"reformation: Finding Peace With God"

In Jesus Holy Name October 27, 2019

Text: Romans 3:21-24 Redeemer

“Reformation: Finding Peace with God”

What a great event last night. Good food. Great music. Fun fellowship. Great beer. I always tell my Calvinist friends I’m so glad I’m a Lutheran. Why? Because I don’t have to prove heaven is my home by producing good deeds to verify that my faith is true …. Oh! and I can drink beer! My Baptist friends don’t. Or at least they are not supposed too!

Reformation Sunday is here again. Two years past the 500th anniversary we are still celebrating the action of an obscure monk from Germany who challenged the Roman Catholic Church to reconsider their theological practices.

Someone once wrote: “He changed the world, but that wasn’t his intent.

He thought he was starting a theological debate.

Instead, he ignited a revolution.

When A&E compiled a list of the 100 most important people of the millennium, Luther came in #3, behind Johann Gutenberg and Isaac Newton, and just ahead of Charles Darwin and William Shakespeare.

What made this otherwise obscure monk from Germany so important? It happened because of what he did on October 31, 1517, when he nailed his 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany.

As a professor of theology, Luther, like many professors simply wanted a debate about certain practices of the Roman Catholic Church. Nailing his thoughts to the church door would be like posting an article on the Internet. He expected some pushback from his colleagues and perhaps some lively discussion. But he had no idea what was about to happen.

Luther’s bold act launched the Protestant Reformation and changed our understanding of God’s grace. He wrote the Small and Large Catechism. He wrote hymns and liturgies for worship. Some believe he started schools for children.

He created the first Christmas program for children and there is the legend that he brought a fir tree into his home creating the first Christmas tree. He translated the bible into the language of the people. Thanks to Gutenberg’s printing press thousands of bibles and tracts were printed.

We know he changed how the culture views “vocation”.

Martin Luther didn't always see things so clearly. Martin Luther joined a monastery in 1505 when he was 21 years old. The monks began their day between 1-2 AM. They started with prayer and singing, followed by a time of meditation, followed by another time of prayer and perhaps another time of singing. Later they would have breakfast and then they would have morning prayers. Then they would work all morning.

After lunch came another time of prayer and singing followed by a brief nap. Then came more prayers and singing and meditation and the sacraments. After the evening meal, they would have prayer again, and later in the evening they finally went to bed.

Martin Luther followed that rigorous life because he, like millions of people today, was looking for peace with God. He was looking for a way to have his sins forgiven. He wanted to be justified and made right with the God of the Universe.

In the deepest sense, he joined the monastery to save his soul.

In the Middle Ages for over 1000 years people were taught that if you wanted to be closer to God and help earn your way into heaven then the best way to do that was to be a priest, nun or monk. Throughout your day you were immersed in the bible, worship, prayer and work. For years Martin Luther was a good monk in the Augustinian monastery. He followed the rituals and kept the grueling schedule. He believed that by following the rules of the church, he would eventually gain admission to heaven. But his soul was not satisfied.

Luther began teaching at the University of Wittenberg and in 1512 earned his Doctor of Theology. He lectured on the Book of Romans between 1515 and 1516. His study of Romans set his heart free. For Luther the “religious” quest to please God was over. There was no need to work to earn salvation any more. “God has taken care of my salvation..” he wrote. (Read Romans 3:20-25a)

The “Reformation” rests on: Grace alone. Faith alone. Scripture alone. Luther’s understanding of the bible also challenged 1000 years of how people viewed their work. Your job, even “if you are a maid milking cows”, Luther said, “is no less valuable in God’s eyes than a life spent in prayer or church work. Your work is an opportunity to serve your neighbor and serve God.” This was a radical as translating the bible for culture.

Luther said: God could have decided to populate the earth by creating each new person from the dust of the earth, as He did Adam. Instead, He chose to create new life through the vocation of husbands and wives, fathers and mothers. God calls people into families. Through the love and care of the parents God extends His love and care for children…This said Luther is a work pleasing to God…more than a life spent in prayer or at the monastery. ( “God At Work” Gene Vieth p 14)