Update – Blogging the Gospels with the help of Martin Luther

If you’re checking this blog out, here’s what I’m doing: Last year I read Martin Luther’s Church Postil, at least his sermons on the gospels. I saw a different Luther, and heard a different voice. He was teaching local clergy to help them with their sermons, but he was also preaching to the people. Instead of trying to figure out his ‘theology’ and apologetic to Rome or the scholastic community, I wanted to hear what he said to his congregants. I was pleasantly surprised, as much as you can be when trying to wade through the length and breadth of his messages. Luther was no biblical literalist. The Word spoke to him in ways academia might consider superfluous today. Through 2008, I wrote a prayer every week based on his sermon(s) for the lectionary text for that week. The prayers were provided on Sundays for parishioners to pick up and use during their personal study/prayer time during the week. This year, I’m leading a weekly study on the same gospel texts. We are trying to determine how the gospel text speaks to our lives today, and we consult Luther’s thoughts to see if they add anything to our own ideas. This blog highlights some of the things we talk about and tells some of the more interesting things Brother Martin teaches in his sermons. You can find Luther’s sermon on the links in the right column. The fastest way to find Luther’s sermon is to scroll down the left column at the sermon website to find the appropriate Sunday’s lectionary text, and then click on it to move to the sermon location on the right. I hope you’ll be blessed somewhere along the line if you choose to follow it. Peace in Christ - PWM

In a Little While - John 16:16-23

Four times, Jesus says the words ‘in a little while.’ We are comforted when we know trials and difficult times will only last for a little while. Jesus knew and we know the disciples were going to experience despair for three days when Jesus was taken from them. When you are in the beginning and midst of His absence, it feels like an eternity. But not to worry – in a little while, He will return in resurrection joy. How many times do we have to experience this feeling of His leaving us to figure out that if we will only trust His words to us – "in a little while you will see me again." Isn’t that part of the answer? It isn’t that He has left us, but usually we have left the presence of God in favor of sin, or simply following our own way. We can’t see Him when we depart from Him in distrust. And yet, He finds a way to open our eyes to His constant presence. Trust and wait patiently for His return. Every time He returns, our trust/faith gets stronger. Luther suggested that the disciples’ understanding about Jesus was hindered by their thinking that He was still going to establish an earthly kingdom, and they would be lords with Him. To go to the Father means Jesus enters the immortal life where time and the needs of the body are no more, and He can rule in the hearts of all people without the need for food or sleep. Luther equated the ‘world’ with the scribes and Pharisees who find joy in opposing Christ because they were always bothered by His teaching, and found no joy or peace wherever they interacted with Christ. Brother Martin liked the image that the Gospel is repeated in us – Christ dies in His human form in us and then rises to new life to reign in our hearts. He cautioned us to not judge ourselves or our faith according to our feelings as if comfort is lost and sorrow will not end when we sense His absence, but hold onto the words ‘in a little while’ when our sorrow shall be turned into joy, for Christ will arise in our hearts again (3-#32)…soon. Peace - PWM

Christ’s Kingdom and the Office of the Holy Spirit - John 16:5-15

Luther makes some interesting points on this text. One of his observations is that the world is blind to the reality of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Sin is actually unbelief, and other sins flow out of this root. Unbelief is lack of trust. When we do not trust Jesus will provide for our needs, we take matters into our own hands and steal, or work seven days a week. When we do not trust a relationship founded in God is sufficient, we seek to fulfill our need for relationship outside the boundaries of marriage and commitment to one person. When we do not trust God has set in place a system of consequences that follow wrongful actions, we take vengeance into our own hands. So those who trust in God through Jesus Christ have given up sin and their actions are motivated by love for God.

Righteousness is not good works alone because not all works are done gladly, willfully, joyfully, or with the right motivation. What is in the heart is more important than the outward actions. And even more important, for Luther, is that Christ has gone to the Father to mediate for us. Righteousness isn’t so much about our works making us any more worthy, but that Christ goes to the Father on our behalf. This causes us to love Christ and our works arise out of this love. The world doesn’t know how to judge rightly until it understands sin and righteousness. Reason is not able to decide what is right or wrong before God because it always relates righteous action to good works. Nothing is good that doesn’t come from Christ (who is love) or the Holy Spirit. Righteousness is having a pure heart more than outward actions, even though it always leads to outward actions.

Another point Luther makes is that Jesus rules a spiritual kingdom, not an earthly kingdom. That’s why he had to go to the Father, so people wouldn’t expect Jesus to rule a worldly kingdom. And yet, so many people think Jesus is coming back to rule the earth. This is where the Holy Spirit is needed as the teacher/counselor.

Concerning the office of the Holy Spirit, we can know any teaching and truth is of the Holy Spirit if it glorifies Christ as being known through his word (4-#75). The Holy Spirit’s work is to teach of the spiritual kingdom and to glorify Christ (4-#61). And Luther says the office of an apostle is teaching only, it cannot use worldly power (3-#4).

We asked the question: so, how do we hear from the Counselor? The word of God is one way, and our consciences are also aids to knowing what God wants. When you remember that the fruit of the Spirit is love, peace, joy, kindness, goodness, patience, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, your actions that generate feelings or conditions other than these are suspect. The bottom line is that if we trust in Jesus Christ to be a gracious God to us, we will love God with all our heart so we will want to follow all his commands, which results in loving our neighbor. Grace and peace - PWM

Bearing Witness to Truth - John 15:26 – 16:4

Jesus didn’t tell his disciples from the very beginning that the hour would come when the religious establishment would excommunicate them and even seek to kill them. There was no need to because He was with them. But when harming them, the accusers would believe they were serving God in their actions. Martin Luther saw the biblical text speaking directly to reformers in the sixteenth century. This was no Scripture reading stuck in the first century. In hindsight, we can see how he would apply it in his own setting.

The real question is - can we apply it in our setting today? Is persecution happening in the 21st century where we live? Let’s address the same comments Luther made in his sermon: “The world defends God by killing the Truth itself (1-#4)” and today’s “religion is a human institution that cannot accept the Gospel (1-#11)” and “The Gospel is a teaching that offends human rationality/reason and will be condemned as the devil’s gift from hell (2-#10)” and “It is the church who suppressed the Gospel and compelled submission to the point of burning dissenters at the stake (2-#13)”. Enough. What is at the heart of the dissention?

The heart of the dissention is the Gospel. What is it and how does the church kill the Truth? The Gospel is the confession that Jesus Christ is Lord. Jesus Christ is God and the “Christian faith is founded upon Christ alone, who accomplishes all for us (1-#12)”. Christ is a gift to us, and “to know Christ died for me and transferred the load of my sin on himself is to realize that what I do makes no difference (1-#20)”. The Gospel is that we don’t need indulgences, commandments, or holy living to bring us salvation. To kill Truth today is to promote law as the means to the end. This is wrong because Christ is the only means to the end.

The Holy Spirit has testified, witnessed, convicted us of this truth in Christ. With this knowledge infiltrating our being, we are comforted in facing any challenge before us…even if it leads to death.

We still have churches, denominations, today who require submission to certain doctrines, practices, obedience, even to the Holy Scriptures, before declaring the words of salvation to their members. Luther hits the nail on the head when identifies “those holy ones who call themselves Christian leaders persecute Christ’s people because they have not know the Father or Christ. They follow Moses in their doctrine (2-#24).” They promote putting the Ten Commandments in public places instead of the cross, and they call that Christianity.

Faith and the confession of faith, which Luther says is saying Jesus is Lord/God expresses itself and witnesses to the truth in godly actions. And the Spirit gives us courage and strength to live our faith. We no longer fear persecution, but only grow stronger. Peace – PWM