Reformation Day 2023

Text: “31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”” (John 8:31-32)

There are two points that I’d like to bring to your attention today from this text. The first is an observation and the second is a question.

Let’s start with the observation: being a ‘disciple’ is not some sort of ‘higher level’ of Christianity that only some pursue. Check my logic here— turn to the Gospel reading there on the back of your bulletin if you need to. Based on Jesus’ words there, a disciple is not an exclusive, ‘higher’ category of Christian. For some, being a ‘disciple’ is sort of like being in the special forces as opposed to being a soldier. It takes a higher level of dedication and training and commitment. But look at Jesus’ words again: “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples...” (John 8:31). That might leave room for discipleship being a higher calling than just an ordinary Christian, but read on. “If you abive in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32). Free from what? Jesus explains in verses 34-36— “34 ...Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:34-36). To be a disciple is to be free from sin. Because the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), to be a disciple is to be free from sin and death. Or, we can say it slightly differently: If you’re not a disciple, then you are a slave to sin. Those are the only two alternatives. To be a disciple is to be a Christian. To be a Christian is to be a disciple. They are one and the same. And if you are not a disciple, then you are still a slave to sin and death.

Isn’t that what Jesus is describing here?

That brings me to the second point: the question. How many disciples do we really have here today? How many Christians do we really have here today? (Remember— those two things are really one and the same.) How many Christians do we really have here today?

How can you tell? “31 Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples” (John 8:31).

Your Lord has commanded you:

“Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy.”

What does this mean?

We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.

You may not feel like you despise preaching and His Word, but can you honestly say that you hold it sacred?

Let’s take just one example: Is God’s Word as sacred to you as hunting? Let’s focus on that for a second, because it could feel like an easy target— especially since I, personally, am not a hunter. So let’s ask: what do I mean by that? For example, I know a few people who are very serious hunters. By serious, I mean that they literally help feed their families with the meat that they bring back. And they make sure that God’s Word comes first. Because they understand that “Man does not live by bread alone— or venison— alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Deuteronomy 8:3; Matthew 4:4). Even when you’re relying on it to feed your children, God’s Word is more precious; God’s Word is more vital. If you’re a hunter, is that what you mean when you say that you hold God’s Word sacred? If that is not how you treat God’s Word, then it is to be feared that you are still a slave to sin and death.

Just to make sure that we’re not picking on hunters, the list of excuses that you and I come up with for why we can’t make it to church is amazing long and creative. Have you heard the poem that someone wrote about a fictional “No Excuse Sunday”?

To make it possible for everyone to attend church next Sunday, we are going to have a special "No Excuse Sunday". Cots will be placed in the foyer for those who say, "Sunday is my only day to sleep in." There will be a special section with lounge chairs who feel that our pews are too hard. Eye drops will be available for those with tired eyes from watching T.V. late Saturday night. We will have steel helmets for those who say "The roof would cave in if I ever came to church." Blankets will be furnished for those who think the church is too cold and fans for those who say it is too hot. Score cards will be available for those who wish to list the hypocrites present. Relatives and friends will be in attendance for those who can't go to church and cook dinner, too. We will distribute "Stamp Out Stewardship" buttons for those who feel that church is always asking for money. One section will be devoted to trees and grass for those who like to seek God in nature. Doctors and nurses will be in attendance for those who plan to be sick on Sunday. The sanctuary will be decorated with both Christmas poinsettias and Easter lilies for those who never have seen the church without them. We will provide hearing aids for those who can't hear the preacher and cotton for those who say he is to loud. (“No Excuse Sunday.” PoemsOnly.com, accessed 10/29/2023. Author unknown.)

If we really held God’s Word sacred, then church would be our excuse for missing everything else. Instead, we become amazingly creative about the list of excuses we come up with for why we can’t be there. If that is how you treat God’s Word, then it is to be feared that you are still a slave to sin and death.

And there’s more. Because abiding in God’s Word is not just about whether you show up here or not. Abiding in God’s Word is also about how you live. As you were taught in the explanation of the first petition of the Lord’s Prayer:

God’s name is kept holy when the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity and we, as the children of God, also lead holy lives according to it. Help us to do this, dear Father in heaven! But anyone who teaches or lives contrary to God’s Word profanes the name of God among us. Protect us from this, Heavenly Father!

St. James puts it a little more directly when he warns: “22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22). By that standard, how many of you are deceiving yourself? If that is how you treat God’s Word, then it is to be feared that you are still a slave to sin and death.

Now, let’s take a step back for a moment. That’s a lot to ask, isn’t it? What makes God’s Word so precious? What makes it more sacred than anything else?

In a word, the answer is: Jesus. He makes it more precious, more sacred than anything else in three ways— first, because He wrote it; second, because of what He wrote; and, third, because of how He wrote it.

When God commands you to hold His Word sacred, He’s emphasizing how precious it truly is. These are not myths that you are hearing. They are not human ideas about God. It is God’s Word. “No prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20-21).

That, alone is a pretty good reason. But there’s more. The message of Scripture is about a God who would not leave you in slavery to sin and death, but determined to save you. He has been carrying out His plan of salvation since before the foundation of the earth— His plan to save you.

That is to say that Holy Scripture is, in a very true sense, written in the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He was literally willing to stake His life on His words. On the night that Jesus was betrayed, when Peter and the others began to fight back in His defense, Jesus stopped them, saying, “53 Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?”” (Matthew 26:53-54). When I say that He staked His life on His Word, it isn’t metaphorical. He literally gave Himself over to suffering and death to keep His Word to you— to keep His promise to save you.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, that is the message of Reformation Day, plain and simple: Abide in His Word.

When Luther was asked to recant his teachings, he refused. The official transcript quotes him as saying, “Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason..., my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. So help me God. Amen.” What was it that enabled Luther to stake his life on God’s Word? The fact that Jesus had done it first. That is what enabled him to abide in God’s word.

Abide in His Word. You are disciples of Jesus Christ. You were made disciples exactly in the way that Jesus commanded when He said “19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age”” (Matthew 28:18-20). You were made a disciple of Jesus Christ when the water in this font was poured on your head and the triune name of God was invoked over you. Because

Baptism is not just plain water, but it is the water included in God’s command and combined with God’s word. (Luther’s Small Catechism).

There, in the water of baptism, God’s Word did its work.

The Word of God… teaches that we are all conceived and born sinful and are under the power of the devil until Christ claims us as His own. We would be lost forever unless delivered from sin, death, and everlasting condemnation. [And so] the Father of all mercy and grace has sent His Son Jesus Christ, who atoned for the sin of the whole world, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. (“Holy Baptism,” Lutheran Service Book. p. 268.)

By the power of the word— in, with, and under the water— you were set free from sin and death and made a child of God. And, as Jesus said, “35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever” (John 8:35).

If there is any question about your place in God’s house, Jesus, Himself, has settled it, promising, “21 My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it” (Luke 8:21).

Abide in His Word.

Let us sear into our minds the motto of the Reformation, pictured so beautifully on the front of your bulletins— those four letters: V.D.M.A. They stand for the Latin phrase written above the letters: “Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum.” In English, that means, “The Word of the Lord remains forever.”

Your Lord has assured you, “24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it”” (Matthew 7:24-27). There is no better place to stand than on the Rock of the Word of Jesus Christ. It is a solid foundation and it endures forever.

“31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free”” (John 8:31-32). You have been made disciples by water and the word. You have been set free. Abide in the Word that has been placed into your hands in the Holy Scriptures; abide in the Word that is read and preached from this lectern and pulpit; abide in the word that is given to you to eat and to drink in, with, and under bread and wine. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. “28 Blessed ...are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” (Luke 11:28).