It’s been just a bit over five years since Sofi and I met many of you. Lots and lots of water has flowed under the bridge since that day. There have been hard times and good times. There have been sad times and happy times. Some of the folks that were here with us at the beginning have since been called to glory and are now resting in the arms of their Savior. Some folks have decided – for whatever reason – that they needed to move on and find a different place to worship. The Lord has led others of you here at various times during that five year period.
There are all kinds of folks here. There are folks who have lived in this community for years. There are folks that live clear on the other side of town and drive a long way to be here. There are people here, like me, who grew up as first generation Americans – in a home where Spanish was the first language and English was a challenge to be overcome – and is still being overcome! There are folks here who grew up in the North and Midwest and even from Tennessee! There are folks here who live on very, very small incomes. There are folks who are very comfortable. There are some young folks and some middle-aged folks and some who are just a bit long in the tooth. There are small town folks here and others who grew up in the big city. There are White folks, Black folks, Red folks, Brown folks and some who are a bit of this and a bit of that.
How in the world has it been possible for this extremely diverse group of believers from so many different places and backgrounds to come together? What is it that has brought us together. This isn’t like a job, where the potential to make a living brings people together. There it’s easy to see why people come together. Most people here normally receive no money, food or clothes. As the IRS says – we receive no tangible material benefit by gathering here. So what makes this thing called – Christ Our Savior – Cristo Nuestro Salvador – happen? How is it that we are gathering today to celebrate our 5th anniversary as a church?
Let’s read about how this has come to be. Turn with me to the First Lesson in our worship folder. [read First Lesson, Jeremiah 31.31-34 here]
“The days are coming” declares the Lord, “When I will make a new promise.” These prophetic words given to Jeremiah point to a time when the status quo would be radically altered. They speak of a time when the rut of religious ritual would be leveled. Indeed – a time when every valley would be filled and every mountain would be laid low. Jeremiah was pointing to a coming of the Messiah – a time when worship of God would no longer be depended on the ritualistic, priestly mediation – but on God Himself. Jeremiah speaks of a time when the basis for our relationship to God would be the forgiveness that He Himself would offer to his people.
This is what God promised to do and what He did do in Jesus Christ. What Jeremiah is saying is wonderful! “I will put my teachings in their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people… All of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me, because I will forgive their wickedness and I will no longer hold their sins against them.” (Jeremiah 31.33 & 34)
But that wonderful promise of forgiveness by grace through faith has been the target of satan for centuries. The devil couldn’t stop Jesus from conquering through the Cross. He couldn’t stop Jesus from winning forgiveness and offering by grace through faith. And so the devil instead has tried to muddy the waters. He’s tried to make the message unclear. And so through the centuries the wonderful forgiveness of Christ was obscured - but at a tremendous price. The people Christ came to free were again enslaved by a gospel that was no gospel at all. When God’s free forgiveness in Christ is offered at a price – it keeps God’s people in bondage. It makes them believe that God is a tyrant Who doesn’t really care.
There’s a story of two cows who were grazing alongside a highway. A big tank-truck of milk passed on the road next to the field. On one side of the truck - in big red letters - was a sign that read, “Pasteurized, homogenized, standardized, Vitamin D added.” One cow turned to the other and remarked, “Makes you feel sort of inadequate, doesn’t it?” (Adapted from an illustration by Marcus Naugler – SermonCentral.com)
When God’s grace is obfuscated and conditionally offered – it harms God’s people. We feel like those two cows. It leaves us insecure and unsure of our salvation. There is always doubt about God’s love and care. Without that wonderful free, unconditional forgiveness by grace through faith, we are vulnerable. When the trials come into our life, it makes us think that God doesn’t care – that He’s punishing us.
That was Martin Luther’s biggest beef with the church in his day. The Gospel light was being obscured by the teachings of the institutional church. Salvation was offered at a price through the selling of indulgences. When Martin Luther’s parishioners were affected, God moved him to ask, “How can this be? How can the church be telling people that they can go to heaven by buying their forgiveness?”
And so he took the first of many steps that would cause him to lock horns with the institutional church. October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed the 95 Thesis on door of the Chapel of Wittenburg. He threw down the gauntlet, challenging the church to a debate on the matter. This set in motion a series of events that resulted in a trial for Luther at the Diet of Worms. At his trial, Luther faced not only the theologians and ecclesiastical powers of the church, but also the preeminent political power of the day - Charles V, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. This tribunal had the authority to have Luther burned at the stake for being a heretic.
Traditional religion came face to face with the power of God that day. God had given this young monk powerful conviction. God had given this young man a single-minded commitment to the Word. The authorities wanted Luther to deny that salvation was by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. They asked Luther, “Do you recant what you have written in your books and the errors that they contain?”
Luther’s response has stood through the ages – almost 500 years now - as the epitome of valor in the face of the attack of the devil. He replied, “Unless you convince me by the Scriptures and simple reason, I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, since they have contradicted each other. My conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot recant anything - to do so would be neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I can do no other. God help me. Amen.”
We are here, beloved, celebrating our 5th anniversary as a group of believers because this great truth has stood the test of time. Through the centuries this wonderful truth of what God is doing has gathered people and turned sinners into saints. It is doing that today among us. We have nothing to fear with God on our side.
Farmer Joe had been involved in a traffic accident. He finally decided his injuries were serious enough to take the trucking company that was responsible for the accident to court. In court, however, the trucking company’s fancy lawyer tried to paint Farmer Joe as a fraud. “Didn’t you say, at the scene of the accident, ‘I’m fine’?,” questioned the lawyer.
Farmer Joe responded, “Well I’ll tell you what happened. I had just loaded my favorite mule Bessie into the…” “I didn’t ask for any details,” the lawyer interrupted, “just answer the question. Did you not say, at the scene of the accident, ‘I’m fine’!” Farmer Joe said, “Well I had just got Bessie into the trailer and I was driving down the road…” The lawyer interrupted again and said, “Judge, I am trying to establish the fact that, at the scene of the accident, this man told the Highway Patrolman on the scene that he was just fine. Now several weeks after the accident he is trying to sue my client. I believe he is a fraud. Please tell him to simply answer the question.”
By this time the Judge was fairly interested in Farmer Joe’s answer and said to the lawyer, “I’d like to hear what he has to say about his favorite mule Bessie.” Joe thanked the Judge and proceeded, “Well as I was saying, I had just loaded Bessie, my favorite mule, into the trailer and was driving her down the highway when this huge semi-truck and trailer ran the stop sign and smacked my truck right in the side. I was thrown into one ditch and Bessie was thrown into the other. I was hurting real bad and didn’t want to move. I could hear ole Bessie moaning and groaning. I knew she was in terrible shape just by her groans.
Shortly after the accident a Highway Patrolman came on the scene. He could hear Bessie moaning and groaning so he went over to her. After he looked at her he took out his gun and shot her between the eyes. Then the Patrolman came across the road with his gun in his hand and looked at me. He said, “Your mule was in such bad shape I had to shoot her. How are you feeling?” It was then that I said, “I’m fine.” (Adapted from an illustration by Andrew Chan – SermonCentral.com)
No gun to our head compels us today to deny the Lord. No threat of being burned at the stake compels us to deny that Jesus Christ is Lord. God has erased our sinfulness and made us new creations through the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus. God has done a new thing for us in Christ. There is absolutely no reason why we should take this wonderful Gospel light and keep it under a bushel basket. Speak of it! Tell of it! Celebrate it!
Today we are blessed to be here able to trust and believe and feely confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. We’re here because these truths have been preserved by God through men like Martin Luther and many other faithful servants of the Church. They were bold to speak of the life, sufferings, Cross and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are here, celebrating this 5th anniversary of our parish today because of God’s work in our lives through that truth. We are here, people from all walks of life, because of that truth. May God be praised! Amen.
