Reformation Sunday
Holy Cross Lutheran
October 27th, 2019
I’ll let you in on a little secret about pastors – sometimes we have a problem with Jesus
Don’t get me wrong – it’s not that we don’t like Jesus, or revere him.
It’s just that sometimes, we run the risk of not knowing him.
We can be in this vocation for over three decades, preach over 1500 sermons, teach hundreds of Confirmation classes and Bible studies, conduct scores of wedding and funerals, visit hospitals and homes, give spiritual counsel and attend a seeming endless array of committee and Church Council meetings, but we still can have a problem with Jesus.
We can even go on a get an advanced degree, studying at one of the world’s greatest universities, learning at the feet of some of the greatest theological minds of our generation, but through it all we still can have a problem with Jesus.
We can have a problem because we can know a whole lot about Jesus
But we run the real risk of not knowing Jesus.
There’s a difference in knowing about Jesus and knowing Jesus.
We pastors spend a lot of time reading and studying the Bible
We learn and teach a lot about theology
We lead a lot of worship
But it’s too easy to let it become just something we do
We read the Bible to prepare for another sermon or class, but neglect to remember how it applies to us
We tell other people about Jesus, but forget to listen for ourselves
We lead worship, but don’t always allow us to actually BE in worship.
We run the risk of becoming professional Christians who know a lot about Jesus
But forget to know him.
But somewhere it has to get personal.
Martin Luther also had a Jesus problem.
Raised in the church, becoming a monk, then a priest – living in a monastery – becoming a doctor of the church and a teacher of the Bible
Martin Luther knew a lot about Jesus
But what he knew was not comforting.
Growing up in a time and a system that emphasized the supreme holiness of God and the utter unworthiness of humanity, Luther learned to fear and hate a God that was so powerful and so demanding – setting up humanity to a set of standards that were impossible to complete.
Jesus – Jesus was seen as the Righteous Judge, ready to come to make the divide between those who were worthy and those who were not.
And as much as Martin prayed, and humbled himself, confessed, fasted, went on pilgrimage, and tried to be good, as much as he studied and became a master of the Scripture and Theology
Martin had a Jesus problem – because none of it helped
None of it gave him peace
None it quieted his soul.
None of it set him free.
He knew so much about Jesus.
But he didn’t know Jesus.
Today we remember and celebrate
Not a man
Not a movement
Not a denomination
Or a brand
Or an “us vs. them”
Because none of that really matters
None of that gives life
None of that forgives and heals broken, imperfect people
None of that is love
All of that may be about Jesus
But none of it is Jesus.
Today, we celebrate a relationship, not a theology.
Today, we celebrate Jesus.
When Martin spent his life studying the Scripture
He was looking for the Truth.
He was looking for the secret.
He was looking for the right theology that would set him free.
But he couldn’t find it.
But then he was encountered by this:
“The righteous live by faith”
Faith
Trust
Not knowledge – but trust in someone
Relationship
A Jesus that offers himself for us – for him, for me, for you.
What Luther finds in that darkened study in that Wittenberg tower
Is a Jesus that had been waiting for him all along.
“You shall know the truth
And the truth shall set you free.”
The religious leaders in Jesus knew a lot about God
But they had a problem with Jesus.
They relied on centuries of tradition
And a blood-line that made them children of Abraham
But they didn’t know the truth
Truth is a big word in John’s gospel one of the key themes he has.
Pontius Pilate will ask Jesus at his trial, “What is Truth?”
While Jesus remains silent then,
John provides the answer at the end of the gospel:
“These are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.”
People of God. This is a day of Reforming, a time to celebrate that Jesus is alive and working among his people not just in 1517 but today, and tomorrow and the next day.
This is a Jesus that comes to us personally
As Lutheran says in the explanation to the
I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father in eternity, and also a true human being, born of the virgin Mary, is MY Lord.
My Lord, Your Lord,
One who is there to be known
One who knows us, ALL of us – the good, bad, and the ugly, and loves us
One who loves ALL people
It’s a wakeup call
For Martin – he was some overcome and excited that he risked reputation and death to let everyone know about the Jesus that sets people free.
For us?
My prayer is that we let go know about Jesus and come to welcoming being known by him.
My prayer is that the Reformation lives in us – each day – transforming us as people and as a congregation to be more like Jesus in what we say and what we do.
My prayer is that we will know the truth in Jesus and it will set us free.
Graced Notes 