The Festival of the Reformation
“Not Just
History”
Text: Romans 3:19-28 (John
Grace, mercy,
and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ. Amen.
Today, as we celebrate the Festival of
the Reformation, the thoughts of most people tend to Martin Luther, or the 95
Theses, or the struggles with the Pope, or the Book the
And so it is good, right, and salutary
today to celebrate the Festival of the Reformation not in the past tense, but in the present tense. Not as a completed action, but an ongoing
one. And to begin with
ourselves. To take the beam out
of our own eye, before trying to take the speck out of our brother’s eye. (Mt 7:3) To shut our mouths and open
our ears. To repent and let the
Word of God have its way with us. For
that is the place of the church and what the church does when she is being most
herself – calling sinners to repentance, to receive the forgiveness of their
sins; to receive their Saviour. For the
church is not about one’s rights; it is not about health and wealth; it is not
about liberation, social justice, or even morality. It is about forgiveness. If that is not what the church proclaims,
then the church is not being the church, and we have either added to Christ
what should not have been added, or taken away from Christ what should not have
been taken away, or both.
And so we need to repent, that we might
be reformed. We need to shut our mouths
and open our ears, that the Word of God have its way
with us. For through the Word that we
hear and the Word that we eat comes the Word made
flesh, our Saviour Himself, to work in us and live in us and set us free
through the forgiveness of our sins.
Free from our enemies. Free from
ourselves.
And so we heard today from Romans
chapter 3 – words that I like to call God’s divine “Shut up!” For to be the church is to
listen before we speak. To listen to the life-giving Word of truth. To listen to the One who speaks and it is
so. To stop trying to
defend ourselves and justify ourselves.
To stop trying to tell God what is right and what is wrong. To stop trying to tell God how things should
be, and what a good person I am. No! Stop. Because
here, in our Lord’s Church, where things are right in a very wrong world –
here, our Lord speaks and we listen. And
His Word has His way with us. . . . And only then do we have anything worthwhile
to say. For only when we “same say” back
to Him or to our neighbor what He has said to us do we speak the truth. The truth which is a confession,
not an opinion. The truth which comes from Him, and not from the depths of our
sin-filled, self-centered hearts.
And so we heard today from Romans chapter
3: “Now
we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so
that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to
God.” (v. 19) Or in other words, the Law of God
is His divine “Shut Up!” to you and me.
It is the mirror that shows us our real selves, and says to you and me: You may be respectable, but you are not
holy. And there is a great
difference. For you may be respectable
in the eyes of the world, and considered good, and praised by all, but that is only because you haven’t been
found out . . . what you’re really like . . . the sin, the evil, lurking in
your hearts. But God knows it. And it isn’t like you’ve just messed up here
and there – it is, as we heard in the Gospel, that you are a slave to sin. And maybe worse yet, a slave that doesn’t
even know you’re a slave! A slave
insisting that you’re really free! But
that doesn’t make it so, no matter how many times we say it.
And so it is true. We have been deformed by sin, conformed
to the world, and informed by wrong wisdom and
thinking – and we need to be reformed.
“O almighty God, merciful Father,
I am a poor, miserable sinner . . .” (Confession, Divine Service 3, LSB p. 184) I have no defense, no justification, no good
reasons, explanations, or extenuating circumstances. I am not holy. I am guilty.
And now, another thing – now you are
listening! For shut up by the Law, your
ears are open. The unholy ones before the Holy One, to hear the Word He wants
to speak to you more than any other: His Word of re-forming forgiveness. Or in the words of Isaiah and John the
Baptist: “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to
“But now the righteousness of God has
been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear
witness to it— the
righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For
there is no distinction: for all have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a
gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a
propitiation [a
substitute] by his blood, to be received by faith.” (vs.
21-22a)
And thus we are reformed! The holiness that we are not, is given to us,
as a gift. No word or deed of ours can accomplish that; but every word and deed of Christ Jesus did. For
His every word and deed points to the cross, and flows from the cross. The cross which is never past tense, but
always present tense! Because
while the cross is history it is
never just history, but that which
gives life still today. For the
blood that flowed from the cross, from our Saviour’s hands
and feet and side . . . is now the blood in His Font, and on His Altar, and in
His Word, giving the precious gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation won for
us there.
+ For it is His blood that washes us
clean, raises us to new life, and makes us His sons in Holy Baptism.
+ It is His blood that fills the Word of
Absolution with its resurrecting power and life.
+ It is His blood that fills the chalice
on the altar, poured over our lips and into our bodies, to strengthen us in
faith and re-form us to the image of our Saviour.
And through all these gifts, we are set
free by the Son. Free from all
our enemies, not just some of
them. Sin forgiven and atoned for, death
overcome in resurrection, and the devil
defeated and stripped of his power, once and for all. . . .
All of that is ours (as we heard in the
Holy Gospel) as we abide in His Word. For to abide in the Word is to abide in the Son, who sets us free. Making us through death and resurrection what
we were not before – His disciples, who know the truth, and who have been set
free. (John
8:31b-32)
And only thus raised and re-formed by
being given a new life – now we speak!
And are bold to speak, for
now we have something to say. The truth. The praise of Him who has done such great things for men. That now, like
Christ, our every word and deed point
to the cross (that’s our confession) and flow from the cross (that’s our
love). And living in the cross, we begin
to do that which we could not do before – the good works of the Law our Father
would have us do. Because we are no
longer under the Law, being crushed by it, but set free from it, to now live
it. Our Saviour having fulfilled it for us, that we might now live – out of His grace – for others.
And that’s what the Reformation was all
about. And still is. To put us in our place. To remind us that when we say that we are
saved by grace alone, by faith alone, and
by Scripture alone, it is to take us out of the picture – and remind
us that it is all the work of God for us.
All gift.
A gift that we receive. A gift that we now live. And that is the eternal Gospel we heard
of in Revelation, that though it be obscured, covered, ignored, denied, or set
aside – at various times and in various ways – will never be taken away. For
where God is His gift is. Where God is
His Word is. Where God is His Gospel
is. His Gospel which
sets us free, and is our only hope, both now and forevermore.
In the name of
the Father and of the (+) Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Now the peace of God which passes all
understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, our
Lord. Amen.