Christ Lutheran Church
Cleveland, Ohio
October 27, 2024
by: Rev. Dean Kavouras

Reformation

Today we boast about the Lutheran Reformation. But we dare not boast of ourselves, or of the Reformers in any way. But as Scripture says, “Let him who boasts, boast in the LORD.”

We have good reason to boast in our God because of the priceless gifts that were lost, but that he restored to the church by the Reformation.

First, let us remember that the Lutheran Reformation re-established Divine Righteousness, obtained solely by faith in Christ and not by humanity’s rancid, putrescent and decomposing self-righteousness.

Now it may not seem obvious in this godless age, but every person wants to be thought of as righteous – but always by one’s own self-established measure; and which he expects the rest of the world to live up to. Oh! Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.

When one is not connected to the One True God, by faith in Jesus Christ, he is like a bouquet of flowers in a vase. However striking the bouquet, however breathtaking their aroma, those flowers are dead. They died the moment they were cut off from their roots. People are the same. However amazing our natural and acquired gifts; our ink and our piercings, we are all dead! Dead as a door nail. And soon enough our beauty (such as it is) will fade, our pleasant aroma turn to stink, and we will wither, turn slimy and be discarded as so much rubbish.

As Lutherans we should know that there is no dogmatic system within Christianity that better understands, and teaches, the depravity of human sin, and the vital necessity of faith in Christ for deliverance from it.

In our Augsburg Confession we believe, teach and confess that the ruination of the human heart, mind, intellect, of our intentions and inclinations is so perfect that a person cannot even know, or discern how lost and dark she is! But this can only be known from Scripture.

And there is no greater offense to human pride than the Biblical doctrine of sin. We can no more abide it than Superman, kryptonite. Nor is there duct tape enough to protect our pride from exploding. This dogma of original and actual sin makes Tasmanian Devils of us all before God – who can read the heart – even if we cannot read our own.

Such knowledge and teaching of Scripture is courtesy of the Lutheran Reformation.

Indeed one of the earliest Lutheran hymns, published exactly 500 years ago in 1524, in the first Lutheran Hymnal ever assembled, goes like this”

Oh, God, man’s ruin is so broad and grim!
Who can its limits measure?
His body dead, his thinking flawed and dim;
His ignorance his pleasure.
His heart and mind are bound and blind,
His members all infected,
And ever misdirected;
No good he knows, much less he does,
As God commands;
Stiff-necked, he stands
Fighting God’s good pleasure blindly:
O Lord and God,
from this sorrow save us kindly!

The last line you’ll note is a prayer: “O Lord and God, from this sorrow save us kindly!” And so the Reformation did not only name the problem, but gave the solution with what we call the “3 Great Sola’s” of the Reformation.

Sola Gratia – by grace alone!
Sola Fidei – by faith alone!
Sola Scriptura – by scripture alone!

Slogans are good but must be fleshed out, so that we remember what they indicate, which we will do now..

1. By Sola Scriptura “Scripture alone” we mean that the Christian religion is learned from Scripture, end of story. You may remember we have said before that the words of Scripture have their origin from outside the cosmos. They don’t come from any man, even though men served as God’s secretaries in the matter. They did not come from anywhere inside the cosmos, but from the mind, and the heart, and the mouth of our God alone.

Every other speech or writing comes from the ruined mind and heart and mouth of man. Therefore Scripture is radiant truth, beauty and love from God, that will never pass away.

However “sola scritpura” does NOT mean that the church cannot do anything unless it is commanded in Scripture. The church is free to for example to compose liturgies, hymns, catechisms, creeds, theological treatises, sermons, prayers, ceremonies and celebrations. Free to establish traditions; and to create sacred art, architecture, statuary and graven images for the worship of our God. And our warrant is John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father …”

2. And what does Scripture teach us about our God? That he relates to his Creation by grace alone. Sola Gratia. But, what is grace? Grace is an act of kindness from one person to another. It is a gesture of love, friendship and a desire for fellowship. Many define it as “undeserved kindness” which is true. But grace is not only “undeserved” it is also unexpected. When Jonah volunteered to be thrown into maelstrom of the stormy sea, to save the lives of his fellow sailors, he was sure that this was the end! And when he was swallowed by a whale and lived in its belly for three days and three nights – a prophecy of Jesus in the tomb – he never expected to be rescued.

But he was!

And after running away from his Divine Call he was not only rescued but transformed into God’s mouthpiece, for the salvation of the wicked city of Nineveh, and is hands down most successful missionary ever to live.

3. Lastly today let us learn about Sola Fidei, “by faith alone.” All of God’s blessings are received by faith alone. That means that upon hearing them, and seeing them, we must believe them, cherish them, and return proper thanks for the glorious gift of gifts – Christ Jesus the Eternal Son of the Father incarnate: “for us men and for our salvation.”

Let us learn, however, that faith is not a good work, nor is it even a virtue! To be sure – if you put your trust in the wrong thing, if you trust in yourself or other people instead of God … you will suffer loss small and great! And so to say “by faith alone” is not adequate in our religion. But we must say, rather, that we are justified before God “by faith in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Whom God set forth as a propitiation for our sins!

And it means more, yet. Take note of how harshly the Lord speaks to “the Jews who believed in him.” (John 8:31) Why would he do that? Because to “believe” in Jesus involves much more than making a mental affirmation. Or an emotional decision. But to believe in Jesus means to leave your false religion; to submit to Christian instruction; to receive Christian baptism; to worship weekly and to embrace the crosses of life and follow Jesus.

But follow him where?

Follow him to Calvary. Follow him to death. Follow him, also, to the grave, and then to “the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting,” where we will be forever with the Lord.

Indeed whenever Saint Paul uses the word “faith” in his sermons he always means Christ. Particularly “Christ crucified,” and received in the church. It is by such faith that lost, blind, stubborn, terminally proud and combative sinners find peace with God, and learn to love him with their whole heart, soul, mind and strength. We are those people, so saved by grace through faith.