Reformation Sunday
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series III, Cycle A
The church year theological clue
Virtually all Lutheran calendars and lectionaries make provision for the celebration of Reformation Day, cognizant of the fact that it is necessary to move the festival from October 3 1st to the previous Sunday, unless, of course, October 31st falls on a Sunday. Most Lutheran churches continue to observe Reformation Sunday, despite the good and growing relations with the Roman Catholic Church, which have developed with the onset of the ecumenical movement following Vatican II. But the tone of Reformation worship services has changed markedly, speaking to the need for a continuing reformation in the whole Catholic Church; ecumenical concerns, which confess the scandal of the denominational divisions in the church, are among the highest priorities of a "Reformation Today." The common interest in biblical studies, as well as theological discussions between the churches of Christendom, support such a continuing reformation today. Vatican II sparked interest in ecumenical worship services, often sponsored in alternate years by Roman Catholic and Protestant congregations.
The Prayer of the Day (LBW) - An older collect has simply been rewritten using modern language to highlight one of the basic emphases of the Lutheran/Protestant reformation, the authority of the sacred scriptures. It is, in a way, a "demanding" prayer, for the address includes a request: "Almighty God, gracious Lord, pour out your Holy Spirit upon your faithful people." The key phrase follows, one of Luther's concerns, which was expressed in his hymn, "Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word:" "Keep them steadfast in your Word," followed by, "protect and comfort them in all temptations, defend them against all their enemies, and bestow on the Church your saving peace...." The final portion, asking for "peace" in the church, also expresses one of Luther's original intentions, namely, that the church would be reformed, not divided into a multiplicity of churches.
The Psalm of the Day - Psalm 46 - This is really the only psalm that Lutherans could use as a responsory, or the Psalm of the Day, on Reformation Sunday. Luther's love of this psalm prompted him to write his hymn, "A Mighty Fortress is Our God," which has been widely acclaimed and employed in various worship services; recently, I heard a Roman Catholic radio program introduced with the use of this hymn. In many respects, it does speak to the situation of the whole church in the world, which is under attack from the forces of secularism, materialism, and indifference. When combined with "A Mighty Fortress," it is often used as a preaching text for Reformation Sunday.
The Psalm Prayer (LBW)
Lord God, our refuge and strength, when the restless powers of this world and the waters of hell rise up against your holy city, watch over it and keep it safe. By the river that flows from the throne of the Lamb, purify this new Jerusalem as your chosen dwelling, for you are with us, our stronghold now and forever.
The readings:
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Older lectionaries assigned 1 Samuel 3:19--4:1a to Reformation Day, or Sunday, but the LBW has moved the Jeremiah text from the First Sunday in Advent to Reformation Day. All of the lectionaries now place Jeremiah 31:31-34 as the first reading on the Fifth Sunday in Lent, Cycle B, which is probably where it should be, because it mentions the new covenant that God will make between himself and his people. This "second use" of Jeremiah 31 makes Reformation Day into a festival which celebrates the renewal of the covenant God has made with his people, particularly in the life and death of Jesus Christ. Jeremiah, speaking for God, tells how reformation and covenantal renewal will come about: "I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." This speaks to the reality of the continuing reformation in the church. He also touches on the ecumenical hope of the day:
And no longer shall each man teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, "Know the Lord," for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
Romans 3:19-28
This reading could not be replaced in the LBW, or any other Lutheran lectionary, because it speaks so directly to one of the cardinal doctrines of the Reformation and Lutheranism, justification by faith through grace. No one can be justified by good works, by the keeping of the law, in the opinion of Paul, because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. God exhibited his righteousness in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, giving redemption as a free gift to any and all who will receive the forgiveness of their sins and their salvation in Jesus Christ. Faith alone, not works, justifies human beings in the eyes of God, and that faith is freely given to all who will receive it through the Lord Jesus Christ. There is, according to Paul, no way that anyone can win, or earn, his or her own deliverance from sin and death and entrance into the kingdom of heaven. Unless God gives these gifts, they are completely beyond the realm of attainment by those who seek to be godly people.
John 8:31-36
Here is another of the traditional readings for Reformation Day/Sunday. Its great appeal is, partly, that it describes the situation that Luther and the Reformers found themselves in in their dispute with the Roman Catholic hierarchy; more importantly, it builds on the Romans reading and informs people that by "continuing in my (Jesus') word" they, first, become disciples of Jesus, and, second, will be set free from sin and death by God's own truth. Salvation and redemption cannot come to people simply by their claim to be children of God; only those who are set free by Jesus Christ can know complete freedom from the forces of evil and darkness - from sin; without the truth of God in Jesus and his word, human beings really have no hope of heaven.
Sermon suggestions:
John 8:31-36 - "The Reformation Continues."
A Roman Catholic - Jesuit - professor of theology in Rome, suggested to me in a conversation, that since, as he put it, we believed "the same things about the gospel," I should do two things: visit a Roman cemetery, if I wanted to find out what Roman Catholics believe about the resurrection of Jesus Christ (see the All Saints' Day sermon in this work); and, visit the Church of II Jesu, the principal church of the Jesuit order in Rome. I knew what I was supposed to see in the cemetery, and I discovered that Roman Catholic cemeteries in Italy are planned so as to continue the evidence of the hope of resurrection held to by the early Christians. But I didn't know exactly what it was he wanted me to see at Il Jesu. Taken there by another professor, I saw the tomb of Ignatius Loyola with its bas relief depiction of Loyola in the pulpit pointing at a group of people. The caption read, "Loyola condemning Luther, Calvin, and the other heretics to hell." I also noticed that the main altar of that church had been replaced by a simple table at which the Eucharist was celebrated. When I attempted to find out more about Ii Jesu, I discovered the reason it was built the way it was (with a single nave, no ambulatory, but six small chapels directly attached to the nave) to accommodate preaching. I learned Il Jesu was built over a thirty-year period which spanned the Council of Trent, and it was built so that every person in the place could hear the preaching of the Word. Of course, that meant polemical preaching in the late sixteenth century, but today it means the proclamation of the pure gospel. The reformation that has occurred in the Roman Church has seen Il Jesu's preaching-oriented intention purified and spread to every Roman church in the world so that the truth of the gospel might be preached to all people. My Jesuit friend wanted me to see Il Jesu and reach that conclusion for myself, and in the light of the biblical and homiletical reforms of Vatican II. The reformation continues, based on the Word of God and, specifically, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. In him and his word, there is the truth of God himself.
1. The Reformation continues. It has been renewed, under the influence of Word and Holy Spirit, by what has happened in the Roman Church, as well as in Protestantism, especially by the common interest in biblical studies.
2. The Word is central. Through the preaching of the Word, God's truth, declaring forgiveness of sins in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, God gives his good gifts of deliverance from sin and eternal life to his people. That's the main business of the church, and what it has to be about.
3. Freedom will last. The people of God are, as the familiar spiritual has it, "Free at last," but the freedom we have in Christ is freedom that will last - forever! "If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed."
4. Thank God for that freedom. "Thank God Almighty that we're free at last" by witnessing to, and supporting in every way possible, the proclamation of God's freeing Word in the world.
Jeremiah 31:31-34 - "Renewal Through Reformation."
1. Needed: a new covenant. The old covenant had been broken, and Jeremiah predicted that the time was coming when God would make a new covenant with his people.
2. Christ and the new covenant. It was Jesus, although he doesn't name him specifically, that Jeremiah was expecting to establish the new covenant; in Jesus, God did just that.
3. The fate of the new covenant. It, like the first covenant, was desecrated by the faithful. Reformation of the church was, and is, needed to renew the last covenant God will make with his people.
4. The new covenant renewed. God does it, as he did in the past. By writing his law upon the hearts of his people he becomes their God once again. As this happens, all people will "know the Lord" for who he is and receive the forgiveness of their sins (which destroy the covenant).
Romans 3:19-28 - "The Hardest 'Pill' to Swallow."
1. Salvation by grace. Justification by faith through God's grace is "the hardest 'pill' to swallow" for most people. We want to think, and often really believe, that we earn, or work, our way into the kingdom of God. Not so.
2. God's great giveaway. God gives away the kingdom of heaven - entrance into it - in Jesus Christ, his Son, our Lord. And he gives it to sinners, who believe and repent of their sins.
3. That's what reformation is all about. It forces us to face up to our sins, repent of them, and, as the church, be renewed by God himself.
4. The hope of heaven is ours again. "The hardest 'pill' to swallow" is the one that cures and saves us. And we are able to be the church once again, a true community of the faithful that witnesses and works in the world in the name of Jesus Christ.
Virtually all Lutheran calendars and lectionaries make provision for the celebration of Reformation Day, cognizant of the fact that it is necessary to move the festival from October 3 1st to the previous Sunday, unless, of course, October 31st falls on a Sunday. Most Lutheran churches continue to observe Reformation Sunday, despite the good and growing relations with the Roman Catholic Church, which have developed with the onset of the ecumenical movement following Vatican II. But the tone of Reformation worship services has changed markedly, speaking to the need for a continuing reformation in the whole Catholic Church; ecumenical concerns, which confess the scandal of the denominational divisions in the church, are among the highest priorities of a "Reformation Today." The common interest in biblical studies, as well as theological discussions between the churches of Christendom, support such a continuing reformation today. Vatican II sparked interest in ecumenical worship services, often sponsored in alternate years by Roman Catholic and Protestant congregations.
The Prayer of the Day (LBW) - An older collect has simply been rewritten using modern language to highlight one of the basic emphases of the Lutheran/Protestant reformation, the authority of the sacred scriptures. It is, in a way, a "demanding" prayer, for the address includes a request: "Almighty God, gracious Lord, pour out your Holy Spirit upon your faithful people." The key phrase follows, one of Luther's concerns, which was expressed in his hymn, "Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word:" "Keep them steadfast in your Word," followed by, "protect and comfort them in all temptations, defend them against all their enemies, and bestow on the Church your saving peace...." The final portion, asking for "peace" in the church, also expresses one of Luther's original intentions, namely, that the church would be reformed, not divided into a multiplicity of churches.
The Psalm of the Day - Psalm 46 - This is really the only psalm that Lutherans could use as a responsory, or the Psalm of the Day, on Reformation Sunday. Luther's love of this psalm prompted him to write his hymn, "A Mighty Fortress is Our God," which has been widely acclaimed and employed in various worship services; recently, I heard a Roman Catholic radio program introduced with the use of this hymn. In many respects, it does speak to the situation of the whole church in the world, which is under attack from the forces of secularism, materialism, and indifference. When combined with "A Mighty Fortress," it is often used as a preaching text for Reformation Sunday.
The Psalm Prayer (LBW)
Lord God, our refuge and strength, when the restless powers of this world and the waters of hell rise up against your holy city, watch over it and keep it safe. By the river that flows from the throne of the Lamb, purify this new Jerusalem as your chosen dwelling, for you are with us, our stronghold now and forever.
The readings:
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Older lectionaries assigned 1 Samuel 3:19--4:1a to Reformation Day, or Sunday, but the LBW has moved the Jeremiah text from the First Sunday in Advent to Reformation Day. All of the lectionaries now place Jeremiah 31:31-34 as the first reading on the Fifth Sunday in Lent, Cycle B, which is probably where it should be, because it mentions the new covenant that God will make between himself and his people. This "second use" of Jeremiah 31 makes Reformation Day into a festival which celebrates the renewal of the covenant God has made with his people, particularly in the life and death of Jesus Christ. Jeremiah, speaking for God, tells how reformation and covenantal renewal will come about: "I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." This speaks to the reality of the continuing reformation in the church. He also touches on the ecumenical hope of the day:
And no longer shall each man teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, "Know the Lord," for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
Romans 3:19-28
This reading could not be replaced in the LBW, or any other Lutheran lectionary, because it speaks so directly to one of the cardinal doctrines of the Reformation and Lutheranism, justification by faith through grace. No one can be justified by good works, by the keeping of the law, in the opinion of Paul, because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. God exhibited his righteousness in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, giving redemption as a free gift to any and all who will receive the forgiveness of their sins and their salvation in Jesus Christ. Faith alone, not works, justifies human beings in the eyes of God, and that faith is freely given to all who will receive it through the Lord Jesus Christ. There is, according to Paul, no way that anyone can win, or earn, his or her own deliverance from sin and death and entrance into the kingdom of heaven. Unless God gives these gifts, they are completely beyond the realm of attainment by those who seek to be godly people.
John 8:31-36
Here is another of the traditional readings for Reformation Day/Sunday. Its great appeal is, partly, that it describes the situation that Luther and the Reformers found themselves in in their dispute with the Roman Catholic hierarchy; more importantly, it builds on the Romans reading and informs people that by "continuing in my (Jesus') word" they, first, become disciples of Jesus, and, second, will be set free from sin and death by God's own truth. Salvation and redemption cannot come to people simply by their claim to be children of God; only those who are set free by Jesus Christ can know complete freedom from the forces of evil and darkness - from sin; without the truth of God in Jesus and his word, human beings really have no hope of heaven.
Sermon suggestions:
John 8:31-36 - "The Reformation Continues."
A Roman Catholic - Jesuit - professor of theology in Rome, suggested to me in a conversation, that since, as he put it, we believed "the same things about the gospel," I should do two things: visit a Roman cemetery, if I wanted to find out what Roman Catholics believe about the resurrection of Jesus Christ (see the All Saints' Day sermon in this work); and, visit the Church of II Jesu, the principal church of the Jesuit order in Rome. I knew what I was supposed to see in the cemetery, and I discovered that Roman Catholic cemeteries in Italy are planned so as to continue the evidence of the hope of resurrection held to by the early Christians. But I didn't know exactly what it was he wanted me to see at Il Jesu. Taken there by another professor, I saw the tomb of Ignatius Loyola with its bas relief depiction of Loyola in the pulpit pointing at a group of people. The caption read, "Loyola condemning Luther, Calvin, and the other heretics to hell." I also noticed that the main altar of that church had been replaced by a simple table at which the Eucharist was celebrated. When I attempted to find out more about Ii Jesu, I discovered the reason it was built the way it was (with a single nave, no ambulatory, but six small chapels directly attached to the nave) to accommodate preaching. I learned Il Jesu was built over a thirty-year period which spanned the Council of Trent, and it was built so that every person in the place could hear the preaching of the Word. Of course, that meant polemical preaching in the late sixteenth century, but today it means the proclamation of the pure gospel. The reformation that has occurred in the Roman Church has seen Il Jesu's preaching-oriented intention purified and spread to every Roman church in the world so that the truth of the gospel might be preached to all people. My Jesuit friend wanted me to see Il Jesu and reach that conclusion for myself, and in the light of the biblical and homiletical reforms of Vatican II. The reformation continues, based on the Word of God and, specifically, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. In him and his word, there is the truth of God himself.
1. The Reformation continues. It has been renewed, under the influence of Word and Holy Spirit, by what has happened in the Roman Church, as well as in Protestantism, especially by the common interest in biblical studies.
2. The Word is central. Through the preaching of the Word, God's truth, declaring forgiveness of sins in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, God gives his good gifts of deliverance from sin and eternal life to his people. That's the main business of the church, and what it has to be about.
3. Freedom will last. The people of God are, as the familiar spiritual has it, "Free at last," but the freedom we have in Christ is freedom that will last - forever! "If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed."
4. Thank God for that freedom. "Thank God Almighty that we're free at last" by witnessing to, and supporting in every way possible, the proclamation of God's freeing Word in the world.
Jeremiah 31:31-34 - "Renewal Through Reformation."
1. Needed: a new covenant. The old covenant had been broken, and Jeremiah predicted that the time was coming when God would make a new covenant with his people.
2. Christ and the new covenant. It was Jesus, although he doesn't name him specifically, that Jeremiah was expecting to establish the new covenant; in Jesus, God did just that.
3. The fate of the new covenant. It, like the first covenant, was desecrated by the faithful. Reformation of the church was, and is, needed to renew the last covenant God will make with his people.
4. The new covenant renewed. God does it, as he did in the past. By writing his law upon the hearts of his people he becomes their God once again. As this happens, all people will "know the Lord" for who he is and receive the forgiveness of their sins (which destroy the covenant).
Romans 3:19-28 - "The Hardest 'Pill' to Swallow."
1. Salvation by grace. Justification by faith through God's grace is "the hardest 'pill' to swallow" for most people. We want to think, and often really believe, that we earn, or work, our way into the kingdom of God. Not so.
2. God's great giveaway. God gives away the kingdom of heaven - entrance into it - in Jesus Christ, his Son, our Lord. And he gives it to sinners, who believe and repent of their sins.
3. That's what reformation is all about. It forces us to face up to our sins, repent of them, and, as the church, be renewed by God himself.
4. The hope of heaven is ours again. "The hardest 'pill' to swallow" is the one that cures and saves us. And we are able to be the church once again, a true community of the faithful that witnesses and works in the world in the name of Jesus Christ.
