The text this morning is from the Gospel according to 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. “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates, “ ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
You are saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus. You are saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus. You are saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus. 500 years ago, this message, the message that the just shall live by faith and not by works, began ringing through the churches of Christendom once again. This message is the crux and core of our theology. There is no other message more important than this.
It’s not as if this message was totally lost to Christianity through the theological exile they had under the papacy. The saving truth that we find in Jesus Christ has always been in the Church, will always be in the Church, and is in the Church even now. There are always Christians; there have always been those who are saved through Christ alone. Even in Luther’s time, those poor souls who were so besieged with the doctrines of works for salvation, still were saved through Christ, looking to Him as the object of their faith.
And sadly, it may be that many were lost because of it. This is why theology matters: bad theology is bad Christology. Bad theology in just one area impacts every other theology. And bad theology, if it leads you away from Christ, is damning. When you believe that you are saved by God because of how good you are, because of what you do, even because you’re doing the good He causes you to do and then He saves you, then your eyes are off of Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith, and are turned inward towards your evil heart. That is damning.
And so it was that for Christendom, the official teaching of the Roman Church turned the eyes of believers to themselves. And so, if the parishioners of these poor churches believed what they were taught, they had no hope in Christ. Their only hope was in themselves, and so that is no hope at all.
This day, we celebrate the beginning of the Reformation because you are saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus. This doctrine returned to the Church and was held firmly and lovingly because in it we find our hope of salvation. We spend our days as sinners, yet the Word of God speaks to us, and it tells you that, in spite of your sin, God loves you through Christ. It tells you that the righteousness of God is already yours. It tells you that your sins, your great sins, your most grievous sins, are forgiven through the shed blood, the broken body, and the resurrection of Jesus. It tells you that though all, and you especially, have fallen short of the glory of God. Yet, while you were yet a sinner, Christ died for you.
No wonder so many grasped on to this message. No wonder so many were relieved by this good news. No wonder people left the Roman Church in droves to grasp on to what the Word of God actually states. No wonder people looked to this man, Martin Luther, a simple man, an earthly man, and said praise be to God for Martin Luther!
Yet, how many turn away? How many today turn away from this message of the free gift of salvation? How many work to earn the free gifts of God? Sadly, too many. There are even some Protestant churches today who are going to celebrate the Reformation who are functionally no better than the Roman church. “You have to make a decision for Jesus,” they say. “Your faith is only evident by your works,” they say. “The Lord’s Supper and Baptism aren’t what our Lord promises, they’re only symbols,” they say.
To make up doctrine, to not take the Lord at His Word, is to return to the teachings of Rome, a false church with a false doctrine and a false pope who believes he can stand in the place of Christ. Even in evangelicalism out there, just driving down 76th and seeing most of the churches on the side of the road, these churches preach a false Gospel, with pastors who say they are getting direct words from God, who excommunicate you if you challenge them.
And sadly, America today has forgotten the Reformation. They may celebrate it, they may celebrate the life of Doctor Saint Martin Luther, but they do so without understanding that it isn’t Luther who saved the Church, it was Christ. And when you reject what Christ says, you reject Him.
“Hey, Pastor,” you say, “give us something happy, preach something nice, tell us how great it is to be a Lutheran today.” Well, it is great! It is absolutely the most wonderful thing in the world. But, it’s not wonderful because we belong to some group, some social club. To be a Lutheran is the best thing in the world because it is to take Christ exactly at His Word. When He says all have sinned, we believe Him. And it’s wonderful. When He says all of the earth deserves hell and damnation, we believe Him. And it’s wonderful. When He says that He is the only way to salvation, we believe Him. And it’s wonderful. When He says to be Baptized for the forgiveness of our sins, we believe Him. And it’s wonderful. When He says the bread is His body and the wine is His blood, we believe Him. And it’s wonderful. When He says that we should obey the Law, we believe Him. And it’s wonderful. When He says that we are free to serve our neighbor we believe Him. And it’s wonderful. When He says that these works earn us nothing but are only for others, we believe Him. And it’s wonderful. When He says that He has given to us His Church and His pastors to bring the Word and Sacraments to His people always we believe Him. And it’s wonderful.
To be a Lutheran is to take Christ at His Word. But how many have fallen away? How many, even sitting here among us, have fallen away from these truths? It was no different, even for people who saw Jesus face-to-face. People would hear Him and walk away. They would even commit violence against Him. They crucified Jesus, they beheaded John, they sawed open Isaiah, they stoned Jeremiah. Those who followed after Christ fared no better: Peter was crucified upside down, Paul was beheaded, Thomas was boiled, Matthew was stabbed. Yet not one of these turned away from the Word of God, that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
To follow Christ is to hear His Word and keep it, even if it should take you unto death. This is why we celebrate Luther, his friends, his colleagues this day, for they would suffer all things for the sake of the confession of Christ. Wars, violence, riots, excommunications, deaths, broken families, our fathers in the faith suffered these things.
And why, why is it that the prophets, the apostles, the martyrs, and even the Lutherans would suffer so greatly? Why do they put up with such violence and not run away? Why don’t they go out and start a commune somewhere and remove themselves from society? It is for your sake. Wisdom is justified by her deeds. This points us to our Lord, wisdom personified. And through His deeds, through His perfect obedience, through His preaching, even unto death upon a cross, He is justified in all that He does so that you might believe in Him.
So it is with all our fathers of the faith. They suffer for your sake that you might be brought into the kingdom of God. Even the saints of this church did the same. St. Peter Lutheran Church was founded just one year after our Synod was formed and Immanuel Lutheran not long after that. The saints of these two churches suffered through the German persecutions, the beatings, the ridiculing. They suffered these things for your sake, that you might hear the free Gospel of Christ, that you might come to saving faith, be Baptized into the waters that Christ instituted, be fed through His life-giving meal, be strengthened through the hearing of His Word.
The saints of old, and even the saints of not-so-old, suffered these things for your sake on account of Christ. Because of what their Lord has done, they suffered all things, never forsaking their confession of faith, so that you might receive the benefit of Christ also.
That is why we celebrate Reformation day. We celebrate that we might hear of that true confession of faith we find in our Book of Concord, we celebrate that our children and our children’s children might see and hear and believe, we celebrate for all that our Lord has done for us and for our sake, we celebrate that the next generation may hear of our faith and follow our example even as we try to follow the example of Martin Luther and the Confessors. We celebrate for we are willing to suffer all things for the sake of Christ who saved us. We suffer the mockings, the persecutions, even the utter abandonment of those we love for the sake of this confession.
And you shall receive your reward. You are not rewarded because you suffer, you are rewarded because of the one on whose account you suffer. You suffer for Christ, and you shall receive the reward He so did: everlasting life and bliss with God. You are not welcomed into your eternal rest because of your work, but you work because of Christ who won for you that rest. You not do not work even for yourself, but you work that others may believe in He who sent you. You are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, found in Scripture alone, and to God alone be the glory. That is the Reformation message, and no matter the violence, this message will be proclaimed in Christ’s Church until He returns. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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