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Our Message Is Centered On A Gift

            We love visitors.  It is an honor for us here at Grace Church to be blessed with guests and visitors every weekend.  Some are college students from MSOE, Marquette, UWM, WLC, or other colleges in the area.  Some are relatives of members who came to visit because there’s a family gathering planned.  Some are friends or acquaintances of members who took up an invitation to come and check us out.  Some are just searching for a church home or a new church or desire to fill in a gap in their life because they used to go to church fairly regularly, then for a variety of reasons just stopped going, and can sense that something’s missing in their life.  To all of our guests and visitors, “Welcome!”  We are delighted, actually thrilled, that you are here today.

            I would like all of our Grace members to try something for a few minutes.  Try putting yourself in the shoes of a first-time guest or visitor at a Lutheran church.  Ask yourself, “If I were a first-time guest or visitor at a Lutheran church, what questions would be on my mind?”  Other than the standard questions a guest might ask, “What should I wear?”  “Is there a decent place to park?”  “Is there a comfortable place to sit where I can slip in and even get out in a hurry if I don’t like it, or will I get stuck in the Bob Uecker seats up front?”  “What if they do something strange or do some things from memory?  Will I be able to follow along?” “Will the people be friendly or avert their glances and scoot by me without even looking me in the eye?”  Beyond all those typical questions asked by a person going somewhere for the first time, there is one big question that would be on my mind if I were invited to a Lutheran church for the first time.  Here it is – “What is this Lutheranism all about?”  In other words, “What makes the Lutherans different and distinct from any other church?”

            It is entirely appropriate for us to explore what Lutheranism is all about today since this day is marked by Lutherans worldwide as the Festival of the Reformation.  On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed ninety-five theses or statements printed on a placard to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg, Germany.  His intent was to raise a debate between faculty members at the university where he taught, a debate on how people get in with God and get to heaven.  Luther’s words then and throughout his career centered on one clear truth.  God’s love is ours purely by a gift from God himself.  Based on the Scripture portion we are about to study from the Revelation through the apostle John, we could say it this way, Our Message Is Centered On A Gift.

This gift is needed

            If you lived in South Florida, and if your relatives sent you a nicely wrapped package, and you opened it and found a pair of snow shoes, you would probably say, “What do I need these for?”  It is much more fun to receive a gift which is needed.

            God’s great gift of love was desperately needed at the time of Luther.  Church leaders had brushed aside biblical truths and bombarded people with the damnable teaching that a person had to do at least a little if not a lot to earn God’s favor.  The church did not proclaim, “Fear God, give him glory ... and worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and the springs of water.”   Instead they preached, “Fear God, give glory to dead people who lived good lives, and worship Mary who sits on a throne next to God making sure that God accepts your prayers since Jesus is too stern.

            Luther grew up in the sphere of this confusion and spiritual chaos.  But he knew he couldn’t be as perfect as God demands.  So to ease his conscience he left the study of law and entered a monastery just to find peace with God.  But the monastic life of poverty, chastity, and obedience did not bring him closer to God nor did it earn God’s favor.  Then one day all on his own, with his nose buried in Scripture, he discovered what was there all along – God’s great gift.  Jesus had earned God’s favor.  Heaven’s gates stand open for even the worst sinner.  Oh, how Luther thanked God for this desperately needed gift!  In a sermon based on 1 Corinthians 5 (1531), he wrote, “We need to realize the great, severe, and terrible wrath of God against sin because of the fact that this wrath could be turned aside in no other way and atonement could be made by no other payment than by this one sacrifice, that is, by the death and blood of the Son of God ... This causes us to be honestly frightened because of our sin.  For this wrath of God is not meager or minor since we hear that no sacrifice but that of the only Son of God could appease it and make amends for sin.”

            Do you sense how much you need the gift of God’s love?  If you have found that you seem to be taking your connection to God and your worship of God for granted, or if you don’t think it’s that big a deal in the grand scheme of things because you’ve got other more pressing things on your mind like money or marriage or homework or having fun, then you have just demonstrated to yourself and to God what your real trouble is.  You and I have an inborn bad guy or bad girl that’s scarier than a Halloween movie because it can drag us to hell.  Without Jesus we’d be lost!  You and I desperately needed a miracle of God’s grace.  And we’ve got it in Jesus Christ.  That’s what Lutheranism is all about.  Our message is centered on a gift that is desperately needed and freely given.

This gift is enduring

            If you ever gave a toy as a gift to a child, you know that sometimes it takes five minutes, and it’s broken.  It’s more fun to give – and receive – a gift that will last.  The other day I was cleaning out the garage, and do you know what I found?  Our son’s skateboard.  It was in good shape, only a few scratches, and it still worked!  All we would have to do is slap on a bow or tie on some ribbon, and it would be good to go as a gift for the next generation to enjoy.

            Luther’s preaching and teaching came like a breath of fresh air amid the spiritual smog of the sixteenth century.  Luther’s enemies accused him of introducing new heresies.  They were wrong on two accounts.  His preaching wasn’t heresy, and it wasn’t new.  Luther got his message as a hand-me-down from the apostles.  They got it directly from Jesus.  In this Scripture passage the apostle was given a vision of a messenger proclaiming the eternal good news, that is, the good news of God’s gift of love for sinners.  Oh, how Luther thanked God for his enduring, old, but ever new, gift.  Listen to what he wrote as he commented on Galatians chapter one, “People are not to believe me, the church, the church fathers, the apostles, or even an angel from heaven if we teach anything contrary to the Word of God.  But the Word of God stands forever.”

            Isn’t it good to know that God’s message never changes?  It’s as old as the hills and yet, “The LORD’s ... compassions never fail; they are new every morning” (Lamentations 3:26).  Luther proclaimed what the messenger of John’s vision did, “Fear God, give him glory, and worship him.”  The message which Luther captured and conveyed in his preaching, teaching, orders of worship, and music is still ours to enjoy today, the ancient but ever new message of who Jesus is and what he did for us.  You iphone might wear out.  Your body will wear out, but this message goes on and on and never changes.  That’s what Lutheranism is all about.  Our message is centered on the enduring gift of God’s love to us in Christ Jesus.

This gift is precious

            Normally we would not be too happy with a hand-me-down.  But if the hand-me-down gift was a two hundred year old, hand-crafted, antique grandfather clock, we’d be pretty happy because that gift is precious and valuable.

            Twice in these verses the apostle used a word which emphasizes that God’s gift is really good news.  Luther learned well how precious and valuable God’s gift is.  The message of forgiveness is a treasure chest of infinite riches.  Luther opened up the Bible and out poured peace with God, the hope of heaven, certainty, confidence, and joy.  No wonder he never tired of championing the message that God saved us by grace alone, that his forgiveness becomes ours by faith alone, and that this good news comes to us by Scripture alone.  Oh, how Luther thanked God for this precious gift!  In his introduction to a commentary on Psalm 122, he wrote, “Among all the gifts from God the gift of the Word of God is the most valuable ... Without the Word and Christ the world would not continue to exist for one moment.  Therefore, though there are many great gifts of God in the world ... the one gift which includes and sustains all the others is the Word, which proclaims that God is merciful and promises forgiveness of sins and life everlasting.”

            God’s message may be a hand-me-down, but the treasure chest of his forgiveness will never empty out, nor has the value of God’s gift deflated since Luther’s day.  Open up your Bible, and God’s Word will still pour out peace with God, the sure hope of heaven, certainty, confidence in your walk with him in life, joy as you live for him.  Can you put a price tag on that?  That’s what Lutheranism is all about.  Our message is centered on the precious gift of God’s love.

This gift is practical

            The gift of an antique grandfather clock may be precious, but if you just put it on a shelf or on the mantel, and it doesn’t work, then it’s just another dust collector.

            God’s gift to Luther was not only precious but also practical.  Luther used the message of God’s Word as his platform for debate, his basis for confession, his guideline for instruction, his theme for hymn writing, and his mighty fortress when the devil attacked.  Oh, how Luther thanked God for his powerful and practical gift!  Even when church leaders and the emperor of Europe accused him of error, he responded, “Here I stand.  My conscience is captive to the Word of God.  I cannot and I will not retract anything.”

            God does not want this valuable gift packed in moth balls.  He didn’t give us his message of love to collect dust like some antique.  His message of tender forgiveness still works.  There are people sitting here today who will tell you, “My life had little meaning until I heard what Jesus did for me.  Now I can’t help sharing that with everyone I know.”  That’s what the apostle John saw in his vision, the message of God’s love for sinners working on hearts fromevery nation, tribe, language, and people.  At a time in history when many church bodies may be watering down God’s truth, you are sitting in a congregation which is part of a church body that still uses all of God’s Word as the basis for confession, the guideline for instruction, the theme for worship, and a mighty fortress when the devil attacks.  That’s why we want to share with everyone we meet.  And that’s what true Lutheranism is all about.  Our message is centered on the powerful and practical gift of God’s love for all.

            Yesterday marked the four hundred ninety-second anniversary of the Reformation.  Celebrating the Reformation of the church does not mean that we came here to honor a man.  Rather we are here to honor God who channeled his gift of undeserved mercy to us through Martin Luther.  God’s grace is what Lutheranism is all about.  True Lutheranism, and therefore our message, is centered on God’s gift of love in Christ Jesus.   Amen.

Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (www.gracedowntown.org) on November 1, 2009

Services

Sundays 7:45, 9:00 & 10:30 am

Mondays 6:30 pm

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church | 1209 North Broadway Milwaukee, WI 53202 | (414) 271-3006

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