In Jesus Holy Name October 29, 2023
Romans 3:22-25a Reformation Redeemer
“Rescue of Martin Luther, Valentina and Us”
Rescue. The news media loves to tell us stories about rescue, whether from a deep cave in central Turkey or from a burning car. Today our news media reminds us that there is hope and concern regarding the rescue of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza strip. Armies are waiting to pounce. Negotiations are being tried. Will people be set free? It is a waiting time filled with tension.
There are serious world problems whether in the Far East, Ukraine the Mid -East and in America’s streets and college campuses. Thomas Sowell a brilliant African American intellectual in 1987 wrote “A Conflict of Visions”. He offers a simple and powerful explanation of why people disagree about politics. We disagree because we have different understanding of the Human Nature.” A must read to understand our world today. All of these problems are explained by the “human” desire for power and dedication to false religions. At the root of all the problems we have, can be stated in one sentence, it goes like this: God is righteous and we are not. God is holy and we are not. Evil exists in the world.
This is our human predicament. Something is wrong between us and God, and deep in our hearts we know this to be true. Something has gone badly wrong in the world, we know things aren’t the way they ought to be. In the gospel of Matthew (24) Jesus warned that there would be wars and rumors of wars. Nations will rise against nations.
What is to be done about the great gulf that stands between us and God? How can we be rescued? When Adam and Eve gave in to the suggestion of the serpent and tasted the forbidden fruit they were overwhelmed by guilt. They went into hiding. They scurried into the bushes filled with guilt and fear. Their perfect world collapsed like an accordion. On their own they could not bridge the gap. It was their Creator who rescued them. (phrase from Max Lucado Anxious for Nothing)
The greatest human need is to be loved, to be accepted. We need to know that another human being loves us and accept us. A hug is always reassuring. That’s why we spend so much time hugging our children. If children are not hugged and loved…. The result will be a hole in their heart, something will always be missing…
This great human need for acceptance, also applies to our relationship with God. We want to know. “How can I be sure I have been accepted by God?” How can I have peace with God?
This was Luther’s soul search….He was overwhelmed with the burden of his sin, his guilt left him separated from God. During the years 1505 – 1508 Luther entered the Augustinian monastery in order to please God by living a monastic life, dedicated to serving God. He tried everything the Church of his day offered: prayers, monastic vows of poverty, religious pilgrimage to Rome and even flagellation, all in an attempt to find peace and acceptance with God.
But the more he sought to live a holy life the more he realized that his sin was overwhelming, his guilt unbearable. He knew that within his body there existed both a Dr. Jykell and a Mr. Hyde. He was alienated from God, cast out of God’s presence like Adam and Eve. You can catch a feel of his emotional struggle in the words of the hymn he wrote: “Dear Christians One and All Rejoice”.
“Fast bound in Satan’s chains I lay,
Death brooded darkly over me.
Sin was my torment night and day ….
My life became a living hell.”
God rescued Martin Luther. His heart was set free. Luther wrote: “Either sin is with you, lying on your shoulders, or it is lying on Christ, the Lamb of God. Now if it is lying on your back, you are lost; but if it is resting on Christ you are free, and you will be saved. Now choose what you want.” There it is…. We have free will to choose.
“You see, just at the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly…..since we have been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!”
Christians in all denominations are forever indebted to Martin Luther. God used Martin Luther to rescue Christianity from false doctrine. His work, His books, His translation of the bible, His hymns brought Christianity out of the Dark Ages. The truth of the words of Jesus had been lost. God knew our human state, ever since the fall of Adam and Eve. Death became a reality in the world… No one escapes. That makes people worry about how to please a righteous and holy God. When we break God’s commandments, guilt overwhelms. Guilt sucks the life out of our souls. I love this passage in Hebrews 2:14. (read) Grace rescues and restores.
In the 14th, 15th and 16th century Christianity had lost this understanding of God of grace. Few people could read, until the printing press, all bibles had to be hand copied. They were usually in Latin. The majority of the people could not read. Luther and his contemporaries grew up in a religious world that only knew an angry God. You could only “hope” that you could go to heaven but you were never really sure.
On October 31, 1517 Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the Castle Church Door…and the Reformation in Luther’s heart became public knowledge.
Martin Luther called justification the chief doctrine of the Christian faith. It is so important that if you do not understand this doctrine, you really don’t understand Christianity. The word “justify” means to “declare righteous.” Romans 8:1 says there is “no condemnation” for those who are in Christ Jesus. Justification means the sinner is declared “not guilty” in the eyes of God because God “transfers” the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ to all who place their trust in Jesus. That’s a pure miracle of God’s grace. Guilty sinners are forgiven, pardoned, and declared righteous because Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave.
God rescued Martin Luther. God has rescued each of us. As a congregation we are aware of Ephesians 2:10 (read)
We have the opportunity to rescue a child through Child Beyond International which is an orphanage in Guatemala created by a Lutheran Church in Hood River Oregon. Over the past several weeks we have been watching videos from Child Beyond International and providing you with information.
In the past year Child Beyond rescued a little girl named Mirna. She was found on the border between Mexico and Guatemala. She was about 6 months old, wrapped in a tattered blanket, abandoned. She was malnourished and dehydrated. It took 8 months in the children’s hospital for her to fully recover.
Just as God rescued Adam and Eve, and rescued Martin Luther, setting Christianity back on the track of grace, and by His Spirit God has rescued us by adopting us into His eternal family. Now, Redeemer can rescue another orphan who was abandoned by her family. Her name is Valentina. She suffered from pneumonia and malnutrition when she arrived at the orphanage.
If you have chosen to help rescue Valentina, Child Beyond International will provide you and Redeemer specific prayer requests for her needs. We will receive updates on her health and how she is growing. Next year, God willing Vicar Wright will be able to lead a mission team to children’s orphanage next year.
Max Lucado in his book: “Gentle Thunder” writes: “We know that good works are necessary for Christians to do. (Ephesians 2:10) God has created good works for us to do on His behalf. But in order to get into heaven neither good works nor good character will open the heavenly gates.
“How then can we go to heaven?” The answer: “Only believe that Jesus died on the cross for you.” Accept the work already accomplished at the cross. Accept the goodness of Jesus. Accept the words of God to us: “…at just the right time when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” (Romans 5:6) “therefore we have been justified through faith…and we now have peace with God through Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1)
It’s that simple. It’s that easy. But there was nothing easy about the cross on which Jesus died. The cross was heavy, the blood was real and the price to set us free was extravagant. God paid the price to bring us back to himself so that we would know his love and acceptance.
Scripture has proudly proclaimed, “By grace you are saved through faith and not by anything you can do.” By grace we each have been rescued. We have been saved through faith in Jesus. That is the unchanging message which comes from an unchanging God through His unchanging Word. You are saved through grace which God offers to all by accepting the sacrifice of His Son on Calvary’s cross. You are saved because Jesus took your place. In His death He took the wrath of God against evil and our broken commandments.
God’s grace is bigger than your sin.
Matthew records the words of Jesus regarding the final judgment against nations, against those who rejected Jesus. “When the Son of Man comes in His glory and all the angels with Him He will sit on His throne in heaven glory. All nations will be gathered before Him.”
Judgment day would be terrifying were it not for the rescue plan God set in motion in the Garden of Eden. When on judgment day, your list of broken commandments are produced, simply point to Jesus and say: “He erased them at the cross.” Jesus has guaranteed your salvation by His resurrection and His empty tomb. He is risen!
“He will separate the people from one another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. To those on His right, “Come take your inheritance the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in. I needed clothes and you clothed me.”
By sponsoring Valentina through “Child Beyond International” we as individuals and as a congregation are doing a “good work” as we help to rescue one tiny abandoned child. “I tell you the truth, what ever you did for one of the least of these (children) of mine, you did if for me.” Jesus
Today, Reformation Sunday we remember our Lutheran history. We remember that God rescued Martin Luther, so that through his work, a broken church that has misplaced the “grace” and forgiveness of Jesus, would be rescued.
May the Lord, keep us steadfast in His word. Curb those who by deceit or sword would wrest the kingdom from His Son, and bring to naught all He has done.
