Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Troublemaker

Tuesday, October 31, 2017
But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago.  We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ.  And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.  For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.  Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight.  He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.  For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin.  People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood.  This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time.  God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.  Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God?  No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law.  It is based on faith.  So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.  Romans 3:21-28(NLT)
In last Sunday’s worship at First UMC, Lexington, which included a commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, I was listening to the Pastor describe Martin Luther’s focus of the Three Onlies, only Scripture, only grace, and only faith.  Today is the day, 500 years ago, Luther nailed his faith in Scripture and Grace to the door of the chapel at Wittenberg, Germany.
One thing the pastor, Rev. Jamie Armstrong, said shook me into Google-mode, searching for connections.  He stated flatly:  …and without the Reformation Luther started, there’s a good chance the American Revolution never happened. 
The point is, and was aptly made by the pastor, that God is always working on us.  It took 249 years from Luther’s bold move to that day in Philadelphia Hall and the signing of the Declaration of Independence.  But it displays the reality that God is always working to reform and call us back to Himself; we see this at every point in history.
One author expressed it this way:
By the time Luther died, of natural causes, in 1546, his revolutionary beliefs had formed the basis for the Protestant Reformation, which would over the next three centuries revolutionize Western civilization.[2]
“Troublemakers” in the church are generally shown the back door.  Luther was no exception; he was excommunicated from the Catholic Church, and the edict of Worms declared him an enemy of the state and Christ, and fair game for being killed on sight by anyone without consequence.
Luther held in 95-theses nailed to the door, only grace, only faith, and only Scripture.  Three onlies, extolling the singular true theme of the ages:  ONLY CHRIST!
Five hundred years later we honor Luther’s sacrifice and bold stand for the grace of God, holding up Scripture as our authority and faith as our daily bread.  We can never forget that Luther (as Wesley decades later) would never want to be remembered above the Christ for whom he gave his entire life in service.  And that is the very thing that compels us to remember troublemakers like Martin Luther. 

For You Today

Kids in costumes looking for candy will probably knock on your door sometime today.  When they smile and say “Trick or Treat” be gracious and generous. 
But remember to wish the parents with them a Happy Reformation Day.  In the spirit of Martin Luther, our freedom to worship Christ is too important to let goblins and witches have the day.
You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Image: Ferdinand Pauwels [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

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