What Does Christ Say?

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Today we observe Reformation Day, one of the festivals completely unique to Lutheranism. But what is it we commemorate on this day? Historically, we commemorate the supposed posting of the 95 Theses by Martin Luther on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. But so what? What is the heritage that we, who bear the name Lutheran, have inherited from this event nearly five hundred years ago?

The heritage we celebrate today is nothing short of our identity. Consider this – what is a Lutheran? Simply an adherent to Martin Luther's teaching?

Faithful Lutherans are those who remain steadfastly in the Word of the Lord, standing with Martin Luther and confessing with him: “Holy Scripture and God's Word should be the empress that man follows directly and should obey what it says, and speak no word against it; for it is the mouth of God” (Erlangen 61:107).

This is why you are challenged on all sides. Satan seeks to lead the people of God away from the Word of God in any way he might. Would you, who abide “with the Word” by the grace of God, let yourselves be bewildered and moved by many allegations, falsehoods, and deceptions? No. It matters not what the enemy judges, but what the Lord judges. Remember the words of our Lord: “If you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

What does our Lord Christ say about those who remain in His Word? Firstly, that they are indeed His disciples. You are truly His disciples, because you remain in His Word.

Martin Luther ran afoul of the Roman Catholic Church, and was excommunicated for his confession of the faith. You are considered outside the Church, according to the Bishop of Rome. Because your confession of faith differs from his, you are not a member of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church, says he.

Those who err will always seek to exclude those who confess the truth in its purity. Rome calls you anathema, heretical, and sectarian. They label you as schismatic, having caused a rift in the unity of the Church. The Reformed churches exclude you as merely “Rome Lite” - poor saps who almost made it out of Rome's shadow, but got stuck mid-stream. They will label you as cowardly for not making a full break from papist superstition. Both Rome and the Reformed will call you sectarian, separatist, closed-minded.

But what does Christ say about you? He says to you that you who remain in His Word are truly His disciples. You are indeed members of the true Church. You are members of the Church, because you are members of her Head. You are baptized into Christ, you bear His Name, and you confess His saving Gospel. You have been baptized into Christ, and so you bear His Name. More than that, you bear His death in your bodies, so that you may live His life. You are His disciples because you remain in His Word, because the Word remains in you.

Remain in His Word, because in His Word is life. Christ is the Word of eternal life – where else shall you go? Remain in the Word of the Lord because princes and popes come and go, but the Word of the Lord remains forever. You are the true Church, because you are members of her true Head. “The Church's one foundation is Jesus Christ, her Lord.” You are inside the kingdom of heaven because you remain in the Word, confessing the catholic faith.

What does Christ say about those who remain in His Word? He says that they know the truth. What a thing to say! If you abide in His Word, you will know the truth.

In Luther's day, there were those whom we might call Enthusiasts. They believed in the immediate action of God in the life of a believer. That is, God could, and would, come to an individual and make Himself known, apart from the Word, apart from the Sacraments, apart from the Church in any form. They claimed that the assembly of believers, the Communion of Saints, was unnecessary. Furthermore, they asserted, it was foolish and presumptuous to assert that you could claim to have absolute truth, and that others who hold differing views might not have the truth.

Fast-forward to our time. Things do not sound much different, do they? People still claim that it is impertinent and demeaning to claim that you have the truth and someone else does not. How can you claim to lay hold on something that says that that guy's firmly held convictions are dead wrong? That is so demoralizing and degrading to him – one might even call it bullying on your part. After all, we are all entitled to our opinions. What matters most is that you do your thing and I do my thing, and maybe we can agree to disagree. Just do what you think is best, as long as it does not interfere with what I want to do today.

But you do indeed know the truth. You know the truth because you know Him who is the Truth. You know that the whims and whispers of the devil, the world, and your sinful nature are lies and deceit. You know that the Word of the Lord stands firm forever, and whatever is not light is darkness. You know that the Law of God stands good and wise, showing your sin and convicting you of your need for a savior. You know the truth, and the truth is that you are not god, and you are a poor, miserable sinner who would be condemned to hell if left to your own devices. This is the truth that the world can know.

What does Christ say about those who remain in His Word? He says that the truth makes them free. The truth makes you free. Not the government. Not your own spirit. Not your inalienable rights as a citizen of this country. The truth makes you free.

The Enthusiasts and the free-thinkers of this world would shout that you have thrown off the papal yoke only to be saddled with another – the yoke of biliolatry, the worship of letters. You should throw off this slavish addiction to the dead letter of the Law and let the spirit of the times move you where he – or rather you – will. But that is not the truth.

The truth that makes you free is none other than the Truth Incarnate – our Lord Jesus Christ crucified for your sins and raised for your justification. The truth is that He who knew no sin became sin for you, in order that you might become the righteousness of God. The truth is that your old sinful nature has been crucified with Christ, and the new man of faith has been raised up to live a new life. The truth is that you are free from sin, death, and the devil because you are in Christ. Christ says to you that you are free, because you are in Him.

You are free from all that enslaved you. You are free from sin and death. You are free from guilt and condemnation. You are free from the accusation of the Law. You are free from the debts and trespasses that formerly stood as a record against you.

You are free to serve your neighbor. You are free to live in love and peace and joy. You are free to be the children of God that your heavenly Father has created and re-created you to be. You are free to give generously of your gifts and treasures. You are free to give yourselves in love and service. Christ says that because you remain in His Word, you are His.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.