The text this morning is from the Gospel of Matthew, the 11th chapter:
From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.Thus far the text.
Dear friends in Christ,
Today is, of course, the day that we celebrate the Reformation. No, let me start again, one does not simply celebrate the Reformation itself, but we celebrate what it is that the Reformation returned to us, namely the free gift of the eternal Gospel in repentance and the forgiveness of sins.
You see, by the 16th century, the Church was tolerating awful doctrines in their midst that make us focus on ourselves and the work that we do. Horrendous. It was teaching that we had to be good people in order to get to heaven. Ridiculous. It was teaching that we had to do good works to get to heaven. Horrible. It was teaching that we would be judged by our works, and we better measure up or else we won’t go to heaven right away. Wretched. This is not what the Church, the true Church, the orthodox and catholic church, our Church, has EVER taught. We teach grace. We teach freedom in Christ.
So, in reality, you do not have to be a good person to go to heaven. Jesus is the good person for you. In reality, you do not have to do good works to get to heaven. Jesus did the good works for you. In reality, you do not have to be judged by your works, which is good because you would NEVER measure up to perfection. In reality, Jesus tells you to be judged by HIS works, because He WAS and IS perfect.
Yes, this is what the Church was allowing to go on in their midst. It was a return even to the teaching that Jesus condemns in the first verses of the Gospel reading today. The kingdom of heaven has suffered violence. People have tried to wrest the kingdom away from God Himself. People have taught untruths. People are lying in the name of God. People are telling us that grace is not free, that God has only chosen some, that Baptism is merely a symbol, that the Lord’s Supper is merely representative of the Lords’ body and blood, that a pastor cannot forgive your sins, that Scripture can’t be trusted, that Scripture is incomplete, that Scripture doesn’t tell us everything that God wants us to know about Himself, that we must speak in tongues, that we must predict the coming of Christ, that we must hear God literally and actually speaking to us. But, today we think back and remember that Martin Luther began to call these things to question, and these are not Biblical teachings at all.
And, we, as the Church of the Reformation, we constantly combat these false teachings, and have returned to the preaching of repentance and forgiveness of sins, just as John the Baptizer preached long ago, just as Elijah preached long ago, just as the Prophets and the Law prophesied until Christ came to this world. We preach the only thing that matters: repentance and the forgiveness of sins on Christ's account. We preach Christ and him crucified. It matters not when the end of the world may be, it matters not what financial position you are in, it matters not the health of your family, it matters not what blessings you want God to give you. The ONLY thing that matters is that when you repent of your sins, when you are convicted by the Law, because NONE of you will ever be able to obey the smallest jot or tittle in the Law, God is faithful and just and He forgives you your sins.
Your sins are no longer yours, but they are Christ’s. Christ has taken your sin from you. And then He died on the cross for you. And God the Father vindicated His Son, pleased with His sacrifice on the cross, and raised Him from the dead on the third day to confirm to you that INDEED your sins have no more power over death and decay. Your sins have no more power to make ANYONE suffer eternally, for Christ suffered once for ALL and has justified us through His body, through His death and resurrection.
When the text today claims that the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, it means that people have done violence to the teachings of Yahweh, the teachings of God, the teachings of Christ. The violent people tell us that Jesus came to be a revolutionary hero, NO KING BUT JESUS! But Jesus tells us to render to the king, render to Caesar what is Caesar’s, render to the government what is the government’s, render to the president what is the president’s.
The violent people tell us to submit to them as new prophets, as people to whom God speaks audibly so that you may never question or challenge anything they say because God has given them vision.
This violence is awful, it is persistent, and it is as alive in our churches today as it was alive in the days before the Reformation as it was alive until Jesus Christ came preaching repentance and the forgiveness of sins, which He won for us on the cross of Calvary.
But today I must tell you that we, the Church, because of our sins, keep returning to these awful doctrines. We keep returning to absolute junk! We allow this junk into the Church, and we listen to its teachings! We do not protect our mother, the Church, the bride of Christ. Instead, we whore her out to the lowest bidder. We give her to the Joel Osteens, the Joyce Meyers, the Kenneth Copelands, the Paula Whites, the Popes. We give it away! Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?!
You have given way to these things and people even in your lives. You have taken these awful, pernicious teachings and have listened to them, believed them, and never thought that they should first be compared to the ACTUAL kingdom of heaven, the ACTUAL words of Christ, the only ACTUAL and REAL thing that matters.
Instead of loving truth, we lust after error. Instead of clinging to Christ, we chase the skirts of heresy. Instead of hearing the Word, we remain in our beds. Instead of taking the Lord’s body and blood in our mouths, we’d rather drink beer in a deer stand. Instead of coming and hearing and meditating and learning the things that Christ has to give you, instead of hearing and receiving the forgiveness of sins, we’d rather be anywhere else than here. And then when someone like me calls you out on it, you do the same thing as those who looked at John and Jesus.
If someone, even me, calls you out, you complain and mope and get angry. And if someone doesn’t call someone ELSE out, then you complain and mope and get angry. You can’t have it both ways!
You hear false theology and love it, but when you are corrected you complain and mope and get angry. And when someone else loves a false theology you don’t love, you complain and mope and get angry. You can’t have it both ways!
And in the same way, you cannot rely on the Gospel when you want to be judged by the Law. And you will be judged by the Law if you reject the Gospel. You cannot have it both ways! You will either be condemned or you will be forgiven. By the works of the Law no human being will be justified. You can only be justified by the Gospel, the eternal Gospel, the free forgiveness of Jesus Christ. You cannot have it both ways.
Well, that escalated quickly. I certainly am tempted to leave the sermon here, because sometimes these things you do, as your pastor, as your shepherd, as one who cares for you because the Lord has put you in my heart and under my charge, are so dangerous for you, I so often would love to just leave it at the Law. Get you good and riled up and convicted.
But then I wouldn’t be a very good shepherd. A shepherd not only redirects the sheep, but then he cleans them and grooms them and comforts them and feeds them the best food. So, I can’t leave it there. Even the Reformation has reminded us of this. Rightly, the Law does not come alone, it is always followed after by the eternal Gospel. After the Law condemns, the Gospel frees. If I left this sermon at the Law, how would you remember Jesus? How would you remember what He’s done for you? How would you know that that there is nothing that you can do to earn your salvation? How would you do anything but be convicted and burn in the fires of hell?
So, as I said at the beginning of this sermon, grace and peace to you. And this is true. God’s grace and peace come to you through Christ. All of what I have said of the Law is true. You can’t be forgiven of the Gospel if you want to be judged by the Law. You can’t worship in the temple of nature if you want to hear the Good News of Christ. You can’t. You just can’t. You can’t have it both ways.
Only Christ is able to have ANYTHING both ways. Christ is perfect, yet He desired a sinner’s death. For you. Christ is God, yet He desired to be made man. For you. Christ became Sin, yet He is the Son of God. For you.
Christ gets it both ways. For you. Christ lives a perfect life, and yet He doesn’t hold onto it for Himself, but gives it freely to you so that YOU may be forgiven of all your sin and that He may be judged by your sin. This is getting it both ways. Christ earns eternal life by His life, but takes hell because of yours. This is getting it both ways.
This is grace and peace, this is the forgiveness of sins. Christ has earned this for you because you can’t. Christ has gone to hell for you so you won’t. Christ gives you eternal life because you deserve eternal death. Christ gives you forgiveness because you do nothing but sin.
You cannot merit anything of eternal life. It has to be a gift from God Himself, the only one who could, the only one who did earn it. And He gives it to you freely. You do not have to be a good person to go to heaven. Jesus is the good person for you. You do not have to do good works to get to heaven. Jesus did the good works for you. You do not have to be judged by your works, which is good because you would NEVER measure up to perfection. Jesus tells you to be judged by HIS works, because He WAS and IS perfect.
This is Reformation Day, the day we celebrate that God led others to reform the awful teachings that had crept into the Church, the day that we reclaimed what the Church has ALWAYS taught: that the Lord Jesus Christ has come to save sinners, of which I am the foremost. That repentance is a free gift of the Holy Spirit, turning you from your sin and pointing you towards Christ. That forgiveness is a free gift earned for you on the cross of Calvary. That baptism now saves even one like me. That the Lord’s Supper is the eating and drinking of the Lord’s true body and blood in, with, and under the bread and the wine. That the pastor is the mouthpiece, the messenger, the vicar of Christ in the preaching of all these things. That the Scriptures are authoritative, inviolable, inerrant, infallible.
These, and ALL the teachings of the Church, we have regained. Notice in these there is nothing there that YOU must do, just as you have never had to earn any forgiveness, but they all point to what Christ has done for you, for the forgiveness of your sins, delivering that forgiveness to you now and always.
We are the Church of the Reformation, we are the Church of ancient times, we are the Church all the way back to Adam. And we are the Church of Jesus Christ and we will proclaim this until the end of time. Christ’s Church isn’t going anywhere. We are Jesus’ bride, and He will preserve His truth until the end of time. We shall no longer suffer violence, but rejoice that the Lord has brought to us His Gospel gifts, His body, His blood, His washing of regeneration, His repentance, His forgiveness, His and His alone. This is Jesus, my friends. This is what He does. This is who He is. Taste and see, the Lord is good and merciful. Fear God and give Him glory, for He has earned everything for you so that you never have to yourself. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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