What's the big deal

Festival of the Reformation

Romans 3:23-25

"What's the Big Deal?"

So, what is the big deal about the Reformation? We're commemorating an event that took place nearly 500 years ago - in another land, in another era. To the best of my knowledge no one besides Lutherans even recognizes or celebrates this in worship services today. If we were to take a poll among our own members about what this is all about, I imagine we would get some very interesting and varied responses. A member of a Lutheran congregation teaches at an inner-city school where the principal's office publishes a calendar that describes all school holidays and various religious holidays. Believe it or not, Reformation Day was one of those religious holidays. The calendar described Reformation Day as "a religious holiday celebrated by Christians and Lutherans."

What is the big deal about the Reformation? The big deal was and is that the Reformation is concerned with the central truth of the Gospel message, found in today's second Scripture lesson. Here, Paul the apostle sums up that truth: "... all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they [read: "we"] are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith" (Romans 3:23-25). This is the message on which the Church stands or falls. This is the message that the whole of Scripture points to. This is the message that makes an eternal difference in the lives of people. This is a very big deal.

The oldest and most widely practiced religion in the world, bar none, is that we can by our own efforts make ourselves acceptable and pleasing to God. Throughout the centuries, people have believed that they are capable of pulling themselves up by their own bootstraps in their relationship with God. Through hard work, determination, and good merit they believe they can atone for their sins and shortcomings, and earn their way into heaven. And lest we think that this is a thing of the past, don't take my word for it; talk to people you know about this and see what they say. Our American ideal of rugged independence and individualism fits beautifully into this mistaken and twisted notion. When my girls were very small and learning to do things on their own, there was a standard response when my wife and I would ask if they needed any help. That response was, "I do it myself!" For many, many people - perhaps some of us - that sums up our own "do-it-yourself" faith. Thanks, God, but "I do it myself!" The truth is, we can't do it ourselves. We can't make ourselves acceptable and pleasing to God our Maker and Redeemer because nothing we can do will be good enough to set things right. Scripture has various definitions for sin: a debt which is owed, trespassing, falling from the pathway. One of these descriptions is the image of shooting an arrow toward the target, and the target, of course, is the bull's eye - the holiness and perfection which God requires of his people. No matter how many times we shoot that arrow, it misses the mark. And after trying, and trying, and trying again to hit the mark, what usually happens is that we throw down the bow and arrows in great frustration; we storm off angry at God for his unrealistic expectations of us. This is what Paul means when he writes: "... all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

The big deal is that God does not abandon us in our frustration and anger. He comes to us; He seeks us out. He provides One who will shoot that arrow for us; that One is his own beloved Son, Jesus. What we could never do for ourselves, Christ Jesus has done for us. He has become that sin offering in our behalf that has made us acceptable and pleasing to God. On the tree of the cross, He offered his perfect and sinless life to pay the penalty for sins - for missing the mark. His cleansing blood is what makes us acceptable and pleasing to the Father. All this is given to us as a gift - freely, without charge. This is called grace - God's Riches At Christ's Expense. By this gift of God, we are set free. This gift is received by faith. Faith is the hand held out into which God places his gift - the gift that makes an eternal difference.

Perhaps all of this is a rehash of what you have heard before. If so, praise God! You are blessed to know the truth - God's own truth; the truth that sets us free. If you are hearing this for the first time, praise God! You are blessed to know the truth - God's own truth; the truth that sets us free. There's a whole world out there that is literally dying to know this truth. How will they hear unless we tell them? How will they know unless we share it with them? You see, the Reformation and its emphasis on God's grace in Jesus Christ alone, made known in holy Scripture alone, received by faith alone, is needed now more than ever. It is a very big deal. Happy Reformation! Amen.