brings these Bible stories into clear focus as he reflects on Joseph’s vocations and God’s never-failing care.

23 The Concordia, 425 years later

By Dr. Gene Edward Veith

Reflecting on the publication of Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions—A Reader’s Edition of the Book of Concord, Dr. Veith finds that our Lutheran teachings have stood the test of time and boldly proclaimed our Savior.

25 Ex Cathedra Ex Cathedra readers ask important questions about making the sign of the cross, being addicted to Internet porn, and what to do if you suspect a friend is struggling with mental illness.

26 Pulse: Video Games—Owned!

By Rev. Dr. Lawrence R. Rast Jr.

Ever been owned in a video game? If you know what that means, you might be a gaming fanatic like Dr. Rast. Read on to see who owns you.

30 Catechism: The Promise of the Law: Blessings in Time

By Rev. David Petersen

God gives us the law to curb our sin and fight against our natural tendency to do wrong. But are there also blessings in obeying the law?

Also in this issue: 22 Letters to the editor 22 You’re All Invited to Survivor Confirmation 24 News and Notes 28 Photo Contest Results 28 Lower Things: A Bit of Humor

Assistant Editor JULIE STIEGEMEYER Editorial Assistant ADRIANE DORR Art Director STEVE BLAKEY

Editorial Associates REV. GEORGE BORGHARDT REV. TIM PAULS REV. DAVID PETERSEN REV. ERIK ROTTMANN

III

Bible Studies Editor REV. TIMOTHY SCHELLENBACH Contributing Editors REV. ERIC ANDRAE PAM KNEPPER KATHY LUDER REV. SCOTT STIEGEMEYER DR. GENE EDWARD VEITH Business Manager LYNN FREDERICKSEN Subscriptions Manager CYNTHIA HALL

Subscriptions Assistant CHRIS HALL

Board of Directors President REV. KLEMET

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PREUS ZILL

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Treasurer LYNN FREDERICKSEN

REV. WILLIAM CWIRLA REV. BRUCE KESEMAN SANDRA OSTAPOWICH SUE PELLEGRINI REV. KLEMET PREUS JEFF SCHWARZ MOLLIE ZIEGLER REV. MARCUS ZILL Higher Things Magazine ISSN 1539-8455 is published quarterly by Higher Things Inc., 2026 22nd Ave., Kenosha, WI 53140.

No portion of this publication may be reproduced without the written consent of the executive editor of Higher Things Magazine. Copyright 2005. Printed in the United States. Postage paid at Fort Wayne, Indiana. For subscription information and questions, call 260-357-5094 or email subscriptions@higherthings.org.

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Heaven: Why It Doesn’t Matter By Rev. George F. Borghardt III

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ell, maybe it matters a little bit, but not nearly as much as you’d think. It’s not like you have to try to get to heaven or like there is any doubt about you being in heaven. Heaven is yours in Christ. In Christ, heaven is a done deal.

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Of course, you already know that the absolute last thing you want to do is try to get to heaven. Such trying can only land you in hell.Try harder, run faster, work more, give up this sin, or that sin, read more, do more—these are all good things to do.You should strive to be better in this life. But doing those things won’t save you. Jesus says,“Whoever seeks to save His life loses it” (Matthew 16:25a).

“But whoever loses His life for My sake shall find it” (Matthew 16:25b).Trying to get yourself to heaven, you’ll find yourself in hell.To find life, to be saved, you must lose your life.That leaves you nothing but Christ as your life! He won eternal life for you—that’s heaven for sure—on the tree. Everything, every reason you or even God could think of, that could possibly keep you out of heaven, He has taken away and nailed it to the Cross.

Jesus died. He was buried.You were buried with Him in Baptism. He rose.You too were raised up with Him through faith “in the working of God who raised Him from the dead” (Colossians 2:12).Your life, the life that you live every day, is now hidden with Christ in God. In God and with Christ—that’s where you are! Wherever He is, there you are—by faith. Jesus is in heaven; you’re in heaven too.You are with Him.This means that not only are you in heaven by faith, but you are at the very right hand of God! Where else could you be? After all, with Jesus at the right hand of God, you must be there too!

That’s for sure because all that Jesus won for you, all that He earned for you, is given to you freely in your Baptism. Have you

(Article continued on p. 6, left column)

Handling

By Sem. Ryan Fouts

Hell

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ow do you handle hell? Hell is so awful that Scripture describes it both as an “unquenchable fire” (Mark 9:43) and as “darkness” (2 Peter 2:4). We know that where there is fire, there is light. Darkness subsides. But no metaphor like fire or darkness can fully contain the horror of hell; hell is unfathomable even to the most demented human imagination.

How do you handle hell? Do you deny hell’s existence outright?

How could a loving God send anyone to such an awful place? Do you attempt to get God off the hook by softening hell, imagining it as something more bearable?

Here is the danger: when you redefine hell, you redefine your Savior. A savior saves. What does our Savior save us from? If Christ doesn’t save us from our sin, death, and the devil, what is His purpose?

Perhaps He’s a cosmic Dr. Phil, who teaches us that through positive thinking any challenge can be overcome. Maybe the Lord is a path toward spiritual enlightenment or an exemplary humanitarian. If the reality of hell is forgotten, why do we even need a Savior?

So, how do you handle Jesus? Jesus is a man. He ate bread and drank water. He labored as a carpenter. He walked on human feet, saw with human eyes, and touched with human hands. He is a natural man with an ordinary body.“He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him” (Isaiah 53:2).

The Lord of the universe is so unrecognizable when veiled in human flesh that His condemners thought He would die like any other man.They crucified Him like a common criminal.

Jesus died, they buried Him, and everything went according to plan. He even descended into hell.

But hell didn’t know who it was getting! St. John Chrysostom proclaims figuratively in his famous Easter homily that when Christ descended into hell, hell made the same mistake as Christ’s crucifiers.“Hell grasped a corpse, and discovered God. Hell seized earth, and encountered heaven. Hell took what it

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(Article continued on p. 6, right column)

“Heaven” (continued from p.4)

“Handling Hell” (continued from p.5)

ever considered that the entire kingdom of heaven was delivered to you in Baptism? It was!

You know those pearly gates of heaven you’ve heard about? They are now yours in Baptism.The streets of gold? Yours in Baptism too.That pure river of living water flowing from the throne? Already there by faith! The Tree of Life and the Throne of the Lamb?

There already too! “When Christ who is your life appears, you will appear also with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:4). It is as certain as your Baptism.

Sure, you can lose heaven.You can decide to run from God, deny your Baptism, live in your sins, and, therefore, die in your sins. But why on earth— or better—why in heaven would you want to do that?

You are baptized.

Don’t get me wrong. Heaven should be a great comfort for you. When times are bad, you can look forward to heaven with the certainty that can only come through faith. When you are suffering, remember there is a place where suffering is no more.

When you are sick, remember that there is a place where there is neither sickness nor death. When you are wearied by the temptations of this world, remember that there is a place where there is no more sin or hell—only life in the Lamb of God, slain for the sins of the world, slain for you.

So, does heaven matter? Not as much as you’d think. What matters most is that you are in Christ. He is in heaven. Because He is there, you’re already there by faith and will be there for sure when He appears.

saw, and was overcome by what it did not see.”1 Hell took what appeared to be a lifeless human body and found that it had swallowed up God Himself. Jesus arrived to proclaim His victory. Despite the appearance of defeat on the cross, the Lord defeated hell.

But Christ isn’t a one-time event, relegated to the annals of history, recalled only in books and epistles.

He’s here today, veiled beneath what in appearance seems to be ordinary water. He’s here today, veiled beneath what in appearance seems to be ordinary bread and wine.

More often than not, we sinful beings think like hell thinks and do like hell does! We swallow up Jesus’ body and blood while sinful thoughts at the same time consume our minds.The old Adam constantly tempts us to take the Lord’s body and blood in the same way we eat anything else: once the eating and drinking is done, we forget all about it and go about our lives as if nothing happened.You and I receive what we see— water, bread, and wine—but we’re overcome by what we don’t see. We receive earthly elements and encounter heavenly salvation! As hell swallowed up a body and discovered God Himself, we too swallow the Lord’s body and blood—it looks like ordinary bread and wine—but we receive Jesus Christ! How so? It’s not about getting your head wet. It isn’t about eating your fill of bread and wine.The Lord puts His Word into these elements. Where there is His Word, He leaves no doubt. Jesus is delivered.

Despite the humble appearances of the means of grace, the Lord takes the sinner and does away with him. Having defeated the foe, the Lord rises from the depths of the crucified Old Adam and claims our bodies, our entire self, as His own. How could a loving God send someone to hell? God’s loving doesn’t go in the way we expect; His love follows the path of the cross. We confess both hell and heaven in accordance with Scripture; Christ descended into one, ascended into the other.

This isn’t even the end of the story.There’s more!

Confessing what Christ has done for us, united to Him, we also confess our hope patterned after Him: the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.

How do you handle hell? How do you handle Jesus? Wrong question. It isn’t your job to handle hell or even Jesus. Christ has already handled it all! He has defeated hell and given Himself to you.

There is nothing worth comparing To this lifelong comfort sure!

Open-eyed my grave is staring: Even there I’ll sleep secure.

Though my flesh awaits its raising, Still my soul continues praising: I am baptized into Christ; I’m a child of paradise! (HS 98, 844:5) Rev. George F. Borghardt III is the assistant pastor of St. Mark Lutheran Church in Conroe, Texas and a member of the editorial board of Higher Things. His email address is revborghardt@sanctus.org. Check out his blog at http://blog.higherthings.org/borghardt/.

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Ryan Fouts is a fourth year M.Div. student at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. Check out his blog at http://blog.higherthings.org/ryanfouts.You can email him at RyanLCMS@hotmail.com.

1 St. Chrysostom’s entire Easter Homily can be found at http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=743

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SCRAPBOOK • SCRAPBOOK • SCRAPBOOK

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Equal to the Apostles

by Rev. Dr. Norman E. Nagel

On July 21, 2005, during the Dare To Be Lutheran Higher Things conference, twelve hundred people attended Divine Service at the Chapel of St.Timothy and St.Titus on the campus of Concordia Seminary.

Rev.Todd Peperkorn presided as Celebrant, and the Rev. Dr. Norman E. Nagel preached for the Festival of St. Mary Magdeline on the text Luke 7:36–50.This is the text of his sermon.

t’s risky, it really is, to invite Jesus in as Simon discovered.

He had heard about Jesus. Everybody has heard something about Jesus. But that something might be just about enough—enough to have sorted Him out, got His number, put Him in His place, nice Jesus. More might be risky. He is so difficult to keep under control.

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Simon was going to have a closer look at Jesus. He might find him useful. Luke tells of Jesus as one whom you cannot fool. He knows what’s coming at Him, but that doesn’t stop Him. He accepts Simon’s invitation.

Simon doesn’t realize what he is in for. He expects to measure Jesus up and decide what’s the use of Him. What happens is that Simon is the one who gets judged, and that with Jesus you can’t play measurements.

Simon was the host. He would call the shots according to his rules. Jesus would be at the receiving end of the way Simon played it.

What spoils his game, what shouldn’t have happened, is this woman off the street with a very poor reputation. She would never be invited to Simon’s table, but there she is, drawn in by Jesus. She came at Jesus from behind. She wanted Him to be for her.

She didn’t have any chips to lay down to play any games with. She was just there, all of her. She had been played games with, games in which she hadn’t been cared about, but games that were only for having the use of her.That can be done for sex, for selling, or in all the ways people would manipulate you to their use or program.

The woman had heard something of Jesus. She hoped He might not be like that.

She did not attempt to work Him. She was simply there. Nothing held back to negotiate with. On His feet her tears, a sadly worn and damaged woman. Jesus knew what

with her was coming to Him. Simon came at Him to sit in judgment on Him. This woman was judged enough already. Would Jesus be different?

Today’s Gospel says, yes, Jesus is different. Jesus is something else. There’s what’s in Jesus that’s nowhere else. He doesn’t play the games by which the rest of the world tries to get along. Jesus is the opposite of all that. Yet just to say what Jesus is the opposite of is to submit Him to that standard. He doesn’t suffer Himself to be measured by any of the measurements we may try out on Him. Jesus said to her,“Your sins are forgiven.”

No one had ever loved her like that before.

So what’s with Jesus forgiving sins? “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” Only the Lord God Himself can do that. Jesus doesn’t stop to argue with them about that. He is there for this woman—all of Him. He is such a Jesus as He gives to her.“That’s my Jesus,” says faith.

He said to the woman,“Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Does your faith save you or does Jesus save you? Spurious alternative. Can’t have one without the other.

Loads of people try to have a Jesus, but not by faith.That’s the Jesus they have measured Him up to be, one that suits them.

Faith rejoices to be given the whole of Jesus, all of Jesus,“for you,” and that is then always more and more beyond measure-

ment.There is a love beyond measure.

To Simon, who is doing the measuring bit, Jesus says big sins, big forgiveness, big love. Jesus is still trying to get through to Simon, to free him up from his measurements for judging Jesus.Take a look, Simon, at the way the measurements go. How do you stack up that way?

That’s all been left behind with the woman. She’s been given more Jesus than she could ever have dreamed of. Glad of such a Jesus—that’s faith.That’s the joy of faith, the joy of Jesus, the joy of those whose sins He forgives.

“Go in peace”—these are the words of Jesus that He speaks to you by His use of the minister’s mouth. After, by His use of the minister’s hands, He has given into your mouth His body and His blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of all your sins, and more.Your sins are not the measurement, the size, of His love.

Then leave your sins behind you, all of them, big and small. He has answered for them in your place at Calvary with His body and His blood.Take and eat, take and drink, He says, my body, my blood, given and shed for you.“Your faith has saved you.”Your Jesus has saved you beyond measure with His body and His blood.“Go in peace.” Amen.

Rev. Dr. Norman E. Nagel is graduate professor of systematic theology at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri.

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SCRAPBOOK • SCRAPBOOK • SCRAPBOOK

Having Ears to Hear

How to Listen t “Don’t preach to me!”

That usually means something like,“Don’t lecture me!

Don’t tell me what to do! Get out of my face and leave me alone!”

Let’s be honest. Listening to a sermon is not one of the more exciting activities in our lives.The apostle Paul called preaching an exercise in foolishness.The Greeks of his day were impressed by rhetoric; his fellow Jews were persuaded by miracles. But preaching a dead and risen Jesus?

Foolishness! Don’t shortchange that foolish sermon, however, or that foolish preacher. Faith comes by hearing the Word of Christ (Romans 10).

So how do we tune those ears to hear on Sunday morning? Here are a few thoughts:

1. Ears to hear are God’s gift. We’re all born deaf to God’s Word.You can thank Adam and Eve for that.The ears screwed onto the sides of your head may work well enough, but they are not naturally inclined to hear God’s Word.

Like the deaf mute in the Gospel, Jesus needs to stick His fingers into our ears and speak His ephphatha.“Be opened!” Don’t think you can improve your Gospel hearing with seven easy steps.

Ears that hear the voice of Jesus are His baptismal gift to you.They used to stick fingers in the ears of the newly baptized and say,“Ephphatha.” It probably tickled. We don’t do that anymore, but the Lord still tickles our ears with His Word to open them. It is His doing, not ours. Our “doing” is to get out of the way so the Lord can have His way.

2. Recognize that we are culturally hard of hearing.

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I don’t mean that ringing in your ears caused by blasting your iPods. I’m talking about what all that screen-staring does to our brains.

TV, computers, DVD, Powerpoint, video games, movies—we’re a visually-oriented society. We don’t listen nearly as well as previous generations.

Because our brains aren’t tuned to listen, we need to work a little harder to hear. Put away all those distractions— bulletins, books, cell phones, Gameboys.

Be sure to get a good night’s sleep. It also helps to read the assigned Scriptures ahead of time. Surprises are for the movies, not sermons.

to a Sermon

By Rev. William M. Cwirla

3. Listen for the Law and the Gospel. Listen for the Law. It won’t make you feel good about yourself, and you may not like what you hear, but you need to hear the truth.Take what the preacher says personally. He means you, even if it seems that what he says has nothing to do with you.

Listen for the Gospel—the Good News of Jesus’ death and life for your forgiveness, life, and salvation.Take the Gospel personally too. Jesus had you in mind when He hung on the cross. If you’re in doubt about that, go to individual confession and absolution. Absolution is a personal sermon preached to you alone.

4. Think. Sermons don’t expire after the Benediction. Discuss what you heard in youth group. Jot down a few insights when you get home.You might even want to keep a journal of what you hear from week to week. Discuss your insights with your pastor. We preachers love to know someone is actually listening out there.

5. Don’t expect entertainment. Sure, preachers tell stories and some use humor, but proclamation is a matter of life and death, not entertainment. Remember, this is God’s Word for you. God specifically arranged for you to hear this sermon, including dragging you out of bed, funneling some breakfast into you, and bringing you to church. Ask yourself, “What is God trying to say to me today?” Expect an answer.

6. Chill. Preachers have bad days too, just like everyone else. Hall of Fame hitters get on base only one-third of the time. Not everything Picasso painted was a masterpiece. Same goes for preachers. We’re talking ordinary means here.

I’ve noticed that my off Sundays are often those days when Jesus is most clearly heard in my preaching. As John the Baptizer once said of cousin Jesus, “He must increase, and I must decrease.” How many times have you heard a sermon from which you recalled all the jokes and stories, but couldn’t remember what the point was?

7. Pray. Pray for your pastor, especially on Saturday night. Pray that he preaches Jesus, even if all he does is bore you to death with the death of Jesus. He could do worse. And pray that your ears would be opened to hear the life-giving Word that creates and keeps faith in Jesus Christ. Those who have ears to hear, let them hear.

Rev.William M. Cwirla is pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Hacienda Heights, California.The address for his blog is http://blog.higherthings.org/wcwirla/.

You can email him at pastor.holytrinity@verizon.net.

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From the Wardrobe to the Stable:

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hy should Christians care about Narnia, the fictional world of Talking Beasts presented in C. S. Lewis’s seven Chronicles? One could argue that Narnia is just a myth and cite Peter’s reminder that Christians do “not follow cleverly devised myths” (2 Peter 1:16), but the reality of Christ. But although C. S. Lewis used the vehicle of myth, his goal was not fantasy for its own sake. Lewis saw myth as a way of awakening the imagination to the reality of transcendence. He was concerned with breaking the enchantment of modern secular life that conditions people to believe in materialism, the view that the physical world is all there is. We can see this in Lewis’s use of two key symbols: the wardrobe and the stable.

The Wardrobe As its title suggests, the wardrobe is important in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (LWW), the second of the Chronicles, but the first to be made into a major motion picture.

Lewis himself observed children evacuated from London during World War II. He noticed that they were immersed in the world of immediate experience and closed to higher things (the transcendent). This is just how Lewis portrays the Pevensie children in LWW. When Lucy claims to have found another world through the back of a wardrobe, her siblings, Susan, Peter and Edmund, conclude that she is either lying or going mad.

They never seriously consider the possibility that she is telling the truth, even though Lucy is very honest and perfectly coherent. The other children dismiss this idea not because of logic, but because they have accepted the idea that the physical universe is a closed system, like an ordinary wardrobe, with a back on it.

To their surprise, this enlightened view of the world is challenged by the professor, who points out that a materialist bias has closed their minds to the logic of the situation.

The professor even puts in a plug for classical education:“Why don’t they teach logic at these schools?” If there are three possibilities (Lucy is lying, deranged, or telling the truth), and the evidence is decisively against the first two, the children should at least acknowledge the probability of the third. Lewis here echoes his argument in Mere Christianity: given Christ’s claims to be divine, He is either a liar or a lunatic or our Lord, and it is easy to see that Christ’s accurate prophecy and wise teaching exclude the first two possibilities.

For Lewis, a wardrobe opening into Narnia symbolizes a world that is not closed but open to transcendence. Finding Narnia is finding the spiritual realm, where good and evil are no longer mixed in a murky gray but stand out sharply in black and white. Finding Narnia is also discovering one’s own sin, as all of the children do, and especially Edmund, who betrays the others to the White Witch, the Satan figure of Narnia. But finding Narnia is also finding Aslan, the Christ figure who sacrifices himself to atone for sin and to bring new life to believers. Lewis does not just open minds to the transcendent, which might lead them to some nebulous New Age spirituality. As readers identify with sinful protagonists, Lewis shows them their need for a savior and points them to Christ, the transcendent incarnate.

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The Stable Lewis was an atheist as a young man but underwent a powerful conversion to Christianity in his early thirties, after which he devoted his life to defending the faith. He was painfully aware that many remained enemies of Christ and closed to the transcendent.

In The Last Battle, Lewis describes the end times of Narnia. An anti-Christ figure, Shift the Ape, uses the donkey Puzzle, dressed in a lion skin and shown only in firelight outside a stable, to impersonate Aslan. Many Talking Beasts are deceived. Syncretism, the fusion of

Narnia

Finding the Truth in

By Dr. Angus Menuge

contrary religions into a more inclusive civil religion, is brewing.The false god Tash is said to be one and the same as Aslan.The architects of the deception, Ginger the Cat and Rishda Tarkaan, are cynical unbelievers who use their cleverly devised myth to enslave the free Narnians and plunder their resources for Calormen. However, Tirian, last king of Narnia, is not deceived and calls on our world for help, which comes in the form of Narnian veterans, Jill Pole and Eustace Scrubb.

Together,Tirian, Jill, and Eustace expose Shift’s deception by showing Puzzle to the Narnians.There is a last battle for Narnia around the stable between the Calormenes and those loyal to Aslan. A group of dwarves refuses to take sides. Realizing that they had been fooled by Shift, they refuse to be taken in again.The exposure of a false religion does not lead the dwarves to the truth, but to apostasy, a falling away from the faith. During the last battle, many people are thrown into the stable. Believers in Aslan are stunned to discover a whole new world, with all the kings and queens of Narnia, including Lucy. Lucy sees the Christian significance:“In our world too, a stable once had something in it that was bigger than our whole world.” But the dwarves see nothing but a “pitch-black, poky, smelly little hole of a stable.”When Aslan appears and offers the dwarves a great banquet, they cannot appreciate the gift:“They thought they were eating and drinking only the sort of things you might find in a stable.”

Conclusion The joyous reunion of believers in a new Narnia and the tragic self-condemnation of unbelievers serve as a pointed reminder that ideas have consequences.A wardrobe that remains closed to transcendence,or that opens only to find false religion,may morph into the pitch-black hole of a self-imposed hell.But a wardrobe that opens to Christ Jesus,born in a stable,is a portal to paradise.

Dr. Angus Menuge is Associate Director of the Cranach Institue at Concordia Theologial Seminary (www.cranach.org) and Professor of Philosophy at Concordia University Wisconsin. His interests include apologetics, Christianity and science, intelligent design and C. S. Lewis. Menuge has essays forthcoming in The Chronicles of Narnia and Philosophy (Open Court) and Narnia Beckons (Broadman and Holman). He is editor of Reading God’s World (CPH) and author of Agents Under Fire (Rowman and Littlefield) and Science and the Savior (CPH). His email address is Angus.Menuge@cuw.edu.

F A L L Illustrations copyright 2005 by Walt Disney Studios http://adisney.go.com/disneypictures/narnia/index.html?deeplink=production

2 0 0 5 __ 13

Cosmetic (Click!)

Tonight on “Extreme Makeover . . . ” (Click!)

“Up next— it’s time for Lori’s big revealing on ‘The Swan.’”

(Click, click!) “It’s an all-new episode of ‘I Want That Famous Face.’”

(Click!) “Stay tuned for scenes from the next ‘Dr. 90210.’” (Click, click, click!)

H I G H E R T H I N G S __ 14

It’s hard to get away from reality TV’s latest obsession with cosmetic surgery. But is it really reality? Whatever it is, people seem to be watching—shows like “Nip/Tuck,” and people like Britney, Beyonce, and J-Lo. Hey guys, haven’t you heard? Everybody’s doing it! At least, that’s the impression they’re leaving.

Cosmetic or plastic surgery has become a booming business. Last year, nine and a half million Americans had cosmetic surgery of some kind, a 24 percent increase since 2000.

Because people spent $8.4 billion on plastic surgery and because women

n 3

Surgery: Reality Check

By Darren Eliker

make up 90 percent of the market, chances are pretty good that you know someone who has had something done or is thinking about it. But what do these figures actually tell us?

Well, let’s not assume everyone’s running out and getting implants for the worst of reasons.To be fair, the majority of cosmetic procedures are minimally invasive non-surgical techniques like Botox, collagen injections, chemical peels, laser hair removal, and so on. Over five million of the surgical procedures were reconstructive in nature. Not everything is a vanity trip like Hollywood would make us believe.

Cosmetic surgery has been very helpful for many people: women who have had mastectomies due to breast cancer, burn victims, teens with severe acne scarring, those born with congenital issues, and so on. Recently, a young boy in my area nearly lost his life riding an ATV. A wire strung across the property left severe lacerations on his neck and face, but a plastic surgeon was able to help him look as though it never happened.

As Christians, we tend to struggle more with the purely elective kind of alterations. Shouldn’t we be happy with the way we are? It’s not always that simple. One Christian woman I spoke with confessed she’d always been rather shallow chested. She was tired of “being 39 and still looking like a 10-year-old”.

Can we really say that it’s wrong for a woman to desire to feel more feminine? The fact is that the Bible is not prescriptive when it comes to the issue of cosmetic surgery, and any explicit conclusion we attempt to draw from it is a stretch. Therefore, we need to season our opinions about this subject with a certain amount of grace.

The problem with “Nip/Tuck” reality TV is that it’s not reality.That’s an important point for young people to remember, because the interest in elective plastic surgery among teenagers is on the rise. I say the interest, because there are certain procedures you can’t undergo legally until you’re eighteen. But the curiosity is there.

Teens currently make up only 4 percent of the cosmetic surgery market. They most often opt for rhinoplasty and otoplasty (nose and ear reconstruction), microdermabrasion, and breast reduction. But with plastic surgery’s rise in pop culture, requests for liposuction and breast augmentation are on the rise as well.

I spoke with Renaissance Cosmetic Surgery Center and Day Spa in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, where the employees noticed a marked increase in the number of teenage girls requesting consults on breast augmentation. Some call on their own, but most come in with a mom who is willing to pay. Surprisingly, in every case, the mother has not had a similar procedure herself. It lends some credibility to the stories about breast implants being the graduation gift-of-choice among swanky neighborhood girls!

The problem with reality shows, according to reputable surgeons, is that they don’t paint a realistic picture for teens.“This is not like going in and asking for a certain hairstyle that you can change if you don’t like it,” they say. This is real surgery with real risks. TV doesn’t show the real pain, real recovery, real cost, and sometimes the real consequences of surgery gone wrong.

As teens, you have a double battle. On the one hand, your body is still growing and changing. On the other hand, the world is telling you to look a certain way. And while there is nothing wrong with a Christian getting cosmetic surgery, we always need to examine our motives. If you view cosmetic surgery as a means of changing other people’s opinions about you, getting them to notice you, or giving you more value as a human being, it’s time for a serious reality check.

Remember that real value comes not from what we, or the world, place on outward appearance, but on the infinite value God placed on us in Christ.Think of it! The God of the universe counts you worthy of relationship with Himself because of the finished work of Jesus Christ on Calvary.When you stand clothed in Christ, God looks at you and sees no imperfections. None! He sees His perfect Son. So count the cost. Jesus did. It just may be that when you do, you’ll discover the reality that, as a redeemed, ransomed, and forgiven child of the King, you’re already pretty great just the way you are!

Darren Eliker is Creative and Production Director of Word FM radio in Pittsburgh. He is an award-winning writer in radio advertising.

A graduate of Carnegie-Mellon University with a B.F.A. in Acting, he is one Pittsburgh’s best-known stage performers and a prolific freelance voice-over artist in radio and television.

He currently serves as an elder at Zion Lutheran Church in Bridgeville where he and his wife Jennifer are members.

His email address is deliker@wordfm.com.

F A L L 2 0 0 5 __ 15

6 months ago “This will be so cool! But I can’t wear this,” Molly said, pointing to her McDonald’s uniform.“Can I borrow something? I need to shower.”

“No problem.You shower. I’ll find something,” I said as I pointed her to the bathroom.

My brother John’s friend Brad had just invited us over for a bonfire. Brad is two years older than we are. He graduated this past spring and is headed to college in the fall. He is hunky in the extreme, and last week he flirted with both of us. John hated it. When Brad had called for John that evening, I answered the phone.

Before John got on the line, Brad invited Molly and me to come over again.

I was looking through my drawers when Molly yelled from the bathroom, “Can I use your makeup? How about a blow dryer?”

“Use what you want,” I said.“But go easy on the perfume.That’s my mom’s expensive stuff.”

I was thinking about how excited Molly was and decided that I wasn’t that interested in Brad. I would make it my mission to help get Brad to like her. I pulled out my coolest t-shirt, a pink one with a cheesy iron-on that says “Employee of the Month” on it with a very retro-looking flower. It is kind of

H I G H E R T H I N G S __ 16

clingy, so I added a sophisticated lacy shawl my grandmother had given me. I put my blue jean skort that I knew would look good on Molly onto my bed and my jeweled ladybug necklace and earrings next to it. It was a very cute outfit.

When Molly came out, I was already wearing a normal school outfit. I looked nice, but not date-nice. Molly loved the outfit I had for her and was so excited she barely noticed the difference between us, though, to her credit, she did get me to put on a little makeup and add some cute spider earrings (so that we matched in theme).

When we got to the party, all eyes were on Molly—including Brad’s—and she was very happy.

4 months ago “Can I get my ‘Employee of the Month’ shirt back?” I asked Molly at lunch.“I thought it was with the skort and stuff you brought back, but it wasn’t there.”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry. I saw it my drawer. It must have gotten mixed up in the laundry.

I’ll bring it tomorrow,” she said.

1 month ago “Molly? I still don’t have that shirt.

I wanted to wear it tonight,” I said into the answering machine at Molly’s house.

1 week ago “Kathy, stop bugging me about that shirt. I don’t have it. I gave it back to you with the rest of the clothes,” Molly said.

She was looking at the table while she talked and rubbing her temples.

“It wasn’t there,” I said, a bit shocked.

“You told me you saw it in your drawer.”

“I didn’t say that.You misunderstood me. I only said that I would look in my drawers for it. I looked. It’s not there. Give me a break,” she said.

“Okay. I’ll look for it again.” But I knew what I heard. My shirt was gone.

Yesterday “Molly called,” my mom said from the sink as I walked in the door.“She wants you and John to come over to Brad’s tonight for a bonfire.” I sat down at the kitchen table.“It’ll be cold,” she said,“so take a sweater.”

I looked out the window and said, “I’m not going.”

“Why not?” she asked.

I didn’t answer.

She stopped drying the glass in her hand and walked toward the table.“Well?” she asked.

She stood there with her hands on her hips. I knew she wouldn’t let up so I said, “It’s complicated.”

“Fine,” she said,“don’t go,” and walked back to the sink.

“Molly stole my shirt,” I said.

“Oh, no. Not your shirt!” She feigned horror, leaning back, with her hand on her forehead.

“It’s not the shirt, Mom. She lied.”

“Not a lie!” she said, continuing with her drama voice.“You’ll never survive it.

My little girl is all grown up and already destroyed by a shirt and lie!”

“This isn’t a joke! She lied right to my face. I liked that shirt,” I said a bit too loud.

More quietly I went on,“But I would’ve given it to her if she’d asked. I tried to make her look cute! I tried to help her and she stole from me!” I could feel tears making their way to my eyes and my chest getting tight. I looked away.

“You have to make a decision, Kathy,” she said.“What is more valuable? Your friendship or your pride?”

“I know, but . . . . ” I paused.“What do you mean?”

“Friends lie to one another. Sometimes you have to call your friend on it, and sometimes you have to let it slide.”

“Let it slide?”

“Yeah. Just forget about it. So Molly lied about

&

Ladybug Lies

something stupid and fairly insignificant.

That shirt isn’t worth much.Turn the other cheek.You love her and your friendship, so let it slide to keep her from being embarrassed.”

“Just like that?” I asked.

“Just like that,” she said, returning to her dishes.“Or you can let it fester and grow. It can be a huge silent grudge, and you’ll never really be friends again, because you’ll be secretly angry with her and won’t trust her. Or you could confront her.You might even get the shirt back. But she’ll probably never forget the embarrassment.Then she’ll hold a grudge. Sometimes you have to do that. Sometimes you have to risk the friendship, like forcing an alcoholic to go to the hospital.”

My mom stopped with the dishes again and looked right at me. I didn’t say anything. She sighed and turned back to the sink. She said,“Friends are hard to come by. If you want to keep Molly and think this really was just a stupid thing that she didn’t mean and doesn’t know how to get out of without looking stupid, then don’t ask her to. Accept the lie. Forget about it. Let it slide.”

“Mom,” I said,“this doesn’t sound like you at all.You hate lies.”

“Of course I hate lies. But this is the way we liars live with one another.This is the way of marriage, of in-laws, and getting along with co-workers.

We can’t call everyone on everything.That would make us the worst hypocrites of all.” She paused again.Then she said,“Have you always told onehundred percent of the truth to Molly? Haven’t you sometimes stretched it a bit out of embarrassment or to try and impress her?”

“No!” I said, standing up.

“I haven’t.”

“Oh yes, you

&

have. I heard you do it last week,” she said calmly.“I overheard your conversation with Molly last Friday. Was she inviting you to a bonfire?”

“Yeah.”

“What did you tell her?”

“I don’t remember,” I said, looking back out the window.

Without changing her voice, my mom said,“That is another one.”

She opened the cupboard above the sink to put away a dish. She went on,“You remember.You just don’t want to say it because it was a lie.”

“It wasn’t a lie. It was true,” I said, and then a bit quieter,“mostly.”

She snorted.“Well,‘mostly’ doesn’t cut it. Do you think Molly knew it was only ‘mostly’ true?”

“Probably.” I stuck my hands in my pockets.“She usually knows. It is hard to keep things from her.”

“That’s good.That’s because she is your friend. But she still called and invited you today, didn’t she? She let it slide.”

“But this was a shirt, not just a lame excuse. I told a slight, white lie. Her lie was blatant. She stole my shirt!” I sat back down and looked out the window again.

“Okay,” she said.

She came over the table, sat down, and laid her towel across her lap.“You’re right, Kathy.There is a distinction here, a matter of degree. So you have to make a decision.

Is it such a lie that you can no longer trust her? Or was it out of character and simply from embarrassment?”She took my hand and made me look at her. She said,“Is that shirt, is that lie worth your friendship?”

Today So I let it slide. I decided I would pretend I had given her the shirt. I turned the other cheek and forgave her and went to the bonfire and had fun.

Before I went to bed last night I prayed the Lord’s Prayer.“Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us” brought me comfort like never before. I slept like a baby for the first time in a week.

Kathy Luder hates to be underdressed even though she feels superior to fashion. She mostly wears T-shirts and jeans but she has, on occasion, worn a dress to school.You can e-mail her at KathyLuder@hotmail.com.

Sliding Shirts

by Kathy Luder

F A L L 2 0 0 5 __ 17

18

Ultimate Event

T H I N G S __

The

H I G H E R

C

hrist Academy is a two-week residential program for high-school-aged men, founded by Concordia Theological Seminary. It is a place where students can study about Christ who is present in His Word and Sacraments and who died that their sins would be forgiven. It is a place where students can experience seminary life.

It is a place where students can explore the possibility of some day becoming a pastor. @ @ @ @ @

Worship, the Center of the Experience Life-Changing Studies Clarity of Direction Fun Activities June 18-July 1, 2006

For more information, please call:

1-800-481-2155 www.ctsfw.edu ChristAcademy@ctsfw.edu

MINING THE RICHES

Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt.

H I G H E R T H I N G S __ 20

And Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there.The LORD was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD made all he did to prosper in his hand. So Joseph found favor in his sight, and served him.Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority. So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the LORD was on all that he had in the house and in the field.Thus he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand, and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate.

Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.

And it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife cast longing eyes on Joseph,and she said,“Lie with me.”

But he refused and said to his master’s wife,“Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand.There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” So it was, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he did not heed her, to lie with her or to be with her.

But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside, that she caught him by his garment, saying,“Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside. And so it was, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and fled outside, that she called to the men of her house and spoke to them, saying,“See, he has brought in to us a Hebrew to mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. And it happened, when he heard that I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me, and fled and went outside.”

So she kept his garment with her until his master came home.Then she spoke to him with words like these, saying,“The Hebrew servant whom you brought to us came in to me to mock me; so it happened, as I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me and fled outside.”

So it was, when his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him, saying,“Your servant did to me after this manner,” that his anger was aroused.Then Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were confined. And he was there in the prison. But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison; whatever they did there, it was his doing.The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph’s authority, because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made it prosper.

Genesis 39:1–23

“Enslaved, seduced and

‘The LORD

J

oseph is merchandise trading hands, finally sold to Potiphar down in Egypt.

Sometimes you are put in a place you don’t especially want to be and given things to do you’d rather not do. But “The Lord was with Joseph,” the Bible says.Though not by the looks of things, proud, dreaming Joseph, son of Jacob, has become a slave. Potiphar is his master, lord over his body, and gives him orders he must obey. But “The Lord was with Joseph” the Bible insists, and so this is different.

The Lord did it. See God’s hidden hand like this: Joseph has a new calling with a new neighbor in a new place. Serving Master Potiphar is his vocation for a time, getting ready to do something even greater later— just like Jesus gave Himself to Judas and Pilate and Herod for a time, for something greater.

And “His master Potiphar saw that the Lord was with Joseph and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed.”This slave purchase has turned out superbly for Potiphar and his house.

Joseph knows how to manage details and oversee things. Let him do it. And “The Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house”—every unbelieving one of them, blessed. And Joseph is still a slave in the place he didn’t choose to be, but where God has put him.

Someone else in Potiphar’s house doesn’t know her vocation.

She is Potiphar’s wife. She is to be a wife, faithful to her husband despite her desires or cultural customs. But she says to Joseph, “Lie with me.That’s sex, Joseph.” Day after day she’s coaxing and mocking him with her words. He avoids her.That’s smart, but they kind of work in the same place. Joseph knows his vocation and hers, even if she doesn’t. It is not given to Joseph to share intimacies with a woman, or with this woman, not his wife—that’s Potiphar’s job. So Joseph says no to her ambush and invitations.

And not with some embarrassed and cowardly,“Gosh, I’d really like to, but I shouldn’t,” but with a muscular,“How can I do this

shackled: And

was with Joseph’”

By Rev. Peter Cage

great wickedness . . . and sin against God.” (Though maybe his words were stronger than he felt.) But young, tempted Joseph knows what it all is, and what she is, and what he’s capable of—what sin is.

So where are his excuses? I can think of plenty of excuses to do what Joseph won’t do.“I am alone in an exotic world, no parents, no connections. I am trusted. My boss likes me. I am a man: handsome, young, and lonely. She offered. Why, I bet Potiphar is even mean to her sometimes, and that she’s lonely too. And I think I can get away with it.” But what is an easy decision for our over-exposed cyber appetites is sin against God, and Potiphar, and her, and Joseph’s own body and calling. And so it is wicked.That’s the right word—God’s Word.

Joseph rightly sees everything that this sin will touch and answers well. And he’ll still get no reward for it.

In fact, this lady’s lust turns into hate pretty quickly. She holds up the garment she rips off Joseph, waits for her dear, dear husband, and accuses Joseph of the very thing he wouldn’t do. Watch Joseph’s newest humiliation: the house slave must go down even further into prison now.The guiltless one is pronounced guilty.The godly one suffers.

The Lord is with him? Ha! But yes. God is doing something with Joseph. He is giving him another vocation—this new one in prison with shackled feet and an iron collar around his neck (Psalm 105:18).This leads toward another vocation after that as governor of Egypt, number two guy, who feeds the world. Who sees that coming but the Lord who put him in each miserable place?

And “The Lord was with Joseph.” Scripture keeps on saying that.The Lord was with the slave Joseph, the seduced

Joseph, and the shackled Joseph, and in all of it, the Lord showed him steadfast love. Love—so that the Lord could save His people then and bless the nations of the world through Jacob’s other Offspring—so that the Lord could show you Jesus, right here, in steadfast love. God did all that, with Joseph, for you.

That’s God’s vocation, the way God loves and serves His neighbor whether it’s someone like you or Potiphar or Potiphar’s wife. Whether Jesus is Himself tempted in the wilderness or on the cross, or sold Himself, even betrayed for thirty pieces of silver and hanging crucified with criminals, or imprisoned in a tomb that can’t hold Him. Wherever His vocation takes Him, it is for you.

How can He do this great salvation that forgives my great wickedness and sins against God? By His holy humility, the truly guiltless One pronounced guilty in my guilty place, by His suffering and death as a perfect and holy sacrifice to God,

by His flesh and blood, by baptizing you and still speaking His beautiful resurrection sentence:“I forgive you all your sins.” Just like Joseph, wherever the Lord put him, the Lord is with you— enslaved or shackled or seduced or all three—in His body and blood with you, baptized with you,“I forgive you all your sins” with you. He shows His steadfast love, giving us Christ, Immanuel.

It is God-with-us. Amen.

Rev. Peter C. Cage is a campus pastor at Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, and serves on the Higher Things Christ on Campus Committee. His email address is pccage@juno.com.

F A L L 2 0 0 5 __ 21

Feedback editor

letters to the

Dear Editor: Kathy Luder posted a comment on the Higher Things Forum saying that the magazine takes submissions from people other than pastors and professors. Does that mean anyone can send in an article? Are there certain things the editors want us to write about? And where do we send something once we’ve written it?

Yes, yes, and editor@higherthings.org.

Higher Things staff loves to receive articles that our readers have written. Many of you love to write, and you all have good things to say. Click on the “For Writers” link at www.higherthings.org to find suggested topics as well as guidelines for writing and submitting articles.

Once you’ve written a piece, spellchecked it, reread it, fixed the parts you don’t like, and can’t think of anything else you’d like to add or redo, send your

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name and document to the editor (editor@higherthings.org). Finally, remember not to be discouraged if the article doesn’t get published on your first try. Keep at it. Writing is hard work!

about being a Lutheran.

God gave you a lot of full-blast gifts in those few days.You were taught by faithful pastors.You got to attend services where the Lord came straight to you.You were able to meet other Lutherans who share the same faith.You, at the end of the day, got to be on the receiving end of a lot of the Lord’s good gifts. And that gives us, and you, something to be thankful for…and to look forward to next year’s conference in Colorado Springs.

(See p. 19 for more information.)

Dear Editor: DTBL rocked. All the sectionals were really cool, and I loved attending the services.

Personally, I think there should be more than one conference per year.

Come to think of it, the conference was rather good, wasn’t it? It’s refreshing to hear that attending DTBL was a formative experience for you. Whether you liked the food or not, whether you got along with your roommates or fought over the shower, whether the heat index in St. Louis was 105 degrees or 110, or if your bus ride there was four hours or fifteen, you learned more

We welcome your comments and questions on the magazine! Please send feedback to letters@higherthings.org.

HTN

Coming Soon to the Higher Things Network

Dare to Watch

What started in the church basement has become the international phenomenon.

Four boys and four girls began.

In the end, only one will survive the Council of the Elders.

SURVIVOR H I G H E R T H I N G S __ 22

CONFIRMATION OU

TW

OR IT • OUTLAST • OUTMEM

IZ

E

Wednesday Nights at 7:00

(Re-run/make-up episode Saturday morning at 9:00) [Network may not be available in all areas]

Special thanks to Rev. Tim Pauls of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Boise, Idaho for issuing this special invitation.

The

CONCORDIA 425 years later

By Dr. Gene Edward Veith English major and Ph.D that I am, e Lutherans are four hundred twenty-five years old this I’ve done a lot of scholarship in my day, year.That is to say, the Book of Concord, which contains our including literary editing.This project was one of the most fulfilling. Luther’s confessions of faith and our theology all worked out, is language—in all three languages—was four hundred twenty-five years old. Born out of persecution, martyr- passionate, eloquent, and sometimes dom, attacks from every side, and heresies that crashed and burned, humorous. His partner Melanchthon, the Renaissance man, wrote in a terse, logical the Book of Concord—consisting of confessions of faith from the style. In trying to render their confessions time of the earliest Church, through the Reformation, and into the in today’s English, I tried to convey the above all, but also something of age when Protestants were going off the deep end—was compiled meaning their styles and the tone of their voices. and ratified on June 25, 1580. And it still speaks directly to the issues, Immersing myself in these texts, I found myself plunged into those times. the controversies, and the spiritual needs of our own day.

W

To mark the occasion, Concordia Publishing House published a new edition in contemporary English called Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions—A Reader’s Edition of the Book of Concord.Yes, the scholarly editions of Tappert and, more recently, Robert Kolb will still be the resources consulted by scholars and theologians. But this version, with its abundant study helps and sumptuous illustrations, is designed especially for lay people, so that all Lutherans can draw on their rich spiritual heritage.

This edition is called Concordia, which is the Latin title for the book of confessions. It means “agreement” or “harmony,” referring to the “concord” that all Lutherans share when they confess these beliefs.This explains why nearly every institution of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, the seminaries, the ten colleges, various societies, the publishing house, and more are called “Concordia.” Our Lutheran forebears named everything after our book of confessions because those confessions define our identity.

Concordia Publishing House was established specifically to publish “the Concordia,” among other things. But the Tappert and the Kolb editions are published by the ELCA publishers, and the version Concordia Publishing House had the rights to had gone out of print. This new version is based on the English translation Concordia Publishing House had published from the beginning—the work of William Dau and Gerhard Bente, still available in the three-language Triglotta edition (in the original Latin and German, as well as this English translation). But it was in sore need of updating, its paragraph-long sentences shortened and its vocabulary modernized.

I was asked to help with the project. I was assigned “The Smalcald Articles,” written by Martin Luther, and “The Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope,” written by Melanchthon. I worked with the Triglotta, modernizing the English of Dau and Bente, while going back and forth to the original Latin and German to check my renditions.

The Smalcald League of Lutheran princes would later battle the Holy Roman Emperor, bent on restoring Catholicism at the point of the sword. And he did.Through treachery, greed, and mayhem, the Smalcald League was defeated, Lutheranism had to go underground, and yet—through an amazing change of events in which the treacherous prince next betrayed the Emperor and defeated him in battle—the Reformation survived anyway.

Though they are by now very old, these confessions are just as relevant today, if not more so.Today people have the idea that Christianity is just something that goes on inside a person’s head, not mind-blowing truths about objective reality. Non-Christians believe this, and amazingly many Christians are agreeing with them.

An age of relativism is exactly the wrong time for Christians to throw out their doctrines.Today Christians, most of whom are trying to operate without a doctrinal foundation, are blown every which way. Many are falling into the old heresies, without even realizing what they are doing.

No other church body has anything like the six-hundred-page Lutheran Concordia. Catholics have a vast, amorphous, but notalways-written down tradition. Calvinists have a handful of confessional documents, though their level of subscription varies. Other denominations have brief creedal statements that can fit on a few pages in the back of a hymnal. Others claim to have no creeds but the Bible, though they cannot articulate what they believe the Bible says. But we Lutherans have our theology thoroughly worked out, grounded in the inerrant truths of Scripture, and tested in the trials of history.

We Lutherans need to read it, make it our own, and make the same confession in our moment of history.

Dr. Gene Edward Veith is the cultural editor for WORLD magazine, the Director of the Cranach Institute, and a contributing editor for Higher Things.

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HIGHER THINGS

News & Notes Publications Higher Things continues to produce a magazine of the highest quality for the youth of our churches (and their parents!). Some of the areas we are considering are more extensive Bible studies, further integration with our web page, and possibly even an online magazine.

–Rev.Todd Peperkorn

Conferences A Letter from the President of Higher Things

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In the past five years, Higher Things has held five major conferences and produced sixteen magazine issues.These have become consistent and trustworthy tools for many LCMS congregations in their ministry to youth. Higher Things also offers a suite of online resources, including devotional materials, Bible studies, web forums, blogs, and e-mail lists for high school youth and college students alike. Higher Things has also expanded into campus ministry and plans to offer leadership-training opportunities in the future.

We’ve sure come a long way since the “Dying to Live” conference in Laramie, Wyoming, in July 2000! Thanks be to God for His gifts!

Success and growth brings forth a variety of challenges and it creates new opportunities.The Higher Things Board of Directors met in mid-August in Minneapolis, Minnesota, for a governance retreat to dream, plan, and organize for the future.This sort of selfexamination is necessary for any growing organization, including those who “Dare to be Lutheran.”

We took a good, honest, and objective look at how Higher Things is structured and we adopted some important organizational changes that will best suit the future development and expansion of Higher Things.These changes include a shift from a single Executive Director to several focused executive positions in key operational areas such as Publications, Conferences, Web, Campus Ministry, and Leadership Training.

This new structure will unburden operations, increase creative freedom, and create a responsive organization that will be able to deliver more conferences and impact more youth and their congregations without sacrificing the quality and character people have come to expect from Higher Things.

Work on implementing the details of this new structure is now underway. Look for an update in early October.

Rev. Klemet Preus President, Higher Things September 2005

The FEAST in Colorado Springs is well underway.

Turn to page 19 for more information. We are also planning already for 2007, 2008, and beyond. There is talk of regional conferences, weekend retreats, and more. For in Christ, there is always more to come!

–Rev. Bruce Keseman

Web and Internet Services The web is so much more than just the web. Blogging, forums, online merchandise, and especially my favorite, Reflections. If you haven’t checked out our web page lately, you don’t know what you’re missing.

–Rev. George Borghardt

Campus Ministry Christ on Campus III is past us and we are already looking forward to what comes next, both for college students and those who minister to them. Higher Things also continues to work closely with other groups like Lutherans in God’s Word (www.ligw.org) to plan and work with teaching the faith to our young people in college. –Rev. Marcus Zill

Leadership Training This is the newest area for Higher Things, and I’m very excited to help get it started. We plan to start work in the following areas: (1) Teaching pastors and youth leaders in starting and fostering faithful youth groups in their congregations; (2) Teaching youth group leaders (high school and even college) on how to help keep Christ at the center of their common life together; and (3) Training the next generation of youth leaders in our church on how to put on conferences and retreats that faithfully teach the Gospel. More to come!

–Sue Pellegrini Check out Higher Things web forums at http://higherthings.org/forum/

Ex Cathedra From Advice to Absurdity Dear Ex Cathedra, I have a serious problem. I am addicted to pornography on the Internet. I can’t stop. I need help. I am too embarrassed to tell anyone.—“Jeremy,” 17 Dear “Jeremy,” First, I urge you to confess this sin and receive absolution from your pastor. I realize how difficult this may be. A regular practice of confession and absolution will not only be an avenue of forgiveness for you, which will strengthen you as you struggle against this sin, but knowing that you will have to tell your pastor each time you succumb to temptation may be incentive enough to resist the temptation.

Second, see Matthew 5:28–29:“Anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away….” I don’t think you have to go so far as sticking forks in your eyes, but do what you can to remove the source of temptation.The sinful nature is strong. It is stronger than you.

You are absolutely right when you say,“I can’t stop. I need help.”

Here are some options: (1) Since you most likely are accessing porno sites while alone, move your computer someplace where you won’t be by yourself. (2) Find other things to do rather than spending time on the Internet. Get another hobby. (3) If you are tempted while doing homework in your room, do your homework at a friend’s house, the library, or a coffee shop. (4) Look into software that will prevent you from accessing adult Web sites. (5) Get rid of the Internet.You can live without it (and if you really need it, you can access it a school or at a friend’s house).

You get the idea. If all else fails, plaster your walls and workspace with pictures of your grandmother. (This only works if your grandmother is not a porn star.)

You have to play hardball with this sin. Eliminate the source of temptation as best you can. Alcoholics cannot have liquor cabinets in their living rooms.Temptation will occur, and it will win.

The ultimate sources of temptation are the devil, the world, and the flesh.You can limit the influence of the world by limiting your access to the Internet. But you will still be tempted.The devil and flesh are too powerful for you to overcome by your own willpower, efforts, or resolve.This is precisely why Christ entered into your flesh to become your Savior on the cross.You cannot win, but He has won. He who died and rose again conquers your sin through the mouth of your pastor. Hear His words “I forgive you,” and let Satan’s short victories turn to dust. —EC

Dear Ex Cathedra, I just returned from “Dare to be Lutheran.”Great conference.

But what is the deal with the sign of the cross?—Kari, 15 Dear Kari, Christians were making the sign of the cross even before crosses were placed in churches. It is an ancient gesture made in remembrance of baptism.You may have noticed that Luther suggests that the sign of the cross be made during daily prayers in the catechism. Making the sign of the cross is a good and useful ceremony. It is a reminder that when you were baptized, you were marked by Christ the crucified. St. Basil said that the sign of the cross drives away the devil.This reminds me of the story of how Luther, while feeling buffeted by the devil, cast him one day away saying,“I am baptized.”

No one is required to make the sign of the cross. And no one should ever feel that they must do it in order to be a good Christian. It is something that you may do in Christian freedom.

If you find it useful, do it. If not, don’t.The true sign of the cross has already been placed on you in baptism. No one can snatch that from you.—EC Dear Ex Cathedra, I think my friend may be bipolar. What can I do to help?— Susan, 15 Dear Susan, There is a stigma attached to mental illness, and there shouldn’t be. More than likely, you have more than one friend who suffers from some form of mental illness. The best thing that you can do is (1) educate yourself on different mental illnesses and their symptoms, (2) be supportive of your friend and talk to him or her in such a way that the person knows that you are being supportive and not calling him or her some sort of freak, (3) talk to your parents and pastor. Most forms of mental illness are treatable. (www.nami.org is a great place to get more information.)—EC Do you have a question for Ex Cathedra? You can email our resident know-it-all at editor@higherthings.org.

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“You are not your own, for you were bought with a price . . .”

(1 Corinthians 6:19b–20a).

I

f you’re a video game player, you know what this means. To be owned means that someone is beating you badly. And that person is telling you and everyone else. One definition of own is appreciate some of the this:“Owned: v.To be made a fool of; To make a fool of; To confound or benefits that gaming proprove wrong; Embarrassing someone: Being embarrassed.” Not so great, vides, provided one plays wisely. And, yes, I play huh? But ownage is a part of video gaming. It’s part of the culture. video games with my

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I admit it: I really like playing video games.

Console, PC, Arcade, online, offline—it doesn’t really matter. I like them all. And I have for a long time. I remember the days of Pong and had an Atari. When I was in college, we would often spend countless hours playing a variety of games—strategy, first-person shooters—just to pass the time.

Frankly, this drove my parents nuts. “Why do you waste your time!?!” they yelled, er, asked. I claimed that it wasn’t wasting time; I was honing my skills.

“What skills?” came the inevitable reply. “Eye-hand coordination,” said I. “That sounds like an important skill for a future pastor,” they countered.“What will it help you do? Make better hand movements when you preach?” Hmmmm. They had a point.

Larry’s excuse number two. “Strategic thinking!

These games help clarify my thinking so that I will preach more clearly!” I think I had a point on this one. I still do. My parents weren’t against my game playing; they were worried I was wasting my time on something useless. And you know, they had a point too.

Now that I’m a parent, I find myself repeating those words with my own kids. I worry about them wasting too much time on video games at the expense of their homework and exercise. But I also

kids (though I am the one who is usually owned).

That really is the key—playing wisely and responsibly as a child of God. For while there is nothing worse than being owned on a video game, there is nothing better than God’s ownage. God has bought and paid for you with the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of His Son, Jesus Christ. As Luther put it in the Small Catechism in his explanation of the Second Article of the Creed,“I believe that Jesus Christ . . . has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness . . . .”

Or, as a hymn puts it,“God’s own child, I gladly say it: I am baptized into Christ!

He, because I could not pay it, Gave my full redemption price.

Do I need earth’s treasure many?

I have one worth more than any That brought me salvation free Lasting to eternity!” (Hymnal Supplement 98, 844)

OWNED

By Rev. Dr. Lawrence R. Rast Jr.

As God’s owned children, you and I come at video games from a little different perspective. We see video games as a gift from God to be enjoyed judiciously within the context of our life in Christ. For there is a whole array of games available out there— from the tame to the violent, from the chaste to the obscene, from the appropriate to the improper. As you and your parents (Fourth Commandment) make decisions about what games to play, keep Christ’s summary of the Ten Commandments in mind:“And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. ‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?’ And he [Jesus] said to him,‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it:You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets’” (Matthew 22:35–40).

In other words, is the game anti-Christian? (First and Second Commandments) Does it encourage violent or inappropriate behavior? (Fifth Commandment) Does it have sexual encounters, nudity, or suggestive or sexually immoral material?

(Sixth Commandment) Does it encourage us to speak badly of other people? (Eighth Commandment) If it does, avoid it. No doubt you can think of more applications. Simply put, our video gaming should not put us in the position to be at odds with our commitments as the people of God. One last point on all this— video game characters can often run without tiring or stopping. However, if you sit in front of the monitor too long, we will

D!

end up so out of shape that we won’t be able to run anywhere. Be sure to take care of your body and exercise—don’t just sit in front of the computer/TV all day long. (Someone email me and remind me of this! J) The bottom line? Go ahead and play. But play smartly and wisely. There are a lot of worthless games out there. And no matter how good the game is, if you spend all your time on it, it is now playing you. But God gave you a wonderful mind and body that are able to process incredible amounts of information quickly and turn it into action. Use that mind to make good decisions about what games to play and for how long. Keep you parents informed of what you’re playing, and seek their advice on what’s appropriate. In so doing, we can appreciate God’s good gifts while at the same time rejoicing in the fact that we are owned by Him. The Rev. Dr. Lawrence R. Rast Jr. is a certified game nut and associate professor of historical theology at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana. His email is rastlr@hotmail.com.

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O OT PH TEST N CO

#

1 Who’s Reading

#1 Brid submitte and Groom and Na ed by Nick of Elkhaomi Kavouras rt, India na

Higher Things?

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hank you to all who participated in our first-ever in the history of the planet photo contest. We had great submissions!

The winners are…

#2 Pastor in trunk submitted

by Stephanie Behnke of Conroe, Texas

#1 Bride and Groom submitted by Nick and Naomi Kavouras of Elkhart, Indiana #2 Pastor in trunk submitted by Stephanie Behnke of Conroe, Texas #3 Doggies love HT submitted by Landon Reed of Tomball, Texas Honorable mention goes to Rachel Gleason of St. Joseph, Michigan for her many creative entries and sheer determination to win.

Thanks especially to Nick and Naomi Kavouras for actually interrupting their wedding, of all things, to pose. Nick and Naomi, your vintage t-shirts are on their way to you. (And you’ll match— oh, you’ll be such cute Higher Things newlyweds!)

e HT gies lov don Reed g o D 3 # an ed by L submitt , Texas all of Tomb

Lower Things Draw Boldly

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By Kelly Klages

Blessings in Time

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he commandments have a promise. Grace and blessing are given to those who keep the commandments.That is a promise. But in this case, grace and every blessing are not eternal life.

THE CLOSE OF THE COMMANDMENTS WHAT DOES GOD SAY ABOUT ALL OF THESE COMMANDMENTS? He says,“I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the he fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments” (Exodus 20:5-6).

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? God threatens to punish all who break these commandments.

Therefore, we should fear His wrath and not do anything against them.

But He promises grace and every blessing to all who keep these commandments.

Therefore, we should also love and trust in Him and gladly do what He commands.

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There is a similar promise in the civil laws of men. If you obey the speed limit, you will not get a ticket, and your chances of being hurt in an accident are less than those who drive faster than the speed limit. Those blessings are good things.

Their opposites (e.g., getting tickets, paying fines, paying increased insurance premiums, getting hurt, hurting someone else, damaging and paying for your car, etc.) are bad things. But the good things promised in these laws pretty much keep you even. It is more a matter of things not happening to you than it is good things being given to you.

It also is no guarantee that nothing bad will happen to you. For even if you keep the law, you are subject to the chaos and dangers created by those who don’t or even by the weather and other things outside of your control.There is a promise: you won’t get a ticket.You’re safer. But you can’t march into the courthouse and demand a prize because you’ve kept the law.That is what you’re supposed to do.

Your safety and wealth are their own reward.

That is the promise also of the moral law. If we keep the law, if we don’t steal or commit adultery or gossip about our neighbors, they tend to like us better.They are nicer to us. Keeping the law helps us to avoid penalties and danger.The goodwill and respect of our neighbors is the reward. But again, it is not guaranteed. Sometimes you still suffer because of the sins of others. At best you’re pretty much just even. After all, you can’t go to your neighbors and ask them to give you some of their stuff since you haven’t stolen it.

That is how the promise in the commandments works. When we keep God’s Law, we are doing ourselves a favor. It is the best way to live. But God doesn’t owe us anything for it. It is what we are supposed to do, and it is its own reward. What we see in the Law is a reflection of God’s good order and will for our lives. Because we trust and love Him, we gladly do what He commands. Insofar as we do, we are given grace and every blessing in this life. For a moral life is a blessing. It brings its own happiness with it.

But there is more to our Lord than that! For the reality is we have broken the Law. We have not kept it. And we have deserved punishment, but for the

most part we’ve gotten away with it.

We have not had to pay for many of our crimes. Even when we have paid a penalty it has not been to the extent that justice demands. Most of us who are old enough to drive have broken the speed limit. The police have not always caught us, but God always saw it. In breaking civil laws that are not contrary to God’s Law, we broke God’s Law. We sinned against the Fourth Commandment. Unless you’ve never sped or been ticketed every single time you did, then you’ve gotten away with it. It is not simply that you didn’t get caught. It is that God is merciful. He does not punish us as we deserve. He is slow to anger and takes no pleasure in our sorrow even if our sorrow is deserved.

Still, if that were all there was, we’d only be even.

We’d be in the same place as Adam was in the Garden of Eden before the fall. It is not a bad place.

But it is not heaven. If all Jesus did was keep the Law for us, we could no more demand heaven than you could go to the court house and demand a prize for not speeding. But Jesus did more for us— He became one of us. He paid for our sins, was our substitute, and kept the Law for us. But He also rose from the dead and ascended into heaven—as one of us! We are not just even. We are the children of the Father, the brothers of Jesus Christ, and heaven is our home. God is merciful, yes. He is also gracious.

He not only does not punish us as we deserve, He also gives us what we have not earned. In both cases, it is not fair, but it is holy. By the incarnation of Jesus Christ and the promise of His Gospel, He has made us His and opened heaven. So for all the promise and inherent goodness of the Law and all of its divine wisdom, it pales in comparison to the gift God has given to us in the revelation of His Son. For He does not merely give us grace and every blessing, but He causes us to be His own and live under Him in His Kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.

Rev. David Petersen is pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and is also on the Higher Things editorial board. His e-mail address is David.H.Petersen@att.net.

by Rev. David Petersen

The Promise of the Law:

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Pastor Timothy Schellenbach Bible Study Leaders’ Guide I.

This article, really a sermon on Luke 7:36-50, focuses a great deal on the concept of someone “measuring” or “playing games with” or “using” someone else. First, Simon invites Jesus into his house.

A. Who starts out trying to measure or use whom at first?

Simon is the one trying to “measure” Jesus by testing him, by seeing if he will stumble, by seeing what He’s really all about.

B. By the end of the lesson, how is the situation reversed?

Jesus uses the woman to point out Simon’s flaws by contrast. Simon ends up being the one measured

by Jesus and found wanting, because he was only willing to be forgiven a little, if at all.

II. Then, the woman comes in and washes and anoints Jesus’ feet.

A. How is the woman different from Simon?

It’s obviously not that one is a sinner, the other isn’t. Rather it’s that one is a repentant sinner, the other is self-righteous. Or, said another way, Simon wants to play Jesus or use Him, while the woman, having been played and used, wants someone who will not play those selfish games but simply love her and forgive her.

B. How is Jesus different from anyone in the woman’s previous experience?

He isn’t playing games, He’s forgiving sins. Freely. He isn’t doing anything for His own benefit, but out of love for all with whom He comes into contact.

III. Luther once said to his colleague Philip Melanchthon, “If you want to have a real Savior, you’ve got to be a real sinner.”

A. Does this mean we should go out and commit some really big sins so Jesus can forgive us a lot?

Of course not. It means that we already are really big sinners on whom God’s wrath would fall if it weren’t for Christ, and that therefore we already have a really big Savior.

B. How does God measure you? Where does His measure of your love come from?

He measures you in Christ. In other words, He measures how much you love, not on the basis of how good you are, but by how much you have been forgiven.

C. What does the fact that we have a “real Savior” tell you about how He comes to you?

He comes to you in that which is real. Bread, wine, water, the spoken Word. He comes to you in that which is real, not in feelings or thoughts that come from inside yourself. And it’s a good thing, since feelings and thoughts can change, but His Word of forgiveness abides forever.

Pastor Timothy Schellenbach Bible Study I.

This article, really a sermon on Luke 7:36-50, focuses a great deal on the concept of someone “measuring” or “playing games with” or “using” someone else. First, Simon invites Jesus into his house.

A. Who starts out trying to measure or use whom at first?

B. By the end of the lesson, how is the situation reversed?

II. Then, the woman comes in and washes and anoints Jesus’ feet.

A. How is the woman different from Simon?

B. How is Jesus different from anyone in the woman’s previous experience?

III. Luther once said to his colleague Philip Melanchthon, “If you want to have a real Savior, you’ve got to be a real sinner.”

A. Does this mean we should go out and commit some really big sins so Jesus can forgive us a lot?

B. How does God measure you? Where does His measure of your love come from?

C. What does the fact that we have a “real Savior” tell you about how He comes to you?

Pastor Paul Philp Bible Study Leaders’ Guide I.

“The fact is that the Bible is not prescriptive when it comes to the issue of cosmetic surgery, and any explicit conclusion we attempt to draw from it is a stretch.”

A. What can we hope to gain from a Bible study on this topic?

There is much to discuss. Insight can be gained even if the Bible is not explicit. A proper framework for considering cosmetic surgery can be gained, though not specific answers.

B. Mr. Eliker notes, “Cosmetic surgery has been very helpful for many people” and then gives several examples. May we view cosmetic surgery, in circumstances such as these, to be a gracious gift from God? It is certainly possible in the cases listed to view God’s gift to those people. God blesses us through many medical means; it is reasonable to view cosmetic surgery as His gift too.

II. Read Luke 6:6-11 and Luke 17:11-19.

A. What is the motivation of the one who comes to Jesus? How does Jesus respond?

In both cases Jesus grants healing of a somewhat cosmetic nature. The motivation of those coming is healing and restoration.

B. What is Jesus motivation? What is the response to Jesus?

Jesus’ motivation is to give glory to His Father: in Luke 6 He does so by demonstrating that He is Lord of the Sabbath and in Luke 17 it is through the worship of the one who returns to give thanks. In the 1st example, only the response of the Pharisees is noted. In the second example, for at least one the response is joyful thanksgiving. While these texts do not directly address the issue, it seems that healing is permissible and that as God grants such healing it brings Him glory through our praise and thanksgiving. Healing through cosmetic surgery may be viewed the same.

III. Mr. Eliker asks, “Shouldn’t we be happy with the way we are?” Read II Corinthians 12:7-10.

A. Was Paul happy with himself? What did he do? Was he pleased with the results? Did anything change? How is Paul’s prayer and response helpful to us? Does it help with the, “real pain, real recovery, real cost, and sometimes the real consequences of surgery gone wrong?”

Paul was unhappy with his “thorn.” He wanted it removed. He prayed many times for God to remove it.

He was pleased with the results. God did not remove it, but Paul was able to view it as a blessing from God, which strengthened his faith. Something was different: his attitude shifted from one of desire for removing the struggle to one of joyful acceptance of God’s grace in difficulty. Paul helps us to understand that we can indeed beg God to help us with our “thorn,” even remove it (perhaps through surgery). He also helps us to understand that God gives us the strength we need to endure if it is not removed. In terms of the pain, etc. Paul points us to the same strength of faith. In either case (surgery or not) God promises to give us strength in His Word.

Higher Things – Dare to be Lutheran “Cosmetic Surgery: Reality Check” Bible Study Leaders’ Guide B. Is it “time for a serious reality check?” Do our motivations matter when making a decision such as having cosmetic surgery? Upon what is our human value based? In Baptism we are “clothed in Christ,” what does this say about our human value? Read Ephesians 5:22-33. Who is the Bride of Christ? What has Christ done for her? Does this speak to our human value? How does this knowledge help us to struggle with who we are, what we look like, and how others might treat us? How does this help us with cosmetic surgery?

It seems that our motivations do matter. Making a decision for the wrong reasons may lead to further difficulties. A clear yes or no on having cosmetic surgery isn’t provided in Scripture, but God does speak of our human value. We are those for whom Christ suffered and died to restore us fully to Him. Our human value is directly tied to the fact that we belong to God: He made us, He redeemed us, He loves us, and He marked us as His own in baptism. We (the Church) are the Bride of Christ. He has restored us by His suffering, death, and resurrection to present us holy and without blemish to the Father. This defines our human value – we belong to Christ, with all of our imperfections and difficulties included, and all of them removed and perfected in Him; no matter who we are, what we look like, or how others treat us. This helps us deal with such difficulties by comforting us that no matter what, we are perfect in Christ. This knowledge may help us in deciding whether or not to have cosmetic surgery by providing a framework in which to make such a decision; namely that we are a redeemed child of God, already perfect in Him for all eternity.

Pastor Paul Philp Bible Study I.

“The fact is that the Bible is not prescriptive when it comes to the issue of cosmetic surgery, and any explicit conclusion we attempt to draw from it is a stretch.”

A. What can we hope to gain from a Bible study on this topic?

B. Mr. Eliker notes, “Cosmetic surgery has been very helpful for many people” and then gives several examples. May we view cosmetic surgery, in circumstances such as these, to be a gracious gift from God?

II. Read Luke 6:6-11 and Luke 17:11-19.

A. What is the motivation of the one who comes to Jesus? How does Jesus respond?

B. What is Jesus motivation? What is the response to Jesus?

III. Mr. Eliker asks, “Shouldn’t we be happy with the way we are?” Read II Corinthians 12:7-10.

A. Was Paul happy with himself? What did he do? Was he pleased with the results? Did anything change? How is Paul’s prayer and response helpful to us? Does it help with the, “real pain, real recovery, real cost, and sometimes the real consequences of surgery gone wrong?”

B. Is it “time for a serious reality check?” Do our motivations matter when making a decision such as having cosmetic surgery? Upon what is our human value based? In Baptism we are “clothed in Christ,” what does this say about our human value? Read Ephesians 5:22-33. Who is the Bride of Christ? What has Christ done for her? Does this speak to our human value? How does this knowledge help us to struggle with who we are, what we look like, and how others might treat us? How does this help us with cosmetic surgery?

Pastor Glenn Niemann Bible Study Leaders’ Guide I.

“…the absolute last thing you want to do is try to get to heaven,” writes Pastor Borghardt. Whenever we try to do anything, there is uncertainty: we either succeed or fail. In fact, how does Scripture illustrate the result of our trying to get to heaven?

A. B. C. D.

Psalm 14:3 Isaiah 64:6 Ecclesiastes 7:20 Galatians 3:10-11 Because of sin—original and actual, whether of commission or omission—any attempt of ours to get to heaven fails.

II. “To find life—to be saved—you must lose your life.” At first glance, this seems to be a hard proposition.

After all, who really wants to be a “loser,” anyway? Yet what does this mortal life entail—regardless of our trying to “save” it?

A. B. C. D.

Psalm 51:5 Galatians 5:19 Matthew 15:19 James 1:15 Since we cannot escape sin—or its results—in our lives, there is really no point in our trying to “save” it whatsoever…and when compared to the glories of heaven, it isn’t worth saving!

III. “It’s not like you have to try to get to heaven … in Christ, heaven is a done deal.” To try to get to heaven points us to our own (failing) attempts; but Scripture speaks of heaven as a gift of our loving God. How do the following passages speak of heaven being a “done deal”?

A. B. C. D.

Job 19:25-27 Hebrews 9:27-28 Matthew 9:2 II Timothy 4:18 Scripture always speaks of heaven as an already-accomplished-fact, a loving gift of God in Christ.

IV. “…the entire kingdom of heaven was delivered to you in Baptism—it was!” How? A. B. C. D.

Acts 22:16 I Corinthians 6:11 Romans 6:3-5 I Peter 3:21 Since Baptism delivers the blood-bought atonement of Christ, it washes away the sin which condemns us and opens the “pearly gates” of heaven to us.

Pastor Glenn Niemann Bible Study I.

“…the absolute last thing you want to do is try to get to heaven,” writes Pastor Borghardt. Whenever we try to do anything, there is uncertainty: we either succeed or fail. In fact, how does Scripture illustrate the result of our trying to get to heaven?

A. B. C. D.

Psalm 14:3 Isaiah 64:6 Ecclesiastes 7:20 Galatians 3:10-11

II. “To find life—to be saved—you must lose your life.” At first glance, this seems to be a hard proposition.

After all, who really wants to be a “loser,” anyway? Yet what does this mortal life entail—regardless of our trying to “save” it?

A. B. C. D.

Psalm 51:5 Galatians 5:19 Matthew 15:19 James 1:15

III. “It’s not like you have to try to get to heaven … in Christ, heaven is a done deal.” To try to get to heaven points us to our own (failing) attempts; but Scripture speaks of heaven as a gift of our loving God. How do the following passages speak of heaven being a “done deal”?

A. B. C. D.

Job 19:25-27 Hebrews 9:27-28 Matthew 9:2 II Timothy 4:18

IV. “…the entire kingdom of heaven was delivered to you in Baptism—it was!” How? A. B. C. D.

Acts 22:16 I Corinthians 6:11 Romans 6:3-5 I Peter 3:21

Pastor Timothy Schellenbach Bible Study Leaders’ Guide I.

Seminarian Fouts writes, “Hell is unfathomable even to the most demented human imagination.”

A. What were some ideas about hell you had as a child?

Answers here will vary.

B. Read Isaiah 66:24, Matthew 13:50, and Matthew 25:41. What picture of hell do these Scripture passages give us?

The basic idea being looked for here is that hell is separation from God’s gracious presence and blessings. For example, “Depart from Me,” in Matthew 25. Fire and darkness and pain and torment are only shadows of what it would mean to be separated completely and permanently from the blessings and fellowship of our Creator.

II. “When you redefine hell, you redefine your Savior. . . .If the reality of hell is forgotten, why do we even need a Savior?”

A. Read 1 Corinthians 15:19. What does Paul say about a savior whose only effect is on this life?

If we only hope in Christ for this life, we are devoting ourselves to a belief that cannot really help us, and therefore can only be pitied.

B. Evaluate the following ideas: “Christianity is about getting justice for the poor.” “Our Church is all about meeting the felt needs of people in our community.” “I’m a Christian so that I can learn how to live a happier and better life here on earth.” “The most important thing about reading the Bible is that it guides me in making decisions in my daily life.”

All these statements focus on this life and make the realities of heaven and hell, sin and grace, salvation and judgment irrelevant. In one way or another, each of these ideas, which are very common in modern American Christianity, redefine our Savior in a way that Paul would identify as being pitiable.

III. “Hell took what appeared to be a lifeless human body and found that it had swallowed up God Himself.”

A. Read Colossians 2:15. With what did God triumph over the powers and authorities of hell? Why is that important?

He triumphed over them with the Cross. It’s important because it wasn’t just a regular military-style victory but an “inside job” which freed the prisoners from their prison rather than subjecting them (us) to further suffering.

B. How, according to Seminarian Fouts, does God triumph over the hell that lives in us (the old Adam)?

The same way He triumphs over hell itself: that which appears ordinary and dead is swallowed up, only to find God Himself there, with His power to renew and restore His creation.

Pastor Timothy Schellenbach Bible Study I.

Seminarian Fouts writes, “Hell is unfathomable even to the most demented human imagination.”

A. What were some ideas about hell you had as a child?

B. Read Isaiah 66:24, Matthew 13:50, and Matthew 25:41. What picture of hell do these Scripture passages give us?

II. “When you redefine hell, you redefine your Savior. . . .If the reality of hell is forgotten, why do we even need a Savior?”

A. Read 1 Corinthians 15:19. What does Paul say about a savior whose only effect is on this life?

B. Evaluate the following ideas: “Christianity is about getting justice for the poor.” “Our Church is all about meeting the felt needs of people in our community.” “I’m a Christian so that I can learn how to live a happier and better life here on earth.” “The most important thing about reading the Bible is that it guides me in making decisions in my daily life.”

III. “Hell took what appeared to be a lifeless human body and found that it had swallowed up God Himself.”

A. Read Colossians 2:15. With what did God triumph over the powers and authorities of hell? Why is that

important?

B. How, according to Seminarian Fouts, does God triumph over the hell that lives in us (the old Adam)?

Pastor David Ritoch Bible Study Leaders’ Guide I.

What a fascinating, but all too common, dilemma it is in which Kathy finds herself. Let’s get right to the heart of the matter: A. So that we can begin our discussion, identify the challenges that Kathy faces.

Let students answer as they wish (leaders should not prompt answers at this point—just listen to initial reactions).

Some comments may include: Molly did not return Kathy’s shirt and then lied about it (that is at the heart of the dilemma). Kathy’s mother is saying that since Kathy is also guilty of lying, she should cut Molly some slack and forget about the offense. Molly also remembers what the Lord’s Prayer says about forgiving others as she has been forgiven by God. B. Do you think that Molly’s mother is correct in telling her to simply forgive and forget the offense?

Again, answers may vary. Just listen to the students at this point.

II. Let’s take a look at the facts: A. Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary defines “steal” as “to take the property of another; to take or appropriate without right with intent to keep or make use of wrongfully.” Did Molly “steal” Kathy’s shirt?

It all depends on how one interprets the words. Since Kathy gave her permission to borrow it, and it was not her original intention to keep it, the worldly answer would be, ”No, it was an oversight.” It is true that each of us have borrowed things belonging to others and not returned them promptly. On the other hand, she did later admit to seeing it in her drawer, but claimed she had returned it. Molly either has a very poor memory, or she is embarrassed, as Kathy’s Mom said, and unwilling to admit her error.

B. God’s Seventh Commandment clearly states: “You shall not steal.” Did Molly steal in God’s eyes?

Yes. Luther, in his Small Catechism explanation to the Seventh Commandment, writes: “What does this mean?

We should fear and love God so that we do not take our neighbor’s money or possessions, or get them in any dishonest way, but help him to improve and protect his possessions and income.” Molly is not protecting Kathy’s possessions by keeping the shirt for herself.

III. When Kathy decides not to go out with Molly, her mother said, “You have to make a decision, Kathy. What is more valuable? Your friendship or your pride? Friends lie to one another. Sometimes you have to call your friend on it, and sometimes you have to let it slide.”

A. Do you agree that this is a pride issue?

It is probably not so much an issue of pride as it is of fairness. We humans usually measure fairness by how we feel (emotionally) about an issue, and we are rather wishy-washy. We like to apply our own rules, which are dictated by how we are feeling that day, to most situations. But there is One—our Father in heaven—Who can be completely fair and just, and He has told us what is right and true. Clearly, Kathy is angry because her friend did not tell the truth. King David, after he was confronted with his sin by the prophet Nathan for stealing Bathsheba from her husband and having him murdered, confessed his sin and prayed, “Behold, You delight in truth in the inward being, and You teach me wisdom in the secret heart” (Psalm 51:6).

Higher Things – Dare to be Lutheran “Ladybug Lies and Sliding Shirts” Bible Study – Leaders’ Guide, continued B. How would you handle this situation? What advice would you give Kathy?

No Christian wants to be a modern-day Pharisee, always looking to point out the sins and shortcomings of those around him or her. Every human who ever lived, lives, or will live is a sinner, and God knows no degrees of sin.

Any unconfessed sin is dangerous to one’s faith. But there are also those who delight in lording it over others who are weaker in the faith—or who have no faith at all—because it makes them feel superior. You have experienced this in your own life. How often have you heard someone condemn, for instance, the person who sins sexually (our favorite topic), but fails to see the sin of gossip in his or her own self? Indeed, our Lord is not pleased with that kind of behavior because it leads to false pride. Is that what Kathy is doing, or is she genuinely concerned about her friend’s welfare? “Kathy” leaves that up to us to decide. Sticking with Luther and putting the best construction on it, she is concerned, as a Christian should be.

C. Should Kathy confront Molly?

God’s Word says, “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness” (Galatians 6:1). While many people today—even some Christians—would reject this approach, it is often necessary to confront sin in others. While it is often pastors who do this, it is every Christians’ responsibility to watch out for other brothers and sisters in Christ. The key words in the above passage are “restore” and “gentleness.” The goal is to bring the brother who is caught in a sin back into the arms of his Savior, but it must be done in a loving, Gospel-centered way. It must be done in the way that Christ does it with us.

IV. Jesus taught His disciples to pray like this: “And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

A. What does this mean?

“We pray in this petition that our Father in heaven would not look at our sins, or deny our prayer because of them.

We are neither worthy of the things for which we pray, nor have we deserved them, but we ask that He would give them all to us by grace, for we daily sin much and surely deserve nothing but punishment. So we too will sincerely forgive and gladly do good to those who sin against us.”

B. Did Jesus mean that God will forgive us only if we forgive others?

We sincerely hope not, or we are all in deep trouble! It is not because we forgive the sins of others that God forgives us, but that we can forgive others because we have been forgiven. Thanks be to God that Jesus, our Lord, died on the cross for our sins so that we might have that most wonderful gift of grace and love!

Pastor David Ritoch Bible Study I.

What a fascinating, but all too common, dilemma it is in which Kathy finds herself. Let’s get right to the heart of the matter: A. So that we can begin our discussion, identify the challenges that Kathy faces.

B. Do you think that Molly’s mother is correct in telling her to simply forgive and forget the offense?

II. Let’s take a look at the facts: A. Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary defines “steal” as “to take the property of another; to take or appropriate without right with intent to keep or make use of wrongfully.” Did Molly “steal” Kathy’s shirt?

B. God’s Seventh Commandment clearly states: “You shall not steal.” Did Molly steal in God’s eyes?

III. When Kathy decides not to go out with Molly, her mother said, “You have to make a decision, Kathy. What is more valuable? Your friendship or your pride? Friends lie to one another. Sometimes you have to call your friend on it, and sometimes you have to let it slide.”

A. Do you agree that this is a pride issue?

B. How would you handle this situation? What advice would you give Kathy?

C. Should Kathy confront Molly?

IV. Jesus taught His disciples to pray like this: “And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

A. What does this mean?

B. Did Jesus mean that God will forgive us only if we forgive others?

Pastor Thomas Hoyt Bible Study Leaders’ Guide I.

Pray Luther’s morning prayer: “I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.” Consider especially the words, “that all my doings and life may please You.” A. If we think of this earthly life as a “test,” does God grade on a curve? What is the grade necessary to pass the “test”? How well does God expect us to keep His commands? See St. Matthew 5:48.

“Perfection” is exactly what God demands. When God created Adam and Eve in perfection (God declares everything “very good,” “perfect,” exactly as He had planned it. That was what God intended for humanity, and for the whole world.

B. Read Genesis 3:23-24. Were Adam and Eve allowed to continue living in the Garden of Eden after God found that they had broken His command? See also Psalm 5:4-5.

God not only removed them from the Garden, but He commanded that they would have to work for the many things that they had “freely” in the Garden (Gen. 3:17-19). He also commanded that Eve would have pain in childbirth (Gen 3:16). The reference to “desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you” predicts the “role reversal” that we often see today in church and in family. We see this most clearly in the many women who desire to become preachers and pastors contrary to God’s command (1 Tim. 2:11-14).

C. Can we get a better “deal” from ‘another god’? Read Isaiah 42:8 Will God allow himself to be held equal to all of the so-called “gods”?

No! We often see people trying to equate the Triune God to others when public prayers are said without a reference to the True God. People use terms such as God of love, Architect of the Universe, etc.

II. Ponder the phrase in the “Close of the Commandments”: “But showing love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments” (Exodus 20:5-6).

A. If we cannot keep God’s law because of our sinful nature, where is our hope? We probably all know “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 3:23). But, where does God show his love for us? Read Galatians 3:13.

Jesus hung on the ‘tree’ (think: tree, wood, cross) and became the curse of death on our behalf (for us).

B. Read Col. 1:13-14. How does this verse show us God’s love?

Notice the words “forgiveness of sins.” Christ has paid the wage, punishment, price that was demanded because of our sin. If the punishment price has been paid God can not hold our sins against us. They are forgiven. “Redemption” means “to buy back.” In Christ God has “bought us back” from Satan’s threats and punishments.

C. Read Gal. 5:22-26. What is the fruit (usual product) of following Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit?

Notice that the ‘tree’ does not decide that it will produce fruit. The tree produces fruit because that is what it is, a fruit tree, or whatever kind of tree produces whatever its suppose to produce. Likewise, when we live in God’s grace, rather than slaves of Satan and sin, our lives will be those that produce the fruits of the Spirit.

Pastor Thomas Hoyt Bible Study I.

Pray Luther’s morning prayer: “I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.” Consider especially the words, “that all my doings and life may please You.” A. If we think of this earthly life as a “test,” does God grade on a curve? What is the grade necessary to pass the “test”? How well does God expect us to keep His commands? See St. Matthew 5:48.

B. Read Genesis 3:23-24. Were Adam and Eve allowed to continue living in the Garden of Eden after God found that they had broken His command? See also Psalm 5:4-5.

C. Can we get a better “deal” from ‘another god’? Read Isaiah 42:8 Will God allow himself to be held equal to all of the so-called “gods”?

II. Ponder the phrase in the “Close of the Commandments”: “But showing love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments” (Exodus 20:5-6).

A. If we cannot keep God’s law because of our sinful nature, where is our hope? We probably all know “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 3:23). But, where does God show his love for us? Read Galatians 3:13.

B. Read Col. 1:13-14. How does this verse show us God’s love?

C. Read Gal. 5:22-26. What is the fruit (usual product) of following Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit?