By God’s mercy, the Gospel is unveiled for us.

 

Sermon for Reformation, October 31, 2021

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  By His great mercy He gave us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  Amen.

By God’s mercy, the Gospel is unveiled for us.

Dear friends walking in the Light,

            As the days grow shorter in the fall, some people begin to dread the darkness of the winter months.  Seasonal affective disorder, as the doctors call it, can lead to depression and other feelings of despair.  So, imagine the gloom of spending your days with no light at all—how hard it would be to feel real joy if forced to dwell in darkness, as in a cave far underground.  Then, think about how shocking it would feel if the walls were suddenly blown open and your eyes, accustomed to total darkness, were exposed to brilliant sunlight.  At such an event, who wouldn’t cover their eyes and perhaps even react angrily at whoever exposed that bright light to your face?  I think many of us can identify with that adverse reaction to bright light when we think of a family member throwing open the curtains to wake us up on an sunny, early morning.

            In a real strong way, this is how the world, stuck in the darkness of idolatry and sin, reacts to the light of the Gospel.  When that good news first comes to a sinner, it seems shocking, and many react violently against it.  On the other hand, when a person has grown up in the Light, it is the most natural thing, and truly the most helpful, life-giving, and cherished blessing we possess as we face the struggles and work of life.  In our text, St. Paul explains that we walk in the light of the Gospel, because By God’s mercy, the Gospel is unveiled for us.

Jesus told His disciples, “I am the Light of the World.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)  The light of Jesus’ gospel throws open the gates of heaven to sinners who had no right to expect it.  That good news is what we Christians have enjoyed since the Holy Spirit worked faith in our hearts. 

Now remember, Paul had been a vicious opponent to Christianity and a persecutor of early Christians, so understand the grace he experienced and the joy he felt because Jesus had called him to faith.  Considering that, we read the words Paul wrote to the Corinthians under the Holy Spirit’s guidance:

2 Corinthians 4:1-6  Therefore, since we have this ministry as a result of the mercy shown us, we are not discouraged.  ²On the contrary, we have renounced shameful, underhanded methods.  We do not operate in a deceitful way, and we do not distort the word of God.  Instead, by proclaiming the truth clearly, we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.  ³But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled among those who are perishing.  ⁴In the case of those people, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from clearly seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is God’s image.  ⁵Indeed, we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.  ⁶For the God who said, “Light will shine out of darkness,” is the same one who made light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ. (EHV)

It was because of God’s mercy that St. Paul was preaching the gospel and starting new congregations of Christians, including the one in Corinth.  Because Paul had been shown mercy, just as you and I have received mercy, he was willing to face anything to tell others about what Jesus had done for him and for us.  No matter what he had to face, Paul would not grow weary of the truth or be discouraged in telling it.  If we truly believe in what Jesus has done for us, we should be able to say the same thing.  No matter what opposition we might face, whether from family members or hateful enemies, we have Christ on our side.  Jesus has already won the victory over sin and death for us.

Because the Corinthian congregation was being assaulted by teachers who were mixing error with truth, the Holy Spirit was guiding Paul in instructing them with the truth.  He said, “We have renounced shameful, underhanded methods.  We do not operate in a deceitful way, and we do not distort the word of God.”  Faithful teachers have no need to distort God’s Word nor to misuse it for devious ends.  However, throughout history, many foes have twisted the Scriptures for their own wicked purposes.  Sometimes, it is because they haven’t trusted the gospel to do its work, so they proclaim law upon law trying to make people good.  Yet, the law only convicts and leads people to despair or to self-righteous arrogance leading to condemnation 

Other times, such as in Germany of Luther’s day, God’s word is misused to imagine that a person can buy forgiveness and thus a place in heaven.  Right along with that was the deceitful practice of using authority in the Church to gain personal wealth or privilege. 

Yet, the truth is, we all need to be cautious not to twist what we believe so that we may ignore other parts of Scripture and continue in our favorite sins.  Multitudes of our present-day culture try to explain away immorality by pretending Jesus didn’t condemn their specific sins.  The Lord gives no allowance for such nonsense.  In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul made this clear when he explained, “Do not be deceived.  Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor males who have sex with males, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor the verbally abusive, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)  Who are these people destined for eternal wrath?  They are all the people who have not been brought to repentance through faith in Christ Jesus.  Paul himself had been a murderer but had been released from the curse through faith in Christ Jesus.

Having established that he and his fellow apostles spoke only the truth that the Holy Spirit had given them, Paul wrote, “Instead, by proclaiming the truth clearly, we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.”  The true apostles, including Paul, rightly marked sin as leading the soul to hell.  At the same time, they brought the cure for sin and death through the gospel.  Nothing more was needed by any sinner, whether Jew or Gentile.  By rightly dividing law and gospel and sticking to God’s Word as the source of truth, they were God’s emissaries to the world.  They were telling people, who were desperate for some assurance of peace with God and life after death, about all that Jesus had done in living for them and dying for their guilt. 

You and I have the same opportunity.  We don’t have to convince people of the need for a Savior.  The law alone does that, but we do have to share what the law actually says.  We don’t have to convince them that Jesus lived the perfect life God’s justice demands, for the gospel alone works that faith in the sinner who despairs of saving himself.  Therefore, it is our job simply to tell others about Jesus and all that He has done for you and me, and for them. 

Today, we celebrate the return of the gospel to the people in the Reformation Luther began with his ninety-five theses.  Martin Luther made such an impact on the world, not because he was some sort of rebel, but because he offered the light of the gospel among people from whom it had been hidden for far too long.  For Luther himself, it was like a bright light was switched on when he finally received the rare opportunity to study God’s Word in depth. 

It may seem strange to us, but most of the common people of 16^th century Germany had no access to a Bible.  Furthermore, with church services and preaching primarily in a foreign language, most of Luther’s neighbors had never understood what the gospel truly says.  What they had heard was that Jesus was an angry judge who needed to be appeased before they could enter heaven.  Yet, that image of Jesus doesn’t appear in God’s Word.  It is a figment of the imagination of men who had either been deceived themselves or who desired to deceive for personal gain.

You know who is ultimately behind those deceptions, or course.  Satan works overtime to try to keep people from learning the truth.  To draw us a picture, Paul wrote, “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled among those who are perishing.  In the case of those people, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from clearly seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is God’s image.” 

The so-called god of this age is the devil.  In every person, it is as if the kidnapper had put a dark bag over our heads as he led us away from God.  Handcuffed as we were by Satan’s deceptions, we couldn’t remove that bag by ourselves, and even as the Holy Spirit sends His messengers to lift that veil from our minds, the devil and his cohorts try to keep in our way as many obstacles as they can dream up.  Thus, many people who are accustomed to the ways of the world actively pull the veil back down over their own eyes when confronted by the light of the gospel.  Yet, the sad end of those kept in the dark is eternal confinement in hell.  The devil is to blame, but so is the sinner who refuses to see.

At the same time, while we celebrate the Reformation, we are not bragging about the exploits of men nor dare we brag about our own faith in Jesus.  Like Paul, and his faithful Christian brothers, we must say, “Indeed, we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.  For the God who said, ‘Light will shine out of darkness,’ is the same one who made light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ.”  Jesus is our Savior, Redeemer, and Lord.  We are His servants by God’s grace.  Being His servants is not a bad thing because it brings us into God’s household with forgiveness and everlasting life.  Furthermore, it is our privilege to share that forgiveness and life with those around us.  We don’t need to build great palaces for glory or mansions for us to live in luxury.  Those things will be given us in heaven.  Here on earth, we will be content with whatever the Lord gives us.

The Lord God “made light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ.”  None of us chose to be believers in Jesus.  Rather, from eternity, God chose us.  By the power of the Holy Spirit in Word and Sacrament, God has called, gathered, and enlightened us to the salvation won for us by Christ Jesus.  God worked that faith in us.  God gave us new hearts that live.  Jesus won the victory over sin and death on the cross, and Jesus, true God and true Man, has won the victory over our veiled hearts by the power of His gospel. 

Not only that, but Jesus wants every sinner to hear the good news of all that God has done for us in Christ, so that everyone who believes in Him might have everlasting life.  This is what we celebrate on Reformation.  Not some personal arrogance.  Not some special knowledge that no one else is privileged to know.  Not some special work that only we might have done.  No, none of those things count for anything in the kingdom of the Lord.  Instead, we preach Christ Jesus and Him crucified, so that by simple trust in Jesus as our Savior, given to us by God’s grace alone through the gospel in God’s Word alone, we and many others may have peace with God and life that never ends.  Dear friends, By God’s mercy, the Gospel is unveiled for us.  Amen.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore.  Amen.