Sermon | Year A - The Year of Matthew

October 26, 2008 | Reformation

Jeremiah 31:31-34; Psalm 46; Romans 3:19-28; John 8:31-36

I have always loved Reformation Sunday. In part, I love the history and the romance of it. I also love how it is a story of a person standing up for principle in a world where everything had become relative. There is something about the image of a lone teacher of the Bible standing up against all the powers of his day simply because he wants to remain on the side of truth. It is one man standing on the truth of Scripture against the enormous wave of power that controlled Europe, and wanting him to conform to principles that sounded inviting. “Luther, just give in,” was the persistent call for him to take the easy path. However, he would not; and that is what appeals to me to again and again year after year.

This day celebrates when Martin Luther went to the door of the castle church to post his 95 points of debate. In and of itself this was no dramatic thing. However, he set off a storm that he did not intend to ignite.

Luther honestly thought that the problems he saw in both church and state could be resolved by a straightforward debate. He thought that reasonable people could sit down see what the Bible said, and then agree to change what was wrong. Luther had forgotten how people love power. They will do whatever they can to force their own will even if it means going against the teachings that they have sworn to uphold.

The points of debate he nailed to the church door were written in Latin. In those days, all announcements were in Latin; so, Luther wrote his points and posted them just as many others had posted all kinds of announcements on the church door. It was the community bulletin board of the time.

However, soon after Luther had posted his points of debate, they were copied down and translated into German. Then, like fire, they spread all over Germany.

All of this happened in a matter of days without Luther knowing it. Now, instead of a quiet debate, Luther would soon find himself in a fight for his life. In those days, if a person went against the authorities it could result in prison or death. People love power and they will find any excuse to keep it and will do anything to hold on to it.

When we celebrate the Reformation, today’s Gospel is read every year on this day. In today’s Gospel Jesus says to some people, “If you know the truth, it will make you free.” In response, the people are indignant and strangely say that they are free. “This Jesus thinks he can tell us what we are. What do you mean by telling us we will be made free? We are free and you can now get out of here and leave us alone!”

Now, the connection between this Gospel reading and the story of the Reformation is this: People do not like the truth. Moreover, they do not like being told the truth in such a straightforward and honest manner. They especially do not like it if the truth threatens the power they hold, or the positions they possess. In fact, we would sooner be slaves than free if it means giving up on what we perceive as our corner of the world. Consequently, Jesus would be crucified. Later the disciples would face all manner of conflict as they tried to proclaim the truth. Eventually Luther would also know what it is to speak the truth only to have it thrown back into one’s face.

In psychology, a therapist knows he is getting to the heart of a person’s problems when resistance is encountered. In other words, the therapist knows that the problem is close and at hand when the patient begins to oppose the sessions. We often do not want to look at the truth even if it means getting better, freer, or even if our salvation is at stake.

What does any of this mean for us on this day and this Reformation Sunday? It means this: Sin is a tough and determined enemy. It wages war on our souls and bodies. It attacks all that threatens it. Sin allows us to see all manner of faults in others, but it loves to blind us to our own. For all of these reasons, we need what we are given in worship. We need the prayer; we need the Word of God; we need the Lord’s Supper; and we need the presence of other sinful Christians all to remind us that we cannot save ourselves on our own. Only Christ saves us. Only his cross defeats the sin that we cannot overcome by ourselves.

The day Luther nailed his 95 points of debate to the door of the church, he was arguing against a system that was saying in effect that we do not need Christ to save us. The structure said people’s lives could be made whole and complete by something other than Jesus’ cross. Luther had to stand against this at all costs. All that he saw in the Bible that he taught was telling him that he must stand in opposition to anything that says that we do not need the cross of Christ.

Today the same message is still out there. It only takes on a different form. Today the message is that a person’s life can be enriched and made whole away from the church. All we need is enough sex, or enough entertainment, or enough free time, or enough money, or enough self-indulgence and we will bring ourselves to a place of peace, contentment, and happiness. And even though we know none of this to be true, we still hold on to the false claims because they sound so good, and the truth of the Christian faith so hard because it may mean self-denial.

This brings me back to why I love Reformation Sunday. I love the day for its color, history, and drama. However, I love Reformation Sunday, most of all, because it stands for courage to follow the faith wherever it leads. It is a day that stands up and against the forces that would lead us from the truth that in Christ and Christ alone we have life, forgiveness, and salvation. We can never abandon this day because it celebrates a truth that does in fact set us free. It is the truth telling us that only by the cross of Christ that we are saved. Amen.