This Explosion Changes Everything; Nothing Will Ever Be The Same
Grace and Peace to you from
God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
It was like a large rock
thrown into a pond causing waves to crash ashore. No, it was actually much more violent. It was
more like a large explosion that occurred in the midst of buildings, resulting
in shrapnel being scattered, walls tumbling down, and windows shattering.
What am I talking
about?
I am talking about the sixteenth-century
Reformation. Yes, I am talking about the
great Reformation that happened in the 1500s when Martin Luther and the
Reformers came into sharp conflict with the Roman Catholic Church of that time.
It all started October 31st
of 1517 when the Ninety-five Theses hit the door of the Castle Church in
Wittenberg, Germany. We can still hear
the echo of the hammer today, as the nail was forced into the door hanging ninety-five
concerns about church abuses. Like a
wild fire these Ninety-five Theses were distributed to all of Germany within
two weeks and all of Europe within two months.
Long story short, the Ninety-five Theses ignited what can only be
described as an earth-shaking event, an explosion if you will. Booklets were
published and exchanged, theological debate occurred in the market place, death
threats were eventually made; people were finally burned at the stake, and so
forth.
Now, looking back upon the
Reformation, it is fairly easy to witness the effects of this great
explosion. We can see the ecclesiastical
practices that resulted from the Reformation, we can see the current Lutheran
Denominations that are a result of the Reformation, and we can see all the
confessional documents, books, and sermons that resulted from the
Reformation. In other words, we are able
to witness the crater that resulted from the Reformation explosion. We are able to see the burned-out embers from
the Reformation explosion and the all Reformation shell fragments scattered
here and there. We are able to see the
waves in the water and continually feel these waves in the present; waves that
were created about five-hundred years ago when the Reformation rock was thrown
into the water.[1]
With all of that said, we
have yet to examine what actually caused this explosion and what caused these waves.
So what caused the
explosion? What rock was thrown into the
pond?
The Gospel, that is (to
say), the teaching of justification by grace through faith is what exploded; it
is what was hurled into the pond. When
Martin Luther “raised questions of the Gospel [towards those in church
authority], he was given no such answer.
The government of the church felt itself bothered by some unheard of
little Augustinian monk from the remote cow pasture of Wittenberg, and it told
him to be quiet. Luther pleaded for
discussion of the Gospel. He was met
with the naked demand to recant and to submit to the pope. [Keep in mind that] the Ninety-five Theses
were no Declaration of Independence but a request for discussion and
debate. When Luther recognized that the
pope pulled one way and the Gospel the other, the Reformation began…”[2] Otherwise stated, “The Reformation may be
described as cleaning out the human factors that had been intruded into the
church and her message.”[3]
Indeed, there was an
explosion in the church some five-hundred years ago as God’s Word revealed the
precious, powerful, potent, saving message of Justification by grace through
faith.
With all of that said, what
good does this historic explosion do for us here and now?
Sure, we live in the
aftermath of this great explosion and reap some of the benefits of much that
was accomplished during the Reformation.
However, the church and our nature have a way of cleaning up the rubble,
patching the shattered walls, and fixing that which is broken in order to move
away from the explosion and returning back to a man-centered message that
intrudes the very Gospel.
Frankly, my friends, the
very message of the Gospel, that exploded and detonated the church some
five-hundred years ago, is an explosion that needs to happen in our midst,
right here and right now. It needs to
happen again. Yes, the explosion needs
to happen every year and every week in the church. You see, “The church must be in a state of
continuous reformation … a continuous return to the Word of God. [The reason why?] Our old sinful nature continuously tempts us
to leave the Word of God behind. If we
do not continuously reform … if we do not continuously study God’s Word, then
we will slowly, but surely drift away from the truth. We will drift away until we are no longer
free.”[4]
Therefore, blessed Saints,
we do not merely study the great explosion of the Reformation once a year on
Reformation Sunday, but as a church of the Lutheran Reformation we undergo this
Reformation explosion and experience continual reformation each and every
Sunday. Why is this so; how is this
possible? It is this way because at the
heart of the Reformation was the Word of God; the Word that invaded an
Augustinian Monk and the Word of God that invaded the church. Furthermore, this
very Word of God is the ‘same’ Word of God that continually comes to me and to
you in this church. Otherwise stated, the rock is thrown into our lives and the
explosion is recaptured each and every time that we read the Word of God, hear
the Word of God, and receive the Lord’s Sacraments.
For example, consider the
text that we read from Paul’s Epistle to the church in Rome. Consider the tremendous and powerful
ramifications that this text has upon you and me. You who have ears hear what the Word says. Brace yourself for the explosion!
Romans 3:20 says, “No human being will be justified [that is (to say), made right] in God’s sight by deeds prescribed by the Law.” Otherwise stated, our relationship to God’s Holy, Perfect, and Divine Law is incapable of yielding righteousness and wholeness. Because of sin, this wretched sinful condition that you and I have inherited from birth, our relationship to the Holiness of God is less than spectacular—it is damning.
Romans 3:20 says, “No human being will be justified [that is (to say), made right] in God’s sight by deeds prescribed by the Law.” Otherwise stated, our relationship to God’s Holy, Perfect, and Divine Law is incapable of yielding righteousness and wholeness. Because of sin, this wretched sinful condition that you and I have inherited from birth, our relationship to the Holiness of God is less than spectacular—it is damning.
“Deeds, words, thoughts, relationships—they
are all wrong for all humankind. No one
(only [Jesus]!) has wisdom. No one (only
[Jesus]) has his will in a perfect orientation to God’s will. No one (only [Jesus]) is in the image of God
and reflects from his face the glory of God.
…all humanity as a unit has gone sour, been subjected to futility, lost
the glory because of having turned away from that trusting face to face
relationship with the Lord.”[5]
Dear friends, your
relationship to the Law only leads to one result, the knowledge of sin and
mouths shut; it leads to the knowledge that you and I are damned, guilty, and
condemned sinners. Even when we naively
try to inflate our abilities in order to meet the demands of the Law, the Law
is quick on our heels to reveal our self-deceiving pride and denial of
reality. Even when we arrogantly attempt
to commandeer God’s Law in order to lessen its weight so that we can supposedly
make it a bit easier fulfill, God’s Law nevertheless cannot and will not be
manipulated to our own fancy for it is not our Law but God’s Law.
The Law tears down
everything that you and I believe will yield brownie points, kudos, or favor
before God. It removes us from our
spiritual endeavors, our moral projects, and mystical escapades by detonating
and blowing up everything, thus putting us flat on our backs.
The
Law is spoken, mouths shut; we die.
There is another Word for
you to hear, a word that emerges from the rubble. This Word is apart from the Law; it is a Word
that makes the righteousness of God known, it states, “Since all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified [that is (to say),
made right] by grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus.”[6]
Did you hear that? While the explosion of the Law was certainly a
TNT blast, this Gospel news is an Atomic Bomb!
Listen again, you, who have sinned, are justified by grace as a
gift! Yes, outside of your relationship
to the Law, outside of your abilities in the here and now, there is a Savior
who is from heaven, the Son of God, who brings a gift from God and has the
power to create anew.
Because of Christ living,
bleeding, dying, and rising in your stead, you have been transferred from
condemnation, damnation, and guilt under the Law to freedom and forgiveness under
the Gospel. In other words, the Gospel
of Jesus Christ applied to you in the Word and Sacraments transfers you from
life under sin and the Law into a life of light, forgiveness, freedom, hope,
and glory.
This has been the plan of
God all along, “to give to fallen mankind a right relationship to himself by
grace through faith in the reconciling work of the Saviour’s death on the
cross.”[7] Christ came for sinners; Christ died for
sinners and considers it all worthwhile.
Do you see how this detonates life as we know it? Does this not change and reform everything?
Do you see how this detonates life as we know it? Does this not change and reform everything?
It certainly does.
-No more working or climbing to acquire righteousness; rather we receive righteousness by grace through faith as a sheer gift.
-No more seeking assurance on the basis of our works in relationship to the Law, but rather receiving assurance in Christ and His relationship to you.
-No more looking within ourselves for certainty, for certainty does not lie within you but lies outside of you in Christ’s Word and Sacraments.
-No more fear of death for “death is safe for those who trust in Christ,”[8] because Christ tasted death for you.
-No more worrying about what other people think, no more worrying about what we think, and no more worrying about what God thinks, “because God has said He isn’t going to think about our sin and rebellion anymore. All he thinks now is Jesus bloodied, Jesus dead, Jesus risen. And God's Jesus-thinking is now ALL your life.”[9]
Do you see the rock tossed
in the water? Do you feel the blast from
the detonation? Jesus fulfilled the Law;
sin was punished on Jesus; salvation was accomplished perfectly; you are
baptized into Christ name; you are absolved by the Word of God; you are admitted
to a heavenly feast. It is finished—for you.
This changes everything;
nothing will ever be the same.
Cur plunk; splash. Bam; shatter. Christ Jesus has been crucified and
resurrected for you. You are justified
by grace through faith as a sheer gift.
The peace of God, which
passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
[1] The
illustration of the Reformation being like an explosion and all of us
witnessing the remains of the explosion is an illustration used by Karl Barth
in his Commentary on Romans.
[2] Norman Nagel, Selected Sermons of Norman Nagel (St. Louis,
MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2004), 304-304.
[3] Ibid.
[4] James T.
Batchelor, “Reformation (Observed) (26 October 2014) http://lcmssermons.com/index.php?sn=3916
(26 October 2014).
[5] Jonathan
Grothe, The Justification of the Ungodly:
An Interpretation of Romans Second, slightly revised, reformatted edition (St.
Catharines, Ontario: 2012), 163.
[6] Romans 3:21-24.
[7] Jonathan
Grothe, The Justification of the Ungodly:
An Interpretation of Romans Second, slightly revised, reformatted edition, 179.
[8] Quote from Pr.
Donavon Riley on Twitter.
[9] Donavon Riley, There Is
Now No Condemnation for Those Who Are Being Christ-Jesused (Webster, MN:
Sermon at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 2014).
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