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Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Brothers and sisters, you’re looking mostly at that epistle reading today from Romans as the text. Please be seated.
In the 19th century, there were two events that greatly changed Europe. One was the bubonic plague, and the other was the Reformation. The short of the story of the Reformation was that in 1517, a Roman Catholic monk named Martin Luther wanted to reform the church. He wanted to change some of its practices, especially the practice of selling indulgences, which were basically a piece of paper that you bought from the church for you to go to heaven. Kind of say it was a spiritual GoFundMe page back then, that piece of paper. Well, Luther wanted to change that. He wanted to change the teaching of doing works, of paying money, of obeying God’s law to gain God’s favor.
So, on October 31st, Luther nailed 95 theses, or statements, on a church door expressing that desire for change. There’s a meme floating around on Facebook that shows Martin Luther and it says, “I don’t always nail things to church doors, but when I do, stuff happens.” And it did. It did. This put into motion a very big change for Europe, for the church, for Christianity. Much more, I think, than Luther actually wanted, because he didn’t want to split the church, but just to change it. It’s called the Reformation, but Reformation basically is change.
And it started with change that took place in Luther. Because before all of this, before the 95 Theses and these, Luther was terribly burdened and even tormented by the thought of a God who demanded righteousness, of a God who demanded that his people be righteous. In fact, the very term, the righteousness of God, haunted Luther, scared him, because he knew he wasn’t righteous. He wasn’t righteous. So how could he meet that demand of God’s law to be righteous?
What a change that Luther wanted was, he wanted to know a God of love, because he only saw God as punishing and demanding that his people be righteous. And you had to work to achieve that righteousness and earn your justification before God. This burdened him so much that he fasted over this, and he prayed about this. He even would beat himself about this. And nothing really worked until he actually read the Bible, especially these verses in the letter of Paul to the Romans, that essentially changed him for the better.
We can see it especially in these readings that Luther read. Verses 20 to 22 says: “He talks about the works of the law. By the works of the law, no one is justified, since through the law comes the knowledge of sin. But now, Paul says, the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law.” Then on to verse 22, “The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.” Amen.
This greatly changed Luther, because now he saw that he was justified or made righteous by faith in Jesus Christ, faith in what Christ has done in his death, in his resurrection, not by us keeping the law, or by buying indulgences, or by doing any works of our own. It was by Christ’s work and faith in that.
This greatly changed Luther. In fact, he would write this about the whole experience: “I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise. All of Scripture took on a new meaning. Whereas before, the righteousness of God filled me with fear, now it became sweet, great love. This passage of Paul became to me a gate to heaven.”
Safe to say that Luther changed. Yes, he did. Which is strange for Lutherans with change. The joke goes, how many Lutherans does it take to change a light bulb? And the answer is, change? Lutherans don’t change. Yes, he did. He now saw a God of love who forgives and not demands forgiveness. Yes, God requires righteousness, but he gives it to us because of Jesus.
You can look at the 95 Theses, actually, as a literal GoFundMe page that Luther posted that God totally funds through Christ’s death and resurrection. A big change for Luther, and he wanted others and the church to know that change, too. And he wants us to know that. He wants you to know that change as well.
And maybe this is a change that you really need in your life right now. Maybe, like Luther, you struggle with this whole idea that you have to be righteous before God and you think that you have to earn it and that you’re not worthy of being accepted by God. You don’t have to earn it. You can’t buy enough indulgences for it. You don’t have enough money for it. It’s by faith in Jesus Christ.
Jesus, like Luther, Jesus has changed you. His righteousness is a gift for you as well. Like Luther, the readings here in Romans, those are for you. Or maybe you struggle with things in your life that you know need to change. Things that you know are wrong. You know they need to be changed. Maybe you even want them to change. Things that we call sin.
Verse 23 there in Romans says, “There is no distinction; all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” All of us have sinned. There are things that you do, say, or even think that are sinful. Perhaps you know it. They’re against God’s law. They’re selfish. They hurt others. They make you unrighteous. And maybe you know that, and you want that to change.
But what Luther feared is true. God does demand righteousness, but the good news is, He gives it to you. God wants to make you righteous. And He’s given Jesus for that very purpose. In His death, in His resurrection, Jesus satisfies all the requirements for that righteousness. And He gives it to you and declares you righteous. No matter what you’ve done, no matter the sin, He can change you.
See, perhaps the Reformation wasn’t so much about changing the church as it is about changing people, about changing you. It’s a change to not be afraid of, but to willingly welcome. God changes your sin into forgiveness. Changes you from unrighteous to righteous. Changes you from sinner to saint. And this is a complete change. It’s not just for a certain time or a certain length of time or anything. It’s complete.
As we saw in the gospel reading today when Jesus talks about being a slave to sin and that if the Son sets you free, if Jesus sets you free, you are free indeed. Complete. A complete change in Christ’s death and resurrection for you.
Perhaps we can look at Christ being posted on the cross as the greatest GoFundMe page of all time, and we get the benefits from it, completely changed by it. And maybe you know people who need this change in their life. People who are also struggling with sin or with stress, terrible things in their life. They need change. You can bring it to them.
Proclaiming this good news of God’s righteousness in Christ for them as well. I pray that you have opportunities and courage to do that, because our world is so broken. It so needs to be changed. I think it’s always great that Reformation happens usually during election cycles, reminding us of what kind of change we really do need. Not just for our nation politically, but for everybody’s heart and soul.
Yeah, the Reformation changed Europe and changed Christianity, but I pray that it has changed you and continues to change you. No, you can’t just set up a GoFundMe page for your soul. It’s not enough. You already have God’s righteousness in Christ and receive it by faith. May you always know God’s Reformation in Christ for you. Amen.
Now may the peace of God, which goes beyond all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.