| Bethany Lutheran Church Red Lake Falls MN |
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Reformation Sunday
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38–39, NIV)
Once there was a man who was very anxious. He was afraid that he was dying. He went to his doctor and said, “Doctor, I think I'm dying. Everything I touch hurts. I touch my head it hurts. I touch my elbow it hurts. I touch my knee it hurts. What is my problem?”
The doctor made a thorough examination and said to the man. “I've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that you are not dying. The bad news is that you have a broken finger.”
This morning we remember a whole world that was filled with anxiety. It was the world of 16th century Europe and Martin Luther. A world that proclaimed itself Christian, yet knew next to nothing about Christ.
What was the source of this anxiety that gripped the world of Martin Luther?
Some of it was political. There were wars and rumors of wars. Great Muslim armies from the middle east were working their way upward through easter Europe, threatening to invade the west.
Some of it was social. There was a great epidemic sweeping across Europe known as the black plague. The plague would destroy close to a quarter of Europe as it worked its horror and death.
Given this great political and social instability of the times, one would think that faith would have been a source of great comfort and courage to people, but this was not the case at all.
Christianity had grown by leaps and bounds in the fifteen centuries that preceded Martin Luther. But unfortunately, this was a faith that was not very well connected to Christ. We have to understand how steeped in ignorance, most of Western Europe was at this time.
Before Luther, books had to be copied and produced one volume at a time. And even once a book was produced few people knew how to read it. In the church this was the case with Bibles too. Though there were many clergy, most of them could barely read their own language let alone the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew in which the Bibles of that time were written.
Under such conditions, the heart of the faith had gotten lost. Instead of the good news of salvation through faith in Christ, the church preached, judgment and salvation through works. Jesus was portrayed as a wrathful judge, sentencing people by the thousands into purgatory or hell.
The very foundation of Christian faith had gotten lost.
Martin Luther's world was filled with bad news and things to worry about. But into this world some very good news was beginning to make itself known.
Like many others in his world, Martin Luther got involved in the church because of a deep fear for his soul. As a young man, Martin Luther had a terrifying experience in a thunder storm. Thanks to thunder and lightening, Luther decided to make his peace with God by joining a monastery and becoming a monk.
Unfortunately, the monastery did not give Luther the peace he longed for. Higher ups noticed that Luther had a great mind. They transferred him from the monastery to the seminary, where he would study the Bible and prepare priests for parish ministry. For Luther this was a Godsend. For when Luther began to study the Bible, he found the peace he was looking for. God's peace was all over the Bible, in the form of the gospel of faith in Jesus Christ as savior. It was not through works that one was saved, discovered Luther, but through God's grace and faith in Christ as one's savior.
For Luther it was like going from darkness to light, from death to life. And thanks to a new technology, known as the Gutenberg printing press, Luther's sermons, lectures and pamphlets were reproduced by the millions and shared with people all over Europe.
You could say that Luther, was the “right man, with the right problem, in the right time”. For once he discovered his peace with God, he was able to share it with millions of others who suffering from the same restlessness and fear.
Are we living in a time of great anxiety? Do we have anything in common with Martin Luther and the people of 16th century Europe?
According to the National Institute of Mental health we do. They estimate that more than 40 million or 18% of Americans struggle with acute anxiety every day. What are the causes of this anxiety?
Some of the causes are obvious. Like Luther, we live in an age of wars and rumors of wars. We also have an opioid epidemic that is claiming thousands of lives all across the country. Some of the causes of our anxiety are obvious. But some of the causes are also very subtle.
As a generation we are facing more change than any generation before us. Every day we face a world of constant change in the work place, church, and school. Facing a world of constant change, can make one feel very insecure.
Added to this, is a subtle form of “perfectionism” that has infected our lives. It comes from a very surprising source. You ever notice those beautiful young women and handsome young men that are on the large screen TV's every time you go out to eat? You never hear what they say but there they are, twenty four hours a day not just on the TV, but on the computer, cell phone, and magazines. It's a very subtle form of “perfectionism”, that makes us aware of our own lack of perfection. How do we compare to these ageless flawless people we are constantly popping up in our lives?
After, perfectionism comes, the constant drive towards efficiency. Everything needs to be replaced by something that's brighter, faster, cheaper and more efficient. But does that include people like you and me?
Lastly we have the “titanic effect”. Huge disasters caused by very small rudders. Just the other week we heard about 140 million social security numbers and lots of other personal information, leaked from one company, over a very short period of time. One company and probably one little computer, made 140 million of the rest of us, vulnerable to identity theft. One little rudder can create a very big problem.
Are you getting nervous? I'm sure if we looked hard enough we could find many more things to worry about. Even more things that would make us nervous.
And how does God fit into this picture?
I don't think we have to wrestle with a church breathing fire and brimstone at us, in the way Luther's church did. But we do have a massive theological problem that is every bit as toxic and unhelpful. It's known as “God as the absentee landlord” or, as theologians might describe it, “Deism”. Deism has been around since the days of 18th century and the French revolution. But in the current age it has taken on more popularity than ever. Deism is this belief that somehow God exists but he is unknowable and uninvolved. He may have made the world, but after that he disappeared. He's kind of like the “absentee land lord”. Or worse yet, the “absentee father”. He exists, but he just doesn't care to get involved with us, and so it's up to us to save ourselves. It's up to us to “pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps”.
This is the anxious world we live in.
How does the gospel of Jesus Christ relate to us, in this age of anxiety?
It says God does care for us and the proof is in Jesus Christ coming into this world to care for us. The proof is in the body and blood of Jesus placed in our hands every time we commune. The proof is in the water we baptize our children into, and the Sunday school and youth events we bring them too. The proof is in the word preached and proclaimed not just from the pulpit, but from God's people motivated for mission in at billion different contexts all over the world. The proof is in our prayers prayed together that lift our spirits and calm our hearts. The proof is in our own resurrection form the dead, every morning when we read our devotionals and hear God whispering our names.
Our God is not an absentee landlord, and he is definitely not an absentee father, and instead he is our heavenly father, and the proof is in his Son, given to be our savior, guide, and friend.
Once there was a teen ager who came home to tell his parents that he had some good news and some bad news for them. “The good news,” he said, “is that the air bags on the new Chevy work perfectly..”
We have some good news and bad news too. The bad news is that just like Luther's generation, we have problems to wrestle with. Deep and serious problems. But the good news is that we are not alone in our struggle. God the father has give us his son to be our savior, friend, and guide. And thanks to him, we have a way of coping with absolutely anything. For as it says in the book of Romans,
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38–39, NIV)
May the good news Jesus Christ, fill you with joy and peace in believing. Amen.
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38–39, NIV)
Once there was a man who was very anxious. He was afraid that he was dying. He went to his doctor and said, “Doctor, I think I'm dying. Everything I touch hurts. I touch my head it hurts. I touch my elbow it hurts. I touch my knee it hurts. What is my problem?”
The doctor made a thorough examination and said to the man. “I've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that you are not dying. The bad news is that you have a broken finger.”
This morning we remember a whole world that was filled with anxiety. It was the world of 16th century Europe and Martin Luther. A world that proclaimed itself Christian, yet knew next to nothing about Christ.
What was the source of this anxiety that gripped the world of Martin Luther?
Some of it was political. There were wars and rumors of wars. Great Muslim armies from the middle east were working their way upward through easter Europe, threatening to invade the west.
Some of it was social. There was a great epidemic sweeping across Europe known as the black plague. The plague would destroy close to a quarter of Europe as it worked its horror and death.
Given this great political and social instability of the times, one would think that faith would have been a source of great comfort and courage to people, but this was not the case at all.
Christianity had grown by leaps and bounds in the fifteen centuries that preceded Martin Luther. But unfortunately, this was a faith that was not very well connected to Christ. We have to understand how steeped in ignorance, most of Western Europe was at this time.
Before Luther, books had to be copied and produced one volume at a time. And even once a book was produced few people knew how to read it. In the church this was the case with Bibles too. Though there were many clergy, most of them could barely read their own language let alone the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew in which the Bibles of that time were written.
Under such conditions, the heart of the faith had gotten lost. Instead of the good news of salvation through faith in Christ, the church preached, judgment and salvation through works. Jesus was portrayed as a wrathful judge, sentencing people by the thousands into purgatory or hell.
The very foundation of Christian faith had gotten lost.
Martin Luther's world was filled with bad news and things to worry about. But into this world some very good news was beginning to make itself known.
Like many others in his world, Martin Luther got involved in the church because of a deep fear for his soul. As a young man, Martin Luther had a terrifying experience in a thunder storm. Thanks to thunder and lightening, Luther decided to make his peace with God by joining a monastery and becoming a monk.
Unfortunately, the monastery did not give Luther the peace he longed for. Higher ups noticed that Luther had a great mind. They transferred him from the monastery to the seminary, where he would study the Bible and prepare priests for parish ministry. For Luther this was a Godsend. For when Luther began to study the Bible, he found the peace he was looking for. God's peace was all over the Bible, in the form of the gospel of faith in Jesus Christ as savior. It was not through works that one was saved, discovered Luther, but through God's grace and faith in Christ as one's savior.
For Luther it was like going from darkness to light, from death to life. And thanks to a new technology, known as the Gutenberg printing press, Luther's sermons, lectures and pamphlets were reproduced by the millions and shared with people all over Europe.
You could say that Luther, was the “right man, with the right problem, in the right time”. For once he discovered his peace with God, he was able to share it with millions of others who suffering from the same restlessness and fear.
Are we living in a time of great anxiety? Do we have anything in common with Martin Luther and the people of 16th century Europe?
According to the National Institute of Mental health we do. They estimate that more than 40 million or 18% of Americans struggle with acute anxiety every day. What are the causes of this anxiety?
Some of the causes are obvious. Like Luther, we live in an age of wars and rumors of wars. We also have an opioid epidemic that is claiming thousands of lives all across the country. Some of the causes of our anxiety are obvious. But some of the causes are also very subtle.
As a generation we are facing more change than any generation before us. Every day we face a world of constant change in the work place, church, and school. Facing a world of constant change, can make one feel very insecure.
Added to this, is a subtle form of “perfectionism” that has infected our lives. It comes from a very surprising source. You ever notice those beautiful young women and handsome young men that are on the large screen TV's every time you go out to eat? You never hear what they say but there they are, twenty four hours a day not just on the TV, but on the computer, cell phone, and magazines. It's a very subtle form of “perfectionism”, that makes us aware of our own lack of perfection. How do we compare to these ageless flawless people we are constantly popping up in our lives?
After, perfectionism comes, the constant drive towards efficiency. Everything needs to be replaced by something that's brighter, faster, cheaper and more efficient. But does that include people like you and me?
Lastly we have the “titanic effect”. Huge disasters caused by very small rudders. Just the other week we heard about 140 million social security numbers and lots of other personal information, leaked from one company, over a very short period of time. One company and probably one little computer, made 140 million of the rest of us, vulnerable to identity theft. One little rudder can create a very big problem.
Are you getting nervous? I'm sure if we looked hard enough we could find many more things to worry about. Even more things that would make us nervous.
And how does God fit into this picture?
I don't think we have to wrestle with a church breathing fire and brimstone at us, in the way Luther's church did. But we do have a massive theological problem that is every bit as toxic and unhelpful. It's known as “God as the absentee landlord” or, as theologians might describe it, “Deism”. Deism has been around since the days of 18th century and the French revolution. But in the current age it has taken on more popularity than ever. Deism is this belief that somehow God exists but he is unknowable and uninvolved. He may have made the world, but after that he disappeared. He's kind of like the “absentee land lord”. Or worse yet, the “absentee father”. He exists, but he just doesn't care to get involved with us, and so it's up to us to save ourselves. It's up to us to “pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps”.
This is the anxious world we live in.
How does the gospel of Jesus Christ relate to us, in this age of anxiety?
It says God does care for us and the proof is in Jesus Christ coming into this world to care for us. The proof is in the body and blood of Jesus placed in our hands every time we commune. The proof is in the water we baptize our children into, and the Sunday school and youth events we bring them too. The proof is in the word preached and proclaimed not just from the pulpit, but from God's people motivated for mission in at billion different contexts all over the world. The proof is in our prayers prayed together that lift our spirits and calm our hearts. The proof is in our own resurrection form the dead, every morning when we read our devotionals and hear God whispering our names.
Our God is not an absentee landlord, and he is definitely not an absentee father, and instead he is our heavenly father, and the proof is in his Son, given to be our savior, guide, and friend.
Once there was a teen ager who came home to tell his parents that he had some good news and some bad news for them. “The good news,” he said, “is that the air bags on the new Chevy work perfectly..”
We have some good news and bad news too. The bad news is that just like Luther's generation, we have problems to wrestle with. Deep and serious problems. But the good news is that we are not alone in our struggle. God the father has give us his son to be our savior, friend, and guide. And thanks to him, we have a way of coping with absolutely anything. For as it says in the book of Romans,
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38–39, NIV)
May the good news Jesus Christ, fill you with joy and peace in believing. Amen.
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