This weekend begins a year-long commemoration of the
500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation. The Pope, once called the antichrist by
Luther who was condemned by that Pope in 1520, is this week joining Lutherans
in Lund, Sweden to kick off a year of commemoration with a joint worship
service. We are moving toward restored
communion with Rome and historic levels of unity among Catholics and Lutherans. 499 years ago tomorrow, Dr. Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on
indulgences and the authority of the Pope on the doors of the Wittenburg
Church. Luther was a Black Augustinian
monk, a Roman priest, and a university professor of the bible. The result of his theses and the debate about
them that followed was fuel on a fire that had already been lit. By 1520, Luther was a heretic and by 1521 a
fugitive from the law and both the Roman and German authorities. In the years that followed, Luther and his
colleague wrote the Augsburg Confession, a document outlining the principle
assertions of the reformers. What they
said about God, Jesus, the human condition, salvation, and the church’s mission
are not mere dogmatic statements, but a confession of what the reformers
believed to be the truth. Their rebellion
was three-fold. First they dared to
believe in their own interpretation, their own reasonable understanding of the
scripture. They took as their primary authority’s
scripture and faith and the grace of God.
The Pope didn’t like that.
Second, they dared to imagine and establish an alternative Christian
community, a reformed congregation outside the confines of Roman authority. Third, they dared to put the scriptures into
the hands of peasants and ordinary people.
They took the great commission task of the church seriously. As evangelical Christians, they saw as their
mission to make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching them. The Reformation gave the bible to the
world. Of course the danger in all of
these things has been realized too.
There has been blood shed between Catholics and protestants, animosity,
and discord. Only in the last century has some of that begun to fade. Also, if you put scripture in everyone’s
hands you risk its misuse, misinterpretation, and biblical idolatry. We
continue to see how sin and the devil interpret the bible and use it to drive
wedges between people. But, Luther was a
teacher of the bible who believed in rigorous study of the Word, in communal
interpretation, and a theological education for all people. This is, perhaps, what is missing. Disciples, after all, are those called to be
students of God’s Word. We are called to hear God’s Word speaking to us law and
gospel, sin and salvation, death and resurrection, responsibility and
relationship, failure and forgiveness.
At its core the Lutheran Reformation is a daring,
personal experience of the grace of God made known to us in the Word, the
water, the bread and cup. Faith is a
living, daring confidence in Jesus Christ.
For Luther, the movement was always personal, always an inner struggle
with God and the neighbor to live as Christ.
It was a struggle against sin, death, and the devil. It was a struggle to love the neighbor, the
enemy, the ignorant coworker, one’s wife and children.
But salvation is given and received, it is not earned
or rewarded. The only condition of
salvation is faith in God and in his son Jesus, a faith which is given by the
Holy Spirit. Faith is a particular way
of seeing. Even seeing God hidden in
suffering, in struggle, and human failing.
Zacchaeus was a
Jew. Not a very good one according to most.
In fact, he had made full use of his privilege as chief tax collector, a
member of the Roman occupation bureaucracy set to oppress his own people, by
abusively forcing taxation and collection, with threats of prison and death
carried out by Roman soldiers at his suggestion. Luther said, “The Lord
commonly gives riches to foolish people, to whom he gives nothing else.” Zacchaeus
was increasingly troubled in his spirit about the damage he’d done and about is
own status among his people. He was
rich, but despised. And his wealth was
gained by exploitation and violent oppression.
He hated what he had become. So
when he heard about Jesus, teacher of mercy and forgiveness, he wanted to see
for himself. Some said Jesus was the
Messiah, sent by God to restore Israel. ON
his way to Jericho, just hours before, Jesus had supposedly restored the sight
of a blind beggar. Recovery of sight to
the blind. So Zacchaeus climbed a tree
to get a view from the back of the large crowd from Jericho who had come out to
meet Jesus on the road. Jesus must’ve
asked someone who that little man was perched in the sycamore tree like a
sparrow. Zaccahaeus, our chief tax
collector, a fiend. Did the crowds boo
when Jesus approached the tree, called him by name and told him to come down so
that he could host Jesus in his house that day?
They grumbled, He’s going to that sinner’s house? Anger and envy swept
through the crowd. Whatever they did,
didn’t matter. Zacchaeus came down and
stood before Jesus. Something broke open
inside and he declared, “ “Behold, half
of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded
anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” He will exceed the demands of the Law to set
things right. WHY? To impress Jesus? Or because meeting Jesus changed his
heart? We cannot know. But Jesus declares, “Today Salvation has come
to this house.” In Christ, it is not your
past or your future that are in question.
It is this present moment.
Salvation is both release from a troubled and sinful past and a promise
of future glory in the coming kingdom.
But chiefly salvation is what is happening for you in the present
moment. What is God doing for you right
now. How is God’s Spirit changing the
human heart right now, calming fear, bringing peace, offering comfort to
troubled souls? This is the ministry of
the Gospel. To apply the salve to the
wounded heart. If the Zaccaheus’ can change, there is hope for everyone. Salvation leads us to work that reconciles, work that heals, work that blesses others. Salvation opens our hearts to serve our neighbors.
Luther says that in Christ we are freed from sin to love
and serve the neighbor. It is this
freedom that makes us disciples. The liberating grace of God that changes the
human heart and makes us children of God and heirs of eternal life. Today, the church is undergoing a season of
reform. Every 500 years or so, we need
to do some housecleaning. Freshen things
up a bit. Fix what’s broken. In a divisive world, we see signs of healing
of the old division between Catholics and Lutherans. We are becoming something new. As a church, we will not be what we were. We
are becoming smaller, older and younger, and more attuned to the needs of our
neighbors. We must remain rooted in the
Word as the source of our mission, faith, and life together. And above all else, we put our trust in
Christ who by the cross and resurrection has set us free from sin to serve all
people with generosity and joy. We do
not celebrate schism. We do not
celebrate Lutheran doctrines that set us apart or make us more right than any
other religious group. We celebrate the
grace of God made known to us by faith in Jesus Christ. We celebrate that today salvation has come to
this house as each of us here encounters the life changing Word, are fed and
forgiven and sent to serve. Today, we are the church because we have heard good
news that we have to share. May we do so
boldly, with confidence, for our neighbors.
Amen.
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