"WHAT MUST I DO?"
Reformation Sunday
October 30, 2016
Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church
Glenshaw, Pennsylvania
TEXT:
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 will be justified in His sight, since through the Law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested 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.
Romans 3:19-22 (ESV)
"What must I do to be saved?" This is man's age-old universal question--a question that has been asked countless times by countless individuals ever since sin first appeared on the pages of human history. "What must I do to be saved?" It's a question that reveals so much: It reveals that sin is real, that it merits condemnation and everlasting punishment, and that it is the personal responsibility of each individual sinner. No matter how we end up answering it, it is, in fact, a good question, because simply by asking it the inquirer confesses that something is wrong and that he or she is seeking a proper resolution to the rift of alienation that sin has caused between God and His creation.
"What must I do to be saved?" It's also an appropriate question for us to ponder this morning as we celebrate the Festival of the Reformation, because Martin Luther struggled with this question and even agonized over it for many years before the Holy Spirit led him to find God's answer in the Holy Scriptures, particularly in the passage before us this morning. Luther wasn't merely concerned about sin--he didn't just worry about the problems that his own sin presented for him; he was terrified at the very thought that one day Christ, the perfect Judge, would return in glory and judge him in the light of the Law. Luther's own words on this subject speak more profoundly to describe his feelings than I could even attempt to do: "I myself was driven to the very abyss of despair," the young monk said, "so that I wished that I had never been created."
The reason for young Martin's despair was the answer that he found to the question, "What must I do to be saved?" and that answer is nothing. There is nothing that Martin Luther or you or I or anyone else can do to be saved. There isn't anything that we can do to be saved because what God wants from us is something that cannot be found in us. God wants us to praise Him in our lives by perfectly reflecting His glory--and He has revealed to us how we can accomplish this in the Ten Commandments. The problem is this: Not only are we unable to reflect God's glory because of our sin; we are unwilling to even try. Instead of glorifying the One who created us in love, we'd rather pursue a glory of our own. Instead of living for the One who made us, we'd rather live in pursuit of our own selfish desires. Instead of serving the God and Father of us all by serving our neighbor, we'd rather serve ourselves.
What God wants from us cannot be found in the Law either. The Law tells us what God desires of us, but it gives no power to do it. Consequently the Law is very useful in exposing sin but it offers nothing to overcome the sin that it uncovers. The Law's purpose, according to the text of Scripture before us, is to see to it "that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God." In other words, the Law states very clearly and in great detail what God demands of us: perfect righteousness, which reflects the perfect righteousness of our Creator. But the Law has no power to convey that righteousness to us. For this reason, as the text says, "by works of the Law no human being will be justified in His sight, since through the Law comes knowledge of sin." The Law tells us what to do but it doesn't empower us or even force us to do it. It convicts us of sin and passes the death sentence on us but it offers us no pardon or stay of execution.
For that we need to look elsewhere. That's why God comforts us, as He comforted Martin Luther, in this passage from Romans when He says: "But now the righteousness of God has been manifested 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." The righteousness that the Law of God demands is perfect righteousness, and that perfect righteousness can be found only in the Person of Jesus Christ, the perfect Son of God who became human so that He might live the perfect life of righteousness for us and offer to God the perfect sacrifice of atonement for sin in our place. Because of what this perfect Christ has done for us and for every other sinner, God's righteous anger against sinners has been fully appeased and His perfect justice has been completely satisfied.
All of this is fine and good, you might say, but what does it have to do with us? What it has to do with us is this: God is content and in fact pleased to receive the perfect righteousness and sacrificial death of His Son Jesus Christ and to credit it to you and me when our trust is in Christ alone. And even this trust--this saving faith in Christ--is not an accomplishment on our part but is rather a gift of God the Holy Spirit. This is Good News for us! It certainly was Good News for Brother Martin five hundred years ago. It turned his entire life around, getting him into all kinds of trouble with his church but putting his heart and conscience at peace with God. "The righteousness of God," which in the past had terrified him, had now become his hope for salvation when he realized, through the Holy Spirit working through the Gospel, that the righteousness that God requires of us has been fully provided by Christ. You and I have that same peace with God through the perfect life of Christ and the shedding of His innocent blood on the cross, poured out for Martin Luther and for you and for me. And all of this is confirmed for us and celebrated in the glorious resurrection of Christ from the dead.
The Festival of the Reformation is not primarily about conflict between Roman Catholics and Lutherans. It's not about ethnic or social strife between rich Italians and poor German peasants. It's not primarily about liturgy or music or language or politics or tradition or ecclesiastical authority. It's about something far deeper and more important than any of these things. What Martin Luther discovered in the Scriptures and proclaimed to the world five centuries ago is nothing more or less than the peace that comes from sins forgiven--the knowledge that we have in Christ not an angry Judge returning to wreak havoc on offenders but rather a loving Savior who constantly pleads our case before the Father even as Satan accuses us in God's presence. That knowledge not only brings us peace, but also moves us and empowers us to share that peace with troubled consciences everywhere.
Amen.
May the Lord bless your hearing of His Word, using it to accomplish in you those things for which He gave it. May you be enriched and strengthened in faith that you may leave here today to go out into our world armed with the whole armor of God, prepared to be able ambassadors of your Savior Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, and He will do it. Amen.