Sermon Index
October 26, 2014
Ask most kids what October 31st is and they will answer, “It’s Halloween.” Ask a young Sunday school kid and they will probably say, “It’s Halloween.” Ask a Lutheran Confirmation class kid and hopefully they will answer, “It’s Reformation.” Then ask the Catechism class students, “What does this mean?” and they will tell how on that day in 1517 Martin Luther posted the “95 Theses” on the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church. The theme of the 95 Theses was about the forgiveness of sins. They talked about indulgences and the Pope’s authority to sell indulgences and about freeing souls from Purgatory. And the debate over those theses started the Protestant Reformation.
The word Reformation means to reform something and make it better. If you reform your house, you change many things to make it better, more modern and to make it look more beautiful. You might find something wonderful beneath the ugly wallpaper. But the house is only reformed, it is not completely rebuilt. The thing that remains is the foundation. If the foundation is bad, then any new construction will eventually crack and crumble. But if the foundation is good, then the reform work will be as good as new.
The Reformation of the church was the same. The foundation was the same, namely Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the foundation of our faith. He is the Solid Rock upon which we build our faith and our life. There is no other foundation for the Church. Martin Luther did not change foundations. Jesus Christ was the foundation of the Church of Rome, too; it was just that some repair work needed to be done. And so October 31, 1517 is the official start of the reform of the church. Martin Luther nailed the reform blueprints to the door of the church in Wittenberg: the 95 Theses. These were statements about the forgiveness of sin, particularly the practice of selling indulgences. It was said that when you buy an indulgence you can buy forgiveness for both yourself and for even your loved ones who have already died, so that they do not have to suffer purgatory before going to heaven. Martin Luther said that only the Blood of Jesus Christ can purchase forgiveness of sin.
And from that time onward, Martin Luther and the other reformers taught the teachings of the Bible in a way that everyone could easily understand it. He translated the Bible into German, the common language of the people of his country. He wrote the Small Catechism to teach young and old the basics of the Christian faith.
So, the two main things about the Reformation that I want to emphasis today is, 1, the forgiveness of sin and, 2, education.
In financial terms, forgiveness of sin is not just the erasing of bad debt. It is God giving us credit. The death of Jesus on the cross did indeed take away our sin, but in his resurrection he gave us the promise of eternal life and salvation. Forgiveness is like a package. There is faith, repentance, trust, the promise of God, life, salvation, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, peace, love, etc. Forgiveness has all of that in it because Forgiveness is nothing less than the Cross of Jesus Christ. The Cross has all those blessings in it. But nowhere in the Bible does it talk about buying forgiveness with money. Likewise, nowhere does it talk about being forgiven by being a good person. Nowhere does it talk about being forgiven without believing in Jesus Christ as your Savior. That is why the reformers loved the passage from Romans 3:28,
“For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.” A person is justified or forgiven by faith apart from anything that a person can do for themselves. It is a free gift from God. Forgiveness means that sin is gone, the fear of hell is gone, and hate is gone. Rather, it means that love is here, the joy of heaven is here, and that peace is here.
But all that wonderful Gospel is nothing unless it is proclaimed. People have to know about God in order to believe in Him. The Holy Spirit does not zapp people into faith. Rather, the Holy Spirit creates faith through the proclamation of the Gospel. And so Martin Luther translated the Bible and the worship service from Greek and Hebrew and Latin into German, the language which people could understand. Today the Bible has been translated into over a 1000 languages around the world. There are probably over a hundred English editions. It is so people can learn about God, learn about Him as if He were a friend. In the Bible we see that wonderful love of God. We see that love in how God loved us so much that He sent Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. This love is what creates our trust and faith. And so we read the Bible, especially in Church on Sundays. And to help us understand the Bible and the work of God, Martin Luther wrote the Catechism to explain the commandments, the creed, the Lord’s Prayer, the Lord’s Supper, confession, and baptism. As the pastor, I get to teach Bible classes and confirmation classes, and I enjoy it very much. As we study the Bible, we see the work of God who loves us. I think it is exciting for myself, and I hope for the students, too!
The Reformation celebration is like a freedom celebration. We are free from the Roman Pope, but more importantly, we are free from sin and the devil. This is the freedom that we have in Jesus Christ. As Jesus said in today’s Gospel reading, if we are free in Christ, then we are free indeed. This is the freedom to live our lives as Christians. And we will keep preaching and teaching and learning about what it means to be a Christian, being forgiven and forgiving others. In other words, living our lives as Christians.
Amen.
Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church