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The 20th Sunday in Trinity
Our Identity as Lutherans
Reformation Sunday
October 25, 2009
TEXT: (Romans 1:16-21 NKJ) For I am not ashamed of the gospel of
Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for
the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is
revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because
what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and
Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God,
they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their
thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Today we celebrate the anniversary of the Reformation of the Christian Church—as
you study the early Church—you’ll find how the Gospel was spread by the
persecution of those early Christians—the Reformation caused a similar
occurrence when religious persecution in Europe forced Christians to flee to
America—God used circumstances of persecution to spread His Word
The early Church had to fight the authority and man-made doctrines and teachings
of the Pharisees—people were killed by those calling themselves members of the
church of God—they claimed to have understanding of God’s plan—and if you failed
to follow their teachings you would be jailed or murdered—Paul was one of those
Pharisees
But Paul was made to see the Light—a light so bright that it blinded Paul to the
things of this world—and after three days in darkness our Lord opened his eyes
to the spiritual things of heaven—when his eyes were opened to the truth of the
Word—Paul could not be contained—he preached throughout the entire known
world—and God used him for good—until he was murdered by those who called
themselves God’s people—the Jewish traditions tell us Paul was beheaded—Jesus
taught that this behavior by false teachers was to be expected
(John 16:2-3 NKJ) "They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is
coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. 3 "And
these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me.
Through the centuries the church expanded—but again the teachings of the church
became man-made doctrines with a sprinkling of Scripture—very legalistic—very
demanding of those who loved God—the Roman Catholic Church rose to power—and the
pope and his followers became the Pharisees of Martin Luther’s day—people were
persecuted—and even executed because they did not agree with “the church”—by the
time Martin Luther was born in November of 1483, the Roman Catholic church
prevailed in Germany—in fact, it prevailed throughout Europe—the church dictated
what people would do and what they would believe—it conducted worship in a
language that was not common to the people—the people of the church were
silent—they didn’t sing hymns or say prayers—they were spectators at an event
that was supposed to be worship of God
The church was a powerful political entity that controlled its people through
fear, intimidation, and threats—such was the condition of the church when Martin
Luther found it—and such were the conditions that Martin Luther attempted to
correct within his beloved church on October 31, 1517—that’s the day Luther
posted his list of problem areas he wished to discuss in a public debate—this
list is called Luther’s 95 Theses, and that date is considered the start of the
Reformation of the Church—Luther began his fight against those who had stolen
the Gospel from God’s people
Luther lived in an age when his church had many problems—the truths of God were
“interpreted” and given to the people by men motivated by money and power—not
the Word of God—writings of the church were not carefully written works
presented to teach the people about their Savior—they were filthy lies used to
motivate the people to giving more and more to the church to fuel the abuses of
the pope and other religious leaders—Luther didn’t understand nor did he believe
that his church would willfully risk the souls of its people with false and
abusive teachings
Luther really thought that if he could just show the church the errors of its
ways—adjustments would be made by the church leadership—his Ninety Five Theses
were intended to be the start of serious debate to make the problems public—and
to correct them—Luther, like so many of us today, could not understand how “men
of God” could be so unloving and uncaring towards the flock—just reading what
will happen to a pastor if he does not care for his flock should have made the
pope and his followers tremble—and as we consider these words of Scripture,
think about them in the context of Luther and the Church
(Jeremiah 23:1-4 NKJ) "Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of
My pasture!" says the LORD. 2 Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel against
the shepherds who feed My people: "You have scattered My flock, driven them
away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of
your doings," says the LORD. 3 "But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of
all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and
they shall be fruitful and increase. 4 "I will set up shepherds over them who
will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be
lacking," says the LORD.
Couple this writing of the Prophet Jeremiah with Paul’s letter to the Romans—we
could ask ourselves this question “When the church became corrupt and the focus
on the Word was lost, did God send Martin Luther to preach?”
(Romans 10:13-15 NKJ) For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be
saved." 14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And
how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they
hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As
it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of
peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!"
Luther understood God’s Word—and he knew the power of the Word—and he understood
that his countrymen were being enslaved by liars and thieves who pretended to
wrap themselves in the Word—those who called themselves the church were robbing
the people of their hard-earned and much-needed money—and they were robbing them
of their spiritual understanding of salvation—here are some of the verses that
Martin Luther surely was considering when he began his fight against the church
(John 8:31-32 NKJ) Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide
in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 "And you shall know the truth, and
the truth shall make you free."
(Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJ) For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that
not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should
boast.
Luther was angry and disappointed when he nailed his list to the church door—his
list is well thought out—here are a few examples of his questions and comments
Luther offered for debate
11. This changing of the canonical penalty to the penalty of purgatory is quite
evidently one of the tares that were sown while the bishops slept.
16. Hell, purgatory, and heaven seem to differ as do despair, almost-despair,
and the assurance of safety.
27. They preach man who say that so soon as the penny jingles into the
money-box, the soul flies out [of purgatory].
28. It is certain that when the penny jingles into the money-box, gain and
avarice {greedy, a great desire to have wealth} can be increased, but the result
of the intercession of the Church is in the power of God alone.
37. Every true Christian, whether living or dead, has part in all the blessings
of Christ and the Church; and this is granted him by God, even without letters
of pardon.
53. They are enemies of Christ and of the pope, who bid the Word of God be
altogether silent in some Churches, in order that pardons may be preached in
others.
54. Injury is done the Word of God when, in the same sermon, an equal or a
longer time is spent on pardons than on this Word.
82. To wit: -- "Why does not the pope empty purgatory, for the sake of holy love
and of the dire need of the souls that are there, if he redeems an infinite
number of souls for the sake of miserable money with which to build a Church?
The former reasons would be most just; the latter is most trivial."
94. Christians are to be exhorted that they be diligent in following Christ,
their Head, through penalties, deaths, and hell;
There is no way the Roman Catholic Church could defend their teachings against
Luther’s list—no wonder the church offered a reward to any man that would find
him and kill him
Luther was amongst the few honest and caring theologians of his time—he had
knowledge of the Scriptures beyond that which most of us will ever achieve—he
had a love for God beyond description—he was a gifted writer—all that was
lacking was the opportunity and time to join these qualities to lead the church
out of the darkness of the lies being taught and once again into the light of
the truth of God’s Word—God presented that time and opportunity via the vehicle
of the Reformation
Martin Luther was hunted by the so-called church and he lived in hiding for over
20 years—he made good use of this time—Luther translated the New Testament into
German in about 11 weeks—it took him another 11 years to finish the Old
Testament translation—He preached—he taught—he wrote the Large and Small
Catechism to help everyone understand that they can go to heaven in spite of
what the fraudulent church was teaching—he brought music back to the worship
service—he brought worship participation back into the service—he brought
communion back into the congregation
I’ve been called a Lutheran most of my life—some of you are life-long
Lutherans—others might be what I call “closet Lutherans”—but what is a
Lutheran?—a Lutheran is a person who wants to be Luther-like—just as a Christian
is an individual who strives to become Christ-like—we should encourage everyone
we come into contact with to become Christians—and if you study Luther, I think
you will agree that we would all benefit greatly by becoming more like our
brother in the faith, Dr. Martin Luther
Luther dedicated most of his life to helping people understand God’s
Word—helping people understand that the teachings of men are worthless when you
stand before God on Judgment Day—we have to help people understand that Jesus is
the only way to salvation
There is so much more we could say about Luther and the Reformation—but let this
suffice for this day
ALL GLORY BE TO GOD!