Reformation Observed Sermon

 

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +

    Amongst my pastoral colleagues there's actually a lot of discussion and debate as to how one should approach a Reformation Day sermon. Should it be a day for a lot of Church History, or should it be focused on the here and now? Is it a day of triumph, celebrating the accomplishments of the Reformers, or is it a day of sorrow, lamenting how fragmented and messed up the Church of today is? And I routinely annoy people in these discussions by simply saying, “Yes.” It is a complicated day with no simple answer – on it we can speak to both past and present, to successes and failure. It's complex and messy, just like life. And the angle we're going to take today is to ponder the messiness, the difficulty of life, honestly and openly – because that's the heart of not only the Reformation, but indeed the Christian faith and life. It's the heart of the simple truths that Jesus speaks today in the Gospel that so aggravate people. Listen.

    So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in Him, “If you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.” A fairly familiar quote – the idea of truth setting people free is still brought up in the post-Christian world around us. But I will submit that this is a verse whose meaning is ignored, and indeed, it is a verse that when Jesus first spoke it caused no end of controversy. The people hearing it become indignant – how can you say this? Well, let's consider what Jesus says.

    First, Jesus sets up a conditional. If you abide in My word. If you want the good results to follow, the three benefits, you've got to abide in My Word. If you instead avoid My Word, you don't get them. There's two ways set forth, and the only way to get the good stuff is to abide is, to live and remain in Jesus' Word. Apart from Jesus' Word, you get squadouche. Jesus is blunt here. This right here, this set up, is the first reason why people are upset with Jesus. Jesus tells us that we need to abide in His Word. That if we aren't in His Word, if we aren't listening to Him, we miss out on so many good things. And yet this simple reality sets people off. Don't you tell me what I have to do! Don't you say that I need to do something! Our sinful nature never admits that there are things we actually need to do. No, it's someone else's fault. No, it's someone else's problem – why aren't they just giving it too me? Well, Jesus is giving you things – but the way He delivers these good things is by His Word, and if you refuse His Word, His means of delivery (indeed, His means of Grace), you just won't get it.

    So people are already going to be a bit on edge here, but then when Jesus says what good things He gives, it gets even worse for people. If you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciples. Truly. Really. Honestly. There's an implication there. There's an uncomfortable truth there. Some of y'all say you're My disciples, but you don't care about My Word at all. That's an uncomfortable reality. A disciple has to listen to the master. A student has to listen to the teacher. Are you actually learning anything if you never bother to listen? Now this is obvious, but we don't like obvious truths; we like to cling to happy and nice ideas about ourselves. I will give a silly example. If anyone were to ask who my favorite NBA team is, I'd say the Bulls. I'm a Bulls fan. But, I've never been to a Bulls game, and I don't think I've sat down and watched a Bulls game in over decade. I don't think I watched 5 minutes last season. I used to – I'd watch games in the 90s all the time... but that was 30 years ago. Sure, I still like the walk out hype music, but am I truly a Bulls fan? But that's just sports. Now apply that to God and His Word. See how this might suddenly get uncomfortable? See how priorities get revealed? Again, Jesus is making people uncomfortable here.

    And it gets worse. If you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the Truth... You will know, you will experience, you will live in the Truth. Why, that's a good thing, isn't it Pastor? Yes... but there's a problem. That “will”. That future tense. In the future you will have this good thing... implies that you don't have it right now. Right now, apart from My Word, you don't know the Truth. You don't live in the Truth. You simply live in delusions of your own devising. And frankly, we can all tell that Jesus is right. There's less and less faithfulness around us, less and less care for God's Word... indeed, less and less care for any words having any actual meaning whatsoever... and thus we're surrounded by delusions. It's clear to see. Well, other people's delusions are clear to us... sometimes we overlook and happily live in our own delusions, and the Word of God will reveal truth, will reveal Jesus, will show us that some of the things we cherish, we love, we prioritize... are utterly Christless and silly and not all that important.

    And now the kicker – now that famous line – and the Truth will set you free. Abide in the Word of God, and the Truth, Christ Jesus who is Himself the Way, the Truth, and the Life will come rolling on into your life and knock down your delusions, your comfortable cage of denial that you've constructed for yourself, and He will set you free. He'll free you from the false comforts of sin. He'll free you from lacksidasial living where you just get to ignore your neighbor with your silly excuses. He'll free to you actually be a disciple, to be like Him, to grow and to actually love your neighbor. He will (dare I say today) reform you, reform you away from sin and death and unto life and forgiveness.

    And this sets people off. The protest comes! They answered Him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you can say, 'You will become free?'” Oh, this is catastrophically foolish. Alright folks, what's Passover? Well, it's when we celebrate God delivering us from slavery in Egypt. Oh, and what's Purim? That's when we celebrate God delivering us from the Babylonian Captivity. And what's Hanukkah? That's when we celebrate God delivering us from wicked Greek kings. And whose ruling Israel as you speak this? The Romans. Never been enslaved to anyone, eh?

    The thing is – your denials, your dancing around the issue, your self-justification, they are just as silly. They are just as lousy. I know mine are. Eh, I was just having a bad day – what a weak and pathetic excuse that is. What lies we will tell ourselves and then say they are just little white ones. And the thing is – Jesus doesn't want that for you. Jesus didn't create you to be stuck in delusion. Jesus didn't create you to be bitter or coarse or sad. Jesus didn't create you to be a slave – and as He says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.” How's that for uncomfortable? Your sin is trying to enslave you, to chain you and bind you and trap you. And all the denials and excuses in the world won't change that fact or fix that fact. In Confirmation Class there's going to be a quiz on the 10 Commandments, and I'm asking the kids which commandment 2-10 is the worst one for them. Or in other words, how does sin try to enslave them. It's something for you to ponder too. Crack open your catechisms, disciples, read the 10 Commandments and their meaning again... how is sin trying to enslave you?

    Boy pastor, I guess you went with Reformation Day being a day of sorrow and lamenting this year. Sermon's not done yet. God's Word is two fold. There is the truth of God's Law which shows us our sin, shows us what sin does to us. But that's not it to God's Word. The Truth will set you free. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. Instead of just leaving us trapped in delusion, trapped in sin and death, Christ Jesus comes down from heaven, and He engages in a rescue mission. Jesus comes to free you from sin. He does this by dying and rising for you, and by coming to you and giving you Himself over and over, coming to you in His Word, making you His disciple again and again, redefining you and re-establishing who you are in Him and on His terms. Are your sins great – don't deny it, they are. Well Christ Jesus has paid the penalty for you – see, that Cross is bigger than anything else. You're free of all that sin, and Jesus keeps on freeing you from it. Is death looming – don't deny it, it is. Well Christ Jesus has died and risen, and He says you will too. You're free of that, and Jesus will free you from death eternally. Are you afraid of rejection and fears that if you don't go along with the crowd you'll be excluded and lost – be honest, that drives a lot of our folly. Well, Jesus says that you are His, Baptized, part of His family, His brother, His sister, no matter how people grouse about you. You're free of that. Are you caught up in the love of things, your wants and desires – be honest, we all want stupid things, or we want good things in stupid ways, and we're afraid of losing and missing out. Well, Jesus says, I'm making a new heaven and a new earth filled with good things that you will love rightly in a way that won't hurt you or bring you sorrow, so take and eat, take and drink, have a foretaste of this feast to come right now to forgive you and strengthen you now, to free you now.

    You see, this is the wonder of the Reformation – the restoration of the clear, glorious, wonderous Gospel message that Christ Jesus has done it all for you, that you are saved, truly saved, by His Holy Birth, His perfect obedience, His innocent suffering and death, and His resurrection. That all of this is for you, and that it actually rescues you from sin and death, from real sin and real death – things you are tempted to sweep under the rug or to try to sort out on your own. And we so often get tempted to live in denial, to ignore the elephant in the room, to cower meekly in a corner. But that's not what Jesus wants for you, O forgiven child of God! Jesus comes to set you free. And Jesus knows you will struggle now, He knows sin and Satan keep messing with you. So be it – the Son comes to you with His Word, and He sets you free – free to be a disciple of Jesus who learns to fight against sin and temptation, free to face the truth even when that truth means you admit your failures, free to be freed and redeemed solely by Christ, knowing that nothing is too big for Him to forgive. Free to have confidence in Jesus, free to have boldness in Christ, free to just go and actually love your neighbors come hell or high water, because frankly whether it's hell or the flood, Jesus tops them both.

    You're free in Christ, O disciples. And Jesus keeps on freeing you as the world keeps trying to trap you again and again. Live in His Word, be in His Word – because Jesus comes to you in His Word to set you free, and in Him you will be free indeed. Amen. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +