Reformation Sunday, October 28, 2012

What is October 31st? Most people will say it is Halloween. It is also the date when we remember as the beginning of the Lutheran – Protestant Reformation. It is the date when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, inviting people to debate the fundamentals of Christian life. He wanted to discuss how we are saved and how we can know we are saved. He wanted to take away the fear of God and give believers peace in their hearts.

People fear hell. People fear the wrath of God.

Halloween is a night of fear. But for Christians it becomes a celebration of victory over the forces of evil.

Halloween is a very, very old observance, held in different ways in different cultures. We think of Halloween as a European custom, but there are many elements that are very similar in the Orient, too, in Japan and especially in Okinawa. In the West, what we call “Halloween” probably originally had a different name, perhaps it was called “New Year’s Eve.” My friend, Rev. Shozo Osawa in Sapporo, Hokkaido, in his book “With the Lord, the Sequel,” which is a collection of his essays and sermons and writings during his ministry, writes about the connection between Reformation, Halloween and All Saints Day. According to his research,

“In the ancient Roman calendar there were only 304 days in a year. Only the days of the farming season were counted. The winter season was regarded as the hibernation season. Our present October was the end of the year. (“Calendar and Christianity” written by Masayoshi Tsuchiya, page 66). According to various literature, its origins are in ancient Scottish pagan beliefs. The name “Halloween” has been used since around the Ninth Century. They believed that on New Year’s Eve [the last day of October] the souls of those people who had died that year would come wandering back. So they made big bonfires to welcome back the souls of those who had died and would listen to those souls to hear the future from them. The family could have fellowship with their dead relatives and it would give closure and consolation. The bonfires were a sign of the New Year and that the god of the dead would transfer the dead souls into animal bodies. People feared being punished by the dead souls who would return and punish them. So there was a mix of having a festive service to welcome the dead and at the same time fearing their return.”

And so it became a night of dread. People feared that ghosts and spirits and devils would also come out that night.

When the church established the festival of All Saints on November First and All Souls on November Second, some of the fear and dread was taken away by making it a Christian Festival celebrating salvation and heaven and eternal life.

But fear and dread remained in the hearts and consciences of many people. Such was the case of Martin Luther. In confirmation class, we recently read the story of the life of Martin Luther. Ever since he was a small boy, he feared the wrath of God. He did not feel that he had done enough good works to go to heaven. He feared purgatory and hell. During a fierce lightening storm he was so afraid of death that he prayed, “St. Anne, help me and I will become a monk.” He was saved from the storm and joined the monastery, but that was not the end of his fear. Even though he often confessed his sins to the priest, and received absolution, he still doubted his worthiness before the Judgment Seat of Christ. He feared God because he felt that he was not good enough.

Martin Luther was a professor of Bible studies at the University in Wittenberg. And it was as he was studying the Bible that he discovered the Gospel. And when he discovered the Gospel, his fear was gone. Romans 3:28, “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.” Romans 3:22-24, “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” And on his dying bed, Luther’s fears were relieved by John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

The Gospel took away the fear of the wrath of God, and it also took away the fear of the wrath of Men. It gave a new boldness to all of his life. And so on October 31, 1517, he was bold to challenge the sale of indulgences. Indulgences played on the fear of people. People did not want to go to Hell and they did not want to suffer in Purgatory. It was said that if a person bought an indulgence, then when they died they could go straight to Heaven with no fear. They could even buy an indulgence for someone who had already died. It took away fear. A man could buy an indulgence and then go home, get drunk, not work, beat his wife and children, and not fear the wrath and punishment of God. Martin Luther was bold in his opposition to the sale of indulgences. Money could not buy forgiveness, only the blood of Christ shed on the cross can do that. Fear of death is taken away when we believe in Christ as our Savior. And there are about 93 other reasons to debate the sale of indulgences.

When you look at the words of the many hymns that Martin Luther wrote, you can see how he still struggled with fear. But fear is only taken away by faith in God who is the Mighty Fortress. We should not fear the devil nor people nor disease nor death. The only one to fear is God. And so in the Catechism he explains each of the Ten Commandments in words like these.

The First Commandment You shall have no other gods.

What does this mean? We should fear, love and trust in God above all things.

The fear of God is triumphed by the love of God. It is not so much that we love God, but that God loves us, therefore we love God. The cross and grave of Christ are triumphed by the resurrection. Our fear of death is overcome by the promise of eternal life.

It is the power of Christ’s resurrection that gives power to the Lutheran reformation and power to our daily repentance and baptismal regeneration. Fear and dread are replaced by faith and peace. Martin Luther could stand up to his critics because Christ was at his side. We can stand up to our critics because Christ is at our side. We can stand up to our ultimate critic at the judgment throne of God because Christ is at our side. No matter what, Christ is at our side.

God does not play “Trick or Treat.” For people who believe in Jesus Christ, there is now no fear on Halloween. We are not afraid of the devil because Jesus defeated him. We are not afraid of ghosts because we have the Holy Ghost. Because Christ was nailed to the cross, because the 95 Theses were nailed to the Castle Church door, because the Gospel has been spoken to us also and firmly “nailed” into our hearts, nothing can separate us from Christ. That is a life without fear. It is a life of confidence and peace.

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church

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