The Festival of the Reformation, 2017
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual
The Gospel
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
Teaching Faith Caused the Reformation
The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn # 261 Lord Keep Us Steadfast
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn # 261 Lord Keep Us Steadfast
KJV Revelation 14:6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, 7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
KJV Matthew 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. 14 And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. 15 He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Collect
O almighty, eternal God: We confess that we are poor sinners and cannot answer one of a thousand, when Thou contendest with us; but with all our hearts we thank Thee, that Thou hast taken all our guilt from us and laid it upon Thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and made Him to atone for it: We pray Thee graciously to sustain us in faith, and so to govern us by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may live according to Thy will, in neighborly love, service, and helpfulness, and not give way to wrath or revenge, that we may not incur Thy wrath, but always find in Thee a gracious Father, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
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| Martin Luther - sepia tone by Norma Boeckler. |
Teaching Faith Caused the Reformation
Romans 5 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. 6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
Romans 5 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Therefore being justified by faith...
The Biblical authors did not write verses, but small books, and they obeyed the basic rules of literature. Anyone who discusses Romans 5 while ignoring Romans 4 is a fool. That discussion also includes Romans 1-3, which are essential in building the case for Romans 4.
Therefore, is a transitional word, often used as punctuation in the New Testament, separating events and also topics. It is like saying, "Now that I have shown the basis for forgiveness and salvation, let me add more details."
Romans 4 - if you are curious - is an entire chapter about Abraham as the father - or example - of faith in Christ. He is the supreme example, apart from Jesus, in the New Testament. See Galatians, James, and Hebrews 11. The words leading up to Romans 5:1-2 are -
Romans 4:22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. 23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; 24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
So Paul has already shown through the Old Testament Scripture that Abraham was justified by faith in God's Promise that the Savior would come from the child he would bear with his wife. Unlike earthly kingdoms, this Kingdom would be numbered like the stars in the sky.
Going backwards a little more, Romans 4 is dependent upon the case made by Paul in Romans 1-3, that justification by works is impossible.
We live in a world of works, where various kinds of Law tell us how we are horrible sinners. We do not recycle. We let children - and adults - wear costumes from another culture! We vote for the wrong person. We gain weight so we must build up our self-esteem to do better. The solutions are always based on works, as if an x-ray diagnosing a broken bone would also be used for treating a broken bone. There is no comfort, because we flailed and pummeled by the law when shown by various forms of the law that we are terrible sinners. This is mostly man-made law because the Ten Commandments are not considered the norm of behavior.
Paul used Pharisaical law as an example of righteousness through works, because he lived that life, so Romans 1-3 shows that no form of works can possibly give forgiveness and the peace or comfort that comes from doing what is deemed necessary.
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace through our Lord Jesus Christ...
So this first phrase is one of great comfort, after excluding man's erroneous solutions. If we believe in Jesus, we are declared forgiven (justified), because faith means trusting in His atoning death and His resurrection.
We are always tempted to have something proving we are forgiven. The hymn Rock of Ages mocks this - "could my tears forever flow." And there is a message for the billionaires visited by Planned Giving Counselors - "nothing in my hands I bring."
So we only have peace through our Lord Jesus Christ. This teaching caused the Reformation because Luther - following Paul and the Scriptures - excluded salvation through the law. One could claim, all of Europe felt the weight of the law and how useless works of the law were - because there was no inner peace, no comfort from pursuing law solutions.
We have peace...
This word peace is the key to understanding the Gospel.
- The law no longer condemns us.
- Satan no longer accuses.
- We know God loves us.
Luther's singular effect on the world was to teach faith in Christ as the forgiveness of sin. In doing so, he wrote and preached that everything else was wrong. They were providing wrong solutions for the human condition. He could see the results of false teaching around him, because over time, Satan had cleverly re-asserted salvation by works, which paved the road to Hell.
Anyone tormented by sin could be moved by teaching works to do more for Holy Mother Rome - more money, more churches, more special organizations to honor Mary, more pilgrimages to fund the tourist industry, and more estates given to convents, monasteries, and religious orders. You must donate a child to a religious order and that will give you bragging rights if someone is serving as a monk, nun, or priest.
This worked well and did not inhibit anyone from taking care of the Old Adam. Depravity and corruption were all around, but they were convinced they were applying the correct solution with their works. They could have it all and be blessed.
So teaching faith in Christ, which made no money for anyone and provided no workers for the church business, was completely disruptive. The business structure was shattered, never to gain the same power, because each order was a self-sustaining business that had to raise its own money.
So Europe really became a war zone, with great suffering for over a century. Jesus said, "I came not to bring peace but a sword." Matthew 10:34
He was speaking of outward peace, because the church business fought back with a vengeance. Teaching faith brought the sword. And it does today, too, although it is not permitted to lock people up and burn them at the stake. Still. the religious leaders who feel threatened do whatever they can to get even.
2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
This really shows us the comfort of Christ. Access is the big word today. If a journalist wants to have a good career, he needs access to the top leaders. He or she gets that by giving that person's version of events. Otherwise there are no exclusive interviews and no raises. Many benefits come from access.
In this case anyone of any standing has access to the Savior. Faith in Him makes us brothers and heirs, so we can ask anything of Him and take anything to Him. He is the power of God and always shows us the mercy of God. The only pathway is faith in Him.
There are many forms of tribulation and distress. Some of them come from long-standing and impossible to heal disorders and diseases. My distant neighbor had a condition where the only treatment - not cure - is to soak in bleach water.
Other burdens come from emotional turmoil and pain, originating in many sources. Some are more sensitive to difficulties that arise. Some inherit a different make-up that makes them vulnerable. Others are put through terrible hardships. As a writing teacher I hear many stories from those struggling to be the first in their families to get an education.
Since everything God does is through grace and mercy, we know that the hardships we face are within His view and also His care. Therefore He listens to our cares and helps us even before we ask.
This is especially beneficial when we realize that God's Word always brings the Savior to us - not in merely an academic way, as an object of study, but personally in both natures, human and divine. Through the Spirit He gains access to us just as we have access to Him. So He understands in His human nature and helps in His divine nature.
When the difficulties of the moment have passed, we realize how much help we have received, and that builds our confidence in the Savior.
Some things remain. That is where the Luther quotation above fits so well. God does not always take the affliction away from our hearts. The second part of this is difficult to understand but makes sense in time - He takes our hearts away from the affliction. Rather than dwell in the difficult, we see the blessings.
We have to correct many people who think, "How terrible to have two daughters who had such a serious condition, not even treatable." They feel pulled down by the sorrows they imagine, which are genuine, as many parents know. But we think about the laughter and love, even the pranks they pulled with their ultra-limited muscles. A parent said to a child in the store, "Don't even think about it." That reminded me of Erin's favorite admonition. I faked sternness to get her to move her leg. That could take several minutes and made her sweat. But she tried just to show me and grinned afterwards when we said Halleluia.
Bethany spit food she didn't like into the face of her favorite nurse, and they laughed about it time after time. With children, a joke grows in value over time, as our grandson reminds us about burnt-to-ashes bacon I grilled.
3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
Whatever we see around us is part of God's plan, so we glory in difficulties that He lets us experience and address with the Word. For those who love God, everything has a good outcome ultimately.
We are watching Western Civilization collapse around us, and this shows up in every possible way. That is certainly true of Christianity, as the institutions creak and groan and continue to fall. But God has given us a chance to spread His Word without judging the results, since they are in His hands.
And thus it was during the Reformation. Europe was collapsing in front of a powerful and effective Muslim force. This went on for over a century. Religious turmoil and persecution were everywhere, which resulted in my relatives and yours coming over to the New World for another start.
We mark 1517 as the start of the Reformation, but the key battle to break the power of Islam was in 1683, over 160 years later. The threat lasted that long.
Thus the most we can learn from history is that we cannot predict the future. We are costumed players in a drama where the stage-manager and script-writer is God (as Luther observed). All we can do is remain faithful to His Word and thankful for the blessings of the Gospel.
