Reformation
Day - October 31, 2015 - John 8:31-36
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit+
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit+
Tonight
we celebrate and observe Reformation Day. Why? Yes, yes, on October
31st, 1517 Martin
Luther nailed the 95 theses to the door of the Wittenberg Church,
really giving a start to what becomes known as the Protestant
Reformation. But why do we observe this day? I ask because there is
a very wrong way to think about Reformation Day, to think about the
Reformation. You see, the idea of reform in the Church is nothing
new. Read Paul’s epistles. 1st
and 2nd
Corinthians are calls for that Church to reform. Looking at Church
history, I can find calls for reform in every Century of the past
2000 years. What makes this one, the one we celebrate tonight
different? Why do we observe it?
Was it
that Luther relied simply upon the Word of God? Well, that’s true.
Luther does rely simply upon God’s Word, and much of his calls for
reform were simply calls to be focused on the Word – but there are
other reforms like that. When they wrote the Nicene Creed in the 4th
Century, that too was a reform of the Church that relied simply upon
the Word of God as the source of truth – “and rose again
according to the Scriptures.” In fact, any good “reform” in
the Church in any age and place relies simply upon the Word. No, the
thing that distinguishes the Lutheran Reformation from all others is
what Dr. Luther wrote with Thesis number 1. The 95 Theses start this
way: “When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said ‘Repent’,
He called for the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.”
There it is. That is the difference – our reformation is not a
single event, but an entire life.
Many
reformers have come in the History of the Church, and they have had
their plans for fixing things. I could talk about many in detail –
Wycliffe and Hus and Gregory the Great and Leo IX, or after Luther
you have folks who found other denominations, like Calvin or Wesley.
All with their plans for fixing things. All seeing problems in the
Church and saying, “Ah, if we do this, it will fix things.”
Plenty of reformers came up with plans to fix things, some good, some
bad. The Nicene Creed is good reform, it eliminated a lot of
heresies. However, new ones just popped up afterwards, many even
worse. Some of the reforms folks dreamed up weren’t so good. In
1049, Pope Leo IX saw that too many of the clergy were living
scandalous lives, so he said, “That’s it, priests can’t get
married anymore.” Priests not being allowed to marry has been
around less than 1000 years, less than half the history of the New
Testament Church – it was plan to fix things, but it hasn’t
removed scandal. Or in the 18th
Century, John Wesley thought if we just gave simple guidelines to
follow, a simple method, we could perfect people – and you get the
Methodist Church. Didn’t make perfect people. All too often
reforms come about with the idea that when it happens the Church will
be fixed and it’s all good. In fact, this is sometimes the view we
can be tempted to take of our own reformation, as though when Luther
nails the 95 Theses on the door he “won” and everything was
fixed.
“When
our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said "Repent", He called
for the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.” Here is
the Lutheran difference. For Luther, there was no sense of fixing
the Church and then it is done, no restoring the Church to some
mythical pristine state. Luther was a student of Scripture, a
student of history, and someone with keen insight into his own
spiritual condition, and as such he saw one truth that stands out
clearly. Satan and sin are always trying to destroy Christians and
the Christian Church – trying to enslave us to sin, trying to make
us fall, to stumble, to forget what we know. And because of this, we
the people in the Church, from youngest to oldest, lay and clergy
alike, are always, always in need of repentance, always in need of
Reform.
Reformation
Day ought not simply be a celebratory day for the past, but it ought
also be a day where we consider our own lives, where we consider what
reform and renewal is needed for us. Until we reach heaven, until
our bodies are raised on the last day, we will always need to live
lives of repentance. Why is this? Hear what our Lord says in John
8. “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone
who commits sin is a slave to sin.”
While you live, Satan and your own sinful flesh will keep trying and
trying to get you to fall into sin, to get stuck in things worse and
worse, to trap you in slavery to sin. This is happening to you now.
So I will ask you – what sins tried to ensnare you this week? How
was Satan trying to shackle you, to make you less than who you ought
to be this past week? Now there’s too many options to mention
here, too many sins with which Satan can try to allure you. Are you
being tempted to do things that you know are wrong and being trapped
that way? Are you being tempted to not act, being tempted towards
complacency, not doing the good that you know you ought, and thus
trapped that way? Are you being tempted to ignore Christ, to think
less and less about His love for you, to put off or minimize the
things of Jesus and His Church? Are you being tempted to focus more
and more on the world, on stuff, on mammon, on the idols of your own
devising and desiring? Yes. These are ways in which Satan attacks
you constantly – and as for the specifics, I don’t them, but
Satan tailors them to you, to try to appeal to you, to try to shackle
you in sin again and again and again. And as you are sinful, his
shackles are always somewhat appealing.
Thus,
every Reformation Day is a call to repentance. Repent. Turn away
from these temptations. Don’t simply assume that you are doing
fine, that everything is hunky dory. Don’t be tempted to assume
that a quick little dab of spiritual duck tape, the latest book with
12 steps to having whatever it is that they are selling will simply
fix things and then you will be done. As long as you live, your life
will need to be one of repentance, for Satan your foe crouches like a
prowling lion, ready to pounce. Sin lies crouching at your door, and
it is easy to fall. Repent. Seek out your sin and turn away from
it.
But
turn to where? When you see your sin, when you see your struggle –
and if you see your sin you are going to see struggle, because the
simple fact is we tend to like our pet sins, we like to give into
them, and it is a struggle to break them down – when you see these
things, where do you turn? Our Lord says “If
you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know
the Truth, and the Truth with set you free.”
The cure, the solution, the strength for struggle, the shelter and
protection you have been given is the Word of God. And what makes
this Word of God so good at protection? Because the Word of God
gives you Christ Jesus Himself. Think about this – Jesus says that
when you are in the Word, you are His disciples, you are learning and
following Him. He says that when you are in the Word, you will know
the Truth. This isn’t just “truth” as in you will know neat
little facts – a few chapters later in John Christ our Lord says,
“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”
Your solution, your hope, your salvation is Christ Jesus Himself –
and where do you find Jesus, where can you be sure that He is present
for you, present to forgive you, to restore you, to reform and
reshape you after Satan and the world have done their best to wear
you down? Where your Lord has promised to be – in His Word,
whether that Word is read and proclaimed, whether that Word is
attached to water in His gift of Baptism, whether that Word is
attached to bread and wine so that our Lord can give you His own Body
and Blood thereby. Abide in the Word – not simply so that you know
more stuff – but when you Abide in the Word of Christ you abide in
Christ – and it is Christ Jesus who gives life, Christ Jesus who
wins victory for you over Satan, Christ Jesus who is your mighty
fortress who wins victory for you where with might of yours could
naught be done. A Christian is simply one who continually is turned
away from sin and unto Christ.
Every
call to repentance, every call to turn away from sin, every preaching
of the Law of God, must be accompanied by the proclamation of the
Gospel, the proclamation that Christ Jesus, with His perfect life,
death, and resurrection has won you salvation, has freed you from the
power of the devil, has given you new life, given you strength for
your fight against evil, has forgiven you and cleansed you from your
sin. And this is a continual thing. This is something that is to
shape your entire life here on this earth. You will always need
Christ and His Word of forgiveness to defend and protect you from
Satan, for the Devil never stops seeking your downfall. Our lives
are not like a football game, where the referee blows the whistle and
then suddenly Satan stops and says, “Oh well, I guess I can’t try
and tackle you anymore.” Satan doesn’t fight fairly or politely.
And we are worn down, battered and bruised by his assaults. To you
who are bruised and battered by sin, Christ Jesus our Lord comes, and
He speaks a Word of forgiveness and life. You are forgiven and have
life in Christ. He calls you to abide in Him by calling you to His
table, where through His Supper He will abide in you. Over and over
and over our Lord gives you life and forgiveness, to defend you
against Satan, to reshape your heart that Satan continually tries to
break. His love for you endures, and He will always reshape you,
reform you through His Word.
We
call this day Reformation Day because of specific historical events.
And that is a good and fine thing – I’m never going to knock
talking about History, and especially Church History. But in
reality, every Saturday or Sunday, every worship here, every time the
Baptized children of God are gathered around God’s Word and
Preaching, every time we come to the Supper and receive Christ’s
life giving Body and Blood, it is Reformation Day, for through these
means, through His Word and Sacraments Christ Jesus our Lord takes us
and reforms us, reshapes us, renews us so that we would continue to
remain in Him despite the attacks and assaults of the devil. Our old
evil foe now means deadly woe – but for you fights the valiant One
who God Himself Elected, Christ Jesus – He fought for you upon the
Cross, and He fights in you and for you now through His Word, through
the grace He gave you at your baptism, and through His Supper. God
grant to us continual reform all the days of our lives until we reach
the new life of the resurrection on the Last Day. In the Name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. +
1 comment:
Thank you for the post. For more on John Wesley, I would like to invite you to the website for the book series, The Asbury Triptych Series. The trilogy based on the life of Francis Asbury, the young protégé of John Wesley and George Whitefield, opens with the book, Black Country. The opening novel in this three-book series details the amazing movement of Wesley and Whitefield in England and Ireland as well as its life-changing effect on a Great Britain sadly in need of transformation. Black Country also details the Wesleyan movement's effect on the future leader of Christianity in the American colonies, Francis Asbury. The website for the book series is www.francisasburytriptych.com. Please enjoy the numerous articles on the website. Again, thank you, for the post.
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