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sreformation04
Our Refuge and Strength
Text:
John 8:31-36
Date: Reformation Day
10/31/04 girl model nn young
“If
you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know
the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
On
Reformation Day in the year 1999 the so-called “Lutheran” World
Federation signed, with great fanfare, what they intended to be
an historic agreement with the Roman Catholic Church called the
Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification in Augsburg,
Germany of all places! This “Augsburg Concession,” as the Reverend
Doctor Professor Kurt Marquart calls it, presumed to bring to an
end the historic disagreements between Rome and the Lutherans. If
this were true it would imply the ending of celebrating Reformation
Day as anything but only an historical observance like 9/11, Pearl
Harbor Day, Memorial or Independence Day in the United States. But
far from bringing an end to the historic doctrinal disagreements
the Joint Declaration merely papered over them, agreeing to disagree
or while still disagreeing at least withdrawing our mutual condemnations.
When the “Lutheran” leader was asked who won he confidently said,
“we did.” When the Roman Catholic representative was asked the same
question he responded that the Roman Catholic Church had made no
changes. The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod is not a member of the
“Lutheran” World Federation because we cannot abide their word.
Their words have no creditability, lost in error's maze of ambiguity
and theological and doctrinal uncertainty committing the sin of
unionism.
So
then whose word can we trust on this Reformation Day? I suppose
Reformation Day points us to The Reformer himself, Martin Luther.
One of the hymns from the 1918 Evangelical Lutheran Hymn Book boldly
sings of the reformer:
When
Rome had shrouded earth in night,
God
said again, "Let there be light!"
And
Luther with the Gospel came
To
spread the truth in Jesus' Name.
When
Rome the saints of God oppressed,
And
burdened souls could find no rest,
Through
Luther God deliv'rance sent
By
His pure Word and Sacrament.
“The
authors of the Formula of Concord reflected the widespread belief
among Lutherans of their day that Luther had been a special instrument
in God's hands for the restoration of the gospel in the church…their
high regard for his insight, wisdom, and historical role reveals
itself often in the Formula” of Concord [KW p. 524 n. 1].
Probably
the most mysterious and exotic reference in the Lutheran Confessions
is the comment about a Franciscan monk named John Hilten who was
in prison because he condemned various abuses. “He predicted many
things,” says the Apology, “some of which have already come to pass,
and others of which still seem to lie ahead.” “But another one,”
Hilten said, “will come in the year of our Lord 1516. He will destroy
you, and you will be unable to resist him” [KW p. 277].
We're
not ashamed of Martin Luther or of bearing his name. Far from it!
In many ways he was the most faithful Roman Catholic! Yet we do
not praise him as anything more than an angel, that is, a messenger
sent from God. I'm particularly glad to read, lately, that archeologists
recently uncovered what they believe was Luther's outhouse or toilet
in which he, with so many gastro-intestinal problems, spent so much
time. Martin Luther, for all his wisdom and insight, was a sinful
man, or as he said, a fat feast for the maggots in his grave. Besides,
many have come and gone that have taken Luther's words and twisted
them to supposedly make him say all sorts of heretical things that
he never said. We take Luther at his word as one of the greatest
teachers and preachers of the Gospel as he faithfully conveyed the
pure doctrine of the Bible.
Today
there are all sorts of religious words sounding from all sorts of
religious folks. Some of it you can see right through and just ignore.
Other words are packaged and marketed to give the impression that
they're the latest in spiritual wisdom but are, in reality, only
the same old Theology of Glory, old revivalistic programs recycled,
making all sorts of money for a while but petering out just as ingloriously
as the fanatical movements before them. The charismatic movement,
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