Shepherd of the Springs
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod

From the First Lesson of the Day: Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people.  [Revelation 14.6]

From the Epistle: For we hold that a man is justified by faith, apart from works of the Law. [Romans 3.28]

From the Holy Gospel: But wisdom is justified by her children.”  [Matthew 11.18-19]

On this 22nd Sunday after Trinity, we follow our usual pattern of moving the Feast of the Reformation to this Sunday, from October 31. For, it is on the Eve of the Feast of All Saints on November 1 that Dr. Luther nails to the University Chapel door his call to debate 95 Theses on indulgences, from which was to come what we call the Lutheran Reformation.

I.

Solomon’s Book of Ecclesiastes has a troublesome and challenge verse, among many like it, that reads – from the KJV today, as it puts the truth so starkly: There is none that doeth good; no, not a just man upon the earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not [Eccl. 7.23].

The mind rebels against such a sweeping assertion: NONE that does good? None? Not a single man that does good and doesn’t sin, at least some of the time? No, there must be a mistake in the translation. God wouldn’t make such a universal judgment as that! Or would He?

Well, indeed God does make such a universal statement because He caused this verse to be written. And this verse is not the only thing that God has to say. In Romans 3.10, God says, through the inspired and guided pen of St. Paul: “Are we Jews better off? No, not at all, for we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written [And here he quotes from the Old Testament, where the same charge against mankind’s sin is found both in Psalm 14 and in Psalm 53]: None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one” – and the charges of God against all humans goes on for six more verses.

The fact is the God’s Word is given to us, not to have us be judges over it, but that we humble ourselves before God and have His Word be accepted as He has intended – a revelation of who we really are as a fallen humanity.

And the reason that He wants this phrase ringing in your ears constantly -- There is none that doeth good; no, not a just man upon the earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not – is so that you might look to Him, to do what you and I cannot do, namely, to change this verdict, by changing our human condition.

II.

All of Christian teaching revolves around one ultimate intention for you: that you understand the distinction between the Law of God – which you have been hearing up to this point – and the Gospel of God. The ultimate and ever-present purpose of God’s Law is to show us our sins – and even more importantly to show us our sinfulness, our helplessness, if the good is ever to be in our lives.

So, God wants His Church to speak what you have already heard, so that you might see a God of love, of patience, of action for His creation:  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son that whoever believes in Him might not perish, but have eternal life.” That is what we call “the Gospel in a nutshell,” John 3.16. St. Paul adds the same point when he teaches, after he has your ears burning from what you earlier: “The righteousness of God has been demonstrated apart from the Law … the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction – all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and they are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

There it is: the Gospel, the Good News for sinner! All are justified by His grace, as a gift. And from this understanding, Paul cand declare: “We hold that one is justified [that is, declared innocent of sin] by faith, apart from the works of the Law. And the Church fed itself on these Gospel promises through history.

But not forever, through history! Gradually, in the Middle Ages, a different understand of grace arose in the Church. Grace become a commodity, like vitamin supplement, that help you to do the works of the Law, little by little getting better and better, until this grace propels you into the perfection necessary to be in heaven.

And with that misunderstanding of grace, grace was not longer the free gift, and the Law again began to reign over Christian consciences.

Until, by God’s divine choosing, a revival in the understanding of grace occurred, and the first to shout it from the housetops again that a sinner is justified, freely, fully, by faith –by trust in this promise of God. And this message frees human hearts to truly trust and love God. And the beginning of this revival, this return to the Bible’s meaning of grace, is what allows to speak of “the Freedom of Lutheran Christianity.”

III.

The freedom Lutheran Christianity, whether or not you embrace it, and whether or not you live by it, is the freedom of grace, the freedom of forgiveness, the freedom of the Gospel. This freedom is found in the Gospel, which is what our Lord Jesus means when He says in the Holy Gospel of the day, “Wisdom is justified by her children.” The freedom of the Gospel is the wisdom for leaving in peace and joy with your conscience and with your God.

 So now, what are you to do with this freedom? What should you do with this great good news that we call the Gospel?

Rev. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran pastor in World War II Germany, who was killed on Hitler’s orders in what would become the final months before Germany’s rescue from Nazism, wrote these words to his flock, to all of the Christian Church in Germany, and to us, today on this celebration of the Lutheran Reformation, on this day of “The Freedom of Lutheran Christianity:

"It is not we who build. Christ builds the Church. No man builds the Church but Christ alone. Whoever is minded to build the Church is surely well on the way to destroying her; for he will build a temple to idols without wishing or knowing it. We must confess — Christ builds. We must proclaim — Christ builds. We must pray to him — that Christ may build.

"We do not know His plan. We cannot see whether He is building or pulling down. It may be that the times, which by human standards are times of collapse, are for Him the great times of construction. It may be that the times, which from a human point of view are great times for the Church, are times when it is pulled down."

It is a great comfort which Christ gives to His church, which is: “Yes, you confess; Yes, you preach; Yes, you bear witness to me; But, I alone will build where it pleases me. Do not meddle in what is My province. Do what is given to you to do well, and you have done enough. But do it well.

So, dear brothers and sisters of Christ, pay no heed to views and opinions. Don't ask for judgments. Don't always be calculating what will happen. Don't always be on the lookout for another refuge! O Church of Christ, remain a Church! But O Church of Christ: confess, confess, confess! Confess your sins! Confess your Savior! Confess your faith! Christ alone is your Lord; from His grace alone can you live as you are. And in the faith that you have been given  you are free! Yes, Christ builds!" [ Dietrich Bonhoeffer, as modified from the Treasury of Daily Prayer  (October 23) p. 841.]