God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. My focus is Revelation
14:6-7: “I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an
eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation, tribe,
language and people. He said with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give him glory,
because the hour of judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and
earth, the sea and springs of water.’”
Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I
rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” Now
that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we
listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply
as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.
My sermon has three R’s, but nothing to do with what I learned
in school. The first R stems from Revelation. The second R from Reformation.
The third R from a Roman reformed.
First, Revelation. Revelation began where the Gospels ended. The
Gospels narrated Christ’s incarnation, life and paschal mystery. Revelation
narrated His second coming into eternity. Therefore, always read Revelation
through Christ.
We can sum up Revelation’s purpose in a word: preparation.
Christians were to prepare for persecution. Preparation through baptism or
washed in the blood of the Lamb strengthened Christians to accept the Church’s
mission on earth while they waited for the Lord to return.
The more prepared Christians were, confident by faith that they
were going to heaven because of Christ’s merit, the more the Spirit moved them
to enter heaven. The more Christians desired the glory of God in heaven, the
more the Spirit moved them to witness through hope, which is a personal living
relationship with someone who will vindicate you.
Revelation revealed much about the suffering and judgment of the
human race and the world, but it also recorded a great celebration of God’s
people, who believe in the triumphant, exalted Christ. We read throughout the
book how the saints confidently sang and celebrated their worship of God and
Christ, which is even more striking when viewed against the terrible suffering
and warfare they endured.
Today’s passage describes the first angel flying in mid-heaven
proclaiming the eternal gospel to all people. Normally, we associate Gospel
with the forgiveness of sins through faith in the work of Christ. We read in
Romans that the Gospel “is the power of God for salvation to
everyone who believes.” Here, however, the Gospel includes the
somber news of judgment, for the angel’s cry is, “Fear God and give
him glory … the hour of his judgment has come … worship him who made heaven and
earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
John’s aim was to move people to heed God’s judgment (Law) and
worship (Gospel) for Christ’s return would be the final deliverance of His
people from the dragon, its two beasts, and their hosts. Hence, John based
the eternal Gospel or eternal message of God’s judgment and grace on Christ’s
saving work.
In view of his coming judgment, the purpose of these verses was
to move people to fear, glorify and worship God. Fear of the Lord, the
beginning of wisdom, comes from learning about God through hearing His
word, and is an essential part of contrition over sin and
repentance. To worship God is the result of fearful repentance through the
redemption wrought by Christ.
To worship God results from fearful repentance through the
redemption wrought by Christ. That brings me to my second point, Reformation. When
we talk about the Reformation, we mean the 16th century movement
in Europe that aimed at reforming some doctrines and practices of the Roman
Catholic Church that resulted in the establishment of Protestant
churches. Martin Luther did not intend to establish a new Church. He
attempted to reform it. He attempted to reform it through repentance, which is
why I chose the reading from Revelation.
To reform means to improve an existing institution, law or
practice by altering or correcting abuses. Individually, we experienced
personal reform when we gave up a reprehensible habit or immoral way of life.
When Doctor Luther posted his 95 Theses, he intended true reform in the Church
and in every member. He intended that we take steps to form again our corporate
and personal lives and give glory to God.
The posting of Luther’s Theses was a moment hastened by the
darkest centuries in the history of the Western Church. The papal monarchy was
a bloated bureaucracy with an insatiable appetite for money and power. The
clergy corrupt. Religious life corroded. The need for reform was universally
acknowledged, but thwarted by self-interested church hierarchy and secular
rulers who profited by the abuses. As a result, dissatisfaction and
anticlericalism assumed threatening proportions, creating a powder keg awaiting
Luther’s spark.
Luther and other protagonists saw the Reformation as the
recovery of the pure revelation of primitive Christianity, the “word of God
undefiled,” while the Catholic Church saw it mainly as a rejection of Christian
truth. From my perspective, it was a happy fault, for the Reformers sought
the pure gospel and succeeded in presenting it to Christians in the face of
grave deformations. In many ways, they simply re-asserted ancient Catholic
truths, for in Church history; reformatio also meant renovatio,
or renewal in the double sense of back to the original form and a
new start. Like Revelation, Luther based the eternal Gospel or eternal
message of God’s judgment and grace on Christ’s saving work.
Read Jeremiah. “The Lord said, ‘Behold, I put my
words in your mouth. I set you over nations and kingdoms, to pluck up and break
down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.’” Or
Romans. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by
the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of
God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Or
Revelation. “He who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am
making all things new.’”
We can sum up what Luther sought in one word, metanoia,
a theological term for repentance and a transformative change of
heart. Read his 95 Theses from October 31, 1517. Notice
the first one reads, “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said,
‘Repent’' (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of
repentance.”
Repent. Be prepared for the eternal message of God’s judgment
and grace based on Christ’s saving work. Rightfully, Luther taught that every
baptized person had the right and duty to teach and spread the word of
God. His visits to churches revealed great ignorance among people, which
he corrected through his Large and Small Catechisms and hymns, making Luther
the great religious instructor of his day.
Luther affected politics, religious practice and theology. While
some seized the moment for political gain, others welcomed Luther’s call to
return to our Christian roots, while Calvin and Zwingli separated themselves
from Luther over their understanding of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
The Reformation was not a single event, but began with a moment
that changed the Church forever. We could and should spend a year studying the
Reformation and the Counter Reformation, only then would we begin to appreciate
Luther’s contributions, but we cannot do that in a Sunday sermon. So, to quote
Forest Gump, that’s all I have to say about that.
That brings me to my third point, a Roman reformed. By Roman
reformed I mean I was a Roman Catholic. I was baptized, confirmed, educated and
ordained in the Roman Catholic Church. My undergraduate and two of my three
graduate degrees are from Catholic institutions. I served as a Catholic priest
for 21 years. I know more about the Catholic Church than all your Catholic
friends know. Nevertheless, like the Reformation, there was a moment in my life
that changed all that.
Moments change people’s lives. We define moment as a brief,
indefinite interval of time; a specific point in time, especially the present;
or a particular period of importance, influence, or significance in a series of
events or developments. Its root is the Latin word momentum meaning
movement, motion, moving power, alteration or change. An event that lasts
only an instant can change world history – the Resurrection, signing of the
Magna Carta, posting 95 Theses. A moment on a particular date can change a
nation – July 4, 1776; December 7, 1941; September 11, 2001. Personally, I
experienced moments that stay with me because they changed me – my ordination
on May 23, 1987; my mother’s death on November 1, 2006; our wedding on August
7, 2010. Now, this Roman reformed will unite Revelation and Reformation to our
personal lives.
If Reformation means not only that moment in 16th century
Europe that resulted in the establishment of the Protestant churches, but also
personal reform when we gave up a reprehensible habit, then we’re onto
something. I suggest we read Reformation’s most influential books – Bondage
of Will, Pilgrim’s Progress, Institutes of the Christian Religion, The Book of
Concord and so on, but start with Luther’s 95 Theses and ask ourselves how
his first thesis applies to my life.
When Luther wrote, “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ
said, ‘Repent’ (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of
repentance,” do you think the Doctor had us in mind? Do you think Jesus had
you in mind when He cried, “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at
hand.”? Do you think John had us in mind when he urged
persecuted Christians to be prepared and cling to Christ, their hope who would
redeem them? My friends, the Christian life is all about repentance. It is all
about repentance, but not understood in the sense of gaining merit. Rather, in
the sense of being motivated by love for Christ and what He did for me, for us,
for all humanity.
If Christ willed the entire life of believers to be one of
repentance, and He did, is repentance evident in my life? Is repentance evident
in our life as Church, as a denomination, Synod or congregation? If, as Luther
and others have said, that the church is always to be reformed, what does that
mean for us as Church and for me individually?
Reform, repentance or change came at the price of great anguish
for Luther. For that matter, it comes at a great price for anyone who heeds
God’s call. Luther posted no bill haphazardly. His theses came after searching
his own heart and soul. Fortunately, for the Roman Catholic Church, what he did
created an opportunity for reform that occurred outside the Roman Curia and
Papacy. Luther’s act gave rise to Ignatius of Loyola, Charles Borromeo, John of
the Cross and Teresa of Avila – vital figures of the Counter Reformation.
Luther’s visitations led to an educated clergy for all of
Christendom. His catechisms led to a simpler method of learning the truths of
Christianity. His translation of the Bible did for the German language what
Shakespeare did for English. Luther’s initial achievements affect the Roman
Church today, through a seminary system, catechesis and a renewed sacramental
system. For that, all Christians should be grateful to Luther and celebrate
Reformation Sunday.
That is the good news. Now, here is what I want you to do to
celebrate Reformation Sunday: Read something on Martin Luther, the Reformation
or the teachings of the Lutheran Church. You do not have to buy anything. You
can start with the magazines or the pamphlets we provide in the lobby or go to
the LCMS website. As you await the return of our Lord, be prepared through
joyful repentance. Prepare yourself with a joyful repentance that would make
Luther and our Lord Jesus proud. And may the peace of God that
surpasses all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
