Sermon -- Festival of the Lutheran Reformation (October 26, 2025)

JOHN 8:31-36

REMAIN IN HIS WORD.

In the name + of Jesus.

    Today, we are commemorating the beginning of the Lutheran Reformation which is marked by Martin Luther nailing the 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg.  It was an effort to correct an abuse which had been practiced in the church for some time.  What began as an invitation to debate ballooned into a full-scale overhaul of false teachings and poor practices.  Not that he asked for it, but Luther ended up being the main voice to reform a church that had gone off course.  Luther never intended to start anything new, but to reform and correct what already existed. 

     This was not the first time something like this had happened.  There has never been a golden age in the Christian Church when everything was peaceful and all was right.  Before the apostles had even died off, they had to write letters to Christian churches to correct false teachings and poor practices.  So, you’d think once those letters had been written and the New Testament books were completed, everything would be right.  You’d think so. 

     The devil has sown false teachings throughout the history of the Church.  The Church has had to go back to the Bible again and again make a clear confession and to correct error.  This is why Jesus told us, “If you remain in my word, you are really my disciples.  You will also know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32).  In order to be free from false doctrine and practice, we must remain in his word.

     When the devil sows false teachings, he does not usually tell bald face lies.  Those are easy to expose and refute.  So, the devil tries to make his voice sound like Jesus’ voice.  He will say things that sound true and reasonable and feel right.  That is why they are so dangerous.  If you lived down south, you’d be familiar with two snakes that look similar.  One is a water snake which is not venomous; the other is a cottonmouth which is venomous.  They may look similar, but one is deadly.  In the same way, Satan’s words sound good, but they are deadly.  That is why it is imperative to remain in Jesus’ word.

     In the early church, there was a teacher named Arius.  He taught that Jesus is not eternal God.  He argued that, if he is the only begotten son of the Father, then he had a birthday.  If he had a birthday, there was a time he did not exist.  That sounds reasonable.  So, the pastors of the day turned to God’s word to show that God the Son is eternal.  The point of being only begotten is not when, but what.  “Only begotten” expresses the unique relationship between the Father and the Son, which is eternal.  Having corrected that, you might think that everything was finally right.  You’d think so.

     Later, another teacher came along named Nestorius.  He tried to reason how Jesus could be God and man.  Nestorius reasoned that Jesus was half man and half God.  The man part, he said, was born, grew in knowledge and stature, suffered, and died.  But the God part did miracles and rose from the dead.  This splits Jesus in half.  The pastors of his day turned to God’s word to see what it said.  They confirmed and confessed that Jesus is one person but has two natures—fully human and fully divine.  So, we can say that God was born of a virgin and God died at the cross.  We can say that a man did miracles and overcame death.

     Maybe this all sounds like the kind of stuff left for pastors to debate and not for you to worry about.  But the truth is that your very salvation is at stake in these matters.  If Jesus is not God, then his death did not pay for your sins.  If Jesus is not man, then he is not a true substitute for you and death still has power over mankind.  This is why we remain in his teaching.  Jesus promised, “If you remain in my word, you are really my disciples.  You will also know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32).  

     The teachings of Arius and Nestorius and others led the Church off track.  Each time, pastors turned to God’s word to expose the false teachings and to confess the correct doctrine.  Through them, God preserved his Church and kept his people as Jesus’ disciples.  Having done that, you might think the Church was finally pure, that all was right, and that everyone was at peace.  You’d think so.  But the Church is constantly in need of being reformed and course corrected.  Even things that begin as good practices can go off the rails. 

     Say a man in the Middle Ages was grieved by his sins.  He would go to his priest, confess his sins, and receive absolution.  This is the faithful practice of the Church.  The priest may have told the man to amend his sinful life.  After all, forgiveness is not a license to return to your sins.  God calls us to godliness.  So, the admonition to amend one’s sinful life is also good, Christian practice.  But what should one do to make amends?  Suggestions were given.  Suggestions turned into requirements.  Eventually, forgiveness hinged on one’s works of satisfaction rather than on the divine promise. 

     Now, what if a person did not have time to make amends?  He was relegated to purgatory where he would be tormented and purged of whatever wickedness still clung to him at death (even though there is no support in God’s word for purgatory).  After a while, gifts could be given to shorten one’s time in purgatory.  The sale of indulgences was born—a certificate pledging that the Pope would reduce one’s time in purgatory.  These indulgences were soon extended to cover deceased relatives.  Would you really let your mother languish in purgatory any longer than she had to?  Christians were being taught that freedom from God’s judgment was a commodity to be purchased rather than to trust in Jesus’ sufferings, death, and resurrection for the payment of sin.  Indulgences also encouraged Christians to give up good works and to engage in sins.  After all, if you could be exonerated for a few bucks, why strive for godliness?

     This is the church that Martin Luther grew up in.  He challenged all of this, even though it was a practice that had been established for years.  If the Pope truly had authority over the souls in purgatory, Martin Luther asked, “Why does not the pope empty purgatory, for the sake of holy love and of the dire need of the souls that are there”? (95 Theses, Thesis #82).  Luther returned to God’s word to uphold true doctrine and to promote practices that were in accord with it.  He did not seek to stir up trouble, but to correct a Church that had gone off course.  Sadly, the powers had no interest in this correction.  Luther begged to be shown from the Bible where he had erred.  He was not given an answer, just a command to be silent.  When he would not be silent because he sought to relieve troubled souls of their guilt and fears, he was excommunicated.  Nevertheless, he remained in Jesus’ words and fiercely proclaimed it so that people would remain Jesus’ disciples.  After all that, you might think that the Church finally had peace and all was right—at least, in one segment of the Church.  You’d think so.

     Satan never ceases to deceive.  The attack on the Church never stops.  More than anything, the devil wants people to be enslaved to him and blinded by his lies.  That is why we must always remain in Jesus’ word.  St. Paul wrote, “All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, well equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).  We remain in Jesus’ word so that we receive the correction we need for doctrine, practice, and, in particular, for our own lives.  You may not have to give an answer for the faithfulness of the Church, but you will have to give an answer for the faithfulness of yourself.  Whenever God’s word corrects and admonishes you, repent.  This is crucial for salvation.

     “Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you remain in my word, you are really my disciples.  You will also know the truth, and the truth will set you free’” (John 8:31-32).  We might ask, “Free from what?”  Jesus sets us free from our sin.  We rightly stand under God’s judgment for our sin because we are guilty.  As we confess, we deserve his punishment both now and in eternity.  But Jesus has delivered us from the punishment and the curse of sin.  He bore the curse in his body when he hung from the cross.  He absorbed God’s condemning wrath for us so that we receive a pardon for all our guilt.  You are not condemned; you are free.

     Jesus also sets us free from death.  Sure, the grave may hold you for a brief while, but Jesus has overcome death in his resurrection.  This man assures that all mankind will escape the grave.  All will be raised up by his command on the Last Day.  In the end, death and the grave get nothing.  All who believe in Jesus and are baptized, however, will be given life everlasting.  Death does not own you.  Jesus does.  You are free.

     Jesus also sets you free from your fears.  There is a lot that can strike fear into our hearts—death, war, virus, violence, loss of a job, loss of a familiar lifestyle, loss of loved ones, and so on.  While all of these can be painful and sorrowful, none of these moves God’s promises even one inch.  An older translation of Martin Luther’s hymn, A Mighty Fortress, says, “And take they our life, goods, fame, child, and wife, let these all be gone.  They yet have nothing won” (stanza 4).  That’s not to say Luther did not love his wife and children.  It is to say even if they were taken from him or killed, God’s promises still remain.  As dear as our family and friends are, they don’t save us.  Jesus does.  And if our family and friends believe in Jesus, we actually don’t lose them at all.  They may be taken from this world, but they are not lost to Jesus.  At the resurrection, we get them back.  So, you need not fear.  If you are in God’s hands, you are safe.  To remain in God’s hands, remain in his word. 

     The devil will always deceive.  Jesus always tells you the truth.  His word corrects us and his Church when we begin to wander.  This correction is necessary and should be welcome so that we do not lose what we have been given.  And perhaps something that deserves correction for us is our reluctance to confess God’s word.  In an effort to preserve God’s word among us, we can find ourselves in a holy huddle of sorts, reluctant to let others in.  Dear Christian friends, God has not entrusted us with his word to hoard it, but to proclaim it.  The devil has influenced many Christians to alter God’s word.  Many prefer what feels good, what sounds good, or what our society says.  These are the very things that misled God’s people in the past.  The only way Satan’s lies can be countered is by God’s truth.  It is ours to confess.  So, remain in God’s word so that you remain Jesus’ disciples, so that your confession is true, and so that you confidently live in the Lord’s favor.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.