The Man of Lawlessness and His Conqueror - Sermon for the 22nd Sunday after Pentecost

 Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost
November 9^th, A+D 2025
Our Redeemer and Our Savior’s Lutheran Churches
Custer and Hill City, SD
The Man of Lawlessness, and the His Conqueror
2 Thessalonians 2:1-17, Luke 20:27-40, Genesis 3:1-15

 Audio of the sermon is available HERE.

 

    Our texts this morning provide us with a remarkable array of meaty topics: mystery and promise and power and mercy.  We heard the Malach Yahweh, the Angel of the Lord, who, from within the mysteriously burning-but-not-consumed bush, speaks to Moses as God.  Now, ‘angel’ means, most basically, ‘messenger,’ so if the Angel of the Lord who speaks as God makes you think of the Word made flesh, the eternal Son, God’s very best Messenger, then you are in good company.  That God from the burning bush goes on to identify Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, not two, nor four, but three patriarchs, offers us a foreshadowing of the Holy Trinity, the Three-in-One, God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the glorious mystery which Jesus would later fully reveal. 

     As Moses tries to avoid God’s call to service, complaining that he doesn’t even know how to identify God to the Israelites, the Lord reveals that the essence of being is God; I AM who I AM, the One from whom all things exist, Yahweh Almighty.  And yet, this Almighty Existing Source of all things is also loving and merciful.  He is the God who hears the cries of His people, hears the cries of the Israelites, enslaved in Egypt.  And the Lord acts.  Good news!  The Creator, the all-powerful and all-knowing Source of all stuff, and life, and order, is also merciful and caring. 

     From Luke 20 we get a ringside seat to a political and religious debate, a bunch of inside baseball info on first century Jewish life.  We also hear the blasphemy of sarcasm from unbelieving priests.  We are shocked to hear from time to time of pastors in Christian churches today who admit they do not believe in the Christian God, but here we see this problem is ancient.  These priests, called Sadducees, had been taken in by Greek philosophies, which hate the material, created world, and so reject any physical resurrection.  These wise fools challenge the Lord of Life and Bridegroom of the Church, by mocking both the notion of eternal life, and levirate marriage as taught by Moses, in the Torah, the Law.  Levirate marriage meant that Israelite brothers were committed to marry their childless, widowed sister-in-law, in order to raise up offspring for their deceased brother.  The lawless Sadducees ignore Moses, and treat both Heaven and Holy Marriage like foolish fables, smugly thinking they can confound Jesus, who is the Wisdom of God made flesh, through Whom all things were created and ordered.   

     Jesus responds to the Sadducees with the proclamation of the resurrection of the dead, the promise that the Lord of Life will not leave His children moldering in the grave.  Those who believe in Christ Jesus have life, now, and forever and ever, Amen. 

    Lots of great stuff.  But I want to talk about the “man of lawlessness.”  Paul in his second letter to Thessalonica talks about the man of lawlessness, the “anthropos anomía,” in Greek, which sounds like a character from a science fiction novel.  But it’s way worse than that.  The man of lawlessness is the one who will take his seat in the temple of God, and exalt himself, to the point of claiming to be God himself.  

   Since for today’s sermon, I wanted us to reflect on the man of lawlessness and the end of this age, I added back in four verses that our appointed readings left out.  The suggestion for our Epistle today is 2^nd Thessalonians 2:1-8 and 13-17, skipping over verses 9 – 12.  The lectionary committee for the LSB hymnal, the group of pastors who picked our assigned readings for this morning, for reasons I do not know, thought we should skip over some of the most detailed explanation that Paul gives concerning the dynamics of these End Times, the struggle for souls between God and Satan.  According to their suggestion, we get to hear of the man of lawlessness, but not the details of the deeper reality unfolding in the spiritual realm.  For the lawless one, while frightening, is just a pawn in a much larger battle.  

   There are important truths in verses 9 – 12, so I added them back in.  The mystery of lawlessness is already at work, warns Paul, and in 9-12 he lays out how Satan works through lawlessness, and what the stakes are for souls.  This is uncomfortable teaching, but also important, for all people.  So, with the Spirit’s help, this morning we will grow in our understanding of these End Times. 

    And that is an important place to start: the reality that the End Times are not some future event.  Already in St. Peter’s sermon at Pentecost, and throughout the Book of Acts and rest of the New Testament, the Last Days or the End Times are not a future event, but a current reality.  To be sure, from Matthew to Revelation, the Holy Spirit teaches us that just before the Last Day there will be a heightening of conflict, a greater persecution of the true Church by the forces of Satan.  Paul in today’s epistle calls that the rebellion, and the revelation of the man of lawlessness seated in the Temple of God.  That is to say, the lawless one will be a church leader, who openly rejects Christ and His teaching, who denies God, and in the end sets himself up as God. 

    The reformers of the sixteenth century saw that the Pope, ruling over Church, but denying the Gospel, was displaying this spirit of lawlessness.  But just before the End, a worse man of lawlessness will be revealed.  And then Jesus will come visibly, one last time. 

      The End Times began at the bodily Ascension of Jesus to the right hand of God the Father, and they will end, the Last Day will come, when Jesus returns bodily, riding on the clouds, to slay the lawless one with the breath of His mouth, that is, with His mighty Word.  At that time the new heavens and the new earth will be revealed, and then all of God’s chosen, all those who have believed the truth of our utter sinfulness, but also trust in Jesus’ blood-bought forgiveness, all of them will be transformed and gathered into God’s eternal glory, forever and ever, Amen. 

     In the meantime, until that blessed Day, the dynamics that will be concluded on the Last Day, the struggle between dark and light, the battle for human souls, continues.  No one knows when the Last Day will be; stop listening, right away, to anyone who claims to know, for they are directly contradicting Jesus Himself, and are not on the side of God.  We don’t know when, but we do know how things will turn out.  Jesus wins, completely, and so do all who are joined to Him, all who long for and love His appearing, all who trust in Christ alone for forgiveness, life and salvation. 

      We have reason to rejoice about the End Times, because we know the final result.  But this does not mean they are not frightening.  Verses 9-12 also describe some activity by God during these End Times that we would prefer not to wrestle with.  This could be one reason they were left out of our appointed reading.  But Paul knows better what we need to hear. 

     Paul declares that Jesus, when He returns visibly, will slay and bring to nothing the lawless one.  In the end, God and His people win.  But in the meantime, the coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, ^[10] and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

    As Jesus taught in the Gospels, false-christs will come, working great signs and wonders, so as to deceive, if it were possible, even the elect, even God’s chosen children.  The Apostle John in his letters coins the term antichrist.  The beasts of Revelation, the man of lawlessness, various antichrists already at lose in the world, and the Antichrist, these are all part of the same satanic effort to separate sinners from God, forever.  The spirit of lawlessness already at work in the world and the lawless one who will be revealed right before the end reflect this same reality, worked by Satan. 

   And, the Lord Almighty allows the toothless dragon to continue spewing lies to deceive sinners.  That’s hard to swallow.  Why does God allow this? 

     We don’t know.  It is part of His overall good and gracious plan of salvation, we know that.  But the Holy Spirit in His Word never explains ‘why’ about a number of hard things, including this one.  I suspect our still-fallen minds would not be able to understand.  In any case, faith doesn’t demand an explanation to something God has left a mystery for now.  Faith instead clings to the clear promises of God in Christ Jesus, for in these we have life. 

     But Paul is not done saying hard things.  In verses 11 and 12 he writes that to the unbelievers, (those who refuse to love the truth) God sends a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, ^[12] in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.  How can a loving God send a delusion to unbelievers, when He desires that all people turn from their sins and live?  Well, certainly one key point for us to remember is that God’s truth and His love cannot be separated.  Those who, for love of unrighteousness, for love of their favorite sins, refuse the truth are also cutting themselves off from God’s love.  Apart from the work of Christ Jesus, this would be everyone, all people, including you, and you, and me. 

    Paul is not teaching that God before time chose against some souls, that before the Creation He predestined some to damnation.  The Bible does not teach that.  Paul here is speaking of God’s actions in these End Times, in this sinful world, where every sinner, based on their own works and merit, deserves God’s present and eternal punishment.  God did not predestine anyone to damnation, and He continues to work to rescue more sinners from eternal death.  But tragically, many refuse.    

   To be sure, there is a strong warning in Paul’s words:  In this world where God has made known His existence and power, and has caused His Gospel of free forgiveness to be widely proclaimed, those who reject Him must beware.  Eventually, God will give the soul that continually rejects the His Word exactly what they are asking for, a delusion to firmly believe what is false.

     Do we see such a delusion, such a spirit of lawlessness at work in our world today?  Very much, and in many ways.  Remember that part of God’s Law is simply His ordering of the Creation, the way He has made things to be.  Sinful men and women have always been rebelling against God’s design for marriage, family, and sexuality.  Whether that is by treating Holy Marriage as a joke, like the Sadducees, or redefining it down to meet our basest desires, like no-fault divorce, under Satan’s influence, we humans have rejected God’s way, His ordering, His law, again and again. 

     In the Church, a lie called “Gospel reductionism” has gutted the proclamation of many formerly faithful churches, and led to the mass exodus of many souls.  Gospel reductionists pretend to be so Christ focused, they have discovered that the Law of God is no longer necessary, nor even helpful.  All we need to do, they say, is speak of Jesus and His love; there is no need to accuse people of sin. 

    But Jesus’ love is forgiving love.  The eternal Son dying on a Cross to pay for our sins makes no sense if God’s Law is not true and applicable and eternal.  And our sinful nature loves to hear that sin is not such a big deal anymore.  Gospel reductionist churches quickly evolve to sin-denying churches.  Blending your faith with pagan religions?  That’s o.k.  Choosing to end innocent lives in the womb, for the sake of the convenience of adults?  Who are we to judge?  Endorsing any and every possible lifestyle, regardless of God’s Word?  I mean, Jesus loves us, so how can our feelings be wrong?  That these and other lies have gained prominence within Christian churches makes it no surprise that in our broader culture, chaos and darkness and the celebration of depravity reign.  

     So, what are Christians to do?  First of all, give thanks to God, who has graciously chosen us as firstfruits to be saved, through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, giving us faith, belief in the truth of Jesus, faith worked in us by the Word, including through the washing of water with the Word. 

     Give thanks to God for saving you, and also be wise to recognize that He did this through His Law and Gospel.  Christians are not lawless, but rather we uphold God’s Law and His ordering of creation and life, both for ourselves, and for others.  For we know that coming to believe in Jesus requires a recognition of our sins and sinfulness, which brings us to repent, and makes us ready to hear the Good News of the Savior. 

     Paul exhorts us to hold fast to the traditions, the Gospel truths handed down by Jesus through His Apostles: the tradition of proclaiming the whole counsel of God’s Word, the Creation, the Fall, Redemption in Christ, and the coming age.  Both God’s Law, to reveal the truth of our sin, and His Gospel, His Good News that in Christ there is free forgiveness for all who believe.  The super-abundant grace and wisdom of connecting this Gospel to physical means, water, wheat and wine, so that we fleshly, tangible creatures can also know God’s love through tangible, earthly things.  Though veiled in human voices, and hidden under water, bread and wine, Christ Jesus truly brings His Last Day victory to us, whenever we gather around His traditions.  So, of course we hold fast to these traditions of Jesus, which create new hearts in us, and lead us to also love others, as Jesus has loved us. 

     As we cling to Christ’s traditions by celebrating them, day by day and Sunday by Sunday, we are also proclaiming them to the unbelievers around us.  We do not know who God will convert through our holding fast to the traditions of Christ.  We do know that the blood of Jesus covers the sins of the whole world, of every man, woman and child ever conceived.  So, we are free to speak the truth, and we look forward to the perfect harvest.  For we know that in heaven, all the mysteries that trouble us now will be made clear, and nothing will disturb our joy and peace, ever again. 

     That the struggle of the End Times and the condemnation of sinners bother us is good and right.  God the Father takes no pleasure in condemning sinners, and gave His eternal Son into death in order to win forgiveness and new life for all.  And so, when we are troubled, let us pray to the Holy Spirit to move us to redouble our prayer and proclamation, knowing that God’s mission to save the lost is not over until the Last Trumpet sounds, and Christ appears, riding the clouds in glory. 

     We know that our Redeemer lives!  Our God is the God of life, the God of the living.  He is God of the living souls of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and of all those who depart this life sharing the same faith they had, faith in God’s Promised Savior.  God grant that in the midst of trouble and struggle and death, which continue to define this visible, fallen world, our eyes be fixed where true joys are found, in the Crucified, Resurrected and Ascended Savior, Jesus Christ, who has opened the Way to Father for us, through His own Body, that Body into which we have been joined, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.      

For All the Saints - Sermon for All Saints Day 2025

All Saints Day, (Observed)
November 2^nd, A+D 2025
Our Redeemer and Our Savior’s Lutheran Churches
Custer and Hill City, SD
For All the Saints

 Audio of the Sermon can be accessed HERE.  

LSB 677, For All the Saints, Public Domain

1 For all the saints who from their labors rest, Who Thee by faith before the world confessed, Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest. Alleluia! Alleluia!

For all the saints who from their labors rest…, Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest.

     Life forevermore.  Psalm 133 ends with a triumphant declaration, that, on the mountains of Zion, … there the Lord commanded the blessing— Life forevermore.  Eternal life, with God, this is the Lord’s goal for humanity, this is the hope we all press toward.  On All Saints Day we celebrate the victory of all those Christians who fought the good fight to the end, who finished the course, and so now their souls rest with Christ, awaiting the Last Day, and the revelation of the New Heavens and New Earth, the resurrection of their bodies, and the consummation of God’s plan to bless His chosen people.  Christians are pro-life, and, I have come to realize, not only because the Lord desires to give His faithful a good earthly life.  Rather, He intends to have His children living with Him forever, in perfect joy and health and community, gathered around the glorious throne of God, living the blessed life, forever and ever.

     I was seven years old when the Supreme Court discovered a new right in the U.S. Constitution, the right for babies to be killed in the womb, in the infamous Roe-vs-Wade court decision.  As this woeful miscarriage of justice rippled across our nation, I remember a family conversation at lunch, when the subject of abortion came up.  My older siblings and mother were discussing the topic.  I remember quite clearly how my dad broke-in to state, very matter-of-factly, that babies in the womb should be protected, that killing them was wrong.  Over the years I would learn much more about the finer details of the Christian pro-life argument.  But my dad’s plain statement was all I needed to be convinced that a baby is a human person, deserving of our protection. 

     Twenty-two years later, when I left the Marine Corps and took a job in central Pennsylvania, Shelee soon began volunteering at the Capitol Area Pregnancy Center in Harrisburg.  Her growing involvement led us to leave the wishy-washy Lutheran church we were attending, because Shelee sensed, and soon verified, that the pastors were “Pro-Choice.”  This means they supported the murder of babies in the womb when people find them inconvenient.  Shelee became more deeply involved in the pregnancy center, and so did I.  Eventually, we worked together to open a satellite of the Harrisburg center in Carlisle, the town we lived in. 

    Working to support life, along with a year of church shopping, were a big part of why I started considering attending seminary and sought to become a pastor. 

     All of this, and later pro-life experience, meant that my focus in life issues has always been mostly about protecting babies.  Later I learned how the merchants of death in our society were also coming for the elderly, for the disabled, and even for those who are healthy, except for struggling with depression.  Loving life, from womb to tomb, from conception to natural death, became my perspective, and I thank God for teaching me this. 

     But as I was preparing my thoughts for this sermon, it dawned on me that my time perspective is still limited, not nearly as expansive as God’s. 

     Explaining to John the great multitude of saints in white robes that he saw around God’s throne, the elder instructing John explained that their robes were washed white in the blood of the Lamb, and so “they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. ¹⁶ They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.  ¹⁷ For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

     Perfect, painless, joyful, tearless, in-the-flesh LIFE, forevermore.  From Womb to Tomb to Eternity.  The pro-life character of the Almighty began before time, in the mind of God, who thought of each one of us, and all the men, women, boys and girls that have ever lived, and will ever live.  And God’s pro-human life character endures.   

     God, from whom comes all life, has a love for human life that will never end.  We begin to understand better what Jesus meant when He declared to His disciples that “I AM the Way, and the Truty, and the LIFE.”  Forever and ever, Amen. 

    Urging the elderly or the disabled to commit suicide, along with aborting infants, these are all horrible.  And so is telling lies about God and His plan of salvation.  Whether they are outright pagan, or supposedly Christian, preachers and teachers who deny or pervert the Gospel are guilty of a much worse sin.  For they are, intentionally or not, working for the Devil, who seeks to cut off souls from God, forever.  An essential part of the pro-life message is the Reformation proclamation that salvation is a free gift, not based on our works, but rather given to sinners who trust in Christ and His sacrifice on Calvary.  By this faith, their sins are washed away and their hearts are transformed.  This is Good News for those facing challenging life situations, and the Gospel even offers forgiveness to those who come to repent their pro-death actions. 

    And so we sing: Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest, by all the saints, those in heaven, and those still fighting the good fight, here in this broken world.  Alleluia! Alleluia!

2 Thou wast their rock, their fortress, and their might; Thou, Lord, their captain in the well-fought fight; Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true light. Alleluia! Alleluia!

3 Oh, may Thy soldiers, faithful, true, and bold, Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old
And win with them the victor's crown of gold! Alleluia! Alleluia!

     Almighty and everlasting God, You knit together Your faithful people of all times and places into one holy communion, the mystical body of Your Son, Jesus Christ… 

     This first sentence of the Collect of the Day for All Saints Day is also the beginning of the first petition of the Prayer of the Church in our funeral service.  This makes sense, because today we celebrate the holy ones of God who now rest from their labors, all the faithful Baptized Christians of every time and place whose souls are now with God, awaiting the Last Day.  Likewise, at a Christian’s funeral we celebrate God’s completion of another Baptism. 

     The Lord’s work of salvation, conceived in His mind before time for each of His elect, is announced publicly as a reality for a particular soul when he or she is baptized, washed with water and the Word of Christ.  Then the harder work begins, for the Baptismal life is a long battle, God fighting in and through us to bring us to the finish line in faith.  At a Christian funeral we celebrate not just the good days and fun times of this worldly life, but even more, in the midst of tears, we celebrate the perseverance that has resulted in eternal life, which God has won and delivered for our dear brother or sister. 

   This is the essence of that holy communion, the community of saints into which God knits us.  A mystery of divine grace and love joins Christians together with each other, through our connection to God through Christ.  This is the one true and everlasting life, found in Christ, and worked by God.  It is also our daily pursuit to reflect the truth of the Gospel that has saved us in our words and deeds. 

     Part of this mystical communion, this mystery of Christian life, is the double sense of both passively receiving, and vigorously doing.  As we sang, God is our rock, our fortress and might; Jesus is our Captain in the well-fought fight.  And yet, in Him, and by His presence in us, we too fight, faithful, true and bold, just as the saints nobly fought of old.    

     There are two examples of this double meaning in our reading from John’s first letter this morning, of our passive justification, God coming to us and declaring us righteous, not for anything we are or have done, but for the sake of Jesus alone, and also of our active efforts in sanctification, holy living, as we strive in our daily lives to be the saint whom God has made us to be. 

     John writes: See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.  Does John mean to focus on the high honor and calling of being a Christian, a child of God, of the responsibility of each Christian to live up to the Name that has been placed upon us?  Or does John mean to marvel at the wonder and mystery of God’s effective Word?  That is, what He desires to see and enjoy, the Lord calls into existence, and so, we are Christians because God’s call, through His proclaimed Word of Law and Gospel.  Which is it, a focus on our call to live up to our name, or a focus on God’s act of saving us, through His Word?  Well, it’s both, no?  Both are true, opposite sides of the same coin of saving faith. 

     John then finishes our passage this way:  And everyone who thus hopes in God purifies himself as God is pure.  Does the Apostle mean to say that the soul who hopes in God seeks to keep his or her life pure, free from sin and faithful to God?  Or, does John mean that by hoping in Christ crucified we are purified?  Again, both are true.  We are saved because God does 100% of the work of salvation, (justification by faith, that is, hoping firmly in Christ alone), and we are called to dedicate ourselves to living out the new identity He has given us in Jesus, (the sanctified life of good works and fleeing from sin.)  It’s both/and, not either/or. 

     Now, there is a priority, there is a Source, and an effect.  God’s work in and for us must come first.  Our ability to live as Christians always depends on the Holy Spirit working in us both to will and to do for His good pleasure.  We receive the gift of salvation, and the privilege to seek to live holy lives.  Sanctification always depends on justification, on the free gift.  As my propane furnace must stay connected to the tank to keep producing heat, so also the saints of God must stay connected to the Gospel, the Good News of free forgiveness, both in order to remain in the faith, and to produce the works of love God has prepared for us to walk in.  We receive the gift, and the privilege of living as God’s holy ones in this world.  God receives all the glory.   

4 Oh, blest communion, fellowship divine! We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine. Alleluia! Alleluia!

5 And when the fight is fierce, the warfare long, Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong. Alleluia! Alleluia!

     One of the many blessings of the Reformation is the way that the close study of God’s Word enables us to clear up the terrible misunderstanding of what a saint is, a misunderstanding that was entrenched in the 16^th Century Church, and still plagues many Christians today. 

     Sinful human beings are always looking to puff themselves up, and put others down.  A saint in 1500 was understood to be a Christian who had done so many good works that he had elevated himself to a special, higher status. 

     In fact, saints, (and also implicitly monks and nuns praying away in the monasteries), were understood as so much superior to the average Christian that they produced a surplus of good works, a treasury of merits, which the Church, specifically the Pope, managed for God.  These merits won by super-Christians could be credited to mere run-of-the-mill believers, and maybe get them into heaven as well.  Eventually.  For a price. 

   There are many problems with this teaching.  First, it is not supported by the Bible.  God never said that.  Second, it is the most obvious perversions of the Gospel: instead of salvation being Christ’s work, which the Spirit graciously delivers to sinners through the preached Word, salvation is taught as explicitly depending on works done by mere humans.  Christ, the once for all Savior of Sinners, is robbed of the honor He is due.  Souls for whom Christ died are robbed of the comfort of free forgiveness and the promise of God’s eternal favor.  Even the privilege of Christian prayer, offered in the Holy Spirit, directly to God the Father, through Christ Jesus His Son, was taken from the people, as they were instead taught to pray to the Saints, especially to Mary, who would then carry their petitions to God, maybe.     

    From the Bible, Luther and his friends rediscovered a simple truth.  Saint simply means “holy one,” and sinners do not earn holiness by their feeble works.  No, God calls holy all who trust in His Son, who has won forgiveness for all sins.  Saints are believers in Christ, the faithful baptized, those who are invited to dine at Christ’s holy meal. 

     Now, to be sure, on All Saints Day we focus on the dearly departed saints.  We are celebrating the completion of their life of faith, of the fact they now rest in the nearer presence of Christ.  The reality is that you and I, believers who are still in this world, are also sadly still sinners.  This makes it natural not to focus on ourselves, but on the victors, on the dearly departed in heaven, whose souls are now free from sin.

     It is also natural and good to focus special attention on Biblical saints, and also on outstanding Christians through history.  That is, it is good and right to celebrate the forgiven souls through whom God worked great things, as He achieved our salvation.  Like St. Joseph and St. Mary, the guardian and the mother of the Christ Child, and Saints Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, St. Paul, St. Peter.  God has taught us to study their lives, emulate their dependence on Jesus, and learn from their example.  Always in accordance with Scripture of course.  We don’t need to make up stories about what Biblical saints or any other Christian in history has done.  The true story, most especially the story recorded for us in the Bible, is better than all the saintly fables ever imagined.  And it is part of God’s Holy Word, His means for bringing us to faith, and keeping us there. 

     As God’s saints, we are called to live out the beatitudes, to be meek and humble, to make peace, to hunger and thirst for righteousness, even to suffer persecution for Jesus’ sake.  Clearly, we can only begin to do such things because God is with us.  Jesus has perfectly fulfilled this list of strange blessings; read it again thinking of Jesus and His life, and you will see.  So, when we are joined to Him, the Beatitudes begin to make sense in our lives.  We can be meek, humble, peaceful, we can endure suffering for Christ, because we know that we have already won the victory.  We know because Jesus our Captain has risen from the dead.     

     All those who trust in Christ crucified for the forgiveness of their sins are saints, holy ones of God.  That means you, dear baptized believer.  We feebly struggle, other saints in glory shine.  And yet in God, all are one, for all are His.  Alleluia, Alleluia, indeed. 

6 The golden evening brightens in the west; Soon, soon to faithful warriors cometh rest;
Sweet is the calm of paradise the blest. Alleluia! Alleluia!

7 But lo, there breaks a yet more glorious day; The saints triumphant rise in bright array;
The King of glory passes on His way. Alleluia! Alleluia!

8 From earth's wide bounds, from ocean's farthest coast, Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host, Singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: Alleluia! Alleluia!

Reformation Past and Present - Readings and Reflections for the 508th Anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation

 

Reformation Past and Present
Readings and Reflections for the
508^th Anniversary of the Posting
by Martin Luther of his 95 Theses
on October 31, A+D 1517

Drawn from the 2025 Reformation Festival
of the Black Hills Circuit of the
South Dakota District of the LCMS

(Hymns referenced are from the Lutheran Service Book.  

Consider singing or reading them to enhance your reflection.)

Audio of these Reflections is available HERE.

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Prayer

Almighty and gracious Lord, pour out Your Holy Spirit on Your faithful people.  Keep us steadfast in Your grace and truth, protect and deliver us in times of temptation, defend us against all enemies.  As you once worked through the 16^th Century Reformers to uncover and boldly proclaim the pure Gospel of free forgiveness won for us by Your Son, continue to raise up faithful pastors and people, for we also live in a time and a world desperately in need of Your Gospel  Grant to Your Holy Church a clear confession and witness and let her live in Your saving peace; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever, Amen.

Hymn 644               The Church’s One Foundation

Reading:                   Amos 8:11-13 (NKJV)

“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord God,

“That I will send a famine on the land,
Not a famine of bread,
Nor a thirst for water,
But of hearing the words of the Lord.

¹² They shall wander from sea to sea,

And from north to east;
They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord,
But shall not find it.

¹³ “In that day the fair virgins and strong young men
     Shall faint from thirst.

L: This is the Word of the Lord     C: Thanks be to God! 

 

Reflection: Europe and the Church in the 1400s

   A famine of the Word.  It’s hard to say if the people of Western Europe deserved the famine of the Word they suffered through in the 1400’s, but surely, they were starving for the Truth of Christ.  In the 8^th Century before Christ, through the Old Testament prophet Amos, the Lord declared He would inflict a famine of the Word on His people Israel, because of their idolatry. In the 14^th Century after Christ, the Word of God was simply unintelligible to most people in Western Europe.  At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit showed that He wants the Word to be translated for all to hear and understand.  But in medieval Europe, the Bible was only read in Latin.  Most did not understand Latin, because the common folk spoke Spanish, or French, or German, or one of hundreds of other languages spoken throughout Europe.  Latin was the language of high royal courts, of the papacy, and the universities.  The Sunday Mass was largely meaningless to most people. 

   Many different currents of theology were running through western Christianity.  Certainly the Gospel, the Good News of God’s grace and free forgiveness revealed in Jesus Christ, was one of these currents.  But alongside this glorious Truth were proclaimed many false faiths, man-made religiosity focused on prayer to the saints, or on climbing the ladder to heaven.  Priests were forbidden to marry, contrary to God’s ordering of creation.  The necessity of good works to fully earn salvation, and the reality of purgatory, both complete contradictions of God’s Word, were common teachings, as well as important money-making schemes for the Church. 

   Godly vocations like husband, wife, farmer and laborer were disparaged as spiritually useless.  Meanwhile, supposedly churchly orders were exalted, like monk and nun, souls shuttered away from normal community life.  They were dedicated to prayer in their monasteries, yes, but their prayers were largely offered as sacrifices to earn God’s favor, heaping scorn on the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus.  And yet these things were praised as holy and Godly.  God’s orders of Creation and the Way of Salvation were turned upside down.  Truly the people suffered from a lack of God’s Truth, a famine of the Word.      

Reading:                                     Matthew 11:11-19 (NKJV)

   [Jesus said] “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ¹² And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. 

   ¹³ For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. ¹⁴ And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. ¹⁵ He who has ears to hear, let him hear!  ¹⁶ “But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, ¹⁷ and saying:

     ‘We played the flute for you, And you did not dance;
We mourned to you, And you did not lament.’

   ¹⁸ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ ¹⁹ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ 

   But wisdom is justified by her children.”

L: This is the Word of the Lord     C: Thanks be to God! 

Hymn 578:1-3                             Thy Strong Word

 

Reflection: 1440 - 1455 - The Printing Press and the Gutenberg Bible

   We don’t know when he was born, nor how he was educated.  But God works through common, earthly means, including people, and the German inventor and entrepreneur Johannes Gutenberg is in the first rank of examples. 

   The people of Western Europe suffered from a famine of the Word of God, but Johannes Gutenberg changed that, and seemingly everything else.  The spread and the success of the various reformations that would spread through Europe in the 1500s, along with the economic and industrial revolutions that created the modern world depended on Gutenberg inventing, around 1440, the moveable type printing press.  Through this new technology, written texts, most importantly the Holy Scriptures, could now be cheaply and widely disseminated.  This information technology revolution is largely responsible for the world we live in.  Perhaps the internet or, we shall see, the advent of artificial intelligence, are comparable revolutions.  But our gatherings, singing from hymnals and reading our Bibles, is ongoing proof of Gutenberg’s contribution.    

     As Christians, and as the Church, we need to realize that the insights God gave to Martin Luther and his fellow reformers would not have changed the world in the way they did, if not for the printing press, brought to us by Johannes Gutenberg.  God grant us wisdom to take advantage of the blessings of our access to the Bible and good faithful books. 

Reading:                                                          John 8:31-36 (NKJV)

   Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. ³² And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

   ³³ They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?”

   ³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. ³⁵ And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. ³⁶ Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

L: This is the Word of the Lord               C: Thanks be to God! 

 

Hymn 584                         Faith and Life and Truth Bestowing

Reflection: 1505 – 1516: Luther Enters the Word.

   Hans Luther was a rising peasant.  A free man, and industrious, he was part of a movement that would eventually create a middle class in Europe.  A miner, Hans began to build a prosperous life for himself and his family.  So, when his oldest and very bright son Martin abandoned a career in law, and the expensive studies which Hans had paid for, you can imagine the father’s frustration.

   And we can hardly say that Luther’s motivations for entering the monastery were beyond reproach.  It’s hard for us in the 21^st century to imagine a culture so thoroughly permeated by the Church’s teaching, but unfortunately the teaching Martin understood was not the pure Gospel.  According to the Reformer’s own account, fear of dying in a thunderstorm drove Martin Luther to cry out a desperate prayer, not to God through Christ, but to St. Anne: “Save me Saint Anne, and I’ll become a monk.” 

     Whatever his motivation, in 1505, 21-year-old Martin abandoned his law studies and entered an Augustinian monastery, much to his father’s consternation.  He entered the monastery in Erfurt as a novice in July of 1505, took his vows as a monk in 1506, and was ordained a priest in 1507.  

     Luther would later savage the monasteries in his writings, and with good reason.  But, along with all the works-righteous theology and hypocrisy there was, in the monastery Luther prayed the Psalms daily, until they were permanently in his memory.  And, because of his intelligence, and perhaps also because his earnestness in seeking to justify himself made him a difficult person to live with, Martin was ordered to study theology.  Soon, he was made a lecturer in the Old Testament at the new university in Wittenberg.  Luther was now immersed in God’s Word. 

     The Renaissance rediscovery of ancient languages and learning meant that Martin began to be able to study the Scripture not just in Latin, but also in the original Greek and Hebrew.  And in every language, Martin began to realize that many teachings of the Church of Rome did not fit with the plain sense of the Bible.  And so, the seeds of the Reformation were sown.   

Reading:                                                          Mark 1:14 – 21 (NKJV)

     Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, ¹⁵ and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”   ¹⁶ And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. ¹⁷ Then Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” ¹⁸ They immediately left their nets and followed Him.

       ¹⁹ When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets.  ²⁰ And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him.       ²¹ Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught. ²² And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.                                                                                                 

L: This is the Word of the Lord                    C: Thanks be to God! 

Reading:                                                          Revelation 14:6-7 (NKJV)

   Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people— ⁷ saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”

L: This is the Word of the Lord               C: Thanks be to God! 

 

Hymn: 586                                  Preach You the Word

 

Reflection: 1517: The Spark Is Lit

   Along with his professorial duties at the University, Martin Luther was the pastor of two congregations, St. Mary’s (the Town Church), and All Saints (the Castle Church) in Wittenberg.  Then Johann Tetzel came with authority of the Pope to sell indulgences to pay for rebuilding St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.  Indulgences were pieces of paper with a papal seal, declaring the full forgiveness of sins, for oneself, or for a loved one in purgatory.  Tetzel made them available for a monetary donation: “When the coin in the money-box rings, a soul from purgatory springs!”  Many Wittenbergers bought one.  Seeing his people putting their trust in a piece of paper instead of in Christ disturbed Pastor Luther.  Martin protested in the style of the day; he posted his 95 Theses, a series of arguments against the sale of indulgences, on the Castle Church door on October 31^st, 1517.  This was the way a theologian asked for formal debate about a controversial Church teaching or practice. 

     Thesis 1 is brilliant: “When our Lord and Master Christ Jesus said ‘Repent,’ He meant that the whole life of the Christian should be one of repentance.”  However, in total, the 95 Theses are not a clear proclamation of the pure Gospel.  Luther seems to have been in transition, still using the argumentation style and language of the medieval scholastic universities, but drawing on a growing Biblical-Gospel understanding. 

     However less than fully Gospel-focused they were, the 95 Theses were a sensation.  Quickly translated into German and other languages, they were printed and disseminated throughout Europe, thanks to the printing press.  They struck a resounding and hopeful chord with a land suffering from a famine of God’s Word.  The fire was lit.  Great changes were coming. 

 

Reading:                                                          1 Timothy 6:11-16 (NKJV)

     But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. ¹² Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.  

     ¹³ I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, ¹⁴ that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, ¹⁵ which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, ¹⁶ who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.                                                                           

L: This is the Word of the Lord                         C: Thanks be to God! 

Hymn 655                         Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word

Reflection: 1518-1546: Making the Good Confession

   At the root, to confess means to say the same thing; a true confession is one that repeats the truth.  In Christian terms, to confess the faith means to say the same thing that God has said, to repeat His Truth, which He has revealed and recorded for the Church in Holy Scripture.  Following his posting of the 95 Theses, Luther, and soon thousands of other Christians with him, committed their lives to making the good confession, to speaking the truth about God and His Gospel, no matter what the consequences. 

    God provided Martin Luther with protection, giving him space and time to dig deeply into God’s Word and proclaim to the world the pure Gospel that he found.  Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony, ruled the German territory which included Wittenberg.  When Martin Luther’s teaching drew opposition from the Roman authorities and the Holy Roman Empire, Frederick refused to give in to pressure to turn Luther over to them. 

     Under this umbrella of political protection, Luther was ordered to stand before Emperor Charles the 5^th and delegates from the Pope, meeting in the German city of Worms in 1521.  Ordered to repent and recant his writings, Luther famously declared:  “Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted, and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise.  God help me. Amen.” 

     Luther was excommunicated and branded an outlaw.  Nevertheless, by God’s grace and the protection of various Christian rulers, Luther, along with many colleagues, spent the next 25 years digging deeper and deeper into God’s Word, and producing the writings, liturgies and structures needed for a truly Evangelical, or Gospel-centered Church to thrive.  These works, by Luther and others, include the German translation of the Bible, the Augsburg Confession and its Apology, (or explanation), the Large and Small Catechisms, the Smalcald Articles, the Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope, a Latin and a German Divine Service, Biblical commentaries, systematic theologies, and much more. 

      The Lutheran Reformation focused on delivering the pure Gospel of free forgiveness, given by God the Father in and through Christ Jesus His Son, the crucified, resurrected and ascended Savior of sinners.  The reformers stressed that salvation is:

By Grace Alone, (purely God’s work, done out of His merciful heart), and is received

By Faith Alone, (not earned by any works done by sinners, but received as a free gift when the Word of Christ makes a sinner believe the Good News), based on the teaching of

Scripture Alone, the true Word of God and the source for all teaching in the Church. 

A good confession indeed.

 

Reading:                                                Deuteronomy 6:1 – 9 (NKJV)

     “Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, ² that you may fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. ³ Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you—‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’

     ⁴ “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! ⁵ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

⁶ “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. ⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. ⁸ You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ⁹ You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

L: This is the Word of the Lord               C: Thanks be to God! 

 

Psalm 46   antiphon v. 7

L: The Lord of hosts is with us;
   C: The God of Jacob is our refuge.

L: God is our refuge and strength,
   C: A very present help in trouble.
L: Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed,
   C: And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
L: Though its waters roar and be troubled,
   C: Though the mountains shake with its swelling. 

 L: There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God,

   C: The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.

L: God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved;
   C: God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.
L: The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved;
   C: He uttered His voice, the earth melted.

L: The Lord of hosts is with us;
   C: The God of Jacob is our refuge.

L: Come, behold the works of the Lord,
   C: Who has made desolations in the earth.
L: He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;

         He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;
   C: He burns the chariot in the fire.

L: Be still, and know that I am God;
         I will be exalted among the nations,
   C: I will be exalted in the earth!

L: The Lord of hosts is with us;
   C: The God of Jacob is our refuge. 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,

     As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever, Amen.

L: The Lord of hosts is with us;
   C: The God of Jacob is our refuge.

 

Reflection: 1547 to 1580 to 2025

    Would the Lutheran Reformation survive?  Luther died in 1546.  Bereft of their bold and brilliant leader, the Lutheran lands also soon suffered military defeats at the hands of the Emperor’s armies.  The ensuing decades would bring numerous setbacks and dark days for those committed to the reforms of the Church started by Martin Luther.  Pressured from without by the papacy and by militaries of rulers opposed to the Reformation, and facing division within as some colleagues of Luther waffled in their commitment to the truth, the future of the project started by Luther often seemed doubtful.   

     But the power of the Reformation was never military strength, although the protection of the Electors of Saxony and other civil rulers was a wonderful blessing.  Nor was the Reformation dependent on the faithfulness and integrity of men, although many men and women remained steadfast in the faith.  The power of the Reformation is the Word of God, and especially the pure Gospel, which relieves burdened consciences, and sets sinners free from the fear of sin, death and the Devil.  This peace that passes all understanding made freed sinners bold to confess the truth, love their neighbors, and resist persecution, often unto death. 

      The Lutheran Reformation endured over three decades of turmoil, but a commitment to God’s Truth and much hard work finally led to concord, to a clear and carefully worked out doctrinal agreement which has served to guide confessional Lutherans since 1580.  A second Martin, Martin Chemnitz, shepherded the project to completion.  The Formula of Concord was added to prior Lutheran confessions written by Luther and Philip Melancthon.  These, along with the three ecumenical creeds, (the Apostles’, the Nicene and the Athanasian), were published in 1580 as the Book of Concord, also called the Lutheran Confessions.  Accepted by Lutheran theologians and teachers as a true exposition of God’s Word, the Book of Concord helps us to be faithful to and grounded in the Bible. 

    The difficult struggle to remain faithful to the Word of God and the pure Gospel has continued for the last 425 years, and by all indications will continue until Christ returns.  It is not easy, but in this struggle, God’s Word rings in our ears, even as His Sacraments cleanse and feed our bodies and souls.  And so, strengthened by the Holy Spirit, with intrepid hearts, we seek to remain steadfast in the same good confession.  By God’s grace, we will.         

 

Hymn 659               Lord of Our Life

Closing Prayer

O Lord, we give You thanks for all Your servants who have departed this life in faith. We especially bless You today for the great reformers of Your Church who through their writings continue to call us back to the Gospel and to the righteousness we have in Christ alone. Keep us in fellowship with them, and with all Your Christians of every time and place.  Bring us at last to join them in our heavenly home, where together we will rejoice to see our Redeemer face to face; we ask this through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Lord’s Prayer

Benediction

Hymn 657              A Mighty Fortress Is Our God