Reformation 2023

Reformation Day Sermon 2023

Text: Romans 3:21-30

Good morning Church! I’m so glad that you have gathered with us this morning. That you have obeyed the command to not forsake the assembly. It’s the last Sunday in October… we call it Reformation Sunday – remembering the Protestant Reformation. And so today, we’re going to take a break from looking at John’s Gospel, and I’m going to do a little teaching as well as preaching this morning.

Historically speaking, we say that the Protestant Reformation kicked off on October 31, 1517 with Martin Luther nailing his 95 Theses on the doors of Castle Church in Wittenberg Germany… but that was more like the dynamite exploding. The fuse had already been lit by men like Wycliffe and Hus… John Wycliffe dissented against the Catholic Church in the late 1300’s… he translated the Bible into English, and called for reforms. Jan Hus, who read the writings of John Wycliffe, and was then led to read the writings of Augustine, which led him to read the writings of the Apostle Paul, and the Scriptures, called for reform of the Catholic Church as well, and he was burned at the stake in 1415 for speaking the truth, and speaking out against the Pope and the Catholic Church.

That took place 100 years before Martin Luther did what he did in Wittenberg. So the fuse was lit, and exploded with Luther – so to speak.

Martin Luther was born in 1483 to working class parents. His father, Hans Luther, was a miner, and both he and his wife recognized that their son Martin was intelligent. And so they had high hopes for him. They managed to send him off to college in Erfurt Germany to study law. And that’s what Luther did. He studied to be a lawyer. And he was good. And you’ve got to understand that college wasn’t like it is today. When Luther began studying law, he was one of 300 students at Erfurt, by the time he had graduated only 17 students remained. Super high attrition rate. Super rigorous – mentally strenuous education. So Luther was 3rd in his class. And he graduated with a masters degree in law. After this; Luther returned home to see his family, and spent a little time with them, and then headed back to Erfurt to start his new career, but on his way back to Erfurt he finds himself in the middle of a terrible storm, and a bolt of lightning nearly hits him. And Luther is terrified. The reason he’s terrified is because he’s Catholic, and the Catholic Church has taught him, and everyone else… they’ll only go to heaven if they’ve done enough good works, and done enough good deeds, and been faithful, and gone to confession. But Luther liked to party. He liked his German beer. He had a temper. He wasn’t very faithful, and he knew that if he died, it was at best tens of thousands of years in Purgatory, but more likely hell. And so he was afraid, and he cried out, and made a vow that if he lived through this storm, he would become a monk.

Well, shortly the storm passed, Luther made his way back to Erfurt, and he kept his vow. He left the legal profession and joined the Catholic Church as a monk.

His father wasn’t very happy with him, but its what he did. And Martin Luther really thought that by doing that, he could find peace and comfort and security, and assurance that he would be right with God. But that’s not what he found. But something did happen at Erfurt that would have an impact on him. For the first time in his life, he came into possession of a complete Bible. And he begins to read the Bible. In-fact; what Luther does is begin reading the Bible, and he also becomes aware of Jan Hus… and in becoming aware of Jan Hus, he becomes aware of John Wycliffe, and that leads him to Augustine, which leads him to the writings of Paul… and while Luther is reading all of these works, and reading Scripture, he’s also taking a closer look at what the Catholic Church was teaching, and had been teaching for centuries. And he discovers that the Roman Catholic Church teaches that salvation is gained by works… He discovers that the doctrine of Purgatory isn’t Biblical at all. He discovers that the only way a sinner can stand justified before God is if he or she is clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

And the particular text that God used to convert Martin Luther was Romans 3:21-30… let me read that to you really quickly (READ).

So there it is… it actually ties right back in with what we’ve just seen on John’s Gospel. This righteousness of God THROUGH faith in Jesus Christ FOR ALL WHO BELIEVE. Verse 24… Justified BY HIS GRACE as a gift… THROUGH the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.