Sermon
for Reformation Sunday, November 1, 2020
Grace to you and peace
from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who
are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the
firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. Amen.
Revelation
14:6-7 6Then I saw another
angel flying in the middle of the sky.
He had the everlasting gospel to proclaim to those who live on the
earth, to every nation, tribe, language, and people. 7He said with a loud voice: Fear
God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the sky, the earth, the
sea, and the springs of water. (EHV)
The
cure for fear is Jesus.
Dear brothers and
sisters washed in the blood of the Lamb,
An insidious epidemic has engulfed our world, and it is
being used against you. It is used by
the government to force you to change the way you live and the things you
do. This epidemic is being used by your
neighbors to judge you. It is being used
by the media to influence how you view your neighbors and to persuade you
concerning your vote in this coming Tuesday’s election. There is much advice being given, and royal
decrees have been issued under the guise of protecting you, but masks, social
distancing, treatments, medications, and even potential new vaccines won’t stop
this epidemic, because while some might say this is a new pandemic, the truth
is, it is quite ancient, for the truly troubling epidemic is not Covid-19, but
an epidemic of fear, especially, the fear of death.
This
epidemic of fear is as ancient as sin in the world. Sin separates from the love of God. Sinful fear makes people afraid of others who
seem a bit different, whether it be skin color, language, handicap, or the way
one might dress. Sinful fear makes
people wonder if God is paying attention, and fear is being used against you in
this election, as so much of the campaigning is designed to convince you that
one candidate or the other is the only one who can keep you safe. Media and political parties are doing
everything they can to convince you that your neighbors are evil and bear you
ill if they make different decisions about the candidates. Fear of potential shortages of natural
resources and greater hardship in one’s personal life often drives people to
sacrifice their children on the altars of evil at abortion clinics, and some
have sacrificed their own lives in despair.
What is
truly sad about this epidemic of fear is that we already have the answer. We don’t need to be afraid of death, because
we know and believe in the One Man who has conquered death. We have no need to fear the future, because
we know and believe in the One Lord who has been given authority over heaven
and earth. We have no need to fear
shortages of natural resources in the future, because we know and believe that
our God knows that we need those things, and He will provide sufficiently for
us. Therefore, my dear friends, The cure for fear is Jesus.
In the
Revelation our Lord Jesus gave to His apostle, John, we find the vision of our
sermon text.
This is
why we celebrate the Reformation—because when it looked like the devil would
keep the gospel hidden in lies and false teaching, and unscrupulous men took
advantage of peoples’ fear of death to sell false hope, God raised up a man
with the ability to bring the promises of the Gospel back to light. This text has long been associated with the
Reformation and Martin Luther in particular, but it doesn’t point directly to
Luther. Rather, it gives us the assurance
that God’s promises will never fail.
We are
being warned daily that if we don’t wear masks, avoid crowds, and follow all
kinds of other regulations and rules, we will surely die and kill others in the
process. Terror is being proclaimed
here, there, and everywhere. Why
now? I am convinced it is because our
culture has long entertained the illusion that we can put off death by not
thinking about it. However, that is a
smokescreen of self-delusion. Needless
to say, Covid has helped bring death back out into the open, but the death rate
hasn’t changed one iota in this pandemic year.
Death is still a one hundred percent certainty for everyone because we
are all sinners, and “the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23)
Now, rest
assured, I am not telling you to throw away the masks, to disobey the
government, or to take foolish risks with your health. We were created to live, and as much as
anyone else, I want to be able to spend time with my wife, children,
grandchildren, and friends for as long as the Lord gives me on this earth, so
we use whatever reasonable precautions are advised to preserve health, but I
especially want to encourage you not to live in fear. Rather, trust the One who has power to end all
fear and to give you life that never ends.
When John
first saw Jesus the day Jesus revealed these visions to him, the apostle fell
to the ground terrified of the glory, but Jesus came to him and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last—the Living
One. I was dead and, see, I am alive
forever and ever! I also hold the keys
of death and hell.” (Revelation
1:18) As true God and true Man in One
person, Christ Jesus defeated death once for all. He holds the keys that bind Satan forever,
and Jesus has opened the gates of heaven for all who believe in Him, so The
cure for fear is Jesus.
Much of
our world trembles before idols. Our
science and education systems have convinced most people that the world takes
care of itself with no divine intervention.
Our political systems have convinced us that government is the do all
and end all for every need. Yet, this
idolatry does nothing good for us or anyone else. On the other hand, when the devil came
tempting Jesus, our Lord rejected that liar by saying, “Go away, Satan! For it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your
God, and serve him only.’” (Matthew 4:10)
The angel
in the middle heaven shouted to the rooftops, “Fear God and give him glory,
because the hour of his judgment has come.
Worship him who made the sky, the earth, the sea,
and the springs of water.” The command to fear God means
different things to different people. In
the unbeliever, this fear shows itself as a terror of judgement that keeps the
sinner hiding from the God who loves to save.
When Adam and Eve had sinned, they hid themselves from the God they knew
would condemn them. Yet, God didn’t
condemn but offered the promise of a Savior.
They suffered the consequence of death, but the hope of everlasting life
was given to them right there.
Because
the old man of our sinful nature also feels the terror of judgment, and we
believers will often be in the minority, fear is a constant struggle. So many around us don’t know God or His
promises of forgiveness and life. Yet,
as believers, we have this sure and certain hope. For the believer, fear of God is not terror
of judgment. It is rather, an awe-struck
amazement and trust in God’s saving grace, for He gave His Son into death to
take away our sin and condemnation, so that we might live forever with Him in
heaven. Therefore, being counted pure
and holy through faith in Christ Jesus, we have nothing to fear in death, for
in physical death, the Christian believer enters eternal glory that far surpasses
the best of this world.
The hour
of judgment encompasses two events.
Naturally, we look toward Judgment Day when all people will answer for
their sins and their faith. At the same
time, the hour of judgment took place at the cross when God condemned His own
Son for the sins of the world. There,
all sins were paid for by the blood of Jesus.
The suffering and death Jesus endured, there, guaranteed life for you
and me.
The angel
spoke boldly and loudly, “Worship him who made the sky, the earth, the sea,
and the springs of water.” Worship
is to bow in obeisance before the one who rules. The world bows down to its own schemes, to
the creation, to a variety of false teachings the devil dreams up, and to idols
of human imagination. None of those
things can save or take away fear.
However,
St. John wrote in His gospel, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God. He
was with God in the beginning. Through
him everything was made, and without him not one thing was made that has been
made. In him was life, and the life was
the light of mankind. The light is
shining in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John
1:1-5) The angel in our text tells us to
put all trust in the One who gave life in the beginning and who restored life
by the sacrifice of His own. Jesus cures
our fears by giving us life through faith in Him.
Looking
forward to the Christ coming into the world, David wrote in his psalm, “Nevertheless,
you make him suffer need, apart from God for a while, but you crown him with
glory and honor. You make him the ruler
over the works of your hands. You put
everything under his feet.” (Psalms 8:5-6)
So that you and I might live and never die, Jesus suffered separation
from His Father in heaven and the punishment of hell in our place. Jesus was then raised in victory to live
forever, and in honor of the sacrifice He made to save God’s precious people,
God has granted Jesus the honor of ruling heaven and earth.
The world
rejects the Man Christ Jesus as King, but for you and me He works all things
for our everlasting good. As St. Paul
wrote, “What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will trouble or distress or persecution or
famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
Just as it is written: For your sake we are being put to death all day
long. We are considered as sheep to be
slaughtered. No, in all these things we
are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:35-37)
Dear
friends, there is no doubt that we live in trying times, but when hasn’t the
Christian faced trouble and hardship in this sin-damaged world? Take the angel’s command to heart. Put whole-hearted trust in the Lord Jesus who
created you and restored you to a position of honor and glory before His Father
in heaven. With all authority in heaven
and on earth, Jesus has your future firmly in hand, just as He assured His
disciples, “In this world you are going to have trouble. But be courageous! I have overcome the world.” (John
16:33) The cure for fear is Jesus. Amen.
To Him
who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His own blood and made us a
kingdom and priests to God His Father—to Him be the glory and the power
forever. Amen. (Revelation 1:5-6)
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