Reformation Day
Text: John 8:31-36
Vicar Gary Schultz
Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
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.”
These Jews were confused by Jesus’ words. “We’re good Jews – of the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob! We’ve got it right. We don’t need to be set free. We aren’t slaves to anyone.” In the verse following today’s Gospel, Jesus responds: “I know that you are offspring of Abraham yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you.” Jesus is the fulfillment of the line of Abraham. The words He speaks brings ultimate freedom and life. The words He speaks are the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham and to all His people, bringing the political kingdom of Israel to an end and establishing His Kingdom in the church.
“Those foolish Jews,” we might say, “Why didn’t they get it? Jesus tells us to abide in His Word, so we do. After all, it’s Reformation Day. We’re good Lutherans – of the line of Luther, Chemnitz, and Walther. We’ve got it right.”
Our church is blessed to abide in God’s Word. Indeed the distinctive characteristic of the Lutheran Church is that her teachings are none other than those of the church catholic, that is, universal. When so-called “Lutheran” groups forsake abiding in God’s Word and leave behind the teaching and practice of the church of all times and places, then being “Lutheran” is a worthless title.
But lest we put our hope and trust in the wrong thing, we must consider Jesus’ admonition to abide in His word. To abide in His word is more than just being a member of a parish or church body, to be confirmed, to attend worship, or to give a monetary contribution.
While these are all part of the Christian life, to abide in God’s Word is to fear and love God so that we would not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it. To abide in God’s Word is to regularly attend worship, to spend time daily in prayer through reading of the Scriptures and offering our sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, and throughout life to confess the faith of the church in our daily vocations.
Do you ever skip the Divine Service for no good reason – to sleep in, to watch sports, to go fishing? If not, have you ever considered doing so? Do you ever attend the Divine Service and not pay attention to what’s going on, pondering what you’re going to do once you get out of church? Does your daily prayer and reading of God’s Word get set aside for more “important” things? Do you neglect personal and corporate study of God’s Word? Do you attend Bible study and find it boring or impertinent? Do you go through your daily life and think of your “spiritual life” as something separate from the rest of your life? This is not abiding in God’s Word – this is remaining in our bondage as slaves to sin.
When we do not abide in God’s Word, we remain slaves to sin under the law. When we do not abide in God’s Word, we are on our own to be righteous before God. Whether we are active Christians, straying from the faith, unbelievers, or have never heard the Gospel, at times we all think we have our lives under control. Whether we abide in it or not, God’s Word is clear: All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Whether we believe it or not, our sin keeps us in bondage and slavery – apart from God’s glory. Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.
Jesus came to free us from our bondage in slavery to sin. Jesus kept the law perfectly for us. This is the righteousness of God that has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it. His perfection was given to us as He was offered up as the One to set us free. The author of Hebrews explains: Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who though fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham (Heb 2:14-15). He became flesh and blood to be tempted and suffer in every way just as we are tempted and suffer. He became flesh and blood to live a perfect life for us in the face of temptation. He became flesh and blood to remove the curse of sin, death, and the devil from us. In the water of the Jordan at His baptism, Jesus took on the sin of mankind so that in the water of our baptism, Jesus places His perfection upon us. His atoning sacrifice and victorious resurrection become our death and resurrection in these life-giving, freeing waters. We in the church are the offspring of Abraham whom He helps.
This is the message that the reformation of the church set about to proclaim clearly. This universal, catholic message of the freedom from sins by Our Lord was reclaimed by the reformers of the church and continues to strengthen, sustain, and comfort the church to our very day. These reformers weren’t doing anything new! The reformation is about returning to the catholic church – the church of every time and place. The Augsburg Confession reminds us: “…the churches among us do not dissent from the catholic church in any article of faith but only set aside a few abuses that are new and were accepted because of corruption over time…” (AC Articles in Which an Account Is Given…, 1). The reformers were setting out to return to the basic truths of Christianity. These reformers weren’t doing anything new! They were recovering that which makes us new. The freedom from sin through Christ’s gifts of Baptism, Absolution, the Sacrament of the Altar, and the Preaching of the Gospel are how we abide in Christ and He abides in us. These gifts are what the church is all about.
On the cross, Christ took away the punishment from when we go away from His Word. His death made atonement for our imperfection, our disobedience, and our straying from His Word. Being justified in Christ, His admonition to “abide in His word” is not a difficult command to follow or another thing for us to do in our hectic lives. It is a gracious gift to live in the blessings of forgiveness given through His Word of forgiveness. Christ is the Word made flesh. He abided in the Father’s word – a word that brought wrath against Him. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He begged for that word to be removed. “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me” (Lk 22:42). Yet, it remained, and He abided in it until the end – for our forgiveness.
Jesus said, The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. Our freedom in Christ now has eternal benefits. We are now the children of God through faith in Christ. So we are free indeed – free to remain in Our Father’s heavenly mansion – as children, not as slaves, to sing with David: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever (Ps 23:6) and My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord (Ps 84:2).
Our freedom in Christ who became flesh for our salvation has set us free to dwell forever in our Father’s heavenly dwelling. And while we wait for that great day, we abide in His word, and we give thanks that He constantly abides with us. We, with the church, pray: Abide with us, Lord, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. Abide with us and with Your whole Church. Abide with us at the end of the day, and the end of our life, at the end of the world. Abide with us with Your grace and goodness, with Your holy Word and Sacrament, with Your strength and blessing. Abide with us when the night of affliction and temptation comes upon us, the night of fear and despair, the night when death draws near. Abide with us and with all the faithful, now and forever. Amen (Prayer at Compline).
The peace of God which passes all understanding guard and keep your hearts and minds in the true faith until life everlasting. Amen.
Vicar Gary Schultz
Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
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.”
These Jews were confused by Jesus’ words. “We’re good Jews – of the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob! We’ve got it right. We don’t need to be set free. We aren’t slaves to anyone.” In the verse following today’s Gospel, Jesus responds: “I know that you are offspring of Abraham yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you.” Jesus is the fulfillment of the line of Abraham. The words He speaks brings ultimate freedom and life. The words He speaks are the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham and to all His people, bringing the political kingdom of Israel to an end and establishing His Kingdom in the church.
“Those foolish Jews,” we might say, “Why didn’t they get it? Jesus tells us to abide in His Word, so we do. After all, it’s Reformation Day. We’re good Lutherans – of the line of Luther, Chemnitz, and Walther. We’ve got it right.”
Our church is blessed to abide in God’s Word. Indeed the distinctive characteristic of the Lutheran Church is that her teachings are none other than those of the church catholic, that is, universal. When so-called “Lutheran” groups forsake abiding in God’s Word and leave behind the teaching and practice of the church of all times and places, then being “Lutheran” is a worthless title.
But lest we put our hope and trust in the wrong thing, we must consider Jesus’ admonition to abide in His word. To abide in His word is more than just being a member of a parish or church body, to be confirmed, to attend worship, or to give a monetary contribution.
While these are all part of the Christian life, to abide in God’s Word is to fear and love God so that we would not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it. To abide in God’s Word is to regularly attend worship, to spend time daily in prayer through reading of the Scriptures and offering our sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, and throughout life to confess the faith of the church in our daily vocations.
Do you ever skip the Divine Service for no good reason – to sleep in, to watch sports, to go fishing? If not, have you ever considered doing so? Do you ever attend the Divine Service and not pay attention to what’s going on, pondering what you’re going to do once you get out of church? Does your daily prayer and reading of God’s Word get set aside for more “important” things? Do you neglect personal and corporate study of God’s Word? Do you attend Bible study and find it boring or impertinent? Do you go through your daily life and think of your “spiritual life” as something separate from the rest of your life? This is not abiding in God’s Word – this is remaining in our bondage as slaves to sin.
When we do not abide in God’s Word, we remain slaves to sin under the law. When we do not abide in God’s Word, we are on our own to be righteous before God. Whether we are active Christians, straying from the faith, unbelievers, or have never heard the Gospel, at times we all think we have our lives under control. Whether we abide in it or not, God’s Word is clear: All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Whether we believe it or not, our sin keeps us in bondage and slavery – apart from God’s glory. Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.
Jesus came to free us from our bondage in slavery to sin. Jesus kept the law perfectly for us. This is the righteousness of God that has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it. His perfection was given to us as He was offered up as the One to set us free. The author of Hebrews explains: Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who though fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham (Heb 2:14-15). He became flesh and blood to be tempted and suffer in every way just as we are tempted and suffer. He became flesh and blood to live a perfect life for us in the face of temptation. He became flesh and blood to remove the curse of sin, death, and the devil from us. In the water of the Jordan at His baptism, Jesus took on the sin of mankind so that in the water of our baptism, Jesus places His perfection upon us. His atoning sacrifice and victorious resurrection become our death and resurrection in these life-giving, freeing waters. We in the church are the offspring of Abraham whom He helps.
This is the message that the reformation of the church set about to proclaim clearly. This universal, catholic message of the freedom from sins by Our Lord was reclaimed by the reformers of the church and continues to strengthen, sustain, and comfort the church to our very day. These reformers weren’t doing anything new! The reformation is about returning to the catholic church – the church of every time and place. The Augsburg Confession reminds us: “…the churches among us do not dissent from the catholic church in any article of faith but only set aside a few abuses that are new and were accepted because of corruption over time…” (AC Articles in Which an Account Is Given…, 1). The reformers were setting out to return to the basic truths of Christianity. These reformers weren’t doing anything new! They were recovering that which makes us new. The freedom from sin through Christ’s gifts of Baptism, Absolution, the Sacrament of the Altar, and the Preaching of the Gospel are how we abide in Christ and He abides in us. These gifts are what the church is all about.
On the cross, Christ took away the punishment from when we go away from His Word. His death made atonement for our imperfection, our disobedience, and our straying from His Word. Being justified in Christ, His admonition to “abide in His word” is not a difficult command to follow or another thing for us to do in our hectic lives. It is a gracious gift to live in the blessings of forgiveness given through His Word of forgiveness. Christ is the Word made flesh. He abided in the Father’s word – a word that brought wrath against Him. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He begged for that word to be removed. “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me” (Lk 22:42). Yet, it remained, and He abided in it until the end – for our forgiveness.
Jesus said, The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. Our freedom in Christ now has eternal benefits. We are now the children of God through faith in Christ. So we are free indeed – free to remain in Our Father’s heavenly mansion – as children, not as slaves, to sing with David: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever (Ps 23:6) and My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord (Ps 84:2).
Our freedom in Christ who became flesh for our salvation has set us free to dwell forever in our Father’s heavenly dwelling. And while we wait for that great day, we abide in His word, and we give thanks that He constantly abides with us. We, with the church, pray: Abide with us, Lord, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. Abide with us and with Your whole Church. Abide with us at the end of the day, and the end of our life, at the end of the world. Abide with us with Your grace and goodness, with Your holy Word and Sacrament, with Your strength and blessing. Abide with us when the night of affliction and temptation comes upon us, the night of fear and despair, the night when death draws near. Abide with us and with all the faithful, now and forever. Amen (Prayer at Compline).
The peace of God which passes all understanding guard and keep your hearts and minds in the true faith until life everlasting. Amen.
posted by Luther Memorial Chapel at
11/09/2006
