Reformation Sunday, 2012
1 Timothy 4:6-16 & 2 Timothy 4:2-4
“What is God’s Church?”
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
In preparation for our Sermon this morning I was looking over different surveys that list reasons for why people choose a specific church or decide to leave a church. I’d like you to take a moment this morning to think of the reason you belong to your church and how you came upon making that decision. Let me share with you some of the results I found…and they are in no particular order. Some of the top reasons people chose a specific church to join were: the friendliness of members, they were invited to attend, it was close to where they live, they are related to members or friends with members, they like the Pastor or his preaching, they liked the beliefs of that church, they liked the Sunday School class, the church had Children’s or Youth ministry, there were many different programs, the church had people of the same age, they felt something different was going on there; they felt God’s presence. They liked the worship style. These are not only reasons people chose a church…but are also reasons why people left a specific church when their wants weren’t met.
Some of these may be reasons why you would or would not choose a church or reasons why you may have left a church. It’s a challenging list to be sure. It’s challenging because I have heard some of these reasons used by people as to why they have either chosen not to join our congregation (Christ, Clinton or Zion, Chestnut) or have left our congregation. It’s challenging because we do want God’s Church to grow in this place. It’s challenging because we are a small congregation that isn’t able to offer many of these wants…and many of these wants we don’t agree with. It is challenging. I say that as the Pastor of this congregation and as a person that would love to have choirs, bells, and other activities.
But on this Reformation Sunday…what do our Confessions say…what does Scripture say about the Church. Article VII of the Unaltered Augsburg Confession of 1530 (which our congregation and Synod subscribe to) says, “The Church is the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered.”
Holy Scripture records Saint Paul’s advice to Pastors, “This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance (and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.” (1 Timothy 4:9-10) “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.” (1 Timothy 4:16) “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” (2 Timothy 4:2-4)
The Church. God’s Church. You find the Church where you find the Gospel rightly taught and the Sacraments rightly administered. You find the Church where the truth of God’s Word…law and Gospel…are rightly proclaimed. You find the Church where the Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are rightly administered. It is where Baptism is administered to people of all ages…babies to adults…for the forgiveness of their sins along with the gift of the Holy Spirit that creates faith. It is where the Church confesses along with Saint Peter that “baptism now saves you.” (1 Peter 3:21) The Church is found where the Lord’s Supper….where Jesus body and blood…are given for the forgiveness of your sins. It is where the Church confesses Jesus own words “This is my body…this is my blood…given and shed for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26:26-28) The Church is found where it confesses with Saint Paul “Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?” (1 Corinthians 10:16) “So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 11:27) The Church is found where it confesses with Saint Paul that “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16)
Did you hear all of that? The True Church; God’s Church is found, as the Lutheran Confessions state, where “the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered.” That is wonderful news. It means that this congregation is part of the True Church; God’s Church. We might not have loads of youth or twenty somethings, we might not have programs for all kinds of people, we don’t have choirs or bell choirs, we might not have the type of music you’re looking for, we might not be as friendly as we ought, we may come off as a bunch of hypocrites…and yet…the True Church is found here because God’s Word; "the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered" even if done so by a less than perfect, sometimes lazy, sinner of a Pastor.
This is God’s Church. Yes it is made up of sinful people. Yes, we fail often. But it is God’s Church for this is where our Lord promises to be in His Word and in His Sacraments. Our hope in Christ alone. Our faith is a gift from God given in Baptism. Our sins are forgiven in Jesus body and blood. Our hope is not found in programs, in other people, in our wants and desires…our hope is found solely in Christ and in His means of grace.
What a joy and privilege it is to be part of our Lord’s Church. I am thankful to be a Lutheran. I am proud to be a Lutheran. I am hopeful because I am a Lutheran. I am all of these because it is precisely in the Lutheran Church that we find the pure Gospel proclaimed and the Sacraments administered rightly. This is a gift from God…a gift given to His Church through Martin Luther and the Reformation. It is a gift that we have the privilege and duty to share. We have been given the pure Gospel and the Sacraments…they are for us and all people. What a joy it is to share the truth of God’s love found in Christ to all people…through His Word, through His promise in baptism, and through Jesus’ body and blood. May God continue to bless the Lutheran Church and its members as He uses them as His tool to seek the lost. Amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. Amen.
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