church

INI
REFORMATION SUNDAY
November 1, 2009
Ascension Lutheran Church, Tacoma WA
Paul Naumann, Pastor

A Reformation Challenge:
HOLD FAST TO THE TRUTH!
Hebrews 10:23-25

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Our text for this Reformation Sunday comes from the Letter to the Hebrews,
chapter ten, beginning with the 23rd verse, as follows:

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who
promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and
good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the
manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see
the Day approaching. Here ends our text.

In Christ Jesus, Who said, "If you continue in My Word, then you are My
disciples indeed," Dear Fellow Redeemed,

In the year 1507, a Roman Catholic monk named Martin Luther was -- well, I
guess you'd have to say he was losing his grip! He was convinced that God
hated him. He imagined Jesus Christ was a fierce Judge, just waiting for a
chance to condemn him to hell for his sins. So Brother Martin tried to make up
for those sins. He prayed for hours. He fasted, going for days on end without so
much as a morsel of food. He slept on the cold stone floor of his monastery cell
without a blanket. He whipped himself until the blood ran, hoping that,
somehow, he could pay for his sins and please God. But nothing worked - he
found no assurance of eternal life in these things. He just felt more and more
desperate, more and more guilty.

Then one day he was reading the Bible, and his eye happened to fall on the
seventeenth verse of the first chapter of Romans. There he read the simple
words, "The just shall live by faith." Luther said, "It was if the gates of heaven
swung open to receive me!" Suddenly he realized that no one can earn God's
favor by doing good works; eternal life can only come through faith in Jesus
Christ.

The Lutheran Reformation happened because one godly man got a firm hold on
God's truth. He held on tight, and wouldn't let go for anything. Today, on
Reformation Sunday, we remember the man and the movement. And today, the
writer to the Hebrews urges us to do the same thing Martin Luther did. In the
words of our theme, the Holy Spirit is issuing us --
A Reformation Challenge:
HOLD FAST TO THE TRUTH!
I. Don't loosen up
II. Get strength from God's promise
III. Give strength to one another

If you ask me, there's a lot to be said for a good, firm handshake. Isn't it true?
When someone takes you firmly by the hand, it gives a good feeling of strength
and confidence. Well, that's the kind of hold God wants each of us to have on
the truth He gives us in the Bible. He wants each of us Christians - from the
pastor, to the church council, to the housewives, to the smallest child - to hold
on tightly to what the Bible teaches.

Does anybody disagree with that? Of course not - everyone here would stand
up for that 100%. We confess our faith in what God's Word teaches, and we
hold on tight to that confession, come what may. But saying it is a lot easier
than doing it. Notice that Paul's admonition contains a note of warning: Let us
hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering... He's saying, "Once
you've got a firm hold on the truth, DON'T LOOSEN UP!

For many years I followed the sport of competitive pistol shooting. In that
sport, grip is everything. Competitors know that to grip the weapon firmly and
do it the same way every time is absolutely essential to controlling your fire and
shooting accurately. Obviously, if you take a loose and careless grip on a
large-bore handgun, you risk not only losing the match, but possibly injuring
yourself or someone else! Did you know that the Bible describes God’s Word,
too, in terms of a powerful weapon? It says, The word of God is quick, and
powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing
asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of
the thoughts and intents of the heart. Heb 4:12. And it goes without saying that
it's terribly dangerous to loosen your hold on God’s Word, to take it for granted,
or to use it carelessly.

That's the hard part. We all want to be disciples of Christ, but a lot of people
don’t realize the most important thing about being a disciple. What is that?
Jesus tells us Himself: “If you continue in My Word, then are ye My disciples
indeed, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

As disciples of our Lord, we are to strengthen our hold on God’s Word, to
continue faithfully in the sound doctrine of Scripture. But that’s not always
easy. If you hold on tight to your religious confession, and refuse to loosen up
even a little, you're not going to be a very popular person. Martin Luther found
that out. After he broke with the Roman Catholic Church, various people tried
to get him to compromise his stand on a few of the so-called "minor articles" of
doctrine, for the sake of joining forces with other Christians. But when it came
to God's truth, Luther flatly refused to loosen his hold. "One article of faith is
all articles and all articles are one," he said, "and if one article is lost, gradually
all will be lost." And to prove that, we need look no farther than the history of
the Lutheran church in our country. In the ELCA, for example: seminary
professors aren't even allowed to teach that the Bible is without error. They've
strayed so far from the truth that they recently decided to allow practicing
homosexuals to serve as pastors in the church. Some of their pastors and
professors even say that Jesus never rose physically from the dead! How did
things get so bad in that church? Satan didn't take all their doctrines away at
once. He took them gradually. He loosened their hold on God's Word slowly,
one doctrine at a time, until eventually the most precious gems of the Gospel
had slipped through their fingers. Remember the nature of false teaching. False
doctrine is not like dynamite, exploding all of a sudden. The Apostle Paul says
false doctrine is like cancer: it starts out slow, but eventually it infects and
destroys everything.

Could that ever happen to our Church of the Lutheran Confession? That's for
you to decide - you're the CLC members, after all! It's for you to say whether
this church body holds on tight to the teachings of the Bible, or slowly loosens
its hold by allowing the cancer of false doctrine to get in and go to work.

How can we meet the challenge? How can we strengthen our hold on the
truth? Our text tells us. "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without
wavering, for He who promised is faithful." Remember the central promise of
Scripture, and remember the faithfulness of the One who makes it. Get strength
from God's promise!

Where alone can we get the strength to "hold fast to our faith without
wavering"? The promise of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. That's the
precious treasure of this Lutheran church. In the words of one of our old
Lutheran hymns we confess, "Christ is our Cornerstone; on Him alone we
build!" When we come before the Lord here in church, or in our prayers at
home, we come knowing full well that we are sinful human beings. We
acknowledge that we've fallen far short of what God's Law demands. But we
also come knowing that God will forgive us, for Christ's sake. His blood and
righteousness covers us. We love to hear the story of the cross over and over
again, because we know that's where the promise of our eternal salvation lies.

That's the promise that strengthens us: the promise of the cross. It's an ironclad
contract we have with God that He will never hold our sins against us. He
can't. Indeed, He can't do it -- because those sins were nailed to the cross with
Jesus on Good Friday. When He gasped, "It is finished!" - at that moment His
work of paying for our sins was completed.

Do you ever find your faith weakening? Does your conscience ever bother you
and make you wonder whether or not you'll really be saved? Do you ever feel
yourself such a sinful, miserable failure that you find yourself questioning
whether the gracious promises in this Book really apply to you? At times like
that I want you to ask yourself one question: "Are my sins so great that the
death of God's Son couldn't pay for them?" It sounds ridiculous when you put it
that way, doesn't it? And it is ridiculous! Your sins have truly all been atoned
for. Your place in heaven is guaranteed! It's as delightfully simple as the words
of John in his first epistle: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

So if you are a sinner, if your past record contains countless sins and
shortcomings, flaws and failures, mistakes and missteps, then I have only one
thing to say to you: welcome to Ascension Lutheran Church. You're going to fit
right in at this place! Because, you know, that’s the reason all of us come here,
Sunday after Sunday. Not because we're so good, but because we're so bad! Not
because we’re perfect, but because we’re imperfect, sinful and in desperate need
of God’s help. We don’t come here because we’re such wonderful people; we
come here because we have such a wonderful Savior! Where He is, there we
must be. Like Mary of Bethany, who sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to His Word,
we must be where our Savior is speaking to us the word of life. With
consciences burdened by sin we come to God’s house, longing to hear our
Savior say to us what he said to the sinful woman: “Neither do I condemn you.”
Nor are we disappointed! For as often as we come here before our Lord, humbly
confessing our sin and seeking His pardon, so often do we hear His gentle word
of forgiveness and absolution. Regardless of your wretched condition, regardless
of your past life and the sins you’ve committed, whenever you come to God in
repentance, He washes your iniquity clean in the blood of your Savior. Is not
this a wonder?! Is not our God a gracious and merciful God?! The prophet
Micah asks, Who is a God like You, Pardoning iniquity And passing over the
transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger
forever, Because He delights in mercy. 19 He will again have compassion on us,
And will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the
sea. -- Mic 7:18-19.

That's the heart of the Gospel - salvation by faith in Christ alone. That was the
basis of the Reformation five hundred years ago, and that's what still makes our
pure, Lutheran confession worth fighting fiercely to uphold! By God's pure
grace we have been brought to know the love of Jesus -- can we now turn
around and take His Word lightly? Can we pick and choose which of His
teachings we will hold on to and which we will let go by the wayside? Never.
Jesus Himself tells us, "Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit, teaching them to observe ALL THINGS THAT I HAVE
COMMANDED YOU." Mt 28:19-20. We will not loosen our hold. We will
continue to hold on tightly to all the teachings of the Bible, for they are to us
pure gold and precious jewels. And we will continue to find strength in the
Word and promises of God!

But our text tells us of another way that our congregation can strengthen its
hold on the truth. It says, Let us consider one another in order to stir up love
and good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the
manner of some; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as you see
the day approaching. Not only does God impart strength to us through His
Word, He also enables us as Christians to give strength to one another.

Whenever someone mentions an unbreakable bond, I always think of that
Crazy Glue commercial - you know, the one where a construction worker is
hanging by his hard hat from a steel girder. Supposedly, that's the kind of
unbreakable bond that one spot of Crazy Glue can provide. Well that may or
may not be true, but as Christians, all of us in this congregation are bonded
tightly to one another. And our common faith is the "glue" that holds us
together. As a congregation, we have a firm hold on the truth, and our challenge
this Reformation Sunday is to help make that mutual bond tighter and stronger
than ever. Well, how can we do that?

For one thing, we can "consider one another." That means thinking about
these people around you. Is there someone here who needs help? Offer your
help. Someone who could use an encouraging word from a fellow Christian?
Stop in for a visit and remind them of God's promises. Someone who's in
financial straits? Look into your heart and your checkbook; maybe you can
assist them with some of the bounty that the Lord has given you. That's the way
to "stir up one another to love and good works!"

Our worship on Sundays is an especially important way to strengthen each
other's hold on the truth. The writer to the Hebrews says, "Do not forsake the
assembling of yourselves together." We all know that attendance at Sunday
worship is a means to strengthen our own faith, but let me remind you how
much your presence does to strengthen the faith of your fellow members. You
know what it's like to worship here when this place is full of people. It's so
encouraging to stand side-by-side with our fellow Christians, to confess our
faith together, to listen to God's Word together, to pray and sing together, to
build each other up in the Gospel! Do you want to add some glue to this bond
of fellowship? -Then don't deprive us of the encouragement of your presence!
Put first things first. Let Sunday mornings find you here, in God's house, joining
in the praises of your Savior.

"And so much the more," the writer says, "as you see the Day approaching."
Judgment Day could come at any time. If it comes on a Sunday morning, I guess
it's pretty safe to say where I'll be - I'll be in God's house. Let us all be found in
God's house, not just on Reformation Sunday but every Sunday, drinking in the
water of life -- and strengthening our hold on the truth! AMEN.