"Here We Stand"
500th Anniversary of Reformation • Sermon • Submitted
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Text: “45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.” (Luke 24:45-48)
Alleluia, Christ is Risen!
He is Risen, Indeed, Alleluia!
This morning we’re deviating slightly from our normal focus.
Three and a half years ago, on October 31, 2017, we celebrated the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther posting the 95 Theses. That event came to be known as the beginning of the Reformation. But the Reformation was far more than that one event.
Luther continued to write. He continued to attack the false doctrines that were being taught by the church: not only the evil practice of selling indulgences, but a number of false doctrines that surrounded it like purgatory, the treasury of the merits of the saints; and, most fundamentally, the idea that we can or should merit anything before God by our works. Spurred on by the new technology of the time— Gutenberg’s printing press— it’s really not an exaggeration to say that his writings went viral. A large and growing group of people agreed with him.
It could have all ended [500 years ago, on] the evening of April 18, 1521. [At a regular meeting of the church leaders and the emperor, Charles V, in the German city of Worms, Luther was summed there, before the emperor, and told that he must recant his teachings.] The sun was beginning to set on the city of Worms. The heat was stifling in the packed room of the bishop’s palace where emperor, electors and German princes all waited with anticipation to hear the answer Martin Luther would bring. Would Luther recant? Would he retract what he had written and said against abuses in the church and against papal tyranny? Most of all, would he give up on the Gospel he had preached and taught, giving comfort and certainty to consciences in Christ?
“Martin, answer clearly and without any double-talk: Do you or do you not recant your books and the errors in them?” If Luther were to recant and admit that he was wrong, all would be well before the emperor and the Roman Catholic Church. On the other hand, if he did not recant, his own life would be at risk. He could be burned as a heretic.
This was it: recant or stand firm.
With beads of sweat on his face, Luther responded:
“Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. I cannot do otherwise, here I stand, may God help me, Amen” (LW 32:112–13).
At this bold confession, the room erupted in noise. Some rejoiced; some demanded fire! Yet, in the midst of such commotion, the truth of Jesus Christ rang forth. The gates of Hades had not prevailed over the confession of the Gospel. The proclamation of justification by grace through faith on account of Christ’s work alone did not bend to spiritual tyranny. (Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), “Here I Stand Sunday” resources, https://www.lcms.org/here-i-stand-sunday)
Luther’s confession is most certainly needed today. It’s needed as a reminder and as a correction.
We live in a time when Luther’s legacy would seem to be alive and well. There are a number of really absurd beliefs floating around. But try telling someone that what they believe is wrong. What will you get? No matter how absurd their beliefs are, no matter what evidence you produce to show that they’re wrong you will get something that sounds a bit like Luther: “I cannot and I will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience.” Here I stand, I can do no other. But that’s not what Luther was saying.
Let me illustrate it in another way. There’s been a subtle shift in language over the past couple of decades that is particularly telling. In the past, people would defend their beliefs by saying, “Well, the scriptures say....” But now, what we say, instead, is, “Well, I believe....” And that statement is supposed to be the end of the discussion. If that’s what he believes, then who are you to question that? No matter how absurd his beliefs might be, what makes your belief any more true than his? What gives you the right to ask him to go against his conscience?
Is that really the legacy of Luther? Most certainly not. Note carefully what Luther actually said: “My conscience is captive to the Word of God.... Here I stand, I can do no other.” Where was he standing? On God’s Word.
The devil still is using the most subtle of lies to deceive us. In the Garden of Eden, he challenged Adam and Eve by challenging God’s Word, asking them, “Did God really say?” In our day, he has gone much farther. He has thrown out God’s Word entirely and would make your heart and mine the ultimate arbiter of right and wrong. But that is very unstable footing.
And yet, God’s Word is most certainly where today’s Gospel reading would turn us. When Jesus appeared to His disciples on Easter Sunday, Luke tells us that “he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, [saying] to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (Luke 24:45-47).
Why is it “neither safe nor right to go against conscience”? Because the scriptures that Luther was standing upon are the “voice and promise of Christ, Himself.” His authority, itself, is enough to command your agreement, to bind your conscience. He is not only the creator of the universe, the One through whom all things were made, but He is seated at the right hand of the Father in power, glory, and majesty. He does, in fact, have the power and authority to challenge your conscience, to say that what you believe is right or wrong. It is not only dangerous, it carries the judgment of hell to go against what He has said.
Not only does it carry the authority of Christ, it is simple history. We have the witness, in God’s Word, of those who heard all that Christ taught and did. We have their witness that He suffered, died, and rose again— proving, once and for all, that His words are true.
That fact alone should be enough, but there’s more: What does that Word of God say? It records the historical fact that everything God had promised to do was accomplished by Christ. It says that everything He suffered was for you. It proclaims the forgiveness of sins in His name to all nations (Luke 24:47). It declares that you are children of God (1 John 3:2) and heirs of heaven. It promises that you have been redeemed out of this dying world and gathered into His new creation.
It called you by name in baptism, burying you with Christ and raising you, with Him, to new life.
It assures you that, on the last day, when He appears, you will be raised like Him— free from sin, once and for all— to live forever.
On this third Sunday of Easter, the same week of the Church Year during which Luther took his stand at Worms, the Scriptures remind us what the Church stands for: Christ’s death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins and the certainty of peace with God and eternal life in His name. Whatever political power struggles, social and ethical debates, or humanitarian disasters we must engage, our mission and existence does not begin or end there. We preach Jesus Christ crucified and raised for eternal salvation. That is the center and focus of the Holy Scriptures, to which every other scriptural truth in its own place also leads. (Ibid.)
As the writer of the book of Hebrews says, “23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Heb. 10:23-25)
Today, we stand in the footsteps of Martin Luther 500 years later. We stand boldly, proclaiming the One who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. We stand boldly, renouncing the devil and all his works and all his ways. We stand, by the grace of God, steadfast and ready to suffer all rather than fall away. We do not stand on Luther, but we will gladly stand with him, firm on the testimony of the Holy Scriptures to confess the saving Gospel of Christ, our Good Shepherd, who died and rose, in whose name is forgiveness of sins for all people. Here we stand; we can do no other. God help us. Amen. (Ibid.)
Alleluia, Christ is Risen!
He is Risen, Indeed, Alleluia!