“Great Reformation Truths”     Sermonettes for Reformation

Reformation Sunday     October 30, 2011     Pastor Kock and Vicar Kehl

Sermonette #1: John 8:31-32 & 2Tim 3:15-17 ~ The Word is All We Need (Vicar Kehl)

Have you ever wondered how one book can bring about such differences in belief?  How can a book like the Bible lead people down different paths and avenues? It’s not saying different things and yet people take it in different ways.  One difference was made quite evident during the time of the Reformation.  It seemed like the Word was saying one thing and the Catholic Church was saying another.

            Over the years leading up to the Reformation, the Catholic Church compiled a vast library of study and knowledge supposedly written on the Bible.  Some of what was written was true, but some of it was not.  Nonetheless, people clung to the writings because many of the writers were respected theologians.  The writings of these theologians became what the Catholic church calls "tradition."  Over the years these traditions were held in higher and higher honor until they became just as authoritative as Scripture.  The problem with this was that when tradition and Scripture disagreed on a point, many times tradition would emerge as the more authoritative writing.

Martin Luther grew up believing these things until God lead him to study the Bible himself.  After many years of study, Luther saw the flaw in the in the whole process.  The church trusted the knowledge and opinions of man over the words of God.  The church was ignoring the command of God not to add or subtract anything from his Word. This command was given because God's Word is sufficient for our salvation.  There is nothing more we need to know about our salvation than what is contained in the book called the Bible.  We know this is true because the Bible itself tells us that "holy Scriptures are able to make us wise for salvation" (2 Tim 3:15).

            It’s easy for us to fall into the same fault as the Catholic Church did. The devil tempts us to doubt God’s Word and urges us to add our own two cents into it, but we will do well to resist such an urge.  Scriptures has everything laid out for us already. All we need to know about salvation is contained in that one book. God may not explain himself totally to us or give us advice on how to make every decision in our lives, but what he does give to us equips us in more ways than one.  Not only is Scripture a sufficient source of knowledge, but equips us for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. 

            And so the Word alone determines our teaching and our preaching.  If a teaching is not contained in the Word, then it is mere speculation or opinion. If a teaching is contrary to the Word, then it is false. Scriptures, in order to attain their purpose of making humans wise for salvation, do not need to be supplemented with any outside material, period. It's a great blessing that our God has given us such a wonderful book!  It’s a great blessing that God made it clear through the Reformation that Scripture stands alone as our source of salvation.  We have that book! We can open it whenever we want and hear about salvation through Christ Jesus. Praise God that we live in a time and place where we can dig into the Word!

Sermonette #2: Proverbs 18:22 ~ Marriage is a Gift from God!  (Pastor Kock)

The passage is certainly straightforward, isn’t it?  “He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD.”  We hear those words and think, “Well, duh, of course marriage is a good thing.” 

Now, let’s balance it.  God isn’t saying marriage is BETTER than being single.  Being single is a wonderful gift from God, too, because the single person can be more fully focused on doing God’s work in a public way.  The single person can say, “What’s going on at church tonight!  How can I serve the Lord today!”  The married person’s focus has to be more broad.  It’s still service to the Lord, but it’s filtered through, “How can I serve the Lord by serving my wife/husband/children.”  So, both married life and single life is good, both serve the Lord.

But in Luther’s day, that wasn’t what was being taught.  What was being taught was that singlehood – and particularly, being a monk or priest or nun – was better than marriage.  It was being taught that taking the vow of celibacy was much superior to being married, that those who became monks/priests/nuns were on a superior level to those who were married. 

Now, that had some huge implications!  It’s estimated that at Luther’s time as much as 10% of the population were in monasteries or nunneries.  Think about that!  If that were true in the U.S. today, that would mean that there would be about 31 million people in the monasteries or nunneries!  Can you imagine the impact that would have on our economy, on our society?  It would be huge! 

And, spiritually, it was a huge problem too.  Look at Luther’s quote. He talks about how when he was growing up he couldn’t think about being married without feeling like he was sinning.  Can you imagine?  He thought it was a sinful thing to desire a spouse, to want to have a wife and family.  What a horrible place to be! 

Thank God that God took Luther back to the Word.  God convinced Luther that marriage was a gift from God.  That marriage and family was a good thing!  And what a blessing for you and me, too.  Yes, God created the family in the first place when He created Adam and Eve.  God had said that it wasn’t good for the man to be alone, and so in grace He made Eve, and brought Eve to Adam. 

In grace God continues to bring husbands and wives together.  No, it’s no better than being single, but marriage is just as much a gift from God as is being single.  And yes, we can make a mess out of marriage because of our own sinfulness.  And yes marriage is sometimes hard because of our own sinfulness.  But Jesus takes us back to His cross and assures us that our sins are forgiven, that we’re at peace with Him.  He reminds us of His unselfish, perfect love.  And yes, He reminds us that every gift from Him is a good gift.  Including, thankfully, the gift of marriage and family. 

Sermonette #3: 1Peter 2:9-10 ~ Every Believer is a Priest  (Pastor Kock) 

Closely connected to the false teaching that celibacy was a better way of life was the false idea that the priests were at a higher level than the rest of people.  It was taught that being a priest made you much more likely to be able to get to heaven. 

But, that’s not what God teaches.  Check out our text, from 1Peter.  Peter is speaking to believers, probably living in Asia Minor (present-day Turkey).  He says to them, “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood …”  He doesn’t say that there are some people who are priests, and others who are just believers, and that the priests are on a different, higher level.  No, God says, “YOU are a royal priesthood.”  Yes, that means that God considers YOU and ME to be priests before Him. 

In the Old Testament, only the priests could go into the tabernacle/temple to do the sacrifices.  The priests served in the place of and on behalf of the people.  But in the New Testament, every believer gets to come into the presence of God, every believer gets to serve God directly, every believer gets to speak directly to God in prayer, every believer gets to listen to God directly as we open up the Bible.  YOU are a priest.  Me too! 

“But, but, but!” we sputter.  “I’m a sinner!”  True.  But you’re not a “priest” because of how good you are or because of what you have done.  Rather, you’re a “priest” because God has washed you clean!  Made you His! 

And so now you have an incredible honor!  You get to serve God with your lives!  You get to serve God by going to work, by working faithfully, by raising your kids, by receiving your food with thanksgiving, by using your time, talents and treasures in God-pleasing ways, etc, etc.  At Luther’s time, the false teachings of the church had obscured that teaching under horrible false doctrine.  Thank God that He brought His truth back to light, the truth that every one of us believers stands before God as a “priest.”  And yes, that means you! 

Sermonette #4: Romans 1:16-17 ~ Salvation is Free and Certain   (Pastor Kock) 

Would it be fun to live with doubt and fear?  I can’t imagine anyone who would prefer doubt and fear to certainty and surety.  And, Luther’s early life would say that he hated it.  The church was teaching that the way that you got to heaven was by living a good life.  If you did enough good, then you could go to heaven. 

Well, how can you know if you’ve done enough good?  How can you know if you were good enough?  How could you know if your life was “good enough”?   Because Luther was taught those ideas, he lived in constant turmoil.  He had no certainty of salvation.  He had only fear.  That’s what drove him to enter the monastery, and to eventually become a priest.  It was in a search to quiet his conscience, in a search for peace with God, the peace that you and I really need.  He worked and worked and worked.  His conscience was so tender; he saw himself as sinning all the time.  One time he even whipped himself, thinking that feeling physical pain would perhaps help to purge his soul of the sins which he felt so acutely. 

But then he started to read the Bible.  At first it didn’t make sense to him.  He saw God as angry, as demanding something from him which he COULD NOT give.  He was trying his hardest!  But instead of certainty, he had doubt and fear.  

But eventually Luther read the passage in your service folder.  It concludes, “The righteous will live by faith.”  Note, it doesn’t say that the righteous will live by their works.  It doesn’t say that the righteous will live because they’ve done enough good things.  It says that the righteous will live by faith. By faith in what?  Faith in what Jesus has done for us! 

Luther related that when he read that, it was as if the doors of heaven had been thrown open to him, and that he’d entered heaven itself!  For the first time in His life he realized that it wasn’t about what HE did; it had everything to do with what GOD had done for him!  Instead of seeing God as an angry judge, demanding from him what he couldn’t give, he now could see God as a Loving Father, Who had done everything for his salvation.  Instead of doubt and fear, he had certainty!  He was sure!  Because salvation wasn’t something earned by man, but was a free gift from a gracious God. 

And that free gift has been given to you, too!  Jesus died on the cross to pay for your sins!  Mine too!  He didn’t attach any strings to it!  When He died He didn’t say, “It’s started.”  Instead, He said, “It’s finished!”  The entire bill for sins had been paid for, in full, completely!  And that salvation is yours, because God’s given it to you!  It’s by faith from “first to last.”  That is, from beginning to end, salvation is God’s work!  It’s free!  And because it’s freely given by God, it’s for sure!

But the old devil still loves to try to implant doubt and fear into our hearts.  He tries to get us to think, “I hope that when I die I’ll get to go to heaven.”  That thought is damnable!  Why so?  Because with that thought the devil is leading you and me to think that salvation isn’t really free, that Jesus didn’t really do it all!  And so that thought needs to go away!  You don’t “hope” that you’re going to heaven.  You KNOW that you’re going to heaven.  It’s not that you and I “might” go to heaven.  You and I WILL go to heaven!  That’s the truth!  Because heaven if free!  Salvation is sure!  It’s free, it’s sure, because it’s won by Jesus.