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Te Deum 2015: What Did It Mean?
By Monica Berndt
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These first words of the historic hymn known as the “Te Deum” have been sung by Christians since some time in the 4th century. This hymn also happened to be the theme of this year’s Higher Things summer conferences. It’s rather hard to explain a Higher Things conference to someone outside of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, but it’s also surprisingly difficult to explain it to someone within the Synod who has never heard of it before. “What is it?” they ask, puzzled by the description. Well, Higher Things draws people from all across the U.S.A (and even from Canada and Sweden) to hear God’s Word preached, to participate in the Liturgy, and to listen to pastors from all different walks of life speak on issues that are quite relevant to young people in our current society.
Perhaps another way to describe a Higher Things conference is to say that it is a church camp. However, this, too, is unfortunately inaccurate. Church camp tends to come with a whole host of stereotypes which include, but are not limited to: emotional praise songs around campfires, dedication of lives to Jesus, and the desire to make everybody who attends feel empowered by some sort of spirit, so that they can go out and blast through every worldly problem that comes their way. No, the Higher Things conference was not that either. There were no speakers telling us how amazing our lives are or will be, no praise songs moving us to tears, no promises of a better life. In fact, the pastors took great care to remind each of us that we are sinners living in a fallen and deceived world, and that if it weren’t for the mercy of Christ we, too, would be running headlong down the wide path that leads to destruction.
So then, what was this conference all about? Jesus. More Jesus. Only Jesus. His Word and His Sacraments were present throughout the conference as each pastor continually went back to the Bible, and to the clear distinction between the Law and Gospel, to remind us that even in the midst of the troubles and issues of our day-to-day lives, God will take care of each and every one of us. Every time we attended a service during this conference (14 total), and heard the Scriptures preached by many different pastors, received Holy Communion, made the sign of the cross in remembrance of our Baptism, or bowed to acknowledge the Trinity, we confessed Jesus. We confessed that we are totally sinful human beings in this world and yet, through Jesus, we are totally righteous and redeemed members of His heavenly kingdom. It’s a wonderful and mysterious paradox: simul justus et peccator (at the same time righteous and sinner).
I had the great privilege of attending my first Higher Things conference this year as a College Conference Volunteer (CCV) and was able to see the wonderful things that take place at this conference. We attended daily services: Matins, Vespers, Evenin g Prayer, and Compline. Each service has a slightly different focus and is designed for a specific time of the day. For instance, Matins is an early morning service designed to prepare the Christian for the day ahead while Compline is the service at the close of the day to prepare the soul and body for rest. Then, each day we had a plenary speaker who talked about topics related to the Te Deum theme, such as the difference between the old and new man and how they approach worship, and the history behind the Te Deum hymn. Each day also allowed us the opportunity to break into smaller lectures which covered a variety of different topics from university idolatry to gay marriage to patterns and themes within the Scriptures. There was so much wisdom within these sessions as each presenter had drawn his or her topic material from the Scriptures and was careful not to rely on personal opinion. That was perhaps one of the most amazing things about this conference: No one claimed to have all the answers, but everyone directed our attention to the place that does. It was truly wonderful to interact with so many people who believe, teach and confess the same thing, drawn from the same place and faithful to the same Scriptures.
Higher Things was not simply some conference that led me to believe that I could change myself by my own strength and be better. Rather, it was through the ancient rites, sacraments, and the wisdom of many pastors and adults that I came to better understand my faith, the faith of my forefathers, and the faith of my descendants—the faith that receives Jesus and His gifts for the forgiveness of sins. We are not alone; we have the whole host of heaven singing and chanting with us… but even so, it is gratifying to know that there are others out in the world who dare to be Lutheran.
Monica Berndt is a member of Christ the Savior Lutheran Church in George, Washington and studies church music at the University of Washington.
