Trinity 20
Lutheran churches throughout the world are celebrating the Reformation today, the preceding Sunday closest to 31 October, the day in 1517 that Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the Castle Church door in Wittenberg. Although that event is regarded by so many as the beginning of the Reformation, Luther was hardly at that time “fully Lutheran.” As we see in the 95 Theses, Luther at that time still held to many Roman views like purgatory, for example. It was by continued and further study of the Scriptures over the years that Luther became a true Lutheran. Many events and disputes drove Luther into the Scriptures so that he would rediscover and bring to light the truth of Scripture that had been obscured—that we are saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus alone. Although the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession in 1530 might be a better and more accurate date of what is truly “Lutheran” doctrine and teaching, there has to be a beginning—so why not 31 October and the posting of the 95 Theses?
The posting of the 95 Theses is a good reminder to us of what Reformation Day really is about. It is not about us as Lutherans boasting and patting ourselves on the back for “getting it right.” It is not a day pride in ourselves—about how good and pure our doctrine is, and looking down on others. Instead, it is best used as a day of humble and quiet reflection and thanksgiving to God. It is a day of humble and quiet reflection because the Reformation reminds us that we can lose God’s word; that it can be covered over and hidden by all sorts of human thinking. It is a day that calls on each one of us to consider: how am I treating God’s word? Do I judge everything that I see and experience and hear according to that word? Is that word of God number one in my life—do I gladly hear it and learn it? Am I faithfully in church around that word and the visible word of the Sacraments, heeding what it says and receiving its gifts and blessings? Or is the word of God an occasional extra that I can just as well do with as without? Is the word of God just something I use to bolster and justify what I think and my actions—that is, do I pick and choose what I want to believe and reject what I don’t like?
The thing to remember with the Reformation is that yes! –most definitely we see God’s guardian care of His Church. He does not let false teaching stand and corrupt His word. He may endure it for a time and even let His word become obscured like He did before the Reformation—but like He did even before Luther, He raised up faithful teachers of that word so that it was never without witness and without His dear Christians trusting in Him. But don’t ever think that the devil will not put up a fight to destroy or corrupt or obscure that word of God—in particular its main teaching that we are saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus. Look what happened during and after the time of Luther when God’s word was restored to its proper position: there were other so-called Reformers like Zwingli and Calvin who taught falsely; there were the radical reformers who undid everything; today—look at all the different groups calling themselves Christian and holding to all sorts of weird and wrong views. We need always to be vigilant when it comes to the word of God. It’s not like once Luther came that we can take it easy. Instead, where the pure word of God that Jesus has entrusted to His Church is brought to light, the devil is always there to destroy it, or at least muddy the waters. So on this Reformation Day we give our gracious Lord thanks and praise for His care of His Church; we praise Him that He has preserved His holy word to us and brought us to it; and we pray for faithfulness to that word and are ever vigilant for all in us and around us that opposes it.
Our appointed Epistle reading for this Sunday has several verses in particular that are good for us to reflect on to help us give form and focus to this Reformation Sunday. Here St. Paul writes: But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the Gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts. And: For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it, not a word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe. Dear Christian, a great grace has been given us: we have been entrusted with the word of God. The Reformation drives home to us that that Word is God’s word and it is to be shared!
Notice those beautiful words of the apostle about the word: it is truly the word of God. The amazing and wonderful thing is that Holy Scripture bears witness to/ it testifies of its divine authority—it is from God; it is His word. How do we know Holy Scripture is God’s word and not the word of man—like the writings of the other religions are? The simple and short and true answer is: by faith. Only by faith do we know that the Bible is God’s Word. To be sure, there is a wonderful unity throughout the books written by different human authors during the course of centuries; the Bible has over 300 direct prophecies of Jesus—all fulfilled in Him; the Bible has foretold events that have been fulfilled; people who wrote books of the Bible have been killed for what they wrote and taught—so sure were they that what they wrote and taught was true and from the Lord, they would rather die than give it up. But still it cannot be proven scientifically that the Bible is God’s word, because how could you do that? In a lab? It ultimately comes down to faith. And the amazing thing is that the very faith to believe that the Bible is the word of God comes from Scripture itself—it can work that faith because the Holy Spirit is at work in it. Through Spirit worked faith, we are certain that the Bible is God’s word. And this is a good thing—if we ever have doubts that this is true, where can we go? –To Scripture itself and hear what it says of itself and so be strengthened and assured that our faith is correct—it is the word of God.
What, then, is the main message of Holy Scripture? What is it all about? In short, it is what Luther and the Reformation brought to light once again: we are saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus. The only place we find this—the simple Gospel message—is in Holy Scripture! Christianity and the Bible are unique because all the other religions of the world and their holy writings teach that we have to do something to earn our way to heaven; that we have to do something to placate God; that we work our way up to God. But what does Christianity teach? –That God became man and came to us to be our Savior! If we are to be certain of our salvation we must believe that this is the word of God—that word that proclaims to us Jesus and His work for our salvation and gives us its fruit and blessings. This is the word God has entrusted to us.
Our text: it is in truth, the word of God. If we accept Holy Scripture as what it really in fact is—the word of God—then it illumines; then it brings to light our sin and our Savior from sin; then we know God rightly as who He really is—our God and Savior; then we truly know how God is minded toward us—love, showing us nothing but love and mercy. If it were not for Holy Scripture, how could we know God rightly and about Him? How could we come to know Jesus and His work for us? But if we reject Scripture as God’s word, then it blinds us. We keep stumbling over who God is and what He demands and expects of us. If we reject Scripture and say it is just a human document, that it’s not the word of God, then we fight against it and what God tells us in it and what He gives us in it. If we even simply doubt it is God’s word, we are placing our human reasoning and thoughts over it and will always have nothing but doubt about God, about our salvation, about everything. Because Holy Scripture is God’s word, we do well to hear it with fear—it’s God’s Word—and approach it in humility. If there’s something we don’t understand or “like”, then let’s bow humbly before the Lord and recognize and confess it is true, whether we understand it fully or not. If we do not approach God’s word in humility—speak Lord, Your servant is listening—but in arrogance we will never understand it, never grow in our understanding. Then instead of illuminating us, the word blinds us.
As we humbly listen to and believe Holy Scripture is God’s word, that word—because it is a divine word filled with the Holy Spirit—produces visible fruit. Our text: the word of God… also effectively works in you who believe. We will never be the same after our encounter with the divine word and by faith believing it. In and by that word the Holy Spirit not only works faith in our hearts to believe and receive it, but He also works in us the fruit of good works, which follow faith; works of love and thanksgiving, where led and empowered by the Holy Spirit we strive to do the Lord’s will. As we humbly receive the divine word in faith, we will persevere in that faith and daily grow and increase in it.
That divine word of Holy Scripture, that good news about Jesus, is something that we have been entrusted with and it is something for us to share. Our text: But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the Gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts. We, dear Christian, who have heard the word of God and were entrusted with it, have been entrusted with it also for the purpose of sharing it. We have been given the word so that we can give it away; but the more we give it away, we will not be out any of it. We are agents/ ambassadors of our Lord entrusted with the word to bring it to people around us, the people the Lord has placed among us—our family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, etc. We bring them the word in simple, humble, natural ways. And we do so in all faithfulness to our Lord and His word. After all, it’s His word. We are simply the ambassadors and agents who do not and dare not add to or take away from that word. Here we do well to remember the Reformation. The whole reason for it was due to lack of faithfulness—God’s word was added to/ covered over and became almost unrecognizable. That’s why faithfulness is necessary—God has entrusted with His word, let us faithfully share His word—it’s His not ours to do with as we please.
A big part of that faithfulness is what St. Paul writes in our Epistle: even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts. We do not tailor our message to fit the popular thoughts or themes of the day. We don’t change our message to fit our supposedly “enlightened age.” We don’t try to please the world and become great in the eyes of the world by our message. Much of what has been entrusted to us is unpleasant to people—all this talk of sin, guilt, God’s wrath, punishment, hell. But that is part of our message and we speak the truth in love. And these things—sin, guilt, hell—are the reality. These are the things that people truly are dealing with. And most try to deal with them by avoiding them, covering over them, etc. The people pleasers help them do that. But to St. Paul and all the ones who recognize they have been entrusted with God’s word, want to share that divine word that deals with head on our real issues of sin, guilt, damnation and points them to the word; points them to Jesus the Savior of sinners and to His life, suffering and death for us all and His glorious resurrection and ascension as victor of sin, death and hell; to His word and sacraments where Jesus comes to us and gives us the forgiveness of sin and eternal life. Here we come again to the Reformation’s main theme: we are saved by God’s grace though faith in Jesus. That’s the word of God He has entrusted to us. May we faithfully share it. INJ