Christianity’s
Family Tree: Lutheranism
Afraid
No More
Roman
3:21-26
Opening
Words: There
are six billion people in the world today. Two billion profess to
be Christians. What links all these believers together is the very
first creed of the church. We find it in Romans 10:9. It says,
“That if
you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and
believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will
be saved.” From
the very beginning the early church knew the importance of the
resurrection. It separates us from the rest of the world. Over two
thousand years later the only thing that still really matters is
your belief in the resurrection, everything else is secondary.
We
are in the middle of a sermon series called Christianity’s
Family Tree. Each week we have been looking at a different
branch. Each of the branches holds different beliefs and customs
but each one holds to the primary belief of the resurrection of
Jesus. We began two weeks ago when we looked at the Eastern
Orthodox Church. Last week we looked at the Roman Catholic Church.
Today we look at the oldest of the Protestant denominations, the
Lutheran Church. There are 86.2 million Lutherans in the world,
with 13.6 Lutherans in various Lutheran denominations in the United
States. In your most recent AT&T phone book there are 36
Lutherans congregations listed in the Mahoning Valley. How many
people here once proudly called themselves Lutheran? We are
instructed today from the third chapter of Romans, verses
twenty-one through twenty-six. Let me call this morning’s
message Afraid No More.
Romans
3:21-26
21But now a
righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to
which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22This righteousness from
God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There
is no difference, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory
of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the
redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25G od presented him as a
sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to
demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the
sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26he did it to
demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and
the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
The
great preacher of yesteryear Dr. G. Campbell Morgan had four sons.
Each one went on to be a preacher. The local newspaper came to
their home to interview the five preachers. One of the first
questiones asked by the interviewer was, “Who is the best
preacher in the family?” Howard, one of the sons, answered
without hesitation, “Mother!” I tell you that story for
one reason. There are a million ways to say, “I love you!”
Preaching is one of them. Never underestimate the power of love.
Love
fueled the Protestant Reformation. For over one thousand years the
church was united. Then in 1043 the Eastern Church and the Western
Church divided. We talked about that division the past two weeks.
Five hundred years later the Western Church fractured again. The
one name that changed the Western Church forever was Martin Luther.
He was born on November 10, 1483 i n Eisleben, Germany, then part
of the Holy Roman Empire. From an early age his parents, Hans and
Margaret Luther and his church taught him that Jesus was not a
loving God of peace but a God of judgment and condemnation. He was
ordained a priest in 1507. At first he too preached a message of
judgment and condemnation. However, in his heart of hearts he knew
this was wrong and went on a great spiritual quest. At times he was
overwhelmed by guilt and felt alienated from God. His despair was
overwhelming at times but his state lead him to a new understanding
and appreciation of grace. It would take decades to formulate, but
in time he would formulate the one single idea that fueled the
Protestant Reformation. God is a God of love! We are not justified
or made right with God by what we do. We are not justified by what
God has done for us in Jesus. We are saved by grace and by grace
alone. You have heard me say it a million times but to Luther’s
generation it was new and shocking.
Luther
found peace and joy in this new Gospel of grace and preached it to
his congregation. It was received well by everyone, except his
superiors in Rome. The church has never liked change. The abuse
that ultimately served as the trigger of the reformation was the
selling of indulgences. The Pope was trying to raise funds for a
new St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome. Several priests were used
to car rying out a capital funds drive to extract the funds from
the poor population. What they sold were prayers. Not just any kind
of prayers but prayers to limit loved ones time in Purgatory. A man
by the name of Tetzel came to Luther’s town and tried to sell
these indulgences. Luther was infuriated. Luther wrote ninety-five
statements questioning the use of indulgences and the general
practices of the church. On October 31, 1517, now called
Reformation Day, Luther took his statements or “theses”
and placed them on the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg,
Germany. It didn’t take long for this new invention called
the printing press to manufacture copies of these ninety-five
theses for the world to read. Martin Luther spoke for the common
man but not for the Roman Catholic Church. The church tried to
silence him and division was complete.
Every
week I have made a little confession. This is this week’s
confession. As I read this material I found myself being drawn to
the world of Lutheranism. I can honestly say I have a greater
appreciation for Luther and a better understanding of the
Protestant Reformation. I struggled with last week’s message
on Catholicism but I found this week’s message easy. So today
let us look at three ways Martin Luther changed our understanding
of God. So if you are ready to begin say, “Amen!”
The
Bible
Martin
Luther had a great appreciation for the Bible. In Luther’s
day the primary authority of the church was the pope and councils.
The Bible was not even available to the laity. It was read and
interpreted by only the clergy. Luther said this is wrong. The
primary authority of the church must be the Bible and the Bible
must be read and interpreted by the laity, with the help of the
Holy Spirit. The Bible is the all time best seller because Martin
Luther wanted you to read it.
On
the basis of sola scriptura, scripture alone, Luther discontinued
many long lived practices in his church. He saw nothing in the
Bible that said priests could not marry. As a matter of fact, he
noticed Peter was married. At the age of forty-one he married a
former nun, Katharina von Bora, who was twenty-six. They had six
children. When Luther read the Bible he didn’t see seven
sacraments; he saw only two, baptism and the communion. The others
were helpful but they were not a sacrament. Jesus taught us to
observe the sacraments to bring grace to our lives.
All
of this Bible talk forces me to ask you a single question. How
often do you read your Bible? I am shocked today by how many people
don’t know the basics of the Bible. How many people do you
know don’t know the Lord’s Prayer or the Ten
Commandments? How many people do you know think the Bible is just
for clergy? They are more comfortable with their own uninformed
believes and opinions. I hope t hat is not your story. If you are
thankful that Martin Luther put the Bible in your hands say,
“Amen!”
Priesthood
of All Believers
Martin
Luther has a great appreciation for the priesthood of all
believers. In Luther’s day the understanding of the
priesthood revolved around professional clergy. Luther saw
something wrong with this concept. He said everyone, by laity and
clergy, were called by God to a certain station in life. All
believers were ordained, at their baptism, to serve God. It doesn’t
matter if you are a preacher or a donut maker, you are to serve
God, where you are.
This
affected the way that he saw worship. Pre-reformation worship was
dominated by clergy. L uther saw something wrong with that idea. He
opened it up to everyone. He translated both hymns and scriptures
into the language of the people. He wrote hymns so that ordinary
people may be able to sing praises to God. It is Luther who wrote,
“A Mighty Fortress is Our God,” The Battle Hymn of
the Reformation.” The church should not be dominated by
people who went to seminary. The church should be dominated by
ordinary people just like you. How in your life are you serving
God?
Franklin
Roosevelt's closest adviser during much of his presidency was a man
named Harry Hopkins. During World War II, when his influence with
Roosevelt was at its peak, Hopkins held no official Cabinet
position. Moreover, Hopkins's closeness to Roosevelt caused many to
regard him as a shadowy, sinister figure. As a result he was a
major political liability to the President. A political foe once
asked Roosevelt, "Why do you keep Hopkins so close to you? You
surely realize that people distrust him and resent his influence."
Roosevelt replied, "Someday you may well be sitting here
where I am now as President of the United States. And when you are,
you'll be looking at that door over there and knowing that
practically everybody who walks through it wants something out of
you. You'll learn what a lonely job this is, and you'll discover
the need for somebody like Harry Hopkins,20who asks for nothing
except to serve you." Winston Churchill rated Hopkins as
one of the half-dozen most powerful men in the world in the early
1940s. And the sole source of Hopkins's power was his willingness
to serve. Where are you willing to serve God? London’s Sunday
Express once wrote, “Most people wish to serve God -- but
in an advisory capacity only.” I hope that is not your
story. If you are willing serve God, where you are say, “Amen!”
Justification
by Faith
Martin
Luther discovered the idea of justification by faith. His world
stressed the point that everyone is a sinner. The only way that one
could obtain salvation was by doing enough good works to overshadow
our sins. Luther was constantly trying to please God but there was
no assurance. There was no peace. It was while he was reading the
Bible that he discovered a series of scriptures that changed
everything. In the epistles to the Romans and Galatians he
discovered a five letter word that changed everything, GRACE! There
is no way we can merit salvation. That is works righteousness.
However, salvation is the work of God and God’s great gift to
us. Did you hear this morning’s scripture lesson, Romans
3:23-24, “for all have sinned and fal l short of the glory
of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the
redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” In other words, we
are all saved by grace and by grace alone. You do not deserve to go
to heaven. I do not deserve to go to heaven but we are going to
heaven because of God’s great love for us. Never
underestimate the power of love. And all of God’s people
said, “Amen!” Let me end with this story.
I
love the story of Thomas Edison. One day he came home from school
carrying a note from the principle and his teacher. The note simply
read, “Your child is dumb. We can do nothing for him.”
(I used to hate carrying those notes home!) Mrs. Edison wrote back,
“You don not understand my boy. I will teach himself.”
The rest is history. Mrs. Edison’s love did not just change
her son’s future. Mrs. Edison’s love changed our world.
Never underestimate the power of love. There is an old Spanish
proverb that says, “An ounce of mother equals a ton of
priest.” Abraham Lincoln said, “No man is poor
who has a godly mother.” Never underestimate the power of
love.
Martin
Luther was raised in fear. His world told him of a loveless God but
he didn’t listen. He read his Bible and everything changed.
The power of love ignited the Protestant Reformation and changed
the world. Lutheranism reminds us to read our Bible. Lutheranism
reminds us that God calls everyone to do something special for God.
Lutheranism reminds us that we are justified by faith. If you think
these things will help you in your spiritual development say,
“Amen!”
