Presentation of the Augsburg Confession

Today is the anniversary of the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession.  In late 1517 when Martin Luther initiated the events that would result in the Reformation, he had no idea regarding what was about to take place.  Luther’s Ninety-five Theses were a call for academic discussion – not for thoroughgoing reformation of the Church.  However the discussions and debates that ensued prompted Luther to further study.  This process continued to reveal the extent to which the Church’s faulty practice was based upon theology which was not true to God’s Word.

Luther was excommunicated by Pope Leo X in 1520.  He was then summoned to appear before the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V at the Diet of Worms in 1521.  There Luther refused to recant and in the Edict of Worms Luther was declared to be “a manifest heretic.”  The edict declared that no one was to give assistance to Luther, but instead they were to take him prisoner and deliver him to the emperor.  The reading and distribution of Luther’s writings was forbidden.  It was Charles’ intention to deliver Luther over to Pope Leo X for the purpose of burning Luther at the stake.

In 1526 at the Diet of Speyer, an ambiguous edit was passed in which the German princes promised to carry out the Edict of Worms according to their own consciences.  This provided the setting in which Elector John continued his support of the Reformation in Saxony.  However, at the Diet of Speyer in 1529 Charles V corrected the ambiguity of the1526 edict and forbade expansion of the Reformation.  This led the German princes to issue a formal appeal or “protest” (it is from this event that the term “Protestant” arose). 

However, Charles V found himself limited in his ability to act against princes and areas that supported the Reformation.  In 1529 the Turkish army had laid siege to Vienna before being turned back.  Charles faced this threat from the east, and he also was engaged in a struggle with France.  He needed the German part of his empire to be united in order to assist him.  He also had a genuine concern about the condition of the Church in the areas that he ruled.

           

Charles V called for the Lutheran princes and cities to explain their religious reforms at an imperial diet that was to meet in the southern German city of Augsburg in 1530.  Luther was not able to travel to the diet because of edict passed against him in 1521and the Lutherans were led by his colleague, Phillip Melanchthon.  When the Lutherans arrived they found that a Roman Catholic opponent, John Eck, had produced a work entitled Four Hundred Four Propositions.  This work contained quotes from Luther and Melanchthon and mixed them in with heretical statements in the attempt to give the impression that the Lutherans supported most heresies known to the Church.

In the face of this, Melanchthon and the Lutherans realized that they would need to do more than just explain their reforms.  They needed to demonstrate that the theology they taught was true to the catholic (universal) tradition of the Church.  They need to state the biblical truth while condemning the false teachings that the Roman Catholics also rejected.

Melanchthon was able to draw upon some previous doctrinal articles that the Lutherans had written.  He produced the Augsburg Confession which has twenty one articles on doctrinal topics and seven articles on reform efforts.  Latin and German editions of the confession were prepared.  The Latin text was presented to Charles V and the German edition was read aloud to the diet on June 25, 1530.  

           

At Augsburg, the Lutherans confessed the truth of the Gospel in the face of a very real threat to their possessions and lives.  We continue to share in this confession as the Augsburg Confession is the foundational statement of what the Lutheran Church believes and teaches.  In the Augsburg Confession we confess the biblical and catholic (universal) faith before the world.

Collect of the Day:

Lord God, heavenly Father, You preserved the teaching of the apostolic Church through the confession of the true faith at Augsburg.  Continue to cast the bright beams of Your light upon Your Church that we, being instructed by the doctrine of the blessed apostles, may walk in the light of Your truth and finally attain to the light of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one  God, now and forever.

Mark's thoughts: When the ultimate questions no longer matter

A little while ago I had a conversation that left me stunned.  There is an individual whom I have known for quite some time.  This person had grown up with a weak background in the Church.  However, in the years of college and thereafter Jesus Christ had been left behind.  Sunday was just another Saturday to do whatever he wanted to do.

On a previous occasion we had talked about Christianity and I had shared the specifics of the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection.  I had talked about how Christianity was different from every other religion in that it was about the God who gives salvation as a gift, rather then it being something that is in some way earned (the religion of the Gospel vs. the religions of the Law).  I had discussed the unique character of the resurrection of Jesus Christ as a historical event, and the ways that multiple lines of evidence support the claim that Jesus rose from the dead.

This person is very bright, and so I was interested to hear what he thought about the things we had discussed.  I presumed that he was on the outside looking in when it came to faith in Jesus Christ as Lord, and so I wanted to know what he did think about the ultimate questions.  Some time later the opportunity presented itself to raise the topic again.  So I asked him, “Ok, let’s say you are driving home today and you get in a car accident and are killed. What happens to you?”

His response was simple: “I don’t know.”  That was it.  Yet it’s not the answer that amazed me.  It was the way the answer was delivered.  The individual was not saying there was indecision regarding the choice among several beliefs.  Instead, it became clear that to him there wasn’t even a question to consider.  I thought I was posing a question about ultimate values and beliefs – one of eternal consequence that pressed in existentially on the individual.  But instead, the question seemed as personally relevant to him as if I had asked, “So what’s the weather like today on Mars?”

Shortly after this experience I read a piece by Molly Oshatz. She noted the data that “according to the recent study from the Pew Research Center, 22.8 percent of U.S. adults and 35 percent of millennials are religiously unaffiliated.  Now known as the “nones,” these religiously unaffiliated individuals come in a variety of flavors.  However Oshatz went on to observe:

In addition, there seems to be another, less familiar sort: people who don’t see the need to think about religious matters at all. Forty-four percent of the respondents to a 2011 Baylor University study reported spending no time whatsoever seeking “eternal wisdom,”and 19 percent replied that “it's useless to search for purpose.” In the same year, Lifeway, whether or not they will go to heaven, and 28 percent reported that finding a deeper purpose in life wasn’t a priority for them. 

This variety of “none” is more confounding and dismaying. It’s one thing to respond to   atheists who think you have the wrong answers or seekers who think you might have part    of a bigger answer, but what of those who think you are answering questions that don’t even need to be asked? Higher purpose? Eternal joy? Meh. It appears that for increasing numbers of young adults, religion, and Christianity in particular, might no longer be a live option.

I grew up in the lively intellectual environment of Bloomington, IN where Indiana University is located.  There and in the stops along the way in my education I carefully developed the ability to discuss the Christian faith in a secular intellectual setting. While I knew that you cannot reason anyone into the faith, I always wanted to be able to make a defense to anyone about the reason for the hope in me (1 Peter 3:15) – to be able to remove unnecessary intellectual barriers wherever this was possible.

But when speaking to this person – and people like this – all of that is irrelevant.  It is useless. Perhaps it is just as well.  Long ago I recognized that the danger of developing the skills to interact in this fashion was pride. Stripped of anything I could do, there appeared to be only one approach left – a basic approach; a biblical approach.

In Matthew chapter 16 at Caesarea Philippi Jesus asks the disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” (16:13).  The disciples report some of the answers people are giving to that question: John the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the prophets (16:14). And then Jesus asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” (16:15).

This is the unavoidable question that the incarnate Son of God addresses to each person. As Christians we are called to speak the truth about Jesus Christ, the Son of God who died on the cross and rose from the dead.  This is the witness that God provides through us as we share what his word says.  And in this people are confronted by him. John put it this way:

 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. (1 John 5:9-12 ESV).

They are confronted by Jesus Christ and this confrontation is an eschatological moment – it is an end-time moment now – because they are being confronted by the One before whom they will have to appear on the Last Day.  As Paul told the Corinthians: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:10 ESV).

This is what I said to the person. I told him he could certainly ignore Jesus Christ and blow him off, but that didn’t change the fact that he had been confronted by the Lord and that to ignore him was to reject him.  And it didn’t change the fact that Jesus will get the last word. I don’t know what will happen in the future.  It may be that the Gospel will remain veiled. As Paul wrote, “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (2 Corinthians 4:3-4 ESV).  If it is, then on the Last Day there will be no excuse and he will have to say to Christ, “Mark told me about you.”  And that is all we are called to do.

Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist

Today is the Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist.  St. John the Baptist, the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth, was born into a priestly family.  His birth was miraculously announced to his father by an angel of the Lord (Luke 1:5-23), and on the occasion of his birth, his aged father proclaimed a hymn of praise (Luke 1:67-79).  This hymn is entitled the Benedictus and serves as a Gospel Canticle in the service of Matins. Events of John’s life and his teachings are known from accounts in all four of the Gospels.  In the wilderness of Judea, near the Jordan River, John began to preach a call to repentance  and a baptismal washing, and he told the crowds, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has arrived” (Matthew 3:2).  John denounced the immoral life of King Herod Antipas, with the result that Antipas had him imprisoned in the fortress of Machaerus near the Dead Sea.  There he had John beheaded (Mark 6:17-29).  John is remembered and honored as the one who with his preaching prepared the way for Jesus Christ (Matthew 3:3) and pointed to “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

Scripture reading:

Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, but his mother answered, “No; he shall be called John.” And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.” And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all wondered. And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea, and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord was with him.

            And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,

            “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,

                        for he has visited and redeemed his people

            and has raised up a horn of salvation for us

                        in the house of his servant David,

            as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,

            that we should be saved from our enemies

                        and from the hand of all who hate us;

            to show the mercy promised to our fathers

                        and to remember his holy covenant,

            the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us

                        that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,

            might serve him without fear,

                        in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

            And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;

                        for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,

            to give knowledge of salvation to his people

                        in the forgiveness of their sins,

            because of the tender mercy of our God,

                        whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high

            to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,

                        to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

            And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel. (Luke 1:57-80 ESV)

Collect of the Day:

Almighty God, through John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, You once proclaimed salvation. Now grant that we may know this salvation and serve You in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life; through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Sermon for Third Sunday after Trinity

                                                                                                Trinity 3

                                                                                                Lk 15:1-10

                                                                                                6/21/15

            This week a second Surburg child went to see the orthodontist. This was just for a consult, but we know that it is inevitable that something will have to be done.  In the case of both children it is not a matter of vanity – of wanting them to have perfect teeth.  Instead things will have to be done so that there will be space for all the teeth to come in properly as they get older.

            Now while I know all of this is necessary, I am not without sympathy when I hear moans and groans about the orthodontist and the things he puts in your mouth and makes you wear.  For you see, I had my own experience with the orthodontist.  I had to wear two different kinds of retainers during my middle school and my early high school years.  The later years were better, since it was something I only had to wear at night.  But for a number of years during middle school I had to have one in my mouth all of the time.

            It of course, no fun to speak with a piece of plastic and metal in your mouth.  But over time I got used to it. The thing that never ceased to be a pain was the fact that when eating you had to take the thing out and put it somewhere.  Now no one wants this saliva covered implement sitting out next to them when they eat.  And it’s something you are going to put back in your mouth, so you don’t want to put it directly on the table.  So I would wrap it in a napkin.  And this created the circumstances that my parents and I remember to this day.

            We were driving over from Bloomington, IN to Cincinnati.  We stopped at a hamburger place on the way for lunch, and then after eating got back on the highway.  We were perhaps fifteen minutes down the road when suddenly, a shudder went through me.  I realized that I did not have the retainer in my mouth.  I knew I had been wearing it that day.  And so that could mean only one thing – the retainer wrapped in a napkin and been thrown into the trash.

            Now retainers aren’t cheap – it’s not the kind of thing you want to pay to replace. So at the first exit we could find we got off the highway and headed back the other direction to the hamburger place.  By the time we got there, the garbage can into which we had thrown our trash had already been emptied.  The bag had been taken and placed with the numerous other bags of garbage from that day.

            My mom explained what had happened to the manager of the store. They were helpful as they brought out the bags of garbage. And then my parents and I searched through garbage bag after garbage bag.  I’ll save you the details – but needless to say the refuse at a hamburger place is not very pleasant.  Finally, the retainer was found, wrapped in a napkin.  And let me tell you, there was joy – joy that the retainer had been found and joy that we didn’t have to look through any more garbage.  

            In the Gospel lesson today, Jesus tells two parables about the search for something that is lost. He talks about a lost sheep and a lost coin – we will focus this morning on the second of these.  The note that ties both of these parables together is the joy that is present when the lost is found.  In the brief story about a woman who lost a coin, we learn about God’s love and desire to save.

            The text for last week’s sermon from Luke chapter fourteen was the account of events that happened as Jesus was eating at the house of a chief Pharisee.  This morning our text is from the next chapter in Luke’s Gospel, and once again a meal provides the setting for what Jesus says.  We hear in the first verse, “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

            When I was in school the cafeteria was one of the primary settings where the social structure of middle school and high school was displayed.  The people with whom you ate demonstrated those people you liked and accepted and those people you didn’t.  It showed where you were accepted, and where you were not. The catechumens tell me that this aspect of school life has not changed.

            It’s not surprising that this is the case, because sharing a meal – eating together – has been a significant feature in many cultures.  It certainly was in first century Palestine.  There meal fellowship – the people with whom you ate – clearly demonstrated those whom you accepted and those you didn’t.

            The Gospels make it clear that Jesus regularly ate with people who are described as “tax collectors and sinners.”  He ate with people who were considered to be sinful and socially undesirable. So in chapter five after Jesus calls Levi – or as we also know him, Matthew – the new disciple holds a great banquet for Jesus which is attended by tax collectors and others like him.  We learn that the Pharisees grumbled to Jesus’ disciples saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

            In our text we find that Jesus is again eating with these kinds of people.  This time the Pharisees and the scribes grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”  The meal wasn’t just a meal.  It was an act by which Jesus received people they considered to be sinful and unworthy.

            So in response Jesus told a series of three parables.  In the second he said, “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it?”  The coin amounted to a day’s wage and in the subsistence life of most people there was little extra money on hand.  These ten coins represented a significant amount in the life of the family.

            When the woman realized that one was missing she lit a lamp. Palestinian homes had little in the way of windows. They were dark places and so by the light of a lamp the woman swept the floor until she found the coin. This was a careful search because the coin was very valuable to her.

             Our Lord then said, “And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’”  With the loss averted, the woman rejoiced.  And this was good news that she wanted to share so that others could rejoice with her.  Having told the parable, Jesus makes his point at the end of our text as he says, “Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

            In our text today we learn that yes, the Pharisees are right.  Jesus receives tax collectors and sinners and eats with them.  Yet this is not a matter of Jesus accepting sin.  It is not Jesus saying that he is just here to love everyone no matter what they want to do.

            Instead, Jesus receives and accepts sinners who repent. At Levi’s house he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”  Our text this morning teaches us that Jesus seeks sinners.  He seeks you. 

            As a person created in God’s image he considers you to be of great value.  But because God is the Creator, he is also the one who has established how life is to work. You don’t get to make up the rules as you go.  Instead when your words, your thoughts and your deeds go contrary this ordering, this is sin that separates you from God.  If that separation remains, it results in God’s eternal condemnation.

            That is not God’s desire.  Instead he wants to save the lost.  And so the Son of God was sent into your existence in order to suffer and die on the cross.  He received that condemnation against sin in your place.  And in his resurrection on the third day he began the existence that will be yours as well when he returns in glory.

            He has sought you out through the work of his Spirit and found you.  He claimed you in the water of Holy Baptism. But you are still someone who wanders.  Though a new creation in Christ, the old man is still present whispering in your ear that you should be free to do things your own way.  This thought is one that the world around us – our culture – echoes a million times a day.

            And when you listen to the old man and the world – when you sin – our loving God seeks you out through his word.  He calls you to repentance through his law.  He does this, not because he wants to make you feel bad; not because he is some kind of vindictive tyrant.  Instead he does this so that in repentance and faith you can receive the forgiveness that Jesus Christ has won for you.

            This is a desire that he holds not just for you, but for all people.  And so he calls you to speak the word of truth about life to others.  In these days and times, in particular there is the need to speak the truth about God’s gift of marriage, sex and children.  This is a word that contradicts the world. But it is a word that calls people to repentance.  It calls them to think again about how they view life.  It calls them to return to the Lord and his ways so that through faith in Christ they may receive forgiveness.

            And when this happens, there is joy.  In fact Jesus says in our text, “Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”  It is a joy that we share in as we now are invited to come to Jesus’ table. For the Pharisees are right, Jesus receives sinners.  He receives repentant sinners and now he feeds them with his true body and blood for the forgiveness of all sins. The saving reign of God that was present at meals in those first century Palestinians homes is now present in this house.  And because this is so, we can leave with joy.  We can leave with the joy of forgiveness and peace.  We can leave with a joy that we then share with others during the week in what we say and do.