Reformation Day
(Observed)
500th
Anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation
October 29, 2017
Text: John 8:31-36
What
is it we are celebrating on this 500th Anniversary of the Lutheran
Reformation? It’s an important
question. A certain focus is called for
here, especially on such a big anniversary when all the world is watching. What, specifically, are we rejoicing
about? What is our goal in the celebration? What do we want others to take away from
this? What is this all about?
First,
as a matter of clarification, we should say precisely what this is not about. Believe it or not, this is really not about
Martin Luther. Oh, we will say a lot
about him and give thanks to God for him.
He is, after all, the main character in Reformation history, and we take
our name from him and call him the chief teacher of our Church because of his
faith, his teaching of the Holy Scriptures, and preaching of Christ as our
salvation. He clarified once again for
the Church that our salvation is accomplished by Christ alone in His death and
resurrection, given to us by grace alone, which is to say, freely, on account
of Christ, and received by faith alone, the Holy Spirit’s gift to us, our
coming to believe in Jesus as the Spirit preaches to us in His Word, Holy
Scripture, Scripture alone… The great Reformation solas: Solus Christus, Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Sola Scriptura. We celebrate all of that, but we do not
worship Luther on this day, or any day, nor do we even believe everything he
says. But we rejoice as he points us to
Christ. Luther is, above all, a preacher
of Christ.
This
is also not about Lutheranism or our denomination, the Lutheran Church –
Missouri Synod, as much as we rejoice in these gifts. We dare not take solace in our membership in
the club, any more than the Jews in our Holy Gospel could take refuge in being
offspring of Abraham (John 8:33). I
rejoice, maybe more than you do, that you’re Missouri Synod Lutherans, and I
want more people to be Missouri Synod Lutherans. But the Reformation is not about joining a
denomination, and it is especially not about creating a new denomination. It is about God’s using a poor, sinful beggar
of a monk named Martin Luther to call the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic
Church to repentance and reform, to return to the pure Gospel of Jesus
Christ.
And
very much related to this, this is not the day we stick it to the Roman
Catholics. We have grave concerns about
Roman doctrine and tremendous disagreements with them, but they are brothers
and sisters in Christ, and we pray for their salvation in Christ alone, that
they would believe in Christ alone and not their own works. Our confessions still call upon them to reform, to join us in our confession of
Christ and our salvation by His grace alone, through faith alone, apart from
works, as St. Paul teaches us this morning in our Epistle (Rom. 3:19-28). It should be noted that Luther and his
colleagues never wanted to start a
new church. They wanted to reform the
one Christ had given, and they wanted to do it by preaching. And when Rome finally rejected the Lutherans
by excommunicating Luther and rejecting the Augsburg Confession, and finally
declaring us all anathema (damned) in the Council of Trent, we contend that they left us. We are still catholics. Not Roman
Catholics, but true catholics, which is to say, those who believe, teach, and
confess, according to the whole doctrine of our Lord Jesus Christ, as the
Church has believed it everywhere and always.
And though we can’t go to Communion with our brothers and sisters in
Rome, we pray for their Reformation, reconciliation with them, and eventual
reunification, which will happen
(though I have my doubts that it will happen here and now in this life. You never know. God will do what He will do. But it will happen on that Day when our one
Lord Jesus Christ returns in glory).
There
is much more we could say about what the Reformation is not. It is not about us. It is not about us vs. them. It is not about what a great gift we are to
the world. Beloved in the Lord, it is
about Jesus. It is all about Jesus and
His Gospel. It is all about Jesus and
what He has done for His people through all of history, and not just in the
last 500 years. It is about what Jesus
did 500 years ago through His servant, Martin Luther and his colleagues in
Wittenberg. It is not about what Luther
did, it is about what Jesus did and does for us and for our salvation. As our Synod’s official Reformation 500 motto
has it, “It’s still all about Jesus.”
500
years ago, October 31st, 1517, on the Eve of All Saints’ Day, Dr.
Luther posted his 95 Theses against Indulgences on the Castle Church door in
Wittenberg. Indulgences were papers for
sale from Rome that declared, “If you buy this, all your sins are
forgiven.” In other words, the Pope was
selling forgiveness of sins for money, as if he had the authority to sell what
Christ freely gives. This made Luther
mad. Luther is a pastor at heart. And what a tremendous misleading of the
people this caused in their Christian faith and life. It directed the people away from Christ and
to the Pope for salvation, as well as to their work of paying money. Many of the people used indulgences as a
license to sin however they pleased, a “get out of hell (or at least Purgatory)
free” card, if you will. Luther rightly
thought we needed to talk about this.
His posting on the Church door isn’t all that remarkable. The door was the bulletin board for the
parish. Luther wrote his 95 Theses in
Latin, which means they were really meant for academics and students at the
University. They were a call to debate
indulgences in an academic setting. You
should know about these theses that they weren’t very Lutheran. Luther hadn’t yet had his “aha” moment, his
Tower Experience, where he came to understand the Gospel by his reading of
Romans. But there are some beautiful
things he says in them. Beautiful
because they are true. Beautiful because
they are the beginning of something, the beginning of being set free by the
Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Free from
sin. Free from condemnation. Free to be God’s children, loved and
forgiven. The first of the Theses is
worth its weight in gold: “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent’
[Matt. 4:17], he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.”[1]
Which
is to say, our whole life in Christ is one of reformation. And not just for reformation’s sake, but for
the sake of repentance and faith in Christ.
It is reformation from all the things that would direct us away from
Christ and to ourselves and our own works and our own resources or anything or
anyone other than Christ for forgiveness of sins and eternal salvation. It is, we might say, re-conform-ation to the
faith handed down to the saints from Christ Himself, His pure doctrine, His
pure Gospel, a re-shaping of ourselves according to the form of Christ.
This
is re-conform-ation is not burdensome.
It is, in fact, true freedom.
Apart from the reformation Jesus performs upon us and within us by His
Spirit in His Word, we are slaves to sin.
We are slaves to our tyrannical selves.
We are slaves to death. We are
slaves to the devil. We are slaves to
hell. But if you abide in the Word of
Christ, which is what the Reformation is all about, then you will know the
truth, and the truth will set you free (John 8:31-32). Which is to say, Jesus, the Son of God, who
is Truth incarnate, will set you free.
And “if the Son sets you free,
you will be free indeed” (v. 36; ESV).
Free from all that enslaves you.
Free from bondage to sin, death, and hell. Free to be sons of God, God’s own child, I
gladly say it. Free to live under the
providence and security of your Mighty Fortress, our God, our Savior, Jesus
Christ, whose arms outstretched on the cross shelter you, by whose wounds you
are healed.
Beloved
in the Lord, the Reformation after 500 years is still all about Jesus. It is
about Jesus for you. Jesus on the cross for you. Jesus risen from
the dead for you. Jesus living and reigning for you.
And it is about Jesus right here and now for you in the Scriptures, in preaching and Absolution, in Baptism
and Supper, in suffering and the cross, in the mutual conversation and
consolation of the brethren, the Communion of Saints, the Holy Christian (which
is to say, Catholic!) and Apostolic Church.
Here He is, bringing you to repentance for your sins and faith in Himself
for your forgiveness. It’s Reformation
Day, and He is reforming you. He is
giving you Himself for your form. He is
giving you Himself for your forgiveness and life. He is giving you Himself for your eternal
salvation. How do we best celebrate Reformation
Day? By receiving Jesus here in His
gifts in His Church. Because after 500
years and all the years the Lord has sustained His Church catholic, after all
the years since our father Adam first came to faith in the Promise of the
Gospel, it’s still all about
Jesus. It’s all about Jesus for you.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son (+), and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
That's beautiful.
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