The Way to Heaven A Sermon for Reformation Sunday Rev. Michael D. Halley October 28, 2018 Suffolk Christian Church Suffolk, Virginia Twenty-Third Sunday After Pentecost Reformation Sunday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The announced sermon topic for today just did not come together this week. In its place I want to tell you the story of a man who found the way to heaven. The last Sunday in October is typically celebrated as Reformation Sunday. This is because it was on October 31, 1517, -- 501 years ago -- that an obscure professor of theology named Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany. Professor Martin Luther did not know nor did he intend that he would start a movement which would lead to much-needed reforms in the church of his day. By the way, the now-famous 95 Theses were 95 statements which Professor Luther posed for discussion. Posting ideas such as these on the door of the church was an accepted custom of that day, since anyone could post items there for public comment and discussion. Let s say it was the Facebook of its day. The movement which Martin Luther started is called the Protestant Reformation. The story begins in 1505, when young Martin had just finished his undergraduates studies and was ready to begin the study of law, as his father wanted him to do. One day he was caught outside in a fierce thunderstorm. With the rain pouring down, with thunder and lightning, he saw no sign of
Page -2- shelter and feared for his life. In desperation, Martin Luther called out to God for help, and he pledged to enter a monastery and become a priest of the church if God would only save him from this storm. God did save him from the storm and young Martin made good on his promise, entering the Augustinian monastery 1 to study for the priesthood. Life in the monastery was not easy. The monks rose each morning between 1 and 2 a.m. They would begin their day with prayer and singing, followed by a time of meditation, followed by another time of prayer and often another time of singing. It was a rigorous, difficult daily schedule. For these young monks it meant that their life was filled with religious ritual, religious ceremony, the sacraments, confession and penance. It was a life of poverty and austerity. Martin Luther gladly accepted that lifestyle because, like millions of people down through the ages and even today, he was looking for peace with God and a way to heaven. He was looking for forgiveness for his sins. He was looking for a way to be justified -- to be made right with God. Martin Luther was a good monk. He kept all the rituals. He stayed on schedule. He did all that was required of him, believing that if he did all that, he would gain admission to heaven. But in his quiet moments this sincere young monk knew that something was wrong. Despite all that he did to follow the rules and be a good Christian, he never felt that he could ever be good enough to be reconciled to a God who was truly holy and good and pure and righteous. That thought gripped Martin Luther so thoroughly that he was terrified. Something was missing. So he intensified his efforts to please God. Every day, even several times a day, he would enter the confessional and confess every single sin he could remember. Even that did not give him the peace with God that he craved. He despaired of ever finding that way to
Page -3- heaven. The turning point in Martin Luther s life came in the year 1515 when the head of the monastery 2 appointed him to teach the Bible. So Luther brushed up on his Hebrew and Latin and Greek and began to study the Bible. He was first assigned to teach the book of Psalms and then the book of Romans and the book of Galatians. It was during that time of studying and teaching the Bible that Martin Luther made the great discovery which was to change him forever and reveal to him the way to heaven he so sincerely sought. Here is how it happened. Luther was studying the Epistle to the Romans and he came to Romans 1:16-17, which in the NIV reads this way: I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: First for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith. It was this very passage that changed Martin Luther s life. As he began to study it, suddenly the light flooded in. As he said to himself, It was as though the gates of heaven were opened to me! 3 Martin Luther had found the way to heaven. Martin Luther learned that day that obedience to the religious system and following all the rules was not enough. The church of his day had developed elaborate rituals and even declared that the church held the keys to the kingdom of God. Nobody could get to God, the church of that day taught, except through their religious system. It was the doing of good deeds and being obedient to the church structure, Martin Luther was taught, that a person could be right with God. But when the light dawned on Martin Luther he learned that it was
Page -4- total and absolute reliance upon the grace and mercy of God that brings salvation and peace to the soul. When we say absolute reliance upon the grace and mercy of God, it means that we must let go of all the other things we have trusted -- our goodness, our merit, our success, our power, our money, and even our religion. If we will dare to let those things go and come with our empty hands to the Saviour, Jesus will meet us with open arms. By faith we can receive the righteousness of God, righteousness we will never otherwise achieve. It is by faith, from first to last. That s what Martin Luther discovered. That s what the Protestant Reformation was all about. That is Martin Luther s way to heaven. If you are trusting in your religion or your good works or your baptism, you are on the wrong way. You are on a road which does not lead to heaven. The bridge is out. You will never make it. But there is much good news, for all of us. We don t have to go that way. God sent his own Son to die on the cross and God will assign or credit to us the righteousness of his Son and God will declare us not guilty of all our sins -- past, present and future -- if only we will reach out and embrace his Son Jesus by faith. A pastor friend 4 wrote a prayer that I would like to use in closing. As he said, Perhaps it [this prayer] will help you to form your [own] words into a very simple prayer. Prayer isn t magic, as Martin Luther himself would be the first to affirm.... I caution you that saying words alone will not save you. Prayer doesn t save. Only Christ can save. But prayer can be a means of reaching out to the Lord in true saving faith. Let us pray together: Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner. And I know that I cannot save myself. I turn away from my religion, from my good works, from anything good I have ever done and from anything good I will ever do. I know that in
Page -5- myself there is nothing good that I have done or could ever do that would merit eternal salvation. Apart from your mercy and grace, Lord Jesus Christ, I have no hope of heaven. I do believe you are the Son of God who died on the cross for my sins and rose from the dead on the third day. I receive the free gift of your righteousness as my only hope of heaven. Lord Jesus, right now I trust you and you alone for my salvation. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for taking my sins away. I confess you as Lord and Saviour both now and for eternity. Amen. Amen. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from New International Version, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. +==+==+==+==+==+==+ Sunday Sermons from Suffolk Christian Church are intended for the private devotional use of members and friends of the church. Please do not print or publish. Thank you. Suggestions for sermon topics are always welcome! 1. The Augustinerkloster in Erfurt, Germany(a.k.a. the Augustinian Church and Monastery), is where Martin Luther took his vows as a monk in the church and lived in the cloister from 1505 to 1511. The monastery dates back to the 1200s, when Augustinian monks settled in Erfurt. By the time Martin Luther joined the order in 1505, the Augustinerkloster was a respected center of Catholic learning with a theological college and an extensive library of books and manuscripts. See http://europeforvisitors.com/germany/erfurt/erfurt-augustinerkloster.htm 2. The head of the Augustinian monastery was Johann von Staupitz (1460-1524). 3. Here is how Martin Luther himself described that experience: At last, by the mercy of God, meditating day and night, I gave heed to the context of the words, namely, In it the righteousness of God is revealed, as it is written, He who through faith is righteous shall live. There I began to understand that the righteousness of God is that by which the righteous lives by a gift of God, namely by faith. And
Page -6- this is the meaning: the righteousness of God is revealed by the gospel, namely, the passive righteousness with which merciful God justifies us by faith, as it is written, He who through faith is righteous shall live. Here I felt that I was altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates. There a totally other face of the entire Scripture showed itself to me. Thereupon I ran through the Scripture from memory. I also found in other terms an analogy, as, the work of God, that is what God does in us, the power of God, with which he makes us wise, the strength of God, the salvation of God, the glory of God. From: Preface to the Complete Edition of Luther s Latin Writings, written by Martin Luther in Wittenberg, 1545. The English edition is available in Luther s Works, Volume 34, Career of the Reformer IV (St. Louis, Concordia Publishing House, 1960), p. 336-337. 4. Dr. Ray Pritchard, who is president of Keep Believing Ministries. This quote and the prayer can be found at http://www.keepbelieving.com/sermon/martin-luthers-highway-to-heaven/.