“If now I seek the forgiveness of sins, I
do not run to the cross, for I will not find it given there… But I will find in
the sacrament or Gospel the word which distributes, presents, offers, and gives
to me that forgiveness which was won on the Cross.” (AE 40, 214)
John 8:36 - Reformation Day 2006 St. Mark Lutheran Church
In the name of Jesus. Amen. Luther was sure that God was mad at him. He was convinced he going to hell. He knew it. He didn't measure up. In the Scriptures, there was the righteousness God required. Luther didn't have it.
He'd go to Confession. His father confessor would tell him to come back when he had real sins. But, there was no comfort. No peace. God was mad at him. He knew it.
Slavery. That's what that is. Slavery to sin. Slavery to what God wants and requires of us. Slavery to not being able to live up to God's Law. Luther was a slave.
With slavery comes fear – for the slave isn't part of the family. Not a child of God. And if we aren't sons of God, if we aren't part of God's family, then we are lost.
The more Luther did, the worst he felt. The more he read the Scriptures, the more they seemed closed to him. The more God was unapproachable.
Then, Dr. Luther came to this verse: “The just shall live by his faith.” Luther read the verse in Romans over and over again. The righteous live by their faith. The righteous will live by his faith.
Could it be that easy? Could it be that free? Are you and I made righteous not by what we do or don't do but by what Christ did for us on the Cross? Does His death count for me?
Yes, His death does count for you. For when the Son sets you free, you are free indeed. Freedom from the slavery to your sins. Freedom from the slavery of fear to God. Freedom from hell. Freedom from suffering. Freedom from death.
St. Paul says, “We maintain that a man is justified by grace apart from works of Law.” We maintain that we are saved by Jesus, not by what we do, don't do, have done, or try to do. We maintain that What Christ did on the Cross counts for you and me.
That realization – that the just shall live by faith opened the Scriptures for Dr. Luther! He ran through them and found the Gospel everywhere.
Are we slaves to sin? Yes, all who sin are slaves to sin. Are we free? Yes. When the Son sets you free, you are free indeed.
That's the proper distinction of Law and Gospel. That's justification by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Then, every where Dr. Luther looked in the Scriptures, there was Jesus Christ crucified for him, for you, for me, for the world. There was comfort for troubled consciences. There was forgiveness of sins. Heaven for free! Free and for all! Free on account of Christ.
Now, when I became a Lutheran, my grandmother asked me, “Do you really think that Jesus saves you by the Cross alone and not by what you have done? That's just too free. It can't be that easy.”
“Yes!” I said. But, now that I think about it... it isn't free. This freedom came at the cost of the life of the Son of God. He was treated as a slave. He was stripped down. He was beaten as if he had been unfaithful. He suffered. He was lifted up. He died.
Luther was going to hell. I was going to hell. You and your family members were all going to hell. Every son of Adam is going to hell because of sin. We are slaves to sin and we cannot free ourselves.
But if the Son sets you free – you are free indeed. Christ has set you free. We are free. His death set us free – bought us back, redeemed us, from sin death and the power of the devil. We are saved not with gold or silver but with the Christ's holy and precious blood and innocent suffering and death.
It's a scary thing to be in the hands of someone else – even scarier if that someone else is God. We want to participate. It can't be that simple as just Jesus. There has to be something more - something that I can do to lock the whole thing down. Something that I can give, some stamp of approval that I need to make. Something me..
Nothing you. Nothing me. Only Jesus crucified for the sins of the world. That's the Gospel. Thank God.
There seems to be a trend in Lutheranism today to be embarrassed about our faith. To dodge it. To run from the word “Lutheran.” To cower from it.
Don't fret. Luther didn't like the term either. Who wants to have a religion named after them? I don't. He didn't either.
But, he treasured the term “Lutheran” for one reason: the term Lutheran means that we confessed that a man is saved by Jesus alone, that is by grace alone, received by faith alone.
Dear Saints of God, we aren't Lutherans because we are Germans. The Gospel is for all – even Cajuns like me. We aren't Lutherans cause of our good hymns, we all know that there are some funeral dirges in our hymnal. We aren't even Lutheran because of the potlucks – even though some of us might be BIGGER Lutherans thanks to our potlucks.
We aren't Lutherans because we've always done this or that. In fact, the idea that something has to be done the same way because it's always been done this way isn't Lutheran at all – it's actually Roman. Trust me, I know, I was a Roman Catholic.
No, this is Lutheran: When the Son sets you free, you are free indeed. Christ died for you on the Cross and won salvation for you. Then, He rose again on the third day. His salvation is free. Freely given, freely received without any merit or worthiness in you.
This is Lutheran: He who believes and is baptized shall be saved. He has set you free in the waters of your baptism, delivering his salvation to you in the font. Other people say that nothing happens in that water – but you know that the Scriptures say that in that font, Jesus saved you by delivering the Cross to you.
This is Lutheran: In the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Catechism says that is just as valid and certain as if Christ our dear Lord was dealing with us Himself.
This is Lutheran: Take eat, this is my body which is given for you. Take Drink, this is my blood shed for you for the remission of sins. Jesus gives us His cross, His salvation in His Body and Blood given for us to eat and drink.
Comfort. Forgiveness. Eternal life. That's what I have for you today. If you are holy and have no need of forgiveness, then I have nothing for you. In fact, I can do you no good. As Luther said many times, “God save me from a church of holy people.”
But, if you know that there is something that you have done that makes God mad. If you know that you have no hope of avoiding hell on your own, let alone going to heaven. If you have no hope, no life, no salvation of yourself, then I have only ... the Gospel.
When the Son sets you free, you are free indeed. Luther was free – free from fear, free from hell, free from death.
You are free too. Freed by the Son. Free to care for those around you. Free to forgive those who don't deserve forgiveness. Free to care for the weak. Free to repent of the evil things that you have done and free to be forgiven. Free to pass the faith onto the next generation.
And most importantly – free from sin, from death, and free from hell. For if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed. This is most certainly true. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
