October 30, 2017
1 Corinthians 16:13-14 - Be watchful,
stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be
done in love.
As far back as I can
remember, I have celebrated Martin Luther and Reformation Day.
When I was a little Lutheran, I grew up
in an Irish Catholic neighborhood. That means, every Friday, I said to the
Catholic kids: "You have to have stinky, smelly, bony fish, while I'm
having a burger for supper. I can have a burger because of Luther and the
Reformation."
Back then I could run fairly fast.
On Ash Wednesday, all the Catholic kids had a cross
of ashes prominently placed on their foreheads. That's why on Ash Wednesday
we Lutheran lads would say to our Catholic counterparts, "What's that
on your forehead? It looks like a target. I don't think I'd like the priest
to put a target on my head. We don't have targets on our heads because of
Martin Luther and the Reformation."
Yup, back then I could run fairly fast. But times
have changed, haven't they? In Catholic homes, Friday fish is an option,
and in Lutheran churches the imposition of ashes is no longer a heresy.
All of which explains why many people don't celebrate
Reformation Day.
Think about it: how many Reformation Day presents
have you received? The newspapers haven't reminded us of how many shopping
days were left until Reformation Day. The TV stations haven't told us where
we can go to see the houses with the best Reformation Day lights, and my
community doesn't have a Reformation Day parade or Reformation Day
fireworks.
I wonder how many of you are having a special
Reformation Day meal today. There's no such thing as a Reformation Day
turkey, and you don't hunt brightly-colored Reformation Day eggs, and
Martin Luther doesn't come down your chimney to leave gifts.
That's why Reformation Day has become a custom which
is pretty much reserved for, and remembered by, a diehard group of pastors
and laypeople who are perceived as having nothing better to do with their
afternoons on the last Sunday in October.
You see, we are living in an age which still needs a
Reformation. In Luther's day the Church was making up laws and saying,
"These have come from God." Today, many churches are taking God's
laws and saying, "These no longer are in effect." In Luther's
time the Church said, "You need to buy indulgences to be forgiven of
your sin." Today, more than one church says, "Sin? What is
sin?"
Truly, our battles are not the same as Luther's
because the pendulum of heresy has swung. That being said, in an age when
political correctness has usurped the authority of the Word, the need for
faithful preachers and committed Christians remains as strong as ever. The
Savior still stands, His nail-pierced hands extended in welcome to all who
are called to faith by the Holy Spirit. It is right that we point clearly
and unerringly to the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
Ours is a time when God's people need to join with
Luther and say, "Here I stand."
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, for the Reformers of
the past, we give thanks. Grant that we, in our own age, may stand fast to
the Scripture, and the Savior -- whose life was given so we might have
forgiveness and eternal life. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
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