Sunday, October 27, 2019

Sermon - Reformation Sunday 2019


Romans 3:19-28                                      

                                                             Moving from Fear to Love

I am never quite sure, on Reformation Sunday, whether to emphasize what is unique about the theological tradition in which we stand or if it is better to talk about what we hold in common with the whole of Christianity. 

Martin Luther wanted to remain firmly rooted in the whole of Christianity.  He insisted that “No one be known by the name ‘Luther.’”   His immediate followers, as well as the folks who currently attend “Lutheran” Churches in Germany, we known as the Evangelischies, or Evangelical. 

Then again, it seems appropriate to spend a bit of time talking history.  More and more of those who find themselves in a Lutheran worship service got there by means of a differing route that baptism in a Lutheran congregation and three years of instruction in Lutheran Catechetical class.  So, maybe we do need to spend some time speaking with the voice which is uniquely ours.

The decision on which way to go came during the discussion a few of us shared last Sunday.  I found myself asking why it is important that there be a Lutheran church at all.  Why should we give of our time, talent, and treasure in order to keep this place running?

The answer has to do with the opportunity to gather each week and practice forgiveness.  You heard me right – practice forgiveness.  The world is not a place where forgiveness is readily offered.  When the world discovers a mistake or a short-coming there is pouncing and exploitation.  Seldom is there understanding and forgiveness.

Lutherans are not unique in that we are the only denomination which believes in and practices forgiveness.  But our history begins there.  And while there are issues which divided the Church during that period of history called The Reformation, it was the centrality of God’s grace which served as the impetus for the Lutheran theological tradition.

The whole of the Reformation can trace its origins to the fear Martin Luther had that he was not going to be saved.  His life story (which I will turn to in just a moment) returns time and time again to the issue of whether God would or could forgive him.   His writings, his sermons, his table talk conversations were all geared toward helping others come to understand that God’s grace is boundless and God’s forgiveness is always at hand.

Luther lived in a time when life was rather bleak.  Some peasants (his father among them) had started scratching their way up out of the pits by means of increased mechanization and an openness to an emerging merchant class.  Hans Luther had great hopes for his son.  He spent a good sum of that hard earned money to send Luther to the Latin School in Esienach and finally to Law School in Erfurt.  But the young Luther was not at peace with himself.  In conversations with his classmates he revealed a disdain for the pleasures and trinkets of the world.  He was drawn to the life of a monk; he expressed a desire to spend his time contemplating the fate of one’s soul.

The crucial point came as he as making his way back to Erfurt from his parent’s home.  A terrible lightening storm had come up and he was frightened.  When a bolt struck close by him he is reported to have considered it an attack from an angry God.  He prayed to Saint Anne to intercede on his behalf, promising that if she were to see to his survival he would enter the monastery.  As one Lutheran historian was quick to quip – “She did; so he did.”

But Luther’s attempts to appease and angry God did not end there.  Even among the monks he was unique in his attempts to demonstrate his dedication to God.  It was reported that he would often throw off his blankets.  He would punish himself with long hours in the confessional booth. 

In the end, it was his confessor, Stauptz, who exposed to Luther his misguided attempt at justification.  After one particularly long and tedious attempt at delineating his sins, Stauptz lost patience with Luther and snapped at him, “Good God man!  All that is required is that you love God!”  “Love God?”  Luther is reported to have replied, “I hate God!”

You cannot love a God whom you believe is looking for every opportunity to condemn you to hell.  You cannot love a God who sets up traps to lead you away.  You cannot love a God who is vengeful and ready to condemn.  The God who is lovable is the God whose grace is abundant and never ending.  The God who is lovable is the God who is more ready to forgive that we are to ask for forgiveness. 

Every Christian denomination in the world would agree with this.  Lutherans are not unique in believing this.  What makes us unique is that we begin (and end) every theological discussion there.  Our history compels us to return over and over and over to the central affirmation that nothing should ever be allowed to cause us to doubt the abundance of God’s grace.

If it has been a while since you read the Augsburg Confession (that is the foundation document for the Lutheran Theological tradition) if it has been a while since you read it, I suggest that you do so soon.  You will find two articles which deal with the issue of Free Will.  These articles lay before us the role of grace in the assurance of salvation.

The first is Article 4 which speaks of the complete absence of free will when it comes to salvation.  Salvation is the gift of God, it is the act of God, and it is totally beyond us and our influence.  This is not an addition to the message of the scriptures – it is what lies at the center of the New Testament.  Read also that Romans text printed in your bulletin.  Or the whole of the book of Galatians – sometimes referred to as the Christian Megna Carter.  We are justified by (God’s) grace as a gift.

There is a second article in the Augsburg Confession which addresses free will with regard to temporal things.  The writings of our church affirm that we do have the ability to choose how we will respond to the goodness of God’s mercy.  Article 20 points out that we can chose to do good or we can choose to misuse our freedom.  Our good works are added to our faith, but it is not a prerequisite.  

Many in our world, in our neighborhood, will abuse God’s unlimited eagerness to forgive.  But their misuse does not change God or God’s attitude toward creation. 

God remains loving and forgiving; compassionate and merciful.

Lutherans are not the only ones who speak of God in this way, but we are among those who speak of it most often and most clearly.  There is not a Christian in the world who would disagree with the Lutheran rally cry of “Justification by grace through faith.”  It just that some of them would emphasis the faith over the grace; or speak of faith in a way which makes it something other than a trusting relationship.  You can make faith as much of a “work” as any other prescribed by the law.

Our observance of Reformation Sunday should not take the form of a celebrations to glorify Martin Luther or the congregations which bear his name.  What this day should be about it a strong and faithful reminder that it is God’s grace which saves us; God’s grace, and nothing else.  Faith, itself a gift from God, is the vessel which makes it possible for that grace to reside in us.  It is God’s grace which saves us, and since our God is a gracious God there is no ending to his salvation. 

There is no fear that it will come to others and skip over us.  And there should never be any doubt that God has forgiven us of our sins.

Amen.

No comments:

Post a Comment