Festival of the Reformation—The Lifelong Work of Repentance
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance.” (Matthew 3:8, NKJV)
The English Standard Version reads: “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.”
Young’s Literal Translation — I thought this was interesting — says: “Bear therefore fruits worthy of the reformation.”
That’s the literal translation.
And then a Lutheran paraphrase here: “Do the works that show you have repented.”
That’s Matthew 3:8.
“Out of love and zeal for bringing the truth to light, what is written below will be debated in Wittenberg with the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and Sacred Theology, and regularly appointed lecturer on these subjects at that place presiding. Therefore he requests that those who cannot be present to discuss orally with us will in their absence do so by letter. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, in saying “Repent,” wanted the entire life of the faithful to be one of repentance.
This phrase cannot be understood as referring to sacramental penance, that is, confession and satisfaction as administered by the clergy.
Yet it does not mean solely inner repentance.
Indeed, such inner repentance is nothing unless it outwardly produces various mortifications of the flesh.
And thus the penalty of sin remains as long as hatred of self — that is, true inner repentance — remains, namely until our entrance into the kingdom of heaven.
The Pope neither desires nor is able to remit any penalties except those imposed by his own discretion” (Luther, 95 Theses).
For Luther, this was the beginning of his own public grappling — quite public grappling — with what repentance truly is for the Christian. He would deal with this for the rest of his life, not only publicly against church leaders, even the Pope, but also in very personal ways touching on his long-held beliefs about the truth concerning God and the world and his personal piety.
We must all understand what true repentance is.
We must all realize what Luther had to realize. True repentance is an encounter and proper response to the truth of God’s Word. True repentance consists of encountering the truth of God’s Word on a personal level as the truth over and against all other human teachers, authorities, and institutions.
No matter how long those human leaders, authorities, and institutions have taught and performed certain lies, true repentance can only come about by encountering and responding to the truth in faith.
On October 31st, 1517, Martin Luther posted the Ninety-Five Theses that he desired to discuss with other teachers in the Church in a public forum or by letter. That’s what I read to you — the first five and his little introduction.
And already in these theses, just in the first five, Martin Luther is challenging a teaching concerning the ability of the Pope to remove temporal punishments of Christians in this life and in purgatory. That’s what he’s saying in that fifth one. He’s actually saying — putting the best construction on the Pope at the time, either out of piety or naivete, I don’t know — that the Pope doesn’t even desire to do this.
The Pope did desire to do it, but Luther says, “The Pope does not desire to remit these punishments.” He doesn’t have the ability, because God is the One who puts them on people, and only God can remove them — the punishments, the temporal punishment we deserve for our sins.
By posting the Ninety-Five Theses in 1517, Luther was confronting doctrines that had stood for centuries. The existence of purgatory had been taught for well over a thousand years. It was assumed as an official doctrine of the Church — of Western Christendom — in 1254 at the Second Council of Lyon.
It was thousands and thousands of years old, and you can find it in early Church Fathers. But by the thirteenth century, it was just a matter of fact, run-of-the-mill teaching. And Luther starts saying what he’s saying in 1517.
When it comes to the idea that the Pope could relieve the living and the dead people of these temporal punishments endured in purgatory by granting indulgences, the story is the same. It is very old, and it was officially defined in a papal bull in 1343.
The problematic doctrines concerning the Blessed Virgin Mary and the invocation of saints that Luther and the Reformers would also begin to question had been around even longer than the ideas of purgatory and indulgences.
Luther himself — maybe most of you know this, but in case you didn’t — Luther himself became a monk because he was caught in a storm and prayed to Saint Anne, the apocryphal name of the mother of the Virgin Mary. He prayed to Saint Anne to save him. She did save him from the storm, and he vowed that he would become a monk.
So it was a personal thing for him — deep down in the core of him, in his piety. But he would come to question this. Those beliefs were older than indulgences and purgatory.
In Luther’s time, this prayer I’m about to read to you was normal — it was good and right and normal.
“Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thine intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother. To thee do I come; before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful.
O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me.”
That was normal — non-controversial.
Luther would eventually become compelled on the basis of Sacred Scripture to condemn the very life he had lived for decades — being a monk. He would have to condemn it on the basis of Sacred Scripture, because it was so obvious according to Scripture that the things being taught about monastic life were wrong.
This, written by Thomas Aquinas hundreds of years before Luther was born, was non-controversial:
“It may be reasonably stated that also by entrance into a religious order (monastic life), a man obtains remission of all his sins. Hence we read in the lives of the Fathers that by entering religion, one receives the same grace as by being baptized.”
(Summa Theologica)
Non-controversial.
The same grace as having been baptized — if you take monastic vows.
To us today, hopefully Luther and the Reformers sound like they are correcting teaching and practice that is clearly contrary to the clear written Word of God.
These calls to reformation and repentance in the sixteenth century, though, were not received in the same way we might receive them.
To us, it sounds obvious. Back then, these were things that were old — said by beloved teachers for centuries, taught by them, practiced by them, and upheld by the Church. It was not obvious to them.
Many railed against Luther and the other Reformers for propping themselves up as if they knew better than the early Church Fathers who spoke of these doctrines and practices, the Church councils that defined such doctrines and practices, Popes that established and reaffirmed such doctrines and practices, and sainted doctors of the Church like Thomas Aquinas — known as the Angelic Doctor — who promoted such doctrines and practices.
And on top of having to go up against such men and such powerful and ancient institutions, they had to go up against doctrines and practices that they themselves had accepted and defended for years.
Personally, it is hard enough for a Christian to grapple with realizing a parent or pastor had taught them wrong and that they believed or practiced something wrong for decades. That’s a tough pill to swallow.
Could you imagine, for the sake of the truth of God Almighty, having to grapple with centuries of beloved teachers and respected institutions in Christendom upholding false doctrines and practices — centuries and even millennia?
Could you imagine being one who, after encountering the truth of God’s Word compelling them to cast these false doctrines and practices away from themselves, being compelled by that same truth of God’s Word to speak against these beloved teachers and unquestionable institutions publicly — risking not only livelihood and reputation, but life and limb?
It’s hard enough for us just to admit that we were wrong, or that we were duped, or that those we trust in the Church have erred or sinned grievously. Can you imagine talking about people who have been dead for a thousand years — people revered by the Church — being wrong?
The last thing our sinful flesh wants to do is reflect on our thoughts, words, and actions, or the words and actions of the people and human institutions that we love, respect, and look to, to speak what is right and do what is right.
But if, in an attempt to justify ourselves, our beloved leaders, or our respected institutions — if, in an attempt to justify these things, we put a hedge around us and them, shielding us and them from the scrutiny of the pure Fount of Israel, the sacred writings of the prophets and apostles — true repentance will never come.
There is not a single thing you have thought, done, or said that is above the judgment of God’s Word. There is not a single thing our leaders — including me — and our institutions have done or said that is above the judgment of God’s Word.
I’m not talking about your judgment. I’m talking about the judgment of God’s Word. Nothing is above the judgment of God’s Word.
No matter how long you have thought, done, or said something that is contrary to the truth — no matter how long or how many Christians have accepted a doctrine or practice contrary to the truth — all lies must be exposed by the light of Christ and cast far from us.
No matter the fallout that results, no matter the implications, no matter how it might make you view a person or an institution moving forward — if they are wrong according to Scripture, they are wrong.
And we are not to go blindly defending ourselves or others if God’s Word tells us very clearly, “This is wrong.”
“Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says, ‘Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.’” (Ephesians 5:11–14)
It can seem scary to examine yourself — to examine the Book of Concord, the LCMS and its doctrinal statements, and the doctrine and life of your current and past pastors — according to the Word of God, not according to your personal judgment.
It can feel almost too much for us to ask, “What does it look like for me to bear fruit showing I have repented of this?”
But you must. True repentance demands it.
This is what our Lord Jesus, John the Baptist, and the prophets and apostles teach us in Holy Scripture. And we believe, teach, and confess along with them the following in our Lutheran Confessions:
“To deliver godly consciences from these mazes of the learned persons, we have attributed these two parts to repentance: contrition and faith.
If anyone desires to add a third—fruit worthy of repentance, that is, a change of the entire life and character for the better—we will not oppose it.
We separate from contrition those useless and endless discussions regarding grief from loving God and from fearing punishment.
We say that contrition is the true terror of conscience which feels that God is angry with sin and grieves that it has sinned.
This contrition takes place when sins are condemned by God’s Word.
The sum of the preaching of the Gospel is this: to convict of sin, to offer for Christ’s sake the forgiveness of sins and righteousness, the Holy Spirit, and eternal life; and that, as reborn people, we should do good works.”
(Augsburg Confession XII; Apology XII)
The prospect of opening up every aspect of our life—what you have believed, thought, done, or said; what you have defended or accepted from other authorities, even for the majority of your life—allowing the light of God’s Word to expose these works of darkness can produce quite a bit of anxiety, because it is painful—very painful.
It’s like getting surgery without the anesthetic.
But if you know that our Lord Jesus Christ is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9), you have nothing to fear.
And if you know it is true when Christ says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5), then you have nothing to fear.
If you know with the certainty of faith that our Lord does not lie when He says that, you have nothing to fear.
You can be wrong. You are often wrong. And your leaders are often wrong.
And that’s okay. What’s not okay is to defend wrong.
Like had been done for a thousand years and more in some cases.
We have nothing to fear in any of this. If we really believe the blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin (1 John 1:7), we cannot walk in darkness.
No reason to fear. No reason to fear the full truth of God’s Law scrutinizing every aspect of our lives. No reason to fear the full truth of Christ’s purifying, blood-soaked Gospel—the full forgiveness of not just our sins, but the sins of the whole world.
No reason to fear the full truth of God’s Law, seen through the fact that Christ has put away your sins—and that He covers even all your weaknesses, your great weaknesses.
We have no reason to fear the full truth of God’s Law as Christians redeemed by the blood of Jesus, guiding us now as we strive to live a godly life in this present age.
We have no reason to fear in any of this—in contrition, in trusting in the Gospel, and in living a godly life, bearing fruit in keeping with repentance.
No reason to fear.
We cannot walk in darkness. We cannot live on lies.
Living on lies—living on cheap self-justification and the unthinking defense of Christian teachers and institutions—leads us into a pit out of which we will never escape.
It binds us with chains in slavery from which we will never be free.
It will lead you and I to be just as blind as the Pharisees, who were so obsessed with themselves and their institutions that they couldn’t even tell Jesus what they believed, lest the people think this or that about them.
They couldn’t answer Him.
When Jesus asked them a simple question:
“The baptism of John—where was it from? From heaven or from men?”
They reasoned among themselves, saying,
“If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet.”
So they answered Jesus and said, “We do not know.” (Matthew 21:25–27)
They were so caught up in what was highly esteemed among men and in achieving righteousness pleasing to God of their own powers that they couldn’t even bear the risk of being accused of being incorrect.
The Pharisees sat on Moses’ seat — that’s what Jesus said — so listen to their teaching, but don’t do what they do.
And all they could say about John the Baptist was, “We don’t know,” because they wanted to be right in men’s sight.
Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, in saying “Repent,” wanted the entire life of the faithful to be one of repentance.
You Christians have no reason to fear as those idolatrous and blind Pharisees feared.
You have no reason to fear because you know what you are apart from Christ.
You know what you are — you are a sinner deserving of eternal damnation apart from Christ.
You know that every leader you’ve ever had was a sinner.
You know that every human institution on this planet is comprised one hundred percent of sinners.
So let’s stop kidding ourselves and stop lying about it, and speak the truth.
This means you are going to be wrong sometimes — wrong in certain ways your entire life.
And the same goes for church leaders and church institutions.
But you also know that it isn’t by being sinless, without error, or perfect in and of yourself that you will be righteous in God’s sight.
You know that whatever the Law says, it says to those who are under the Law, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God.
Therefore, by the deeds of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the Law is the knowledge of sin.
But now the righteousness of God, apart from the Law, is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe.
For there is no difference: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith (Romans 3:19–25).
The Roman Church is still caught in a trap of having to be right no matter what. They are enslaved to the doctrine that the Roman Church cannot err — cannot be in error.
And so they are constantly performing mental gymnastics to convince the world that they are old, they are big, they are consistent, and they are right — constantly enslaved to the idea that they can never be wrong.
We can sit here and pat ourselves on the back as if we don’t try to do the same thing with our pastors, teachers, leaders, and institutions.
But we’d be kidding ourselves, wouldn’t we?
We so easily forget our heritage — the heritage of the sure and certain truth of God’s Word:
Man is justified — that is, made righteous, right with God, forgiven, perfect in God’s sight — by faith apart from deeds of the Law.
Not by being right.
Not by never sinning.
Not by being blindly defended.
As our Confessions put it:
“A poor sinful person is justified before God, absolved and declared free from all sins and from deserved condemnation, and adopted into the inheritance of eternal life without any merit or worth of his own.
This happens without any preceding, present, or subsequent works following — so before, middle, and after.
It is out of pure grace because of the sole merit, complete obedience, suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ alone.
His obedience is credited to us for righteousness.”
(Formula of Concord, Epitome III; Solid Declaration III)
Knowing by faith this sure and certain truth about our sin and what God has done to put it away makes us free.
It makes us free from needing to be right at all costs.
Free from fear of admitting that we were wrong or deceived.
Free from fear of admitting that teachers or institutions we trusted were wrong or sinned.
Free from every attempt to justify ourselves.
Free to say with St. Paul, words like these from 1 Corinthians:
“It is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court.
I do not even judge myself.
For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord.
Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts.
Then each one’s praise will come from God.” (1 Corinthians 4:3–5)
God is our Judge — and you know His verdict.
In that freedom, knowing our sin and who has put it away and who works in us to bear much fruit, we need not lie to ourselves or continue in darkness.
We can stand boldly on the truth of God’s Word, and we can stand opening up ourselves and every other human being to the scrutiny of God’s Word, because we know He is a just Judge.
We can and should speak as Luther would to the emperor and the horde of false teachers that demanded him to recant his writings at the Diet of Worms in 1525, just a few years later after the Ninety-Five Theses were posted.
This is just a little bit of what he said:
“As I am a mere man and not God, I know what I am. I will defend myself after the example of Jesus Christ:
If I have spoken evil, bear witness against me; but if well, why do you strike me?
I, Luther, who am but dust and ashes and prone to error, desire that everyone bring forward what he can against my doctrine.
Therefore, most serene emperor and all who hear me, I implore you by the mercies of God to prove to me by the writings of the prophets and apostles that I am in error.
As soon as I am convinced, I will retract all my errors and commit my writings to the flames.
Since your majesty and highness require a simple answer, I will give one:
I cannot submit my faith to the Pope or to the council, for they have erred and contradicted themselves.
If I am not convinced by proof from Holy Scripture or by clear reason — if my judgment is not brought into subjection to God’s Word — I neither can nor will retract anything, for it is neither safe nor honest for a Christian to act against his conscience, to knowingly act against what God’s Word says about us.
Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise.
God help me. Amen.”
Let us pray. Lord God, heavenly Father, we most heartily thank You that by Your Word You have brought us out of the darkness of error into the light of Your grace. Mercifully help us to walk in that light. Guard us from all error and false doctrine, and grant that we may not become ungrateful and despise and persecute Your Word as Your people did long ago, but receive it with all our heart. Govern our lives according to it, and put our trust in Your grace through the merit of Your dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one true God, now and forever.
Amen.
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