Sermon for the Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity - Eph 6:10-17

                                                                                                Trinity 21

                                                                                                Eph 6:10-17

                                                                                                11/10/19

            Not long ago I walked downstairs into the basement and saw something that I never expected to see in my house.  There on the floor with his other Army gear was Timothy’s body armor.  After completing his infantry training at Ft. Benning last summer, Timothy had been assigned to the Army National Guard unit in which he is going to serve.  He had gone to that armory and there had been issued his gear, which included the body armor he will wear.

            The emergence of the rifle put an end to armor worn by soldiers on the battlefield. The amount of metal armor needed to stop the ever increasing power of bullets, made mobility impossible, and so armor disappeared.  Nothing like it would appear again until the World War 1 era when soldiers began wearing helmets to provide some protection to their head.

            However, the desire to provide protection to soldiers never disappeared, and the invention of new materials restarted the quest.  In the Vietnam war, U.S. soldiers wore a vest made out of ballistic nylon.  This could not stop a bullet, but was intended to provide protection against shrapnel.

            In the early 1980’s the United States introduced body protection made out of the material Kevlar. This provided protection that could stop a 9mm pistol round.  But it could not stop a rifle round, and was really intended to provide better protection against shrapnel fragments.

            Two further generations of body armor have resulted in what Timothy wears.  Made of Kevlar it includes special plates in the chest and back area that will stop a 7.62 mm round fired from an AK-47 rifle. The design of the Kevlar panels provides protection and against shrapnel and explosive devices.  This protection is a vast improvement over anything seen before, but it does come at a cost.  The body armor weighs more than thirty pounds, and this weight must be carried along with all the other ammunition and gear that a solider has on him in the field.

            In the first century A.D., armor was still essential equipment for the soldier, and played an important role in the tactics that were employed.  As the apostle Paul brings this letter to a close, he uses the armor of the solider as the means for talking about the Christian life.  The military – the martial character – of this description should catch our attention.  Paul describes the life that we have in the Gospel, but he does so by warning us about the spiritual conflict that we face.

            Paul says in our text, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.”  The apostle says that we need o be strong in the Lord and in his mighty strength.  Paul often describes the Christian as being “in Christ.”  He means that through faith and baptism we have been joined to Jesus and his saving work for us.  It is only in the Lord and his mighty strength that we are able to be strong.  And in our text, Paul goes on to describe what this looks like. But first he explains why there is the need to be strong.

            Paul writes, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” The apostle takes up the metaphor of armor in order to describe what is needed in order to stand against the schemes of the devil.

            The question for us is whether we really believe the apostle.  Paul describes a situation of spiritual conflict.  He says that the devil is scheming against you and that it is necessary to stand against those plots. The apostle tells us the struggle we face in not against flesh and blood.  Instead, the battle – the struggle - is against the spiritual forces of evil. 

            These are the powers that once owned you.  In chapter two Paul had written, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 

in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

            The devil once owned you, and he wants you back.  So, do you really believe there is a threat? The world will mock any such claim.  And of course it is through the world – through our culture – that the devil works powerfully to separate us from God.  He uses the world’s rejection of truth and authority to lead people to a rejection of God’s Word and the Gospel.  He uses the world’s “anything goes” view of sexuality to trap people in sin, and ensnares churches in the acceptance of couples living together outside of marriage, and homosexuality.  He works every angle – every busy activity that we “have to do” - in order to separate us from Christ’s Means of Grace at church and at home.

            The devil doesn’t want you to think about him, because it is then that he can operate most effectively.  He doesn’t want you to think about your life in terms of spiritual conflict.  But the apostle Paul warns us about the threat and tells us what to do: “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”

            Paul says, “Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth.”  The belt fastened the tunic around the waist and allowed for rapid movement. The apostle describes this as being done in truth.  He has already said in the first chapter about Christ, “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.”

            You are prepared to stand when your life is secured by the truth of the Gospel.  The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ has won forgiveness and salvation for you.  You have been sealed with the Holy Spirit who has given you regeneration and created faith. You have been cleansed of your sin by the washing of water with the word in baptism. In the truth of the Gospel you have the basis for resisting the devil.

            Next the apostle says that you are ready when you have “put on the breastplate of righteousness.”  The breastplate protected the chest and resisted blows.  The Spirit has made you a new creation through the Gospel.  Because this is so, the new man lives in ways that are produced by the Gospel. He lives in ways that are true to God’s will – ways that are righteous. 

            Because the old Adam is still present, we need to be reminded about the need to live in righteous ways.  Earlier Paul said that you need “to put off your old man, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new man, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”  Through repentance we drown the old Adam, so that the new man can come forth and live in righteous ways – ways that protect us against the devils schemes.

            Paul says that we put on shoes in the readiness of the Gospel of peace.  The Gospel gives us peace with God.  It declares us to be saints – forgiven sinners – because of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection for us. And in this we find ourselves ready and prepared to stand up against the schemes of the devil.  We are ready to stand firm against the devil because we know what God has made us to be. We know who we are.  We are God’s children. We are saints, and so by God’s Spirit we are ready to resist the devil in his efforts to take this away from us.

            Next Paul says, “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.”  The apostle describes the shield’s role in providing protection.  And here he says that faith protects us against the flaming arrows of the devil. 

            Paul has already said of faith in this letter, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”  Faith in the crucified and risen Lord is the means by which we have received salvation.  We learn that we have “boldness and access with confidence through our faith” in Christ.  Faith in Jesus Christ provides us with these blessings and so it protects us against the devil’s attacks.

            Finally, Paul tells us, “and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”  The helmet protected against blows to the head.  We know that by God’s grace, faith in Christ provides salvation.  We have heard the message of truth, the Gospel of our salvation. We have been baptized into Christ’s saving death, and so we know that salvation is ours. The devils blows are repelled by the certainty of our salvation in Christ. We are protected because we know that already now that we are saved, even as we look towards the consummation of God’s saving work on the Last Day when Christ will raise our bodies. 

            In all of the items mentioned, the sword is the only one that is both defensive and offensive.  Paul speaks of the sword of the Spirit, and then identifies this as the word of God.  It is the Spirit who has given the word through his inspiration.  It is the Spirit who works through this same word to create and sustain faith.  The word of God is the means by which we fend off the devils attacks.  It is also the means by which we seek to share the Gospel with others in order to advance Christ’s reign.

            The sword of the Spirit is the word of God. But the sword does little good if it left in the scabbard – or in this case, on the book shelf.  Paul says that we are to “take” the sword.  It must be taken in hand, read, studied and learned by heart.  It must be called to mind and thought about. The Scriptures – the Word of God – are the means by which the Spirit causes us to grow and mature in faith.  Armed with the Word provided by the Spirit, we have the weapon by which we can stand firm against our deadly foe.

            In the epistle lesson this morning, the apostle Paul warns us about the situation we face.  He says that we must put on the whole armor of God so that we may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.  Because we are Christians, we live in the midst of spiritual conflict as we are attacked by all that is demonic. 

            Yet in the crucified and risen Lord, God has given us all that we need to stand firm.  By God’s grace, the Spirit has worked faith and washed away our sins in baptism.  We know the truth of the Gospel.  The Gospel produces righteousness in our life. It makes us ready for action because we have peace with God. Through faith in Christ we are protected and we have the certainty of salvation.  And by the word of God we are sustained and defended in the struggle of the Christian life as we look towards the Day of the Lord.

Commemoration of Johann von Staupitz, Luther's Father Confessor

Today we remember and give thanks to God for Johann von Staupitz, Luther’s Father Confessor.  Johann von Staupitz (ca. 1469–1524), vicar-general of the Augustinian Order in Germany and friend of Martin Luther, was born in Saxony. He studied at the universities in Leipzig and Cologne and served on the faculty at Cologne. In 1503 he was called by Frederick the Wise to serve as dean of the theological faculty at the newly founded University of Wittenberg. There he encouraged Luther to attain a doctorate in theology and appointed Luther as his successor to professor of Bible. During Luther’s early struggles to understand God’s grace, it was Staupitz who counseled Luther to focus on Christ and not on himself.

Collect of the Day:

Almighty, everlasting God, for our many sins we justly deserve eternal condemnation.  In Your mercy, You sent Your dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who won for us forgiveness of sins and everlasting salvation.  Grant us a true confession so that dead to sin we may hear the sweet words of Absolution from our confessor as Luther heard them from his pastor, Johannes von Staupitz, and be released from all our sin; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Sermon for the Feast of All Saints - Mt 5:1-12

                                                                                                All Saints

                                                                                                Mt 5:1-12

                                                                                                11/3/19

            Today we observe the Feast of All Saints.  I say “observe” because today isn’t actually All Saints’ Day. That was November 1, Friday this past week.  And actually, the same thing can be said about the Festival of the Reformation that we observed last Sunday. We celebrated the Reformation this past Sunday, October 27, even though Reformation Day was actually October 31 last week.

            The two go together – Reformation Day and All Saints.  October 31 is All Hallow’s Eve, that is, the evening on which the celebration of the Feast of All Saints begins.  And together they have taken on a unique status in the modern Lutheran church in that we always celebrate them on a Sunday, even though Sunday is rarely the day they actually occur.

            Now “cheating” sounds very negative, so in the church we call this practice of celebrating a day when it is not actually that day, “observing.”  We don’t do this with any other days of the church year. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are always December 24 and 25.  The Epiphany of Our Lord is January 6, and is always celebrated that day no matter what day of the week it is. Easter always falls on a Sunday and the days of Holy Week always lead up to it.  The Ascension of our Lord is always forty days after Easter, and is always celebrated that day.

            However, with Reformation Day and All Saints’ Day we cheat – excuse me – we “observe them” almost every year.  Now this practice says two things about us.  The first is positive. It says that we value these days. We find it important to celebrate the Reformation in which the Gospel became clear again through its call of Scripture alone, grace alone and faith alone.  It says that we value All Saints’ Day.  We find this day when we remember the saints who have died in the Lord to be important and meaningful.

            Yet, the Church’s practice of “observing” them also admits that we don’t find them to be meaningful enough to show up for a church service if they are celebrated on any day other than a Sunday morning. At least the vast majority of us don’t.  Now be honest, how many of you would have shown up for an All Saints’ Day service this past Friday night?  And my goodness, celebrating Reformation Day would have meant church two nights in a row.  And of course, that would have conflicted with the cultural high holy day of Halloween.  Fear, love and trust in God above all things…. It’s not hard to identify occasions when putting God second doesn’t require a second thought.

            So today we are observing All Saints’ Day, and the very act of observing it points to the sinfulness of those in the Church – it illustrates the spiritual weakness that is so often present among us.  Saint means “holy one.”  In the struggle against sin we are not holy.  Neither were those in the Church who have died.  We are people who do not fear, love and trust in God above all things. They were not either.

            But this morning, our Lord Jesus Christ has good news for us – he gives us Gospel.  He begins the Sermon on the Mount by saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  Jesus says “blessed,” and when he does so he means “saved.” He says the poor in spirit are saved. 

            When he refers to the poor in spirit, he’s not talking about the attitude people have or display.  Instead, he’s talking about the condition you are in.  He’s talking about the condition that those who have died as Christians were in.  He’s referring to fallen people who continually find themselves fearing, loving and trusting in things other than God.  That is what it means to be spiritually poor – to be spiritually powerless.

            And then our Lord says why the spiritually poor are blessed – are saved.  It is because “theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  In the previous chapter when Jesus began his ministry, Matthew tells us, “From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”  Jesus declared that the kingdom of heaven – the saving reign of God – had arrived in his person.  Just before our text, Matthew provides this summary statement of Jesus’ ministry: “And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.”

            In the incarnation, the Son of God entered into our world in order to defeat sin, death and the devil.  Jesus speaks the words of our text as he was in the midst of carrying out this ministry.  Already, he knew the task he had before him.  He knew the goal and purpose for which he had come – the way that the final victory would be won.  Just before entering Jerusalem he said:  “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”

            Jesus Christ offered himself as the ransom for your sins.  He received God’s wrath and judgment against sin in your place – a judgment that placed him in a sealed tomb.  But God’s saving reign conquered death as he raised Jesus from the dead on the third day.

            Because Jesus Christ is the risen Lord he gives his saving reign to all who believe and are baptized.  It is something you already have now. Our Lord expresses the first Beatitude in the present tense when he says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” And then he also states the last Beatitude in the present tense: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” 

            Forgiveness and salvation are yours now in Christ.  You are blessed.  You are saved.  It is true for you.  And it was true for the Christians who have gone before us.  They received God’s saving reign through the water of Holy Baptism.  They were sustained in faith through God’s Word, and through the body and blood of Christ in the Sacrament of the Altar.

            It was true before they died. And it is still true now.  In the last verse of our text Jesus says, “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

            Jesus says this reward is great in heaven. In a similar way he says in the next chapter, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

            When Jesus speaks of reward and treasure being “in heaven,” he means that it is secure and safe with God. And if that can be said about the reward and treasure of the Christian, how much must it be said about those who have died possessing the reign of God?  They are secure and safe with God.  Christ won forgiveness for them by his death and resurrection.  He made them saints as he washed away their sins through Holy Baptism.  He preserved them in faith through his Spirit. Though their bodies have been buried, the reign of God is theirs and they are with the Lord.

            They no longer face the persecution our Lord mentions in our text.  They no longer mourn.  They no longer hunger and thirst for righteousness. They no longer struggle against sin. And for this we give thanks.

            Yet our Lord’s words in the Beatitudes do not leave things there.  Better though they may be for the saints who have died in Christ, even that experience is not yet God’s full blessing.  It is not yet the complete fulfillment of what it means to receive God’s saving reign.

            We see this in the third Beatitude when Jesus says, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”  The Son of God did not enter into this world in the incarnation in order to take us out of this creation.  He did not become flesh and live a bodily existence in order to free us from our bodies.

            Instead, through his resurrection Jesus Christ has begun the renewal and restoration of our bodies and of creation itself. The risen Lord has ascended and is now exalted at God’s right hand.  But he has promised that he will return in glory on the Last Day.  On that day he will raise from the dead the bodies of all the saints who have died.  He will transform the bodies of the Christians who are alive.  And he will renew his creation so that it is once again very good.  It is as those living in bodies that can never die again that we will inherit the earth.

            We pray for the coming of this day.  We pray, “Come Lord Jesus!”  But while we wait, our Lord continues to come to us. In the liturgy of the Sacrament of the Altar we sing, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”  It is the risen Lord who comes to us in the Sacrament in his true body and blood.

            In the miracle of the Sacrament he gives us his body and blood for the forgiveness of sins. Yet he does more than just that.  In the Sacrament we are joined together with all Christians as the Body of Christ.  St. Paul wrote, “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.”

            Through the body and blood of Jesus we are united with all the saints who have died in Christ.  We are united as the Body of Christ – all of us together enjoying the blessing of God’s reign. And in the body and blood of the risen Lord we find the future that awaits all the saints when Christ returns on the Last Day. 

              

           

           

                  

           

              

               

Feast of All Saints

Today is the Feast of All Saints, the day in the Church year when we remember and give thanks for all the saints who have died in Christ and are now with the Lord.  The early Church commemorated all the martyrs on a specific day that varied throughout the Church.  In the ninth century, the date of November 1 was fixed in the western Church as the day to commemorate all of God’s saints who had died in the faith. 

Scripture reading:

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.  “Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.  They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.  For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Revelation 7:9-17)

Collect of the Day:

Almighty and everlasting God, You knit together Your faithful people of all times and places into one holy communion, the mystical body of Your Son, Jesus Christ.  Grant us so to follow Your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living that, together with them, we may come to the unspeakable joys You have prepared for those who love You; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Festival of the Reformation

Today is the Festival of the Reformation.  In October 1517, Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-five theses – or statements – to the church door at Wittenberg, Germany.  By this simple action, Luther initiated the Reformation.  Through the work of the Holy Spirit, Christ’s Church was called back to the truth that she can only live by Scripture alone, grace alone and faith alone.  Today, we are reminded again that Scripture alone is the source of doctrine and practice in the Church.  We are reminded that salvation occurs on the basis of God’s grace alone – His undeserved love and favor towards us.  We are reminded that salvation occurs on the basis of faith alone – faith in Jesus Christ’s death on the cross and resurrection for us.

Scripture reading:

Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

(Romans 3:19-28)

Collect of the Day:

Almighty and gracious Lord, pour out Your Holy Spirit on Your faithful people.  Keep us steadfast in Your grace and truth, protect and deliver us in times of temptation, defend us against all enemies, and grant to Your Church Your saving peace; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Sermon for the Festival of the Reformation - Rom 3:19-28

                                                                                                Reformation

                                                                                                Rom 3:19-28

                                                                                                10/27/19

          “Since the initiative belongs to God in the order of grace, no one can merit the initial grace of forgiveness and justification, at the beginning of conversion. Moved by the Holy Spirit and by charity, we can then merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our sanctification, for the increase of grace and charity, and for the attainment of eternal life.”

            This statement is not from some medieval writing against which Martin Luther and the Reformation were reacting at the beginning of the sixteenth century.  Instead, it is a quote from the current Catechism of the Catholic Church.  And actually it is an improvement over what Luther had been taught – at least the first sentence is.

            The basic issue that we see here, is whether the actions of man play some role in receiving salvation.  Now Martin Luther had been trained in one school of theology that said that if you did what was in you in making the first move, then God gave you grace which equipped you to work with him in ways that led to salvation. Another school of theology said that God had to make the first move. That is the theology we hear in the current catechism of the Roman Catholic church.  And on this point, it is exactly right.  Only God can make the first move that leads to conversion.

            However both schools of medieval theology went on to say the same thing the current Roman Catholic catechism still says: that equipped by God’s grace we can and must be involved in the merit that leads ultimately to the status of eternal life.  On this view only God’s grace makes it possible, but if you are going to be saved your action needed.

            This principle that your action is necessary for salvation was even more apparent in a place where we Lutherans today would least expect it: absolution. The medieval teaching was that absolution forgave the guilt of sin.  The good news was this meant you were going to be saved.  However, it did not remove the penalty of sin.  And here you owed God something.  You had to do penance in order to make amends.  If during your life you didn’t do enough penance, then you were going to be saved … but first you had to go to purgatory.

            Now this is still the teaching of the Roman Catholic church – they have just toned down the rhetoric a little.  The current Catechism of the Catholic Church says: “All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.”  So if you haven’t done enough penance, a little more purification is necessary.  Of course the catechism then adds: “The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of cleansing fire.”  Purification by cleansing fire because I haven’t done enough – that doesn’t sound like much fun.  And an absolution that can’t provide the guarantee of immediate reception of eternal life doesn’t sound like the real forgiveness of sins.

            This is the reality that Martin Luther encountered at the beginning of the 1500’s.  He was taught a faith that spoke about God’s grace and gave it a central role.  However, it was also a faith that required human action in order to attain full salvation.   Martin Luther threw himself into this.  He went all the way.  He did what any person who was really serious about his salvation did – he became a monk.  He did the life of a monk with all the vigor and commitment one can imagine.

            But Luther learned from hard experience that when your actions are part of the way you are saved, you can never be certain.  How can you ever know if you have done enough? How can you ever know if you have done it well enough?  You can’t because everything we do is marred by sin.  Our text this morning is from Romans chapter 3.  Earlier in this chapter the apostle Paul had written, “For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin.”  Ever since the Fall when Adam and Even disobeyed God, sin has been a power that controls us and causes us to commit sins.  As Paul says in our text, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

            This is who we are apart from Christ.  And even as those who have been given regeneration through the work of the Spirit in Holy Baptism – even as those in whom the Holy Spirit has worked faith – we still struggle against sin and fail.  Paul writes in chapter seven, “For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.”  Even as believers in Christ we must say with Paul, “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.”

            The law and doing can never be part of the reason we are saved – not even just a little part.  As Paul says in our text, “Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”

            But what Luther discovered in Romans is that human actions have nothing to do with our salvation.  Paul goes on to say, “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it-- the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

            God’s righteousness, his saving action to put all things right, has been revealed in Jesus Christ.  God is the righteous and just judge who will render the verdict against all who sin on the Last Day.  But the apostle says that we are justified by God’s grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.  To be justified is to be declared not guilty – to be declared innocent. Paul says that already now we are justified – already now we stand innocent before God.

            This has nothing to do with our doing – our action.  The apostle hammers this point home when he says that is “by God’s grace as a gift.”  It has occurred has a result of God’s undeserved favor towards us.  It has occurred as a gift that God gives to us, when we can do nothing.

            This forgiveness and salvation is a gracious gift.  But that doesn’t mean it has come at no cost. Instead Paul tells us that it is “through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.”  God has redeemed you from sin.  He has freed you.

But this does not mean he has ignored your sin. That is not possible for the just God.

            Instead God put forward his Son Jesus Christ on the cross as the means of providing atonement.  The apostle says later, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  The just God directs his judgment and wrath against sinners.  Jesus Christ took all our sin and became the sinner before God for us.  In Christ, God judged our sin as Jesus suffered and died on the cross.

            Paul tells us that the wages of sin is death.  Jesus Christ suffered death for us as he won forgiveness for our every sin.  And then in Jesus, God also defeated death as he raised him from the dead on the third day. Raised from the dead, the Lord Jesus will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.

            This redemption – this freedom from sin and death is now received as a gift.  It is received by faith in Jesus Christ.  It is received by faith alone.  We are justified by trusting and believing in Jesus Christ as the crucified and risen Lord.  Because of faith in Jesus, we already know the verdict of the Last Day – it is innocent, not guilty!

            And let’s be clear.  When Paul talks about faith this is not just another form of doing.  Instead, when it comes to our standing before God, faith is the opposite of doing.  Paul says in the next chapter: “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.’”

            Luther in the Reformation helped to return the Church to the truth that we are justified by faith alone.  He confessed what St Paul had written, that works have nothing to do with our standing before God.  But like St. Paul, he also confessed that faith can never remain alone.  Because when we turn to consider our neighbor, faith now becomes a works machine which acts in love towards others.

            In the preface that he wrote for Romans, Luther said: “O it is a living, busy, active, mighty thing, this faith.  It is impossible for it not to be doing good works incessantly.  It does not ask whether good works are to be done, but before the question is asked, it has already done them and is constantly doing them.”

            And so the Reformation insight led Luther out of the monastery, and eventually, into marriage.  It led him to an understanding of vocation – that God has placed us in stations and positions in life where he uses us to serve and care for others.  Freed from having to do things in order guarantee our salvation, we are free to love and serve others where God has placed us.  Faith acts in love.  As Paul went on to say later in Romans, “Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.”

            As we celebrate the Reformation, we give thanks to God for his servant Martin Luther through whom the Gospel proclaimed by Paul rang forth again.  All have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God.  But we are justified by his grace as a gift.  We are justified by faith in Jesus Christ the crucified and risen Lord.

             

             

           

           

           

           

           

           

Commemoration of Dorcas, Lydia, and Phoebe, Faithful Women

Today we remember and give thanks for Dorcas, Lydia, and Phoebe, Faithful Women.  These women were exemplary Christians who demonstrated their faith by their material support of the Church. Dorcas (also known as Tabitha) was well-known and much loved for her acts of charity in the city of Joppa, especially for her making clothes for the poor. When Dorcas died suddenly, the members of her congregation sent to the neighboring city of Lydia for the Apostle Peter, who came and raised her from the dead (Acts 9:36–41). 

Lydia was a woman of Thyatira, who worked at Philippi selling a famous purple dye that was so much in demand in the ancient world. She was also a “worshiper of God” at the local synagogue. When the Apostle Paul encountered her in prayer among other proselyte women, his preaching of the Word brought Lydia to faith in Christ. She and her friends thus became the nucleus of the Christian community in Philippi (16:13–15, 40). 

Phoebe was another faithful woman associated with the Apostle Paul. She was a deaconess from Cenchrae (the port of Corinth) whom Paul sent to the church in Rome with his Epistle to the Romans. In it he writes of her support for the work of the early Church (Rom 16:1).

Collect of the Day:

Almighty God, You stirred to compassion the hearts of Your dear servants Dorcas, Lydia, and Phoebe to uphold and sustain Your Church by their devoted and charitable deeds.  Give us the same will to love You, open our eyes to see You in the least ones, and strengthen our hands to serve You in others, for the sake of Your Son, Jesus  Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.