Grace Lutheran Church Reformation Sunday, October 30, 2005

The Rev. Evan Gaertner

Reformation Sunday "The One Holy, Christian, and Apostolic Church"

October 30, 2005 Psalm 46

"God is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling."

Reformation Sunday is celebrated on October 31 and observed on the Sunday previous to October 31^st, because on October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed to the doors of the castle church in Wittenberg 95 thesis. The posting of this call for debate has been called the beginning of the Reformation. Luther was calling for a public debate on the theology of selling indulgences. Indulgences were a part of the medieval system of restoring a sinner to a right relationship with the church and with God.

And if you thought that indulgences were only a part of history, consider that the present Pope gave indulgences to those that attended World Youth Day in Cologne this past August. Also he gave indulgences to those that prayed earnestly from their homes for the success of World Youth Day.

The church at Luther's time had a four part system to regain access to the treasures of heaven.

First, a person was to have heartfelt sorrow.

Second, oral (spoken) confession to a priest was required.

Third, a sinner needed to hear words of forgiveness spoken by a priest.

Fourth, works of satisfaction to be done by the one that confessed.

The works of satisfaction were to be good works that would rebalance the account with God that sin had put out of balance. Sin is the distortion of a righteous relationship with God and so good works were works that would give witness and assurance that the relationship with God had been repaired.

The words of forgiveness by the priest were essentially conditional statements that were made true only if the person demonstrated their faithfulness with the works of satisfaction.

Well around Martin Luther's time a second part was being added to the fourth step. Instead of doing works of satisfaction to rebalance the righteousness account with God one could receive an indulgence. In place of doing something costly to make things even one could empty one's coin purse to make things even with God and the church. By Luther's time much of the focus in confession and paying of indulgences was to find confidence for the souls still being cleansed or purged in purgatory. Close members of course were a priority. People did not like the idea of their loved ones suffering in purgatory so they would confess, pray, and pay to release time from purgatory.

Of course when money changes hands corruption is sure to follow. Indulgences were used by people to satisfy their hearts without true repentance. An empty pocketbook was a lot more comfortable than a life of repentance and faith.

Consider a study done in Israel. Day Care workers were troubled about the tardiness of some parents to pick up their children in a timely way. So a study was undertaken to figure out the best way to decrease the tardiness of parents. Some of the day cares educated the parents about the burden they placed on the staff and their own children by being late. Other day care centers established a fine for parents that were fifteen minutes late to pick up their children. The fine increased for every fifteen minutes the staff had to wait for the parents to pick up their children from the day care. Which day care centers do you think were successful in decreasing the problem of tardiness?

The day cares that charged a fine or those that explained the burden? Interestingly, the number of tardy parents increased at the day care centers that charged a fine. People found they no longer felt guilty if they could buy their guilt away. The tardiness decreased at those centers that placed an emphasis on educating the parents about their need to be on time.

Indulgences angered Martin Luther especially when a man started selling indulgences in Germany in order to raise money to build St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. All sorts of tactics were used by John Tetzel to entice people to buy indulgences. The famous phrase was "As soon as the coin drops in the coffer a soul springs from purgatory."

People came to Martin Luther confident in the salvation of their loved ones because they held in their hand an indulgence they had purchased from Tetzel.

Now I want you to hear the opening of the words to Psalm 46 again, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble, therefore we will not fear."

Luther was not ultimately concerned about the hanky-panky of money that surrounded indulgences. That was a problem to be sure. But what truly concerned Luther was what the system of paying off with works or with money ones guilt before God. The church-wide practice of contrition, confession, absolution, and satisfaction was undoing the faith of the faithful. Luther wrote, "Christians are taught to rely on salvation by letters of indulgence [in place of] the grace of God and the compassion shown in the cross."

The danger for the church is not corruption of money. That happens. The problem in the church was not the abuse of power for political purposes. That happens. The problem in the church that worried Luther and ultimately caused the Protestant Reformation was that the faith of the people was being pulled away from Jesus Christ and him crucified. The faith of the people was being pulled away from the refuge and strength of God in Christ Jesus to look to themselves and their own works.

Luther in raising his concern about the selling of indulgences and the turning of people away from Christ was not setting out to start a new church. Even later when asked by the Emperor to present a statement of faith at a meeting in Augsburg, the Lutherans attempted to demonstrate that their beliefs were nothing but the true historic teachings of the one holy Christian apostolic church.

I do not desire to be sectarian. I do not desire for people to identify themselves as Lutheran in contrast to simply being a Christian. But does being Lutheran still matter?

The goal of the Lutheran Church is not to remain separate from everyone else. But rather to keep people connected to the one, holy, Christian, and apostolic church. We do not avoid practices or doctrines because they might be too Roman Catholic. Nor do we avoid worship styles because they might be too Methodist or Baptist. It is not the labels that are of concern. The concern is that we keep Christ solely the sure confidence of people for the salvation.

Garrison Keillor told a story something like this a couple of years ago about a guy at the grocery store. He was paying with check. But unfortunately he had forgotten id. The clerk asked him how she could trust that he is who says he is. He mentioned how he always came into this store. But she said no that wouldn’t do, she still couldn’t trust him. Then he mentioned how his Aunt Sally used to work at this store and that surely she remembered her. She remembered Aunt Sally but she said that she wasn’t sure they were related. So he about to give up and just leave his groceries at the register, when he hesitantly began to say, “I believe in God the father almighty maker of heaven and earth.” He became a little bit more confident and stood a little straighter and went on to say, “and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord.” She smiled and put the check through the processor and began to pack his groceries. It is a remarkable thing to believe in the one, holy, Christian and apostolic church.

We are the body of Christ with Jesus as our head. Together we are brothers and sisters in Christ. Our unity is not found in a common church directory or a shared activity of placing money into the same offering plate. We will not find unity with other church bodies by simply doing things together.

Luther understood that unity was not found in a line of bishops and popes that were joined by a common laying on of hands. Our unity is rooted in lifting up the Holy Scriptures, the inspired Word of God. Our unity is found in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Our unity is found in our common faith together.

Luther stood up when people looked away from Jesus and instead to their own works of satisfaction or buying of indulgences for assurance. The Reformation that we celebrate today is not about being different than the Roman Catholics it is about salvation by grace through faith in Christ. We are constantly reforming our lives and beliefs so that we are in unity with Christ. We don’t get rid of something just because it might appear to be Roman Catholic. We keep whatever we can and reform whatever we can so that in the end Christ and him alone is lifted up as our source of victory and salvation.

Whenever we are in doubt or need we can rejoice that God is our refuge and strength our ever present help in trouble and strife. If you want to bring someone comfort and peace direct them to Jesus. If you want to give someone a fleeting moment of righteousness direct them to right living. But if you want to give them the peace which surpasses all understanding that keeps and guards the heart, point them to Jesus. Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria

Grace Lutheran Church

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