Today is the Festival of the Reformation. So what? Why is it important? Why do we celebrate it? Because it's the story of how the Lord brought the Good News of the forgiveness of sins for Jesus' sake back to the center of the church's life and faith. And He did it by a man named Martin Luther. Here's the really, really short version of the story: Martin Luther was a monk. He prayed seven times a day, studied the scriptures and scrubbed the floors of the monastery. He figured that by living that way, he could make up for his sins. He tried and tried but never felt at peace. His sins always troubled him. One day, his father confessor told him, “Martin, just believe that Jesus died for you already!” He then sent Luther to become a college professor and teach on the Psalms As Martin Luther read the Bible, he began to realize that God wasn't out to get him but save him through His Son Jesus. On October 31, 1517, he nailed the 95 Theses or Statements on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg, Germany in order to call others to debate the topic. The gist of these these was this: If Jesus died for our sins, you can't buy forgiveness! Well, when the Pope got wind of that and tried to get rid of Luther but the German princes, convinced of the truth of God's Word, defended Luther and confessed that they also believed salvation was only through Jesus Christ. It went on from there and eventually Luther was thrown out of the Roman church by the Pope. (And put under order of execution, too, but it never happened). The thing to remember is this: Luther never LEFT the church. He was in the church because the church is where the Gospel is preached. The Popes and bishops over the years had left the church by their wrong teaching. Luther called them back, but they ignored him.
So what? What's the point? Well, the thing the Reformation taught us, was that the heart and life of the church is Jesus Christ and what He has done for us. And Luther dared to do what no one else usually does. He not only preached repentance for our sins, He preached repentance for our good works! Or to put it another way: The Word of God calls you to turn away from your sins. Your not loving God. Your not loving your neighbor. Repent of it! Be sorry for it! But more than that, the Word of God also calls us to repent of being self-righteous, too! If you think that you are somehow better than someone else because of how you live or act, repent of that too! God's Word teaches us to repent of thinking that we are good enough or can BE good enough to cancel out our sins and overcome God's judgment against us. Martin Luther reminded us from the Scriptures that our whole life as Christians is one of repentance. That is, we are so ruined by sin that we could never get ourselves straightened out, could never get rid of our sins and could never please God and love Him. Only one thing will save us: not our good works, not our efforts, not our intentions, not money spent on indulgences (pieces of paper that said your sins were forgiven because you spent money)--none of that! Martin Luther taught from God's Word that the only thing that can save us is Jesus Christ, the Son of God and our Savior.
Martin Luther taught from the Scriptures that the heart and center of our faith and life as Christians is Jesus Christ. He who is true God and true man is our Savior from sin and death. As Jesus says to the Jews in today's Gospel: You will know the truth and the truth will set you free? What is the truth? Jesus is! The truth is that He has come and lived for us and suffered and died for us and risen again from the dead. His suffering and death paid the price for our sins. Not only that, He paid for our self-righteousness too! The Good News of the Reformation was the Good News that was preached ages before by Jeremiah and fulfilled by Jesus Christ. God says, “I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sins no more!” Did you hear? God doesn't remember your sins! Because Jesus died on the cross, your sins are forgotten! We remember our sins and they trouble us. We like to remember other people's sins to throw them back in their face. But when it comes to the Lord, there is no remembering your sins. Big or small, what you've thought, or said or done, it is forgotten for the sake of the blood of the Lamb of God who gave himself into death for you. Martin Luther was troubled because he kept remembering some other sin he had done. What joy when he discovered in God's Word that God Himself has forgotten all those sins for Jesus' sake.
But Martin Luther also made sure that people knew where they could be certain about this Lord who has forgiven them! He could not say enough to praise and rejoice in Holy Baptism, Holy Absolution, preaching Christ, and the Holy Supper. He constantly emphasized, as your pastor should, that we are certain that God has forgiven our sins only where His Word is faithfully preached, where Baptism is received as a gift and where His Body and Blood are present in the Sacrament of the Altar. Luther taught that we are saved by grace through faith, but that faith isn't just sort of “out there.” It's faith that lives daily confessing sins and receiving forgiveness. It's faith that daily marks us with the sign of the cross to remember our Baptism. It's faith that takes every opportunity to feast upon Christ's flesh and blood. It's faith that runs to do good works for others as its fruit and result. Luther had not patience for those who learned the Gospel and then stopped coming to church or who never bothered to learn their Catechism or study God's Word because all that says is that such people don't really believe. But Luther saw, as we do today, that we suffer many things in this life: sickness, trouble, anxiety, worry, doubt and fear. Against all these tricks of the devil, Luther and the pastors who preach what he preached, will point you in your tribulations to these gifts of Christ. You are baptized. Absolved. Fed with the Supper of Christ's Body and Blood. All of these gifts are God's promise to you that He has truly and forever forgotten your sins.
Now, Martin Luther didn't accomplish these things all by himself. Do you know who helped him? Godly laymen who stood up for the Gospel! The Reformation wasn't just about the preachers preaching the right thing. It was also about all of God's people learning the Word and supporting and defending it. That's why, as a Christian, God gives you two main tasks in His church. The first is to hear and learn the Word of God. That's for your comfort and salvation. Again, I urge you, that if you know nothing more than what you vaguely remember from Catechism years ago don't fell bad or embarrassed; just repent and begin learning more and growing in God's Word. Come to Bible Study. Come to Catechesis on Wednesdays. Read your Bible every day and your Lutheran Confessions. Take the responsibility the Lord has given you to know what His Word says and to make sure that's what your pastor is preaching! But secondly, the Lord has given you the task of making sure that the Gospel is preached and has a place to be preached. Brothers and sisters in Christ, the Gospel and Sacraments are life-giving treasures and the Lord has given to you the duty of making sure they can be given out. What joy it is to have such a treasure here! And such a church with a building and property where this Gospel can be preached! Rejoice, brothers and sisters that the Lord has made you a part of this church and congregation so that you can know the certainty of your salvation and live with many opportunities to bear fruit in caring for each other! Martin Luther couldn't have done what he did without the support of godly laypeople. Your pastor can't preach and teach without your support, either, and that means for our whole life together as God's people!
Repentance and the forgiveness of sins in Jesus' Name. That's the message of the Reformation. That was what Martin Luther preached. Because that's what the Scriptures deliver. Repentance for our sins and faith and trust in that forgiveness that is given to us for Jesus' sake. He tells the Jews who believed in Him, “If you abide in my Word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free.” Christ has died and risen for you. He has baptized you. He has forgiven you. He has fed you. And He will keep doing so that you may always know that the Son has set you free indeed! Thanks be to Martin Luther and every other faithful preacher before or since who has delivered Jesus faithfully by preaching and the Sacraments so that God's people would have life. Happy Reformation in the Name of Jesus. Amen.
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