The Hour of Judgement
The Festival of the Reformation – 10/23/2024 (Observed)
Revelation 14:6-7
Rev. Christopher W. Brademeyer
That portion from God’s holy Word for consideration this morning is our first lesson from the Revelation to St. John in the fourteenth chapter which reads as follows:
“Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. And he said with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.’”[1]
Thus far the Scriptures.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Dear friends, today we observe the annual celebration of the Reformation. What is the Reformation? It is a period in Christian history that is customarily dated as beginning in 1517 when Martin Luther, from whom our denomination gets its name, posted a set of ninety-five theses, that is statements for debate, concerning some of the practices of his day in the Christian Church. This event, which would have been relatively common in a university town like Martin’s own Wittenberg, Germany, set in motion a series of events that led to the purification of false teaching concerning the Gospel and, unfortunately, a tendency for people to take license with Christian teaching. Our critics among the Roman Church who say that the Reformation was responsible for all the various sects that we see today unfortunately has some truth to it. However, the Lutheran position during this time was not, as many of the other Reformers and their successors held, an attempt to start a new church.
Luther and his fellow reformers did not want to start a new religion, sect, or group. They wanted to purify the Christian Church of error. This is why the Lutheran confessions, the documents from this era that lay out our positions from the Scriptures, take pains to demonstrate that these things are not new in Christendom, but have always been taught by the Christian Church. Our forefathers understood that the Lutheran Church today is not a new group that started in 1517 AD, but is the Christian Church that goes back to Christ Himself, but that has been purified of error. To put it another way, there are Christians among other churches and these, in turn, in some sense can be called Christian, but we believe, teach, and confess that the doctrine, the teaching, that our Lutheran forefathers were willing to die for is correct, biblical, and wholesome for the people of God and that it is the very same teaching of our Lord Jesus and His Apostles.
Now this is important because if we do not think this, then we are admitting that we are not in Jesus’s Church, but instead we would be admitting that we are something else. Either we are part of Christ’s own body, His Church, or we are pretenders and, with our fathers in the faith from the Reformation and before, we stand in Christ’s Church not some other.
Unfortunately, the politics and egos of the time prevented a genuine Christian council between our theologians at the theologians of the pope and to this day we are divided over Christian doctrine. May the Lord grant that at some point before His return, we reunite the Christian Church in the truth of Scriptural teaching.
So what then was the issue? The Christian Church unfortunately often has elements that are in error. These errors deprive people of the things the Christ wants them to have and robs them of comfort, peace, and security. So what were the issues of the time? They centered on what the Gospel is. The pure Gospel, the one given in Scripture and taught by the Apostles and every faithful pastor since that time, is this central issue that divided Christendom. So what is this Gospel? Many, especially a fellow named Johann Tetzel, taught that people could be saved through effort. In Tetzel’s case, it was the purchase of a get through purgatory free card called an indulgence. Luther took issue with this clear abuse of Christians, pointing out that no text in Scripture teaches a place after death and before heaven that Christians go to work off the effects of their sins. This string, once tugged, revealed that at the root was a fundamental misunderstanding of the Gospel. The Gospel, Luther realized by studying St. Paul, is free. The good news of the Gospel is that it is done for us by Christ. We do not earn salvation ourselves. We do not contribute. Christ does it all for us. And, even more, this work of Christ dying for our sins is also given to us free of charge. We do not have to impress God, buy Him off, or earn it in any way. Even the application of the saving work of Christ to us is by God’s work. Faith is a gift He gives us. This is the eternal Gospel. This is the judgement of God. Christ is our righteousness and salvation, and we are judged to be righteous, holy, and pure in Christ Jesus.
This is why the Church observes a day each year to remember this. This day is not about Lutheran culture, German or Norwegian heritage, or any other such thing. It is so that we would be reminded of the precious treasure that the Gospel is and to inspect ourselves to see if we are maintaining its faithful proclamation.
The really distressing this is how easy it is to confuse the Gospel, to gloss it over, to add to it, or to subtract. This does not mean that we can alter God’s finished work, but that in our own estimation, the Gospel gets buried under things that we do and want to do. That problem is not one only for the 1500’s, but we still deal with it today. People’s default setting is to think that we gain heaven by what we do. Christians are easily confused and make the truth of Christ for us into us for Christ. That is, we turn the focus of Christianity away from our perfect Savior and put the emphasis on ourselves and our lives and our works. We tell people that certain things categorically exclude them from Christ, rather than simply pointing out that unbelief is the only really unforgivable sin since it blasphemes the Holy Spirit.[2] We make God’s love conditional and dependent on how we live, act, or carry ourselves in public. Decision, work, acceptance, sinner’s prayer, and many other works invented by human beings obscure the Gospel and paper over the work of Christ.
There is a precious treasure, greater than any silver or gold, one that has been given to us by the great cost of our Lord Jesus dying a death that we deserved, bearing sins that are ours, and suffering punishments that we should have received. This treasure is the forgiveness of sins and with that everlasting life. This death saved us from sin, the devil, and the desires of our own sinful hearts. This death justifies us, that is, earns for us a righteousness that is credited to us. This Gospel is the treasure we have in this life that lasts forever, even past the grave. We must never give it up, lose an inch, or back away from it. There is nothing else in this world that even comes close to comparing to it. The precious and holy blood of Jesus is our life and salvation. This is the central truth of the Gospel, and this can never be lost. That is why we set aside this day, to give thanks for the Gospel and all those who have faithfully taught it, especially in persecution and difficult circumstance and to give thanks that our God has saved us in this way.
In the holy Name of + Jesus. Amen.
The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
[1] Revelation 14:6-7 English Standard Version
[2] Matthew 12:31