500 YEARS OF GRACE!

October 29, 2017

Pastor Mark F. Bartels

“How am I saved?”

Old Testament Lesson; Isaiah 55:6-11

Gospel Lesson; John 8:31-36

Epistle Lesson; Romans 3:19-24

There are two main, main teachings of the Lutheran Reformation that we really cling to, two of the most critical questions in life. Number one, “How do I know what the truth is?” Pastor Tweit is going to talk about that.

The other one is, “How am I saved?”

Those are the two questions that the Lutheran Reformation really dealt with.

I am going to deal with, “How am I saved?” I am going to do it by talking about this guy, right here.

Martin Luther nailed 95 thesis on the Wittenberg door. He didn't do it so much for himself. He had already come to the conclusion he was basically saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. But, he was worried about 'the guy in the pew', the congregation members. He was worried about what was going on in their hearts, and the burdens that were going on in their hearts.

I want to talk about the man in the picture above. He was 'a guy in the pew'. He was not a famous theologian. He didn't have a position in the church. He didn't have a position in the government. He was a pharmacist. He sat in the congregation, just like you do, in Wittenberg. He actually is maybe the first 'photo-bomber', ever. Somehow, this guy managed to get himself in some of the major, major paintings of the Lutheran Reformation, back in the day. Let me show you some of the pictures he managed to get himself in.

On the right you see Martin Luther, John the Baptist, and right in between Luther, and John the Baptist, is the man we’re discussing.

Here is another one.

Here he is again, in the upper left… a little older. He has a little more gray hair, and his beard is a little longer. He’s standing right next to Philip Melancthon, who was one of the great reformers, along with Martin Luther. Wow, how did he manage to get into that picture?

Here is another one.

There he is again… the man in the beard in the upper left on the painting. Now, he is a little grayer, and his beard is longer, yet.

Somehow he managed to get into all of these different pictures. And, there are a lot more of them than these. So, how did it happen?

He happened to be a really good friend of Martin Luther. In fact, he happened to be Martin Luther's best man, when he got married! And, besides being a pharmacist, this man was also a painter. His name was Lucas Cranach. I suppose you could say he painted the first 'selfies'. So, he is the guy who painted himself into all of these pictures! In fact, Lucas Cranach is the guy who painted all of these pictures of Martin Luther:

He painted every one of them. He also painted a lot of pictures of people who played roles in the reformation, because he was kind of the guy, during the Reformation, who today would be like the person walking around with his cell phone taking all of these pictures.

One of the things Lucas Cranach did was he wanted to masterfully use his artistic skills to share the basic teachings of the Lutheran Reformation, the basic teachings of Scripture. So, I want to use two pictures he painted to show that. The first one is a picture that is actually hanging in the city of Wittenberg, right now, in a church called St. Mary's Church.

This is a picture of Martin Luther preaching. You will notice Martin Luther has his hand on the Bible, and he is pointing to Jesus. The congregation is listening to the sermon by Martin Luther.

Lucas Cranch grew up, just like Martin Luther believing he had to earn his way to Heaven. He grew up, just like Martin Luther, believing, “I have to be good enough. God is going to someday come back, and look for righteousness in me. And, I better have it. If I don't have it, I am in trouble.” He thought, “I have to try to be good. I have to try to earn God's favor.”

He was taught that if you became a monk, or a nun, you probably would have a better chance of earning God's favor, a better chance of doing good works, and living according to The Law.

He was also taught that some of the churches in Wittenberg had relics that were supposed pieces of the saints, or were religious items. So, at the church in Wittenberg, there was a teaching there was a thorn from the crown of Jesus, right in that church. It was taught there were finger nails from John the Baptist, at that church. It was taught there was a feather from the wings of Gabriel, the angel, at that church. Cranch was taught if you go there, and honor those things, that is a way to earn God's favor.

He was taught, if you don't do enough in this life to earn God's favor, you get a second chance. That second chance is a place called Purgatory. In Purgatory, if you didn't do enough good works in this life, you can spend 10,000 or 100,00 years suffering to make up for the good works you did not do.

If that worried you, you could buy indulgences. You could pay for a piece of paper that will let you out of Purgatory, more quickly. If you had already died, your family and friends could buy indulgences for you, to get you out of Purgatory, more quickly.

Those were the things Cranach, just like Luther, grew up believing. And, they troubled Lucas Chronic, and they troubled Martin Luther.

Chronic was so happy, when Martin Luther started preaching from Scripture. This is a great picture of a Bible verse.

“Now we know that whatever the Law says,

it speaks to those who are under The Law

so that every mouth may be stopped,

and the whole world may be held accountable to God.

For, by works of The Law

no human being can be justified in His sight,

since through The Law comes knowledge of sin.

But now the righteousness of God has been manifest,

apart from The Law,

although The Law and the Prophets bear witness to it,

the righteousness of God,

through faith in Jesus Christ,

for all who believe.

There is no distinction.

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

and are justified by His grace as a gift,

through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

We hold that one is justified by faith,

apart from works of The Law.”

So, here

Cranch has painted this picture that is all inclusive. This is picturing everybody. It is men. It is women. It is children. It is rich. It is poor.

All have sinned.

All fall short of the glory of God.

No one deserves God's love, or mercy.

However, God has sent His own righteousness. This is a righteousness of God. It is apart from The Law. It is not from us. It is not our good works. But, here is the righteousness.

It is by faith in Christ,

for all who believe.

Here Luther is pointing to Christ alone. You see, Jesus is the one figure alone in this picture, and so is scripture.

Christ alone.

Scripture alone.

You will notice Jesus, in this picture, has a loin cloth that is very flowing. What does that look like? It looks like a bow you would put on a present. It reminds us it is a gift of God. We are saved by grace, not by what we have done. That is what scripture teaches. And so, here Cranach captures this teaching that we are saved by grace alone. It is just a gift from God. It is not what we do, but what Christ did for us. In Christ alone, and we learn that in scripture alone.

Now he went a little further in this next painting.

It hangs in a church in Weimar, Germany. In the painting you see Jesus, John the Baptist, Luther and Cranch. If you were to get closer to the painting, you would see John the Baptist has one hand pointing to a lamb, and the other pointing to Jesus. He is looking at Lucas Cranch, and saying,

“Behold the Lamb of God

who takes away the sin of the world”.

The whole world has been redeemed by Christ, justified, and declared not guilty in God's eyes.

Martin Luther is pointing to a Bible passage. If you could read the Bible passage, he is preaching to Lucas Cranch, and he is saying, “The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin”. That is a promise in scripture. So, this is all inclusive.

He takes away the sin of the whole world.

The promise , the blood of Jesus, cleanses us from all sin, comes from scripture, alone.

Look at what Lucas Cranch has done. I don't know if you can see it, but there is a stream of Christ's blood coming right down on Lucas Cranch 's head. And, what is he saying? “I believe that. I believe the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses me from all of my sin.”

That is the teaching of scripture.

We are saved by Christ alone.

We are declared not guilty, not because of what we did, but because of what Christ did for us.

By faith alone.

By grace alone.

There it is again, that gift, that package that is wrapped up from God. Grace alone, and we learn that in scripture alone.

The last thing I want to point out here is Lucas Cranach is the only one who is looking right out at you. This is 'the guy in the pew', and he is looking at you. Five hundred years traveled from that picture to you. His eyes meet yours, and he is sharing his faith with you.

He is saying, “That is what I believe.” It is 'the guy in the pew'. That's the heritage of The Lutheran Reformation. The reason The Lutheran Reformation spread so much isn't just because the pastors preached it, and Luther taught it. It is because it touched hearts. There is nothing more awesome than learning for the first time, “You mean to tell me I don't have to earn my way to Heaven? Jesus did everything for me? I am saved by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone?”

That takes a weight off of shoulders like you wouldn't believe. People began to share that. 'The guy in the pew' began to share it.

Thank God men like Cranach did that.

What about you? What about you, 'the person in the pew'? We have this great heritage, the Lutheran Heritage, which is the teaching of scripture,

-saved by grace alone,

-through faith alone,

-in Christ alone.

Now that heritage is in our hands. Let's turn around, and let's carry it forth so that the world can know that wonderful saving Gospel Message!

Amen

500 YEARS OF GRACE!

October 29, 2017

Pastor Bernt P. Tweit

“How do I know what the truth is?”

Through our Gospel Lesson for this morning I want to look at three things.

1. The Reformation that took place in Jesus' day.

2. The Reformation that took place in Martin Luther's day.

3. And the Reformation that is continually needed among us today.

Let's look at our Gospel Lesson which is taken from John, chapter eight, beginning at verse 31. In Jesus' name:

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you abide in my Word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

They answered Him, “We are offspring of Abraham, and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, 'You will become free'?”

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

This is the Gospel of our Lord.

The Jews in Jesus' day thought they were favored. They thought they could be saved, because of who they were. And, they thought they could be saved, because of what they had done. They thought they were favored. That is why Jesus told them, in our text for today,

“If you abide in my Word,

you are truly my disciples...”

For four thousand years, in The Old Testament, God's people were waiting for the fulfillment of God's promises. That is from the time of Adam and Eve, all the way up until the time of Jesus.

Jesus, in our text for today, is telling these Jews He is the fulfillment of those Old Testament promises. “If you remain in my Word...”

Earlier in the book of John, John writes that Jesus is The Word. And so, here Jesus is telling the Jews He is the fulfillment of those promises.

But, the Jews did not want to believe that. And so, Jesus follows up by saying this to the Jews: “...you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Now, that phrase,

“...the truth will set you free...”

is carved on many libraries of many universities. It is carved in stone: “The truth will set you free.” And yet, most people don't realize that those are words from our Savior, Jesus. People are thinking, as they are entering those libraries, “It is academia. It is knowledge that is going to set me free.”

But, Jesus is saying, “If you believe in me, if you believe I am the Word, you will be set free.”

But, the Jews in Jesus' day didn't want to believe that. They didn't want to believe they needed somebody to save them. They thought they could save themselves, because of who they were, and what they had done. They said, “We have never been slaves to anyone.”

Those Jewish people must have had a short term memory, because God's people had been enslaved in Egypt for four hundred years. One tenth of the whole Old Testament, they were slaves to the Egyptians. Currently, those Jewish people were slaves to the Roman Emperor. And currently, those Jews, whether they believed it or not, were slaves to the Pharisees, the religious leaders of the day.

If you have ever played the board game, Monopoly, you know on the board, itself, there are two piles. One is The Community Chest pile, and the other is The Chance pile. One of those cards, in each of those piles, is the card, Get Out of Jail Free card. Basically, what the Jews were doing was they were going to Jesus with their 'Get Out of Jail Free card', and they were saying, “Jesus! Look at who I am. I am a Jew. Jesus, look at what I have done. I have a 'Get Out of Jail Free card'! I have eternal life, because of who I am, and because of what I have done.”

Knowing that the Jews didn't think they were enslaved to sin, Jesus went on to say this. This is what I love about looking at different translations in scripture. Oftentimes you see the very same truth of scripture, but maybe you see it in a different light for the very first time. As we look at this next phrase, I learned it different, when I was growing up. But, it comes across differently, and just as well, in the version we are looking at for today. I grew up with The New International Version, the NIV. This passage said,

“...everyone who sins is a slave to sin.”

For the last couple of years, we have been looking at the ESV, The English Standard Version. In that translation it says,

“...everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.”

And the version we are looking at now, The Evangelical Heritage Version, The EHV, says,

“...everyone who practices sin

is a slave to sin.”

Jesus is telling the Jews,

“...everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.

“You practice sin, therefore you are a slave to sin.”

In Martin Luther's day he said the same thing. Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. And, we need to be reminded of the same thing today. I practice sin. Therefore, I am a slave to sin. You practice sin. Therefore, you are a slave to sin.

But, Jesus goes on to say,

“So if the Son sets you free,

you will be free indeed.”

That is where the beautiful word 'liberation' comes in. You will be free indeed. It is scripture alone that points you to Jesus alone. It is through Jesus, alone, that we have liberation. We are set free. That is the precious truth Jesus was sharing with the Jews of His day. And so, we thank God for the reformation that did take place in Jesus' day, as He brought them back to scripture, and reminded them we are saved through Jesus, alone.

You would think that because Jesus reformed The Church, The Church would never forget that! And yet, 1500 years later, at the time of Martin Luther, the Church had forgotten that. The Church had forgotten what scripture said. And so, people in Luther's day were thinking the same thing, as the Jews in Jesus' day. They were thinking, “I am saved, because of who I am, and what my heritage is. I am saved, because of what I do. I am saved, because of my own works' righteousness.” Basically, they were taking that 'Get Out of Jail Free card' to Martin Luther, and they were telling Martin Luther, “Look at this. I bought an indulgence. Through my own money, I bought a sheet of paper that is my 'Get Out of Jail Free card'. I paid my own money to earn my salvation.”

Well, what did Luther do? He did the same thing Jesus did in His day. He brought people back to what the scriptures said. He had people look at Bible passages like the one Pastor Bartels had us look at a little bit ago from Romans, chapter 3.

“All have sinned,

and fall short of the glory of God.”

That is Law, but it goes on to share The Gospel, the precious truth of The Gospel, that we are justified freely through the salvation that was brought, again, by Christ Jesus, our Lord. He brought people to passages like our Gospel Lesson for today. The words of Jesus in which it says,

“...everyone who practices sin

is a slave to sin.”

That is Law, but he goes on to share the precious truths of The Gospel,

“If the Son sets you free,

you will be free indeed.”

And so, praise God for The Reformation that took place in Martin Luther's day, as he brought people back to scripture. And scripture is pointing to Jesus. We have salvation through Christ alone.

Well, that is a reminder to us today, we continually need a reformation to take place amongst us, as well. It can be so easy to resort back to what happened in Jesus' day, or what happened in Martin Luther's day, thinking we are saved, because of who we are, and what we have done. I have heard all of these things, before. I have heard people say, “I am saved, because of who I am.” Just fill in the blank, here. “I am saved, because I am a German.” “I am saved because I am a Norwegian.” “I am saved because...”, again fill in the blank with what your heritage is.

Or, I have heard people say, “I am saved, because of what I have done, or because of what my family has done.”

I have heard people say, “It was my family who built the little, white church on Milwaukee Street, and because of that, I should be favored.”

I have heard people say, “It was my family who built the brick church on Milwaukee Street, and because of that, I should be favored. I should be favored because of what I do.”

In essence what is happening there is people are taking that 'Get

Out of Jail Free card', and saying, “Look at who I am, and look at what I have done. I am saved by what I have done.”

Thanks be to God for the truth of scripture. Thanks be to God for the truth of scripture, as it lays it out in all of its Law.

“...everyone who practices sin

is a slave to sin.”

I practice sin. And, because of that I am a slave to sin. You practice sin, and because of that, you are a slave to sin.

Thanks be to God we also have the precious Good News of the Gospel, which brings us right to Jesus.

“...if the Son sets you free,

you will be free indeed.”

There is that liberation that you and I have. You and I have been liberated, because of what Christ, our Savior, has done for us. Through His death on the cross, you are liberated. You are set free from sin, and from death, and the power of the devil. You have everlasting life in Heaven.

Today we celebrate the 500^th Anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation. And, in doing so, we praise God for the reformation that took place in Jesus' day. We thank God for the reformation that took place 500 years ago in Martin Luther's day. And we praise God for the reformation that continually takes place today. Scripture alone, points us to salvation, through Christ alone.

Amen