Reformation 2024

[00:00:03] Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. [00:00:11] The hymn we just sang, A Mighty Fortress is Our God. It was written by Martin Luther, and part of the reason we sing it today is that we're celebrating Reformation Day. [00:00:22] He wrote this hymn based on the psalm that we said earlier in the service. [00:00:30] God is our refuge and strength, our fortress and strength. God is our refuge and strength. A very present help in trouble. [00:00:41] Well, what kind of trouble? [00:00:44] In what kind of trouble is God our refuge and strength? [00:00:50] You could say on the one hand that, well, he's the One who created us and everything and continues to take care of us. And so when you find yourself in some kind of immediate trouble, like you're in danger, or you're on the road and a deer jumps in front of you, or whatever kind of physical danger that you're in, God is the one to look to. He's the One who created us and takes care of us. Of course, a lot of suffering. God doesn't take away. [00:01:27] We continue to suffer, we continue to die. We're still mortal. [00:01:34] Okay, God's our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. [00:01:40] What kind of trouble are we talking about? [00:01:44] Well, there's the physical, immediately apparent kind of trouble that we experience from time to time or constantly, depending, maybe on a season of life. [00:01:56] But there's also a spiritual kind of trouble that we encounter. [00:02:04] You could think of this in terms of thoughts. Do you ever have thoughts that captivate you? [00:02:13] Let's say that you're having a disagreement with somebody or an argument, maybe with somebody you love very much and you have conflicting thoughts. [00:02:27] Maybe a thought comes to mind and you think, I really shouldn't say this because this is going to get me into more trouble or this is going to cause more trouble in our relationship. But you feel so constrained to follow this mental train of thought. [00:02:45] You feel this thought and you just say it anyway. Anybody ever done that before? [00:02:51] It's like, I know that's going to make things worse, but then I say it anyway. [00:02:56] Captivated by that thought. Or maybe, maybe you're troubled by despairing thoughts, thoughts of despair. Circumstances are mounting around you and are threatening and you're intimidated, and so you fall into despair and the thoughts can spiral you. Right. [00:03:17] A lot of times our own thoughts attack us, assail us, and keep us pinned down or confused. Sometimes we can't sort out our thoughts. It's hard to sort through the way we're thinking about things. [00:03:32] Well, these are. Sometimes we think about this as just psychological in the sort of, I don't know, scientific or clinical sense. Like, well, maybe I need to see a psychologist who can help me sort out my thoughts. And that can be helpful. [00:03:50] That can be helpful. But it's important to recognize this as a, as a spiritual battle when we wrestle with our thoughts. [00:04:00] This is spiritual. [00:04:03] God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. [00:04:11] Now, if you have a fortress, then there's an enemy, right? Otherwise the fortress becomes a museum. [00:04:21] That's not the kind of fortress we're talking about. We're talking about a fortress that can protect us from attacks. [00:04:30] And if it's God who's our fortress, then he can protect us against some pretty scary, intimidating attacks. [00:04:40] And if God is our fortress, then that kind of fortress would make those intimidating, scary attacks not seem so much of a deal anymore. [00:04:53] God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. [00:05:01] In the gospel reading Jesus, he talks about that trouble that we experience. [00:05:09] Here's how he says it. If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. [00:05:20] Just like we were talking about trouble. Well, like, what kind of trouble? What kind of enemy for that fortress? [00:05:26] His hearers, his listeners say the same kind of thing. Wait a second, you're saying that the truth is going to set us free, but from what? Like what? I don't see any immediate danger is what they're saying, right? They answered him, we're the offspring of Abraham. We've never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say you will become free? [00:05:47] Jesus answered them, truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. [00:06:00] Now, sometimes becoming captive to our thoughts can feel like slavery. I mean, especially maybe if you're in a spiral of depression or not being able to figure something out or a relationship just keeps getting worse and you don't know what to do about it, then it can feel like slavery. [00:06:22] But often it's tricky and we end up in a position, like Jesus listeners, where we're saying, well, what do I really need? [00:06:37] Well, Jesus is saying that the truth will set you free from slavery. Well, then that would make the Master a lie or not the truth, a wrong way of thinking, ignorance, not understanding this can enslave us without us even realizing it. [00:07:03] Do you remember the story of the fall into sin? You know, God makes everything and everything's good. He puts Adam and Eve in a garden, the first people, and there they are. And God gives them instructions right in the form of, like, you can eat from all the trees, but not from the tree in the middle of the garden. Just don't eat from that tree. [00:07:26] And the devil comes up and he says, in the form of a snake. [00:07:31] He says, did God really say that? [00:07:33] He calls God's word into question and says, did he say that? And Eve says, yes, yeah, he said that. [00:07:41] And then the devil says, well, you're not actually going to die like God said you would. If you eat the fruit from the tree, you're going to become like him. You're going to understand good and evil. [00:07:55] He promises her wisdom, knowledge, understanding if she'll just let go of God's Word. [00:08:04] And so she does. She thinks, well, I want good things. [00:08:08] I want knowledge and understanding and wisdom, and I want to know right from wrong. And. And so she takes the fruit. [00:08:17] It's like, well, what's so wrong with wanting the truth, right? But here's the real problem is that in order to do it, she ignores God's Word. [00:08:27] And that's the fundamental. Like, that's the fall into sin in scripture. That's how it's described to us, that Eve turns away from God's word to another word and seeks to solve her problems or what she perceives as a lack of something, right? She wants to know more. [00:08:47] She wants more. [00:08:49] She turns to another word than God's. And the message is, God's word is the source of understanding, the source of truth. And paying attention to God's word is. Well, it's the way. [00:09:05] That is the way. Paying attention to God's Word. And you can describe that as faith, faith in God. What's the answer for us today? It's paying attention to God's Word. When you're in a mental trap and you can't figure something out, or when your relationship just can't move forward and it's falling apart, or when you know you shouldn't do something and you just. [00:09:33] You're stuck on that track. Like, what? How do we. How do we escape the enslavement of wrong notions about things, wrong understanding about things? [00:09:47] For example, often we operate as if pleasure were the essence of good. Like, what is good pleasure? What is bad suffering or the lack of what I want? And so we pursue those things. [00:10:06] What's the answer? [00:10:08] It's God's word. It's looking to God who made us. [00:10:13] He's the one to make the instruction manual for us right for human beings and how we work and how our relationships work. [00:10:21] Listening to God's Word, that's the answer. It's faith. [00:10:25] Faith is looking to God to receive from him, right? Like, okay, I'm a blank slate. God, rewrite my understanding. Take away everything that doesn't belong, and just remake it by your word. And then he speaks his Word in scripture, in the Bible, but also through his people, as you speak his Word to one another. [00:10:53] So you find somebody in a mental quandary where they just. They can't figure out how to get out of it. Or maybe you see them embodying an unhealthy pattern that's hurting the people around them or hurting themselves. [00:11:08] And what do you do? You can bring God's Word to the situation, speak God's Word to them, and let it bear fruit as they receive it in faith, hopefully. [00:11:24] Well, that can sound kind of complicated, though. [00:11:29] Okay, what word of God do I speak? [00:11:33] Where do I get that? And what applies to this situation? [00:11:37] We can grow in that, in our ability to call to mind scripture. Memorizing scripture, students, you're memorizing Bible verses, and that's partly so that you can speak it to one another or to yourself in a time of need. [00:11:53] In God's Word, right? God's Word is that fortress. If you abide in my Word, Jesus said, then you're my disciples, you're my students. You're receiving from me and I'm teaching you. [00:12:07] And that fortifies you against attacks, against spiritual attacks. [00:12:15] So we can grow in our knowledge of God's Word and our ability to remember it at the right time. [00:12:23] But there's an even simpler way, all right? There's a fundamental way that's a lot easier, and that is just to remember Jesus Christ. [00:12:36] At the beginning of the Gospel of John, John writes, in the beginning was the Word, like the Word was in the beginning with God. And it gets a little bit complicated. But then a few verses later, he says, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. [00:12:52] He's talking about Jesus Christ, who is the Word of God become a human being. [00:13:00] It's like Adam and Eve. They turned away from God's word, like, yeah, we're going to figure this out ourselves. [00:13:07] And then they were just. They were stuck on that track. They became slaves of sin, and so are we. But that's why Jesus came. Jesus came the Word in the flesh to present himself to us, to say, look, if you want to know God, look to me. If you want to know what God thinks about things, look to me. If you want to know the truth, I am the truth. If you want to know the way like if you're. You've lost your way and you want to know the way, I am the way and the truth. [00:13:35] And if you've lost your life, which we all have physically but also spiritually. [00:13:41] I am the life. I am the way, the truth and the life. Jesus says look to him. [00:13:48] God is our refuge and strength. [00:13:52] A very present help in trouble feeling that can happen in a moment. [00:14:03] It can also grow for a lifetime. And that's the journey of faith. [00:14:09] Looking to Jesus and following him wherever he leads, in whatever situation. [00:14:16] Just remembering Jesus. [00:14:20] So if you want it simpler, which I usually do, I need all the help I can get. [00:14:28] Just think of Jesus. Just picture him on the cross and think about it in a difficult time, in a difficult relationship or a difficult moment. A moment when you're spiraling, whatever it is, just remember Jesus and picture him on the cross and think about how. How God loves you in Jesus. How he gave his son to die in your place. To sacrifice himself just cause he loves you. [00:14:58] And how Jesus suffered. Just like we do, right? Only like to the nth degree, right on the cross. And now that wasn't the end. He rose from the dead. He defeated Satan, our ancient enemy. [00:15:15] He defeated him and he rose from the dead. He lives forever. And he promises that to whoever believes in him. Right. Sounds like a verse that many of our students have memorized, right? John 3:16. All right, if you know John 3:16, let's say it. [00:15:33] For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. [00:15:47] John 3:16. [00:15:49] So that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. [00:15:54] Well, with hope like that in Jesus, what are we afraid of? In Jesus name, Amen.