Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and from
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Christ is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed!
Alleluia!
Dear brothers and
sisters in Christ:
[Intro]
On April 16, 1521,
Martin Luther, who months earlier was excommunicated by Pope Leo X, entered the
city of Worms in a Saxon two-wheeled cart with a few companions. Although it
was evening, more than 2,000 people turned out to greet Luther as he went to
his lodging.
That
next day – April 17 – Luther was told by the herald and imperial marshal to
avoid the crowds as he went on his way to a meeting with the Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V, the electors, and German princes, who all waited with anticipation
to hear whether Luther would recant his writings, or not.
Luther
was about to speak in front of the Church and the Holy Roman Empire with the
fear of death weighing upon him. Just imagine what Luther was feeling. Here, we
have a simple monk with nothing to sustain him, except his own faith in the
inerrant Word of God. Luther knew that he and the emperor alike were called
upon to answer before Almighty God.
Upon
entering the assembly, known as the Imperial Diet of Worms, Luther was examined
by an official of the Archbishop of Trier. Immediately, Luther was confronted
with a pile of his own books and was asked whether they were his. Luther replied:
“The books are all mine, and I have written more.”
The
official said, “Do you defend them all, or do you care to reject a part?”
Luther
replied: “This touches God and His Word. This affects the salvation of souls.
Of this Christ said, ‘He who denies Me before men, him I will deny before My
Father’ (Matthew 10:33). To say too little or too much would be dangerous.
I beg you, give me time to think this over.”
After
discussion, the emperor would grant Luther until tomorrow. Justifiably so,
Luther is terrified. He knew he had to give an answer before Almighty God and
before the emperor.
That
next day – April 18, 1521 – Luther returned to the Diet, but this time a larger
hall was chosen, to allow for a larger crowd. It was standing room only, as
only the emperor would find a seat.
The
archbishop’s official reiterated the question of the previous day. As the day
went on, the heat of the room increased. But Luther held his ground.
Eventually, the official got to the point saying, “I ask you, Martin – answer candidly
and without horns – do you or do you not repudiate your books and the errors
with they contain?” Luther replied in his native German language saying:
“Since then Your Majesty and your
lordships desire a simple reply, I will answer without horns and without teeth.
Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason – I do not accept the
authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other – my conscience
is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to
go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Here I stand, I
cannot do otherwise. Amen.”
Luther
was asked to repeat his answer in Latin. As sweat beaded upon him, Luther made
his affirmation in Latin. He threw up his arms in the gesture of a victorious
knight, and slipped out of the hall. The hall erupted. Some rejoiced; others
demanded Luther’s death.
That
next day, Luther was declared a heretic. He was condemned and declared the
enemy of the pope and the empire. The pope and the empire had placed a bounty
on Luther’s head.
Today,
we stand in the footsteps of Martin Luther 500 years later. We stand boldly as
we continue to proclaim Jesus who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous
light. We stand, by the grace of God, steadfast and ready – like Luther, to
suffer all rather than fall away. We do not stand on Luther, but we will gladly
stand with him, firm on the testimony of the Holy Scriptures to confess the
saving Gospel of Christ, our Good Shepherd, who died and rose, in whose name is
forgiveness of sins for all people. Here we stand. We can do no other. God help
us all.
[Firm
Testimony of the Scriptures]
Five
hundred years ago, Luther had a choice. He could either denounce God’s Word, or
he could boldly proclaim God’s Word. In today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus gives us
the charter of the Church’s proclamation. Jesus taught His disciples saying, “‘These
are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything
written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be
fulfilled.’ Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said
to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third
day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should
be proclaimed in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem’” (Luke
24:44-47).
Did
you catch what Jesus just said? Here Jesus is saying that to comprehend His
teaching, their minds – and our minds – must be opened by Jesus to
understand the Scriptures.
Here,
Jesus is teaching us three aspects of our Christian faith and what we preach
and confess:
·
First,
the death and resurrection of Christ is the central event of our faith. By this
means, Christ reconciles us to God the Father and Jesus is proclaimed the
victor over sin and death. (Luke 24:46)
·
Second,
the Scriptures are the firm testimony of this. The Old Testament prophets
foretold it, pointing forward to the Christ. The New Testament apostles bear
witness to the Christ who has come. (Luke 24:44)
·
Third,
the delivery and purpose of this central event and the reason for the prophetic
and apostolic Scriptures is this: the proclamation of repentance for the forgiveness
of sins in Christ’s name. The Law calls to repentance by exposing sin; the
Gospel proclaims “peace” over such exposed sinners from the wounds of the risen
Christ. (Luke 24:47)
Christ’s
death and resurrection were accomplished to win a good conscience for us. Our
conscience is “bound up” not simply to facts of history for their own sake, but
to these blessed facts that are “for us and for our salvation” as
we proclaim in the Nicene Creed.
On
this day, 500 years ago, Luther was bound to the Holy Scriptures and their
inerrant truth because they are the authority of God’s own Word concerning
Jesus Christ, in whom we have peace for our consciences in the forgiveness of
sins. You see, Luther appealed to the Scriptures, just as Christ did to His
disciples.
[Hold
Fast the Confession]
Now,
due to our sinful nature, our natural tendency is to not perceive
that Jesus is the Christ and that He has indeed accomplished our salvation. Our
human eyes are blind to the reality of Christ’s presence even when He stands directly
in sight, and our ears are deaf to His Word even when He speaks them audibly. Due
to our sinful nature, this is a sad reality.
Today,
the world around is us changing, but the more things change, the more they stay
the same. You see, Satan hates the triune God and he wants us to doubt God’s saving
Word. He wants us to question God’s Word. He wants us to turn from God’s Word.
Satan
and the sinful world constantly come after us trying to wedge any doubt between
us and God as he uses the same tactics he did with Adam and Eve saying, “Did
God really say?” Most recently, Satan is coming after us in hopes of causing us
to doubt ourselves. He wants us to doubt our own created being as God created
us male and female. This is nothing new. He’s done this before. And he’ll keep
on attempting to sow any doubts so he can pull us from God’s kingdom. You see,
Satan and the sinful world constantly send their flaming darts at us in hopes of
stealing one of us from Christ’s flock.
You
see, Satan and the sinful world want us to put our trust in human wisdom and
rely on shifting ground. Satan wants us to worry. Satan wants us to fail to
recognize Jesus. But, do you know what? The more we may worry, the sure and certain
Hope is right in front of us. Christ Jesus cannot be hidden. He cannot be locked
away. You see, our sinful nature often overpowers us to look in all the wrong
places for safety and security. We look in all the wrong places when the right
place is right in front of us in God’s Holy Scriptures where God comes to us
proclaiming certainty saying, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them,
and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and
no one will snatch them out of My hand” (John 10:27-28).
Even
in our disbelief, Jesus the Good Shepherd, comes to us saying, “Peace to
you!” (Luke 24:36) and “Do not disbelieve, but believe”
(John 20:27b). “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your
hearts?” (Luke 24:38) He says, “Come, eat and drink. This is My
Body, which is given for you. This cup is the new testament of My Blood, which
is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”
Although
Jesus is truly present with His disciples that day, He also implies that He is
no longer “with” them in the same way as before His death and
resurrection. This is as Christ is today, as He comes to feed us His very body
and His very blood for the forgiveness of sins and to strengthen our faith.
Here,
Jesus Himself heals our spiritual blindness and deafness. Through the power of
the Holy Spirit – the “power from on high” (Luke 24:49) – our faith
grows and is strengthened. He also gives us the preached Word, which is the
instrument through which the Holy Spirit manufactures faith. From this preached
Word, the triune God gives us peace, joy, and the forgiveness of sins.
Through
the hearing and reading of the Scriptures – from Genesis to Revelation –
our eyes are opened through the working of the Holy Spirit. Our eyes are opened
as God reveals how we have received peace with Him through our crucified and
risen Lord. Our eyes are opened to see that the triune God is the same yesterday,
today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Our eyes are opened as these Scriptures – breathed
out by God – teach us, reproof us, correct us, and train us in
righteousness (2 Timothy 3:15-17).
So,
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who
promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir one another to love and
good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but
encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near”
(Hebrews 10:23-25).
At
Worms, Luther held fast the confession without wavering. He refused to be moved
from his teaching except by the Holy Scriptures’ correction, because in the
Scriptures we hear the voice and promise of Christ Himself – He who promised,
who alone is trustworthy. The Scriptures are that trustworthy testimony of God
to us, a promise that brings God with His benefits to us: forgiveness of sins,
life, and salvation.
On
this third Sunday of Easter – 500 years to the date when Luther took his
stand at Worms – the Scriptures remind us what the Church stands for:
Christ’s death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins and the certainty
of peace with God and eternal life in His name. Just as Christ stood among His
disciples then, He comes to us here, through His Word and Sacraments saying, “Peace
to you!” (Luke 24:36)
So
whatever political power struggles, social and ethical debates, or humanitarian
disasters we must engage in our lives, our mission and existence does not begin
or end there. We preach Christ crucified and risen for eternal salvation. That
is the center and focus of the Holy Scriptures, to which every other Scriptural
truth also leads.
God
help us in our day to be bold to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God.
God help us to stand on the sure testimony of the Holy Scriptures alone as the
source and norm of faith and life, to repent of sin and pride, and to trust in
Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. Here we stand! God help us. Amen.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your
hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.
T SOLI DEO GLORIA T
