THE FEAST OF THE LUTHERAN REFORMATION
Why Reformation Day Matters
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ!
Amen! Listen again to what God says at the end of today’s Epistle:
“The law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but THE WORD OF THE
OATH, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect
forever.”
When God speaks about “the Word of [His] oath,” in this Epistle, He wants you
to know that His oath is a very powerful thing. When God speaks an oath,
nothing in the universe is more powerful and more binding. God has spoken an
oath to you.
Dear Christian friends,
I. Reformation Day Seems Arrogant
Today is Reformation Day. In the eyes of the world—perhaps even in the eyes of
our fellow Christians who visit our worship—Reformation Day might seem like an
arrogant holiday. Reformation Day seems different than the other holidays in
the Church Year. For example:
• Christmas and Easter seem like good holidays for Christians to
celebrate together, Lutheran or otherwise. Christmas and Easter are plainly and
clearly all about Jesus. Friends and family may or may not commune with us
during their Christmas and Easter visits, but at least we can sing the old
hymns in warm unison and hear the familiar Gospels together, with Jesus in the
middle of everything.
• Pentecost is another example. No one travels to visit family for
“Pentecost vacation,” but Pentecost is still a good, all-inclusive holiday.
Just as Easter and Christmas are all about Jesus, Pentecost is all really about
Jesus, too. Yes, we talk about the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, but the focus of
Pentecost is the Spirit’s work of pointing us to Jesus and the Spirit’s
untiring message that Jesus forgives all our sins. Pentecost is about Jesus!
On its surface, Reformation Day does not appear to be all about Jesus, as
Christmas, Easter and Pentecost are. On the outside, Reformation Day appears to
be about Martin Luther and the Lutheran confession of faith and how we
Lutherans always think we are right. Because of this outside, surface
appearance, Reformation Day can feel a little embarrassing for Lutherans and a
little irritating for other Christians.
II. Reformation Day is All About Jesus
Today’s Epistle will help you see that Reformation Day is not about Martin
Luther any more than sauerkraut or lederhosen. Reformation Day is about Jesus
and only Jesus. The blessing and benefit of Reformation Day is summarized in
today’s Epistle with one phrase: “THE WORD OF THE OATH.” This is what God says:
“The law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but THE WORD OF THE
OATH, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect
forever.”
Here is what God is telling you in today’s Epistle: Your heavenly Father chose
and designated Jesus to be the One and Only source of your forgiveness and
life. God the Father is so serious about Jesus being the One and Only source of
your forgiveness and life, that He swore an oath. When God sent His Son to die
for you, God swore to you, promising you on an oath, “This man Jesus is the One
and Only source of My salvation. I swear and promise to you that Jesus’ death
will be sufficient payment for your sins; I vow to you that Jesus’ resurrection
will become the opened door to your eternal life. There is no other place for
you to look (Mark 9:8); there is no other voice to which you must listen
(Hebrews 1:1-2); there is nothing at all that you must do (Ephesians 2:8-9). I,
Your God and Creator, I raise My right hand and I swear: Jesus is your One and
Only. If you have Jesus, then you also have all things in heaven and on earth,
even life and
salvation.”
“THE WORD OF THE OATH… appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.”
III. “Not All Possess This Knowledge” (1 Corinthians 8:7)
There is a big problem with this powerful oath God has spoken concerning Jesus.
The problem with God’s oath is that very few people wish to believe that God’s
oath and promise are totally sufficient for your forgiveness and life!
Throughout the history of the Church, the vast majority of Christianity has
insisted that there must be something more to your life and salvation than
Jesus your One and Only! For example, God’s oath concerning Jesus was the real
spark that ignited the Reformation. When I mean is this:
• Struggle of the Reformation—especially in its earliest days—boiled down
to the Roman Catholic papacy. The papacy was teaching that you must have
something more than Jesus for the assurance of your forgiveness and life. The
papacy taught—and still teaches—that God supposedly whispers important
information into the heart of the pope. The papacy taught—and continues to
teach—that you must not only listen to God’s oath concerning Jesus, but you
must also rely upon what the pope feels in his heart.
• But the Roman papacy was only half the cookie. Another group, called
the Anabaptists, soon joined the scene. (The various Anabaptists of the
sixteenth century were father or grandfather to many of today’s denominations.)
The Anabaptists did not want you to listen to the pope’s heart. The Anabaptists
taught—and continue to teach—that you must look into your own heart instead.
For the assurance of salvation, for the certainty of eternal life, you must not
only listen to God’s oath concerning Jesus, but you must also rely upon what
you feel in your heart—your sense of faith, your sense of commitment to Jesus,
your response to Jesus.
God has spoken His oath to you, concerning His Son Jesus. God also says in
today’s Epistle, “THE WORD OF THE OATH… appoints a Son who has been made
perfect forever.” Yet many voices in the Christian Church today clamor for
something other than God’s oath. The Feast of the Reformation is a good and
beneficial day for us because this day calls our attention back to God’s oath
concerning Jesus and Jesus alone. Reformation Day only seems like an arrogant,
parochial holy day. But Reformation Day is not about Luther, and it is not
certainly about Lutherans being right.
From its earliest days, main point of the Lutheran Reformation has always been
this:
• Nothing good can come from any human heart, papal otherwise! (Jeremiah
17:9, Romans 7:19, Matthew 15:19-20)
• Stated another way, the Feast of the Reformation is about Jesus and
Jesus only, who fully and completely forgives all your sins without any
contribution from you.
• Stated yet another way, there is great power and reliability in God’s
oath concerning Jesus. “THE WORD OF THE OATH… appoints a Son who has been made
perfect forever.”
God the Father is so serious about Jesus being the One and Only source of your
personal forgiveness and life, that He swore an oath to you. When God speaks an
oath, nothing in the universe is more powerful, nothing more binding, and
nothing needs to be added to it—not even the faith of your heart. TO THE
CONTRARY, God’s oath to you concerning Jesus will powerfully and miraculously
CREATE THE FAITH OF YOUR HEART (Romans 10:17). You do not need to concern
yourself with what is inside your heart. You do not need to concern yourself
with what is inside someone else’s heart. Nothing inside anyone’s heart—either
yours or mine or the pope’s—nothing there is worth noticing. Look instead at
Jesus, only Jesus. All that matters is God’s oath concerning Jesus. God’s oath
concerning Jesus is what drives preaching, what creates Baptism, and what makes
possible your Holy Communion. God the Father has promised and sworn to save you
through Jesus only,
in spite of you know and feel in your heart. Jesus and Jesus only is the great
joy and happiness of Reformation Day.
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