1 John 1:5-10 5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
“Trick or Treat”
[Come out dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow]
Happy Halloween! Oh… there was one more thing I was supposed to tell you… oh right!!! Happy Reformation Sunday. Now… you might be wondering… what a pirate… has to do with Reformation Sunday… and the answer is… I do not know. You will have to ask your… very odd I’ve heard… pastor about that one.
I love dressing up! When I was a young boy, I would plan out my costumes and look forward to Halloween for weeks and weeks. And when Halloween came around, getting into that costume was such a big deal. It was so exciting.
One of the most memorable costumes from my childhood, was the Halloween I dressed up as Rambo! Kids… you can ask your parents who Rambo is later. I had it going on that Halloween! I had the torn muscle shirt... I had the camo warpaint… I had the red headband… I even had some fake blood smeared on me. It was the total package. Now… you have to remember I grew up in North Dakota… and since it was October 31st… that meant it was 20 degrees outside with a foot of snow… so my costume was finished off with a big fluffy winter coat… big fluffy winter gloves… and big fluffy snow pants. By the time I was actually out trick or treating… I looked more like the Stay Puffed Marshmallow man than I looked like Rambo. But it didn’t matter… that night… I was the killing machine known as Rambo!
That’s the thing about costumes… they change you inside and out! It’s kind of like last night when I was trying on my costume as Captain Jack Sparrow from Disney’s “Pirate’s of the Caribbean,” Eli took one look at me… and started slowly backing up. In his mind… I wasn’t his daddy. The whole time I was in costume he just clung on to mommy and would have nothing to do with me. You know… I really should wear this costume more often.
But that’s one of the great things about dressing up… you can completely become someone else! You’re no longer you. And it takes some of the pressure off… it makes it easier sometimes. Sometimes… it’s easier to put on a mask then deal with who we really are.
It’s not that odd… really… is it? It’s something we’ve been doing for a very long time. Sometimes it’s just too hard dealing with who we are… what we’ve done. It’s just easier to pretend to be something we aren’t. It’s exactly the way it was in the church 500 years ago when the church Reformation took place. You see… there was a big problem. In order to get to heaven… they believed that you really had to deserve it… and the only ones who deserved it… were those who were perfect.
Now… quick poll… how many of you here in church today are perfect… have never done anything wrong. That statistic has been the same since Adam and Eve. Since no-one deserved it… there developed three kind of people in the church… 1) those who pretended to be perfect 2) those who worked their behinds off trying to be perfect or trying to pay for their sins and 3) those who wrote a really big check to the church to be certified “perfect.”
Martin Luther… did not pretend to be perfect… nor did he ever write a really big check to the church… so guess which category he fell into. He is one who worked his behind off trying to be perfect and trying to ask for forgiveness for every little sin he committed. In fact, one day while he was in the confessional… the priest said “stop wasting my time and come back when you have a ‘real’ sin to confess!” But Luther lived in constant fear of hell and judgment, and became depressed as he failed time and time again.
But then, Luther began reading the Holy Scriptures… and I mean really reading the Bible:
He read from the book of Romans, when Paul puts it in plain language. Paul writes, “There is no difference between people. Because all people have sinned, they have fallen short of God’s glory.”
And he read our scripture text for today:
1 John 1:5-10 5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
(HIGHLIGHT) “8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”
Luther discovered… that many people in the church were wearing masks. They were living their lives in costume trying to hide their imperfections… trying to be something they were not. And he realized how very dangerous this was. So Luther had to take a stand.
And so it was, actually 493 years ago TO THE DAY… it was on October 31st… that Martin Luther proclaimed to the entire world that we needed to stop deceiving ourselves… that no matter what we do… we can not hide our sin… we cannot earn heaven. And people began to hear the real gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a gospel that is as true today as it was 2000 years ago. We fall down, and Jesus picks us up… every single time.
Sin is one thing that connects us all. Whether it was 2000 years ago, 500 years ago… or today, we’re all in the same boat – we’ve fallen. The good news is that our salvation does not depend upon us… it rests in God and God alone. 1 John 1 9-10, “9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”
We aren’t perfect people… we all have flaws… we all fall short… and no costume can cover that up. We need Christ. This is the message that Jesus tried to teach his followers 2000 years ago, it is the message that the reformers used to launch a reformation 500 years ago, and it is the same message that we need to remember today.
The tragic mistake that we still make is to think that we can take care of the problem ourselves. 500 years after the reformation, and there is still the temptation to think we can earn God’s favor. There is still the temptation to think that we can earn it ourselves. But when we think like that, we really just come to church in costume… dressed up as somebody else. We wear masks… hiding ourselves from others… trying to hide ourselves from God.
The thing that we need to remember… is the same thing that the reformers championed 500 years ago… THE truth: that while we were sinners, Christ died and rose from the dead to give us a relationship with God. While we were STILL YET sinners… Christ died for us! We do not have to come to church in costume. We do not have to hide ourselves from God.
We need to remember that. We need to remember the true power of all that God has done for us, need to know all that he continues to do for us. He has set us free! He has set us free from sin, free from bondage… and free from all the silly games that we thought we had to play to earn God’s favor.
Tonight… children all over the country will be dressing up in costume going door to door and saying “Trick or Treat.” As you come to church today, know that you don’t need any costume to receive the treat that God has for us, and that this is no trick. Christ died for you, and he wants you to receive forgiveness and live eternally with him… and with the Father. So shed your costume… come as you are to Christ… and receive the treat that is eternal life in Christ.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
