Sunday
10/29/17 Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC’s
Sermon Title: “500 Years Later”
Old Testament
Scripture: Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17
New Testament
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
Gospel Lesson:
Matthew 22:34-46
My sisters and brothers in Christ, welcome again on this
the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, and this the
Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost.
As the story goes, this coming Tuesday, October, 31st,
which to many of is Halloween, also known as “All Hallow’s Eve,” or “All Saint’s
Eve,” in the year 1517, an Augustinian monk, priest, composer, and university
professor of moral theology, named Martin Luther, nailed to the door of the
Wittenberg Castle Church, in Wittenberg, Germany, a document called the
95-Theses (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninety-five_Theses). These 95-Theses
or arguments, from Father Martin Luther, or Professor Martin Luther, were 95
Theses or arguments against the sale of indulgences
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninety-five_Theses). I will talk about the sale
of indulgences in just a minute.
With this said, the current head of the Roman Catholic
Church, Jorge Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, as well as prominent Roman Catholic
leaders, such as Cardinal Arch-Bishop Timothy Dolan, have all stated at
different times, that the church had some corruption and sinful practices going
on in it, in and around the year 1517. This does not mean that all church men
and women, or that all priests, deacons, bishops, and etc. were corrupt, but
there was enough corruption going on that Martin Luther pushed back against it
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninety-five_Theses).
Among the many things that were sometimes occurring within
the ranks of the church, like hoarding wealth, abusing power, having
mistresses, and etc., the one that really set Martin Luther into a rage was the
sale of indulgences
(http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/martin-luther-posts-95-theses).
Well what happened in Germany, where Luther lived, was that
a Dominican Friar named Johann Tetzel, was canvasing much of the area where
Luther lived with the sale of indulgences. Specifically, Tetzel was telling and
preaching to the people of various parts of Germany, that if they paid certain
sums of money that they themselves and all of their family members would all go
to heaven. This is to say, their sins would instantly be forgiven upon payment,
and family members that had already died, if they weren’t in heaven, would instantly
be sprung from hell, or from purgatory, and go to heaven. People were given an
actual document that they were now forgiven (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninety-five_Theses).
Now
purgatory is a Roman Catholic belief, whereby those who are seen as not ready
to go to heaven when they die, go to a place called “Purgatory,” where they are
then spiritually cleansed and made ready to enter heaven.
Martin Luther was so angry at this sale of indulgences,
because he thought that this practice was not only unbiblical, but that it was also
immoral, as Tetzel was taking the little money that the poor German peasants
had, and promising them heaven in return.
Luther in response to the sale of Indulgences, created his
pamphlet called the 95-Theses, and as the legend goes, he nailed it to the
Wittenberg Castle Church, in Wittenberg, Germany.
Luther created this pamphlet using an invention called the
printing press that Johann Gutenberg had invented about 80-years earlier. As
the story then goes, Luther’s students at the university then took Luther’s
pamphlet and made many copies using the printing press. This pamphlet was then
distributed and read in many places.
So, this is what sparked off the Protestant Reformation 500
years ago. Why the word “Protestant”? Well, in the year 1529 the Holy Roman
Emperor, Charles V referred to the Lutherans and some other non-Catholics as
“Protestors,” or “Protestants”. The Holy Roman Emperor said that some were
“Protesting” the Roman Catholic Church
(http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/martin-luther-posts-95-theses).
Martin Luther was then excommunicated by the sitting Roman
Catholic Pope, Pope Leo X, in 1521. By this point though, Luther had thousands
of followers. Luther found refuge with some German princes who had become
Lutheran, as Germany was a collection of states and not a unified country at
this point. During the rest of Luther’s life, he translated the Bible into
German, and wrote many things around the beliefs of his new “Lutheran” church.
What where the basic arguments or beliefs of the Protestant
Reformation then? While I could go on about them for hours, I will sum them up,
by telling you about the five “solas,” which is Latin for “alone”. So “sola” in
Latin means alone. Here they are:
2. Sola Fide (“faith alone”): We are saved through faith alone in Jesus
Christ.
3. Sola
Gratia (“grace alone”): We are saved by the
grace of God alone.
4. Solus
Christus (“Christ alone”): Jesus Christ alone
is our Lord, Savior, and King.
5. Soli Deo
Gloria (“to the glory of God alone”): We
live for the glory of God alone
(http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/the-five-solas-of-the-protestant-reformation.html).
These five basic arguments or slogans
sum up the majority of what Martin Luther was pushing for in the Protestant
Reformation. You might hear these five “solas” and say, “well what is so
radical about those?” At the time, these were very radical teachings. For these
teachings said that we as individuals could go to God, to Jesus, directly with
our prayers, with our repentance, and with our own personal confessions. These
teachings also said that going to heaven was an act of faith, not something
that we had to earn and work towards.
This theological doctrine, which was
also believed by the founder of the Methodist Movement, Rev. John Wesley, is
the doctrine of “Justification by faith”. This means that as Christians, our
faith in Christ is enough for us to be with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in
eternity forever. There is nothing that we can do, no amount of money that we
can pay, or anything else, other than faith in Christ, that will get us into
heaven.
Does this then mean that Martin Luther
taught to no longer to do good works? Of course not. Martin Luther said:
“God
does not need your good works, but your neighbor does”
(https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/794373-god-does-not-need-your-good-works-but-your-neighbor).
This means, to Luther, to Rev. John Wesley, and to
most “Protestant” churches, we believe that eternity with God, with Jesus, with
the Holy Spirit, is determined by faith, and faith alone, or “Sola Fide”.
When you hear a Christian say things such as they “got
saved,” or that they are “born again,” this is exactly what they are talking
about. These Christians are making the claim that they asked God for the
forgiveness of their sins, accepted Jesus Christ as the living God who died for
them, and were filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. In that moment of
spiritual transformation, those persons would say that were given the gift of
salvation or eternity in heaven.
So what then
is the problem with “Protestantism”? Well number one, our faith traditions, or
most of them anyway, should not be ones designed to be just salvation
factories. This is to say, we don’t exist just to save people, or just to bring
people to Christ. In the Methodist Tradition and other traditions, we also
believe that our lives on earth should try to reflect Jesus and his teachings.
This is why we give to charities, put together flood buckets, raise money for
worthy causes, and etc. Further, as Protestants, if we disagree with each
other, sometimes we just then go and form another denomination. We now have
1,000’s of Protestant Christian denominations.
So while it is our teaching, from the time of Martin
Luther that our main source of Christian truth is the Bible, and that we
believe that we will be judged by faith in Christ alone, we are still called by
the gospel of Jesus Christ to transform the world. This is why the mission
statement of the United Methodist Church is, “To make disciples of Jesus
Christ, for the transformation of the world”. We believe in sharing the gospel,
and with God’s help bringing people to the saving grace of Jesus Christ, and
then going out and living that hope and love every day.
One of the arguably most famous preachers of “Sola
Fide” or faith in Christ alone in this last century, was and is the Rev. Billy
Graham. Rev. Billy Graham believes that heaven, that salvation in Christ is a
free gift that we can have by repenting of our sins, and accepting Christ.
While Rev. Billy Graham is a Southern Baptist, “Sola Fide” was a theological
doctrine first asserted by Martin Luther. The vast majority of Protestant
Churches today adhere to this doctrine of “Sola Fide” or by faith in Christ alone.
The vast majority of Protestant Churches today also adhere to the Lutheran
doctrine of “Sola Scripture,” or by scripture/the Bible alone. The majority of
Protestant Churches today also believe in faith in Christ alone, or “Solus Christus”,
faith by God’s grace alone, or “Sola Gratia,” and that we live to glory of God
alone, or “Soli Deo Gloria”.
If then, faith in Christ or salvation is indeed a
free gift, then Luther thought that this free gift would be the thing that
liberates us. Upon repenting of our sins and receiving salvation, we would then
would be set at liberty and be truly free to serve God and our neighbors. We
would no longer have to be afraid of whether or not we were going to heaven,
but instead we could receive salvation freely through God’s grace. With this
knowledge, this grace, and this love through Christ, we could then go forth and
change the world, as our United Methodist Church mission statement says.
Lastly, the other big changes that were made by
Martin Luther, were that he had the people in his churches begin to sing hymns,
as that hadn’t been practiced in the church in centuries. Luther also removed
seven-books from the Old Testament, which were: “Tobit, Judith,
1st & 2nd Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach & Baruch,” feeling that they were
not “Divinely Inspired” enough to be in the Bible
(http://www.ewtn.com/v/experts/showmessage.asp?number=438095). So then,
virtually all Christian Bibles have 66-books, where Roman Catholic, and Orthodox
Church Bibles may have up eighty-one books in there Bibles.
My
Grandma Winkelman was a lifelong Roman Catholic, and her Roman Catholic Bible had
73-books, unlike our 66-books. Martin Luther changed the “canon” of the books
in the Bible. This is a massive change.
In
addition, Martin Luther argued that there should only be two sacraments, which
are Holy Baptism and Holy Communion, instead of the 7-sacraments that are
practiced in the Roman Catholic Church, and in some other non-Protestant
Churches. The seven sacraments are: Holy Baptism, Holy Communion, Confession or
Reconciliation, Marriage, Ordination, Confirmation, and Anointing of the sick,
or commonly called “Last rights”. In the United Methodist Church, we perform
these other five not as sacraments, because Martin Luther said we should only have
the sacraments that Jesus told us specifically to have in the gospels. The only
two that Jesus directly told us to have in the gospels were Holy Baptism and
Holy Communion, or the Lord’s Supper. As a result, we have the other five, but
we would refer to them ordinances, not sacraments, as Jesus did not tell us
specifically in the gospels to do them.
Lastly,
at this point in time, most Roman Catholics received only the bread or the host
in Holy Communion, or the Lord’s Supper, and Martin Luther wanted all people to
take the bread and the cup in communion. Luther also translated the Bible into
German, as he wanted all people to read the Bible, not just the clergy.
So
with all of this said, how do I then compare this to our gospel of Matthew
reading for this morning?
Well,
like last Sunday’s gospel reading of Jesus being questioned about taxes, today
the gospel continues with Jesus being question about “which commandment in the
law is the greatest” (Mt. 22:36, NRSV). Jesus then says:
“He
said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with
all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first
commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as
yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Mt.
22:37-40, NRSV).
Jesus then asks the Pharisees a question, and then asserts
more his Lordship, as Messiah to end this reading (Mt. 22:41-46, NRSV).
So
to review the five-“Solas” of the Protestant Reformation, they are:
2. Sola Fide (“faith alone”): We are saved through faith alone in Jesus
Christ.
3. Sola
Gratia (“grace alone”): We are saved by the
grace of God alone.
4. Solus
Christus (“Christ alone”): Jesus Christ alone
is our Lord, Savior, and King.
5. Soli Deo
Gloria (“to the glory of God alone”): We
live for the glory of God alone
(http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/the-five-solas-of-the-protestant-reformation.html).
In
the gospel of Matthew this morning, I hear from scripture, our primary book, or
“Sola Sciptura,” that Jesus is telling us to have faith and trust in God, “Sola
Fide”, in that we should trust in God’s love and grace, “Sola Gratia,” and that
we can trust in him, the Christ, “Sola Christus”. Further, that because of all
of this we are then freed up in a new and a transformative way to love our
neighbor as ourselves, to the glory of God alone, or “Soli Deo Gloria”.
It
was exciting to me, as I preparing to write this sermon to learn that the Martin
Luther’ hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is our God” is in the Roman Catholic hymnal.
It was exciting to me to learn that in 2016, Pope Francis participated in a 500th
anniversary reformation service, and sat co-equal in the service to Lutheran
bishops. That recently, the World Methodist Council, representing all
80-million Methodists and or Wesleyans worldwide, met with Pope Francis and some
of his bishops and cardinals in the Vatican. This visit continued 50-years of
dialogue between Methodists and Roman Catholics. Pope Francis in this meeting
said that Methodists share a common baptism with the Roman Catholic Church, in
the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and that we are
Christians. That we are part of the universal or catholic Christian Church.
That Methodist to Pope Francis are Christians.
Do
I believe in the five-“Solas” of the reformation? I do. If Pope Francis walked
in here right now, would I embrace him as a brother in Christ? I would. Would
Pope Francis accept all of the five-“Solas” and agree that there is not only one
supreme head of Christ’s Church on earth? No, he probably wouldn’t, but we are
all still Christians. We can debate scripture, we can have different beliefs
and practices, yet we all are still followers of Jesus Christ.
I
believe therefore, we should begin to see the Protestant Reformation as a
reaction to historical church corruption, and that in the present day, while we
are in different churches, and while we still have some different beliefs and
practices, we are all still Christians.
I
watched a video in preparing for this sermon that was from a year ago in
October. A year ago in October, 2016, to honor the Protestant Reformation, Pope
Francis invited a group of German Roman Catholics and Lutherans from Germany,
to gather together in the Vatican, in Rome. One group wore blue scares, and the
other group wore gold scarves. Then Pope Francis tied a blue scarf and a gold
scarf together, and put it around his next, to symbolize Lutheran and Roman
Catholic unity. A young German girl then asked him jokingly, “who are better,
Lutherans or Catholics”? The Pope paused for moment, and then he said, “We are
better together”.
For
in the gospel of John 17:21a, Jesus prayed of us his followers:
“that they may all be one” (Jn. 17:21a, NRSV).
While we have our differences as Christians, we are still
Christians. On this 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation,
let us be proud of the heritage of our own Christian faith traditions, let us
hold to our beliefs, but let us also embrace fellow Christians, and no matter what
or who they are, let us love our neighbor as ourselves. May we also live “Soli
Deo Gloria,” or to the glory of God alone. Happy Reformation Sunday, God bless,
and Amen.
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