October 25, 2009
There have been many gmovementsh in the church throughout the history of the Christians Church. Some have been very good, others have been misguided heresies. In the Fourth Century there was a movement to clearly state the true teachings of the church, and the Nicene Creed was written. Later there were the Crusades that wanted to save the Holy Land from the hands of the unbelieving Arabs. St. Francis started a movement to take care of poor people. There was the Protestant Reformation. This movement was started by Martin Luther in 1517. There was the Calvin movement. In England, there was John Wesley and the Methodist movement. In the 18th Century there was the Great Awakening in Europe and America. There have been various revival movements. There have been missionary movements. There was the Social Gospel movement. In the 1960fs there was the beginning of the Charismatic/Pentecostal movement. There have been both liberal and conservative movements in the church. There have been various music and worship style and liturgical style movements.
Is the Lutheran Reformation just one of those many movements, or is it different? Just because it has lasted for over 490 years does not mean it is correct, but I think that it has lasted that long because it has had the proper center. It has had Christ as its center. Of course all good movements say that, even the heresies say that. But the Lutheran Reformation shouts Christ as the Center so loudly that there can be no doubt. That is why when some Lutheran people get involved in some of the church social movements or in the charismatic movement, other Lutheran people get wary, they wonder if those other movements are really Christian or not. And we judge them according to Lutherfs Small Catechism.
When I was a kid, I thought that only the people of my home church would go to heaven. Only my kind of Lutherans would go to heaven. I felt sorry for other people. As I got older, I met many people in many churches that really believed in Jesus as their Savior, so I know that they will get to heaven. The churches they go to may not be perfect, but then, all of us are sinners, even church denominations can be less than perfect. I know that my church denomination can make mistakes. But these are things that can be forgiven by God. Godfs forgiveness is larger than our forgiveness. Godfs forgiveness is as large as Jesus on the Cross.
The first issue of the Reformation was about the Forgiveness of Sins. Martin Luther wrote 95 statements, the famous Ninety-five Theses, and challenged the church of his day to understand what the forgiveness of sins was all about. It was about how sins are forgiven. It was not by the power of the Pope. It was not by the purchase of indulgences, certificates that said your sins were forgiven. It was not by paying money. It was not doing good deeds. It was not the good deeds of the Saints. Forgiveness of Sin was the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, and it was freely available to anyone who believed that Jesus was their Savior and so confessed their sins and were forgiven. That is why the Reformation was such a liberation. That is why it swept through northern Europe. It was liberation from the devil and hell. And that is why people could feel free and breathe safely and live out their Christian lives.
Forgiveness of sin is the core of our religion. That is why Jesus came to this earth and died on the cross. The cross gives momentum to the Christian movement. In our modern society, there are many antichrist and antichurch movements. There is the atheist movement and there are unchurched people who fear the church, because they think it will take away their freedom, rather than the ultimate freedom which it really gives. I think one of the biggest anti-church movements are all those agendas that declare sinful things as not being sin. If something is not sinful, then there is no need for guilt and contrition and forgiveness, and then Jesus dying on the cross is not necessary either. Things like, that is okay to cheat if you are not caught, that it is okay to tell a gwhite lie,h that it is okay not to keep promises. Another good example of saying that a sinful thing is not sinful, is the whole sexual freedom movement. If it is not a sin to have sex with someone to whom you are not married, then no forgiveness is necessary. And so people live together without being married. Teens go too far in romance. Married people seek activities outside the home. Gay sex and gay marriage is said to be good. If there is love, then it is okay. The gay agenda is to get states to okay gay marriage, and then they can say that it is not sinful.
The job of the Lutheran Christian Church today is to say that sinful things are sin. It is sin because it breaks the wonderful relationship we have in God. It is sinful because it is against the plan of God. The plan of God is written plainly in the Bible. This plan includes punishment and hell for unbelievers. This includes those who do not believe in the forgiveness of sins in Christ.
It is also the job of the Lutheran Christian Church today to say that sinful things are forgiven in Christ Jesus. We have this sweet, liberating word of peace. It is the word spoken to those who know their sin. It is not like an indulgence. It does not say that we will be forgiven and so we can sin all we like. That is dishonest and sinful. Forgiveness is the word of freedom to live as a child of God.
The job of the Lutheran Christian Church today is to proclaim the Word of God to a world that does not know Jesus. The world today is different than in Martin Lutherfs day. But the love of God is the same. The word of the cross is the same. This is what propels us into action. This is why the Reformation movement is still active today. We pray that the Holy Spirit will be with us and help us as we joyfully follow Christ. What is the job of the Okinawa Lutheran Church today? It is to live forgiven. It is to forgive. It is to live free and to make other people free. How do we do that? That will be the subject of all our sermons in the next year.
Amen.
Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church