The oracle that the prophet Habakkuk saw. 2 O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? 3 Why do you make me see wrongdoing and look at trouble? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. 4 So the law becomes slack and justice never prevails. The wicked surround the righteous– therefore judgment comes forth perverted. […]
I will stand at my watchpost, and station myself on the rampart; I will keep watch to see what he will say to me, and what he will answer concerning my complaint. 2 Then the LORD answered me and said: Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it. 3 For there is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end, and does not lie. If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay. 4 Look at the proud! Their spirit is not right in them, but the righteous live by their faith. – Habakkuk 1:1-4 and 2:1-4
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[Jesus] entered Jericho and was passing through it. 2 A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. 5 When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. 7 All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” 8 Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” 9 Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” – Luke 19:1-10
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Today is the beginning of three holidays in a row! Today is Reformation Sunday, the anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation; tomorrow is All Hallows Eve, or ‘Halloween’ as we call it these days, and then November 1 is All Saints Day. We will be observing All Saints Day in our churches next Sunday by reading the names of all the saints from our church and from our families and friends and neighborhoods who have gone to be with the Lord this past year.
But today we look back at the beginnings of the Protestant church. We remember the day, 505 years ago today, when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany, and this action started the Protestant Reformation.
Personally I’ve always thought tacking a message to the door of a church was kind of an odd thing to do. Why did Luther choose this method of raising a protest? What is the significance of putting a piece of paper on a church door? And why do we still remember it 505 years later?
As I found answers to these questions I want to say first off that a lot has happened in 505 years. And if there are any practicing Catholics here today, or ex-Catholics, or families of Catholics, I want to say this sermon is not meant to be anti-Catholic. The Catholic tradition has had a rich heritage for over 2000 years. And FWIW I support the efforts of the members of our local parish to reopen – I believe this neighborhood is a lesser place without a Roman Catholic church in it.
But what we’re looking at today is what happened 500 years ago. On that day, Martin Luther was troubled. Luther started out his education studying to be a lawyer – which was what his dad wanted him to do – but after a close call with a lightning bolt, Luther decided to become a monk instead. And he brought all his intellectual lawyer training with him into his life as a monk and later as a priest.
Luther wanted more than anything to know God, and to be sure about the truth of God’s word. So he learned and studied and finally became a Doctor of Theology and a professor at Wittenberg University.
But throughout this process Luther had no peace in his heart. He was not happy to just believe what he had been told to believe. He wanted reasons for his faith. And he wanted to know how a person could be sure of God’s word and of getting into heaven. He learned Greek and Hebrew so he could read the Bible in its original languages. And as he did this, reading from the original languages, two things really stood out to him:
- He was a sinner and he was not living up to God’s standards; and
- His life as a monk and as a priest, and the people he reported to, were not helping to solve this problem.
Luther wrestled for years with the problem of sin. How does one go about being forgiven? Finally one day he came across a verse in the book of Romans (written by the apostle Paul) where the Paul quoted our reading from Habakkuk. The verse said: “the righteous shall live by faith.” Luther suddenly realized that there is absolutely nothing a person can do to earn God’s favor or to earn their way into heaven. Jesus took care of every sin and every shortcoming for us on the cross, and faith is the only way to respond to God. Trusting in God is what every believer is called to do. So “[Luther] began to teach that salvation… is a gift of God’s grace, [which can only be received] through faith in Jesus as the Messiah.”[1]
As soon as Luther became convinced of this, he also became very aware that there were some teachings in the Catholic Church back then (and the Catholic Church was, at that time, the only ‘legit’ church in Europe) – teachings that were leading people away from faith in Jesus.
The biggest issue for Luther was the practice of selling indulgences. Indulgences were (according to the church) a way of giving money in order to get someone who had died closer to heaven or even into heaven. There was a saying back in Luther’s day that went “As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory into heaven springs.”
The church back then was teaching that when a person died they didn’t go straight to heaven, but they passed through a region called Purgatory, where all their sins from life would be burned away and they would be purified. (The word ‘purgatory’ literally means ‘fire pit’.) So the more sinful a person was, the more time they would spend in purgatory getting their sins burned off before they went to heaven.
The church was then telling people after someone you cared about died, you could get them through purgatory faster by giving money to the church on that person’s behalf. And who wouldn’t want to help get their relative or their loved one get out of a place of fire? So of course people gave all kinds of money to buy their friends and relatives out of purgatory.
Luther, however, being a student of the Bible, knew ‘purgatory’ wasn’t in the Bible, and he saw right through this. He saw it for the money grab that it was. He saw it as one more example of rich, educated people taking advantage of the poor. So on that Sunday 505 years ago Luther nailed to the church door 95 reasons why indulgences were unfair and should be done away with. And the bottom line of his argument was that only God can forgive sins and save a person’s soul. Only God. No priest has that power. No church has that power. No organization has that power. No donation has that power, no matter how generous. No good deeds have that power. It doesn’t matter who you know or who prays for you. Only God can forgive sins. Only God.
The 95 Theses that Martin Luther nailed to the door that morning were the arguments of an educated man meant for other educated men. It was an invitation to intellectual debate among the seminarians and university professors. They were not meant for the Vatican or the Pope… but they got there anyway.
And the Pope was not happy. Luther was taken to court, his life was threatened; and he spent most of the rest of his life in the protection of rich noblemen who liked him and could afford to defend him from his attackers. For the next 100 years, all of Europe argued over what Luther had said. They even fought wars over it.
But I’m not here to talk about the history of Europe; I’m here to talk about Martin Luther and what he said. Later in our service today we will be singing a hymn written by Martin Luther. It’s called A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. I’ve always felt that this hymn has in it basically everything Luther believed in and wanted us to know. It sums up Christian faith. So I wanted to talk through this hymn, and if you want to follow along, it’s hymn #110 in our hymnals, and you can follow with me and see what he wrote.
Martin Luther wrote:
“A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing”
For the person who believes in Jesus, God protects us the way a stone wall protects a city: no enemies can get through.
“Our helper, He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing.”
All the things that go wrong in this world – violence, sickness, hatred, prejudice, death – God stands with us through all of these things, helping us get through them.
“For still our ancient foe” – that’s the devil – “doth seek to work us woe” – that is, he tries to harm us.
Not because we’re of any importance to him, but because he hates God and God loves us. And what better way is there to hurt God than to hurt the people God loves?
“His (that is, the devil’s) craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal” “Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing”
None of us can beat evil without God. We’re not strong enough to win this fight by ourselves.
“Were not the right man on our side, the man of God’s own choosing.”
There is somebody on our side who is strong enough to handle all these things and to keep us safe in God’s kingdom
“Doth ask who that may be? Christ Jesus it is he – Lord Sabaoth his name, from age to age the same, and he must win the battle.”
Again, there’s this belief of Luther’s from scripture, that only trusting in God and trusting in Jesus will save us. Faith alone.
“And though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us”
This world is a dangerous place. It was back in Luther’s day, and it still is today. BUT…
“We will not fear, for God has willed his truth to triumph through us”
Jesus will win the battle through us. We’re in this together.
“The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him – his rage we can endure, for lo his doom is sure; one little word shall fell him.”
We’re not scared, because we know who’s going to win. And that one word is “Jesus”.
“That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth”
The Word of God does not depend on us, or on our churches, or on our money, or on our giving, or on our connections, or on our organizations – the Word of God lives. Jesus lives.
“The Spirit and the gifts are ours, through him who with us sideth”
With Jesus on our side, the Holy Spirit is with us, and in us, and the gifts of baptism and communion are given to us to strengthen us.
“Let goods and kindred go; this mortal life also; the body they may kill; God’s truth abideth still; his kingdom is forever.”
Luther knew what he was talking about when he said ‘the body they may kill’. They could have killed him for the things he said. By God’s grace that didn’t happen, but others have given their lives for the faith. No matter what, in life or in death, God’s truth stands.
And God’s kingdom really is forever. I think those of us who live in a democracy sometimes forget what a kingdom is all about, and that that’s where we’re heading. The kingdom is not a metaphor, it’s a reality. There are powers on this earth; and there is the kingdom of God. To be Christian is to choose God’s kingdom and to serve Jesus as King and Lord.
I read something recently in the book of Luke (12:35) that I’d never noticed before. Jesus advises his followers to be what he calls “watchful servants”. In countries that have kings and queens, the job of a royal servant is to watch the king or queen like a hawk and anticipate his or her next move, and be there in advance with whatever is going to be needed. It requires the servant to have an intimate knowledge of the king or queen, as well as complete focus in the moment. It’s a wonderful picture of what we are called to do as followers of King Jesus.
But back to Martin Luther. Luther knew that saying these things – and living them out in daily life – could get a person in trouble and might even get a person killed. Luther was not killed. But almost 500 years later they did succeed in killing a young man who was named after him: Martin Luther King. Martin Luther King was asking the same question the prophet Habakkuk asked all those years ago: “How long, O Lord? How long?”
It’s OK to ask God this question when times get rough. It is not a sign of doubt; it is a question that faith asks. Martin Luther King asked this question on the steps of the state capital of Montgomery AL: “How long will justice be crucified and truth be buried?… How long?” And he came back with the answer from scripture: “not long – because no lie can live forever….”
This is the same message God gave Habakkuk in our reading this morning. Habakkuk asks: “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help? Why do you make me see wrongdoing and look at trouble… the law becomes slack and justice never prevails…” (that was almost 3000 years ago!)
And God answers in chapter 2:
“if it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay. As for the proud, their spirit is not right in them; but the righteous will live by faith.”
In every generation and in every time, reform and faith begin with hearing God’s word and believing God’s promises. They begin when we let the Bible speak for itself, and when we take God’s words seriously.
In every generation and every time, setting things right is not a popular thing to do. The powers that be are deeply invested in keeping things the way they are. And the powers that be are very good at tossing up distractions and convincing people that God needs our help to set things right – which has the end result of making people feel desperate.
Anything that might distract us from Jesus or from following Jesus needs to be left by the wayside, because salvation is by faith in Jesus: faith alone in Jesus alone. There is no other way. There is no “yes, but…”. Jesus is the beginning, the middle, and the end of our faith. And as we saw in our gospel reading this morning, anyone can be invited – even a miserable old tax collector. If Jesus would invite Zacchaeus to lunch, Jesus would invite anybody to lunch. None of us is so bad that Jesus would turn us away.
A wise friend said this past week: “Habakkuk gives us permission to wrestle with God about the injustices we see; and in Luke, Zacchaeus shows us how Jesus executes [both] justice and mercy.”[2]
Jesus said: “The Son of Man has come to seek and save the lost.” Therefore, like Habakkuk, we “will stand at [the] watchpost… [and] keep watch to see…” what the Lord will do.
And with the words of Martin Luther we praise God, our mighty fortress: confident that the righteous will live by faith. AMEN.
Preached at Carnegie United Methodist Church and Hill Top United Methodist Church, 10/30/22
[1] Wikipedia, Martin Luther
[2] Cariño Casas, CMJ
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