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 16th 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.
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