THE FESTIVAL OF REFORMATION DAY
25 October Anno + Domini 2009 (Observed)
"The Reformation
John 8:31-36 (Rev. 14:6-7;
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
"When the Festival of the Reformation shall come and shall wake no throb of joy in the Church's bosom, her life will have fled.†So wrote Charles Porterfield Krauth a century and a half ago. Already in his day, he witnessed Lutherans succumbing to the influence of Americanized Protestants and all but abandoning their confession of the faith. It was as if many Lutherans had forgotten what the Reformation was all about. Krauth and many other brave and courageous men sent by God, including our own C.F.W. Walther, sought to remind Lutherans of their heritage, to restore among them the pure Gospel which had been re-discovered during the Reformation, to exhort them to ever hold fast the Word of Truth in the midst of the many errors that surrounded them. In short, the children of the Reformation were in need of reformation.
It is no different today. We do not gather together this morning to merely remember what happened in the sixteenth century. We gather to be reminded that the battle for the Truth of the Gospel continues to this day and will continue until the Truth Himself appears in the clouds on the Last Day. There is a reason why the Church on earth is referred to as the Church Militant. She is always at war this side of heaven. She is always called upon to wield the sword of the Spirit, that is, the Word of God, against all enemies of that Word. Thus, we sing:
Lord, keep us steadfast in Your Word;
Curb those who by deceit or sword
Would wrest the kingdom from Your Son
And bring to naught all He has done.
The Reformation marches on, dear friends. Will we take up arms and march to its beat onto the battlefield to fight the good fight of the faith? Does it awake in our bosom a throb of joy? Do we realize the great treasure we have in the True Gospel, and are we willing to lose our life, goods, fame, child, and wife rather than to lose that treasure? Those are questions worthy of our consideration, not only today, but everyday.
It is good for
us to be reminded this day of the spark that ignited the Reformation of the
one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church.
That spark was the selling of pieces of paper, called indulgences, which
were signed by the Pope. Those who
purchased these little pieces of paper were told that, by doing so, they could
buy their dead relatives out of purgatory and release them into the bliss of
heaven. Or, they could purchase these
pieces of paper for themselves, to knock off some of the time they would have
to spend in purgatory after they died.
But, God raised up a man who saw through this madness; a man who was
willing to risk his reputation, his career, even his very life to defend the
Truth against this lie. Dr. Martin
Luther, the Blessed Reformer, boldly posted his 95 Theses on the door of the
Luther's posting of the 95 Theses was the spark that ignited the Reformation. He had no intention of starting a new church. His desire was to be a faithful son, and servant, of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church. He recognized the abuses and lies being pedaled within the Church and spoke out against them, hoping that those in power would share his desire to eliminate them. Maybe he suffered from being naïve, but Luther actually believed that the Pope would listen. He was wrong. The Pope's response was to send emissaries to shut the mouth of this "drunken German monk.†And, when Luther refused to shut his mouth, the Pope responded by excommunicating him from the Church. But, it was too late. By that time, Luther had discovered the full Truth of the Gospel and the Reformation was in full swing, as people who were hearing the True Gospel for the first time readily jumped on board and sought to defend it with their very lives. What began as opposition to the obvious lie about indulgences turned into a battle for the Gospel itself. And, that battle is still being fought to this day.
Ultimately, the Reformation was and is about answering the question, "How are we saved?†The medieval Roman Catholic Church had abandoned the Gospel of Jesus Christ and taught that salvation had to be earned. Even those who bought into the Satanic lie that they could purchase their salvation through papal indulgences were still required to supplement their purchase with works, if they desired to be saved. But, Luther believed the Word of God, which taught that "one is justified by faith apart from works of the law†(Rom. 3:28). Thus, we children of the Reformation sing:
Salvation unto us has come
By God's free grace and favor;
Good works cannot avert our doom,
They help and save us never.
Faith looks to Jesus Christ alone,
Who did for all the world atone;
He is our one Redeemer.
Dear friends in Christ, let the Gospel of Jesus
Christ ring fresh in your ears this morning.
Unlike the people of Luther's day, you've heard this Gospel time and
time again. Don't take it for
granted. Don't become desensitized to
the Good News God reveals to you in His Word, but let it be music to your
ears. Listen intently as
You, brothers and sisters in Christ, are justified
freely by God's grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. To be justified in God's sight is to be
declared righteous by Him. God declares
you righteous, brothers and sisters, not because you've earned that
righteousness, but because you have faith in His Son, who is perfectly
righteous. You don't deserve this declaration,
for you, like all people, are sinners who fall short of the glory of God. But, as
Jesus has done everything necessary for your salvation. He lived the perfect, sinless life in your place. He fulfilled God's Law completely for you. And then He took all of your sins - all of them - and, indeed, the sin of the whole world, upon Himself and went to the cross and died, paying the price in full with His Holy and Innocent Blood. Your salvation is finished. There is nothing left for you to do but to believe in the One who lived and died in your place.
This is the True Gospel, my friends. The Good News is that you have been given the
Savior you need in Jesus Christ - the Truth has set you free! And that True Gospel continues to require our
defense, for it remains under attack today every bit as much as it was in the
16th century.
Our Lord Jesus says, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.†We abide in His Word when we heed the call to repentance and confess our sins. We abide in His Word when we trust not in ourselves, but in Him. We abide in His Word when we come to Church not out of a sense of obligation, but because we know that we are sinners in need of the salvation He delivers here by means of His Holy Word and Sacraments. We abide in His Word when we listen to the preached Word and hold it sacred. We abide in His Word when we believe the Holy Absolution pronounced by His called and ordained servant. We abide in His Word when we approach His Table in repentance and faith and receive His very Body and Blood for our forgiveness and preservation in the faith. We abide in His Word when we respond to His Divine Gifts with prayer, praise, and thanksgiving, and with lives intent on loving Him and our neighbors. And, finally, we abide in His Word when we gladly and willingly study and defend it when called upon. That, dear friends, is what it means to be a disciple, a life-long learner, of the One who has set us free, our Lord Jesus Christ.
May this Festival of the Reformation awaken in you true joy, and may it invigorate your desire to abide in Christ's Word with a willingness to suffer all, even death, rather than to abandon it. You are justified (saved, declared righteous) by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. There is no better news than this. And so we children of the Reformation sing:
All blessing, honor, thanks, and praise
To Father, Son, and Spirit,
The God who saved us by His grace;
All glory to His merit.
O Triune God in heav'n above,
You have revealed Your saving love;
Your blessed name we hallow.
In Jesus' Holy and Precious Name. Amen.
Now the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts
and minds in Christ Jesus, unto life everlasting. Amen.