Sermon: Reformation Sunday 2021
Psalm 46
Jeremiah 31.31-34
Romans 3.19-28
John 8.31-36
Dear beloved of God, grace to you and peace in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Today is Reformation Sunday; a special day in the life of the church in which we celebrate and give thanks to God for Jesus Christ, and all that we have learned from Martin Luther, from whom we take our name; “Lutherans.” To be Lutheran gives us a certain lens through which we see what God is up to in God’s son, Jesus.
One of the most amazing insights of Luther, is how we view who we are as children of God, claimed and named, and joined with Jesus in baptism, and how we can approach God, or better yet, how God has come to us in Jesus.
A big breakthrough in this understanding for Luther was found first in the writings of Paul: that we are justified by grace through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. Paul talks about this in his letter to the Romans when he writes about “the righteousness of God through faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, 23since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; 24they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
Another great gift of Luther for us was his work in making the bible accessible to all people, not just religious leaders, or scholars, but all people. You see, in Luther’s time, hardly anyone read the bible. Of course, not many people could read at this time, but even less people could read Latin or Greek or Hebrew. In the year 1521, Luther translated the New Testament into German, the language of those around him, giving everyone entrance into reading about Jesus and the good news of God in Jesus.
Around the same time as he published his New Testament translation,
Martin Luther wrote a short piece entitled,
“A Brief Instruction on What to Look for and Expect in the Gospels.”
In this work, Luther has much to say about what exactly are the gospels; and even more wonderful, what exactly THE Gospel is. Luther writes:
“For at its briefest, the gospel is a discourse about Christ,
that he is the Son of God and became a human being for us,
that he died and was raised,
that he has been established as a Lord over all things.”
“The chief article and foundation of the gospel is that before you take Christ as an example, you accept and recognize him as a gift, as a present that God has given you and that is your own.”
See, this is what it means to have a proper grasp of the gospel, that is, of the overwhelming goodness of God, which neither prophet, nor apostle, nor angel was ever able fully to express,
and which no heart could adequately fathom or marvel at.
This is the great fire of the love of God for us, whereby the heart and conscience become happy, secure and content.”
So you see that the gospel is really not a book of laws and commandments which requires deeds of us,
but a book of divine promises in which God promises, offers,
and gives us all his possessions and benefits in Christ.[i]
The word, gospel, comes from the Greek word, Evangelion, which means ‘Good News!’
Luther writes that this good news is about Jesus, the Son of God, who became human, who died on a cross and was raised, and who is Lord! And that
Jesus is the overwhelming goodness of God;
the great fire of the love of God for us!
Dear beloved, with this in mind; here is some good news for you today as proclaimed in our readings:
Psalm 46:
1God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
7The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge.
9He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire. 10"Be still, and know that I am God!
Romans:
21But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, 22the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, 23since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; 24they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus . . .
John:
34Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. 35The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. 36So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”
Jeremiah:
33But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.
We, as Lutherans, also have an insight into what Holy Communion is all about. We understand that Holy Communion, where we hear the words and promise of Jesus made real in the bread and wine; ‘this is my body given for you, this is my blood shed for you—is a means of grace; the ultimate gift for you and for me and for all people. How do we live with this good news; this gift? I have taught a lot of children about communion, this gift of Jesus for us. I always ask the kids what it means to receive a gift. Invariably they answer that we give thanks for the gift, and that we use it, we appreciate, we experience joy.
And Martin Luther has some words for us on how we receive this gift, the gospel, this good news about Jesus:
“I will therefore give myself as a Christ to my neighbor, just as Christ offered himself to me; I will do nothing in this life except what I see is necessary, profitable, and salutary to my neighbor, since through faith I have an abundance of all good things in Christ.” LW 31.367
Dear beloved of God, may Jesus, the overwhelming goodness of God, the fire of God’s love for you and for all, fill you with all hope and love and peace and joy.
[i] Martin Luther. “A Brief Instruction on What to Look for and Expect in the Gospels.” The Annotated Luther Vol 2: Word and Faith. Kirsi I. Stjerna, Volume Editor. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2015, 29-32
