Sermon Index
October 30, 2016 Reformation Sunday
The Reformation that started on October 31, 1517 is not over, it is continuing, and must continue. Every year there might be a new issue or a new emphasis, but the core message is the same, namely, that the church of God on earth must continue to do as Jesus said, namely, to “repent and believe the Good News.” That is what the word “Reformation” means.
In the year 1517, when he posted his 95 Theses, Martin Luther wanted to debate about a very important issue. The issue was the forgiveness of sins. Luther said that forgiveness was only through faith in Jesus Christ and could not be bought with money for oneself or for another. Forgiveness of sins is the main teaching of Christianity. That is the meaning of the cross. Even though it is very important, the main teaching of Christianity is not that we love our neighbor, but that God loves us and sent his Son Jesus Christ into the world to die on the cross to forgive our sins.
Because of sin and the work of the devil, because of egoism and greed, people in the church forget that the cross is the center of our religion. And when that is forgotten, all sorts of mischief happens. That mischief replaces Jesus with other things, so that Christ is no long necessary, or not so important. The focus turns to ourselves. I want to be healed. I want to be rich. I will be happy when my loved ones are blessed. When people think that salvation and eternal life can be won by our own good works or by correct understanding of doctrine or by loving the neighbor, etc.; then Jesus Christ no longer becomes necessary, and then the church of Christ is no longer necessary, and then the devil has won.
Then we need a new reformation.
In 1517, Martin Luther criticized the church headquarters in Rome. In 2016 people attack their churches which are headquartered in different places: St. Louis, Chicago, Tokyo, Tanzania, and of course, in their local congregation, too. In 1517 there was basically only the Church in Rome and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Today there are thousands of protestant church denominations. Many of these denominations were created out of the desire to reform the church, either their particular protestant denomination or their own local congregation. Sometimes it is the spirit of the Martin Luther and the Reformation, but sometimes that is taken too far, and then sin and the devil hit the church hard, it is time for another reformation.
Martin Luther wrote many books criticizing the church, but book of his that he loved the most was the Small Catechism. It is his most important book because to really reform the church, it is first necessary to reform people's hearts. The Bible word for that is repentance. For honest repentance we need to know about God, we need to know about our sin, we need to know about God's love in Jesus Christ, and we need to know that God gives us his grace and forgiveness in the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion. Christian education was important to Martin Luther, and it is still important today. That is why we have Sunday School and catechism class and sermons.
Every Sunday is a small Reformation celebration. We begin our service with the Confession, Repentance and Absolution of Sin. We realize how far we have strayed from the cross in our daily lives. Therefore we repent. We cannot get back to God by ourselves, we need the word of the Cross to do that. We need the word of Absolution, which is nothing less than the proclamation of the Gospel, that Jesus Christ has died on the cross to forgive our sins. It is that simple. That is the power to reform our lives. That is the power for us to love God, to love the neighbor, to love our family, to love our brothers and sisters in Christ, and even the power to love our enemies, just as Christ loved us when we were still his sinful enemies.
This is the beginning place for reforming the church. You and I have little effluence over things in the big church headquarters. But we have power to reform the local church where we are. We start with the power of the cross, that is, we start by being forgiven by Christ and then forgive others. We start by forgiving our family and friends and the friends at church. And if this happens every year on this Reformation Sunday in each and every church, then the church throughout the world will be reformed again. The cross of Christ will be raised high, in both its gory and its glory: in both its shame and its fame: in both its condemnation and its salvation.
So, the Reformation must continue, both in the church at large, and in our hearts. And the power of the Reformation is the forgiveness of sins by God's grace through our faith in Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church