Sermon 2 Corinthians 8:1-11 “Giving According to Your Means”

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

New Covenant Presbyterian Church

Sermon 2 Corinthians 8:1-11 “Giving According to Your Means”

November 19, 2017

Today is Stewardship Sunday.   We remember today of all of God’s blessings.  We have received many.   The reason God blesses us is to use us to carry out His plan for our world.   So we receive abundantly from God and give out of that abundance.  We give out of our time and money.   We will look at what the Bible says about giving, but first, let’s pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

We begin looking at a portion of a letter sent from Paul to the church at Corinth.   Paul wants them to imitate other churches in the practice of giving.

2 Corinthians 8:1 And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.

The churches Paul lifts up as examples for us to follow were poor churches suffering from persecution.  You would expect that given their poverty and problems giving would be very low.  You can’t squeeze blood out of a turnip.  But that was not the case.  In fact, the members of the church were quite generous given their means.  Why would this be?   Why would they give generously to the mission of God through the church given their unfortunate circumstances?  Well, we are told that it was because of their extreme joy.   They had received forgiveness of sin from their gracious God.  They had received the promise of eternal life in the resurrection from the dead.   They had received fellowship in the church.   They had received the gift of answered prayer.    They were grateful for all these gifts. They were filled with joy.  And so they gave to God’s mission through the church.   Let’s get back to Paul’s letter.

3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. 5 And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us.

Wow!  Even though they experienced great poverty and suffering they responded to God’s grace overwhelmingly.   They opened their checkbooks and gave because of the abundant grace they had received from God.   What if we counted our blessing?  How much have we received from God?   Has God blessed us with health?  Has God blessed us with family?  Has God blessed us with homes and ability to travel?  Has God blessed us with church?   Even if you are suffering financially I think you have to conclude that you have richly received abundant blessings from God.

So what are we to do about all this?   Let’s return to the letter.

6 So we urged Titus, just as he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. 7 But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.

The blessing of church is amazing.   Here we learn about God, who He is and what He does?  We learn about His coming to earth as a man named Jesus who loved us and cared for us like a shepherd cares for his sheep.   Jesus leads us to the Father and secures for us forgiveness of sins and eternal life.   And we learn about the Spirit, who transforms us as disciples and empowers us to do what God wants us to do.   We learn how to love God and love one another.   And our faith grows.  We learn all this knowledge and experience this reality right here in church.

But there is one more thing that we learn in church.   We learn the grace of giving.  We give in gratitude for all that God had given us.   And as we give we experience great joy because we are doing what our maker created us to do.

So we now know why we give, in gratitude for what God has already given us.  But even with this knowledge, sometimes, we just don’t give as we should.   And so sometimes we need a kick in the pants.  Let’s hear what Paul has to say to us.

8 I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others.

So Paul is trying to shame the Corinthian church.  Here they sit, a wealthy church.   They live in fine homes, travel to distant places, and eat the best food.   And yet their giving is not up to the standards set by much poorer churches.  And so Paul has sent Titus to Corinth to help the church realize how much they have been blessed by God and help them grow in both faith and generosity.

Let’s take a look at our church’s giving.   “On average Presbyterians give 1.5 percent of their annual income to the church–an average of about $580 annually, which results in a total amount of giving to our church of around $1.5 billion. If every Presbyterian tithed, together we would give $9.5 billion.”   ( https://www.presbyterianmission.org/what-we-believe/stewardship)   

According to statistics from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)  New Covenant has 168 members.   We had $118,411 in regular contributions last year.   That comes out to an average contribution of $705 per member, a little more than the average for all Presbyterian congregations.   According to the United States Census the median income for Middletown, zip code 19709, is $97000.   If we assume that the members of this church are typical of this community and earn around the median income, then the average member gives .7% of their income to the church.   Individuals and families may be giving more or less than this, but these are the averages.

(https://church-trends.pcusa.org/church/11365/financials)

(https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/cf/1.0/en/zip/19709/INCOME/MEDIAN_HH_INCOME)

Now, let's suppose that members of the church gave, on average, a tithe or 10% of their income to the church.   What would happen to our budget?    If 168 members gave 10%,  $9700 each, then annually we would have a budget of $1,600,000.   With this budget, we would provide wonderful worship and education facilities for the whole community.   We would never again have to have a special offering for the roof.  We would have a Senior Pastor and an Associate Pastor for Youth and Families.    We could better support Neighborhood House, Our Daily Bread, our Kenyan partners, and Compassion International.   And we would be starting new churches in growing areas of Delaware.  

But since our budget is just a fraction of that we limp along with a pastor making the minimum, and little money left over for anything else.   The $150,000 or so we have in total revenue each year doesn’t go very far.         

Our lack of giving is especially grievous given the sacrifice that Jesus made for all of us.   Let’s listen some more to the letter from Paul.

9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake, he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

The Savior we worship is God with all the prerogatives of heaven.  He could have stayed there and enjoyed heaven.   But he didn’t.   He emptied himself of his divinity and came to earth to be with us.  Here he suffered as we do.  Here he died as we do.   But in his death, he defeated the evil one and secured for us forgiveness of sin and eternal life.   He did all of this because he loves us.   Do we love him?  Are we grateful for what Jesus did?  Are we willing to give a percentage of our income to advance God’s kingdom on earth?  A biblical tithe, 10%, would be for someone with the median income in Middletown around $800 per month, so little when compared to what Christ has done for us.

So what are we to do?   Paul does not beat around the bush.   Here is what he told the Corinthian church to do.  Listen carefully.

10 And here is my judgment about what is best for you in this matter. Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. 11 Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means.

Corinth is a rich church.  But in comparison to poor churches, they are just not carrying their weight.   They have generously given in the past, but now they have to do more.    And Paul wants them to give according to their means.   They are not to give just a token amount every Sunday.  They are not to give the same amount they have been giving for the last twenty years.   They are to give a percentage of their income, maybe the biblical tithe, 10%.

So what would the Apostle Paul tell us if he came here and saw the wealth of this community?   What would he say if he visited our homes and saw our lifestyles?   What would he say when he compared our homes to this church?   What would he say when he looked at the programs of this church given the needs of this community?   I think he would tell us the same thing he told the Corinthian church.  

2 Corinthians 9:6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Let’s pray.    Lord Jesus, you have blessed us richly with money and homes and families and travel and jobs and everything we value.   And for all of this, we are so grateful.   So now we offer a percentage of these gifts as our tithes and offerings.   We ask Lord for forgiveness for low levels of giving.  And we ask that you help us budget so that we can return to you an appropriate portion of what we have received.   This we pray in thanksgiving.  Amen.  

Sermon 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 Death is Not the End

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

New Covenant Presbyterian Church

Sermon 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 Death is Not the End

November 12, 2017

Last Sunday an atheist with a deranged mind overwhelmed by evil opened fire on a group of saints engaged in the worship of God.   The members of First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas, had gathered for worship on Sunday morning.   A violent man entered the sanctuary and began shooting.   26 Christians martyrs died.   And these saints are now with the Lord Jesus in heaven.  Our Christian hope is the promise of eternal life.   Evil will not defeat us.  We will get to this, but first, let’s pray.     

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)
When Paul was pastoring the church at Thessalonica he told them about Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, and how this meant the Jesus had defeated death giving Christians the promise of eternal life.    But as time passed people in the Thessalonica church began to die, as happens today.  They were concerned because they thought that as believers they would not die because Jesus had defeated death.  They believed the promise of eternal life for all believers.   So, why were members of the church dying?   Where they not faithful enough?  Maybe they weren’t really Christian.

This concern of their got back to Paul who must have been thinking about this very subject.   What happens to Christians when they die?   And where does the promise of eternal life come in?  Paul responded to the concerns of the Thessalonian church in the Book of 1 Thessalonians chapter 4.   Let’s go there as see what happens after we die.

1Thessalonians 4:13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Most people grieve the loss of loved one.   It is a most natural thing to do.   I can still the day, over 30 years ago now, when my mother died unexpectedly from a heart attack.   This put a hole in my life that just wouldn’t go away.   I needed to find a familiar place for comfort.  And so for the first time in years, I returned to church and attended worship every Sunday.

For non-believers, grief over the death of a loved one never stops.   It may fade a little over time.   But non-believers experience loss with no hope of eternal life, no hope of ever seeing their loved one again.   And so their grief goes on forever.     Without hope in eternal life grief never goes away.

We Christians, on the other hand, have hope.   Of course, we experience loss when a loved one dies.   But along with our loss, there is also hope in eternal life.    And this hope reduces our grief.   We recover from grief sooner, because of our hope in the resurrection from the dead.

You see as Christians we do not believe that we are immortal.  We will not live forever.   We will one day die.   But our hope is that death is not permanent, just as Jesus’s death was not permanent.  He was raised on the third day after his death.   And so too will we be raised after our deaths to eternal life.  Paul says that a Christian’s death is like sleeping.   And if we are sleeping then one day we will all wake up.  

So there is no reason to grieve the death of a Christian for a long time. Death is not final.   After we die, we will live again. Our bodies will be resurrected, recreated by God and we will live again.  And we know this because Jesus was resurrected from the dead.

Our model for all of this is Jesus.   Jesus died, was executed on a cross.   His dead body was placed in a tomb.   A large stone was rolled in place to seal it.   But then, on the third day Jesus was alive, resurrected.   He was not a ghost.  Jesus had a physical body which was recognizable.   People recognized Jesus after overcoming the shock that he was alive.   And Jesus, in this physical, resurrected body Jesus ascended to and currently lives in heaven.  

So what happens when a Christian believer dies?  At death our bodies and our souls separate.   Our bodies are then buried or cremated.   It really doesn’t matter what happens to our bodies after we die.  But our souls, our memories, our preferences, our talents, our identities go immediately to heaven.   There, in heaven, we live with Jesus until the resurrection.  Then in the resurrection, Jesus returns to earth.    God recreates our bodies from the dust of the earth.   Our souls are joined to our resurrected bodies.  And we live again, for eternity.   We live together with each other and Jesus in the Kingdom of God on earth forever.  This is our Christian hope.

All Christians should be encouraged by all of this.   Our future, as believers, is assured.    We will go to heaven when we die.   We will be resurrected from the dead when Jesus returns to Earth.   Never doubt this truth for yourselves and your loved ones.  All who believe in Jesus Christ will be with him in heaven and when he returns will be resurrected with him to eternal life.

One day I went to visit a member of my church.  He was near death and under hospice care.  I arrived at the hospice early one day not knowing if Cliff was still alive or not.   The nurse told that he was not expected to wake up.   And she told me that his hearing aids had been removed so there was no way he could hear me.   So I sat next to the bed and began reading the 23rd Psalm.   As I read the psalm Cliff woke up.   He recognized me and asked, “Pastor, where do I go next.”   I said, “Cliff, your next stop is heaven!”.   With that, he smiled and went back to sleep never to wake up again.  It was a miracle that Cliff could hear these words of hope from his pastor.   I have no doubt that Cliff is enjoying heaven today.    And I have hope that one day I will see Cliff again, not in the diseased body he lugged around the last few years of his life, but in a new resurrected body which will allow Cliff to harvest oysters off the shore of Greenbackville VA.   In fact, I hope to see resurrection all the believers I have buried over the last ten years I have been a pastor.

Paul’s purpose in writing this to the Thessalonians was to comfort them as they grieved the deaths of loved ones.   And we too are comforted by these words when our loved ones die.   As Christians, we are so filled with hope in the resurrection that our grief will be short and replaced anticipation of a glorious future.   Sadly non-Christians have no such hope.    They don’t believe in the resurrection.   They don’t believe in heaven.   They have no hope.   Death is the end.  It leads to nothing.   And without hope, Atheists grieve for the loved ones.  Their grief goes on and on.   It is so sad.  But not so with us.   Our grief is replaced by hope in the resurrection from the dead.

“William Willimon has written that when he was a young pastor in rural Georgia, a dear uncle of one of his congregation’s members died suddenly, and though this uncle was not a member of Willimon’s church, he and his wife decided to attend the funeral. So Willimon and his wife drove to a back-woods, off-brand Baptist church for the funeral one sunny afternoon.
It was, Willimon said, unlike anything he had ever seen.  They wheeled the casket in and soon thereafter the pastor began to preach.  With great fire and flaying his arms all over the place, this preacher thundered, “It’s too late for Joe! He might have wanted to do this or that in his life, but it’s too late for him now!  He’s dead.  It’s all over.  He might have wanted to straighten out his life, but he can’t now.  It’s finished!”
As Willimon sat there, he thought to himself, “Well, this is certainly a great comfort for this grieving family!”  The minister continued: “But it ain’t too late for you! People drop dead every day, so why wait?!  Too late for Joe but not for you!  Make your life count, wake up and come to Jesus now!”
“Well,” Willimon concluded, “it was the worst thing I ever heard.’ Can you imagine a preacher doing that to a bereft family?'” he asked his wife in the car on the way home.  “I’ve never heard anything so manipulative, cheap, and inappropriate!  I would never preach a sermon like that.”  His wife agreed: it was tacky, calloused, manipulative.
“And of course,” his wife added, “the worst part is that everything he said was true.” (http://cep.calvinseminary.edu/sermon-starters/proper-27a/?type=the_lectionary_gospel)

And that’s the point.   Christians who believe in Jesus have the hope of everlasting life in the resurrection from the dead.   Atheists do not believe any of this and are therefore condemned to the nothingness or possibly a ticket to hell.  Let’s talk with the atheists we know, our loved one who doesn't believe in Jesus.   Let them know about Jesus love and forgiveness.   Tell them about your hope in everlasting life in the resurrection.   And tell them that all they have to do is believe in Jesus and accept his offer of eternal life.   The offer is so good and it costs so little.  To encourage people to believe and hope in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.     

The saints in Texas who died last Sunday are most assuredly in heaven with Jesus today.   They will be with him when he returns to earth.   They will receive new resurrected bodies and will be reunited with their loved ones.   Don’t grieve for them.  Be filled with hope in everlasting life.  Let’ pray.

“Eternal God, our help in every time of trouble, send your Holy Spirit to comfort and strengthen us, that we may have hope of life eternal and trust in your goodness and mercy, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”   (Book of Common Worship p.906)

Sermon 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13 Characteristics of a Pastor

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

New Covenant Presbyterian Church

Sermon 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13 Characteristics of a Pastor

November 5, 2017

Let’s begin this morning with an Interim Update. I came to New Covenant church last Spring as Interim Pastor to help you through the process of finding a new pastor.   The first thing we had to do was cleanup.   We cleaned up some clutter which had accumulated in the building.   And we cleaned up your membership roles so that we know who are the active members of this church.   We then began a brainstorming process where the congregation put ideas on sheet of paper in the education building

With this work behind us we can now focus our attention on the next phase of the transition process.  The nominating committee of the church is a work find active members who can serve on a pastor nominating committee and the three boards of the church.   When they are finish session will call a congregational meeting to ask you to ratify these nominations.   Once the congregation has selected a pastor nominating committee, work will start writing a mission study and search for a pastor.   All this takes time.   But the more time and effort you put into the process, the better the result.   And you want a pastor who fits well with this congregation.    We will talk more today about characteristics of a good pastor, but first let’s pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

Paul and Silas has had a rough time in Philippi.   Their preaching faced great opposition, but they continued.   They wanted to faithful to God.   And being faithful sometimes means being unpopular.   But when a preacher persists, even in the face of suffering for it, you know that the preacher is not doing it for selfish motives.   You know that the preacher is speaking for God.   Through ordination God gives preachers a gospel to proclaim and a call to proclaim it.   And this is the most important thing that pastor does, not to please people, but to faithfully proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The reason a pastor proclaims the gospel is because he cares for his congregation.   He loves the congregation and wants its members to grow spiritually.   Like a mother providing milk for a child, a pastor proclaims the word of God to his congregation for their benefit.  He hopes to watch as his congregation grows into disciples of Jesus Christ.  And so sharing the gospel, for a pastor, is truly a delight and a calling.

Let’s turn now to the second chapter of the Book of 1 Thessalonians to hear from Paul about the characteristics of a pastor.

1 Thessalonians 2:9 Surely you remember, brothers and sisters, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. 10 You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. 11 For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, 12 encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.

Paul gives us three characteristics of a good pastor.   First, he tells us that pastors work hard, day and night.   Pastor put in long hours.   They rise early to pray for the church.   They meet people, design worship services, proof bulletins, prepare for classes and write sermons.   The one hour or so you see on Sunday mornings and at Bible studies requires preparation.   The preparation is crucial for a pastor to be both faithful to God and helpful to the congregation.   So when you call a new pastor for New Covenant Church  remember that he or she will spend long hours, sometimes late into the night preparing for the important, God given, task of proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ to you.

The second characteristic of a good pastor is that he or she is, as Paul says, “holy, righteous and blameless.”   This is an important characteristic.    You want your pastor to be someone you can follow.   Only a person who allows the Holy Spirit to guide his or her actions is suitable for this work.   A pastor who steals from the church or is unfaithful to his wife cannot lead others into discipleship of Christ.   So when you call a pastor, check references and make sure that he or she is a good person.   And remember that we believe in change, transformation and growth.   A person’s past should not be held against them if their present is pleasing to God.

And the third characteristic of a good pastor is that she or he will encourage others to live lives worthy to God.   A pastor lives a good life and urges others to follow her or his example.   And so if you are not living lives pleasing to God, expect a pastor to admonish you, trying to help you do better.  So a good pastor spends long hours in preparation.   She or he lives an exemplary life, and encourages others to do the same.

When a pastor does this something extraordinary happens.   The word he preaches becomes the word of God.   Listen as Paul explains this

13 And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.

This is the most important thing that pastor does.   By faithfully preaching the gospel it becomes the word of God in you when you hear it.   That is why a pastor’s preparation is so important.   Only through prayer and study can a pastor preach a faithful sermon.  But for this sermon to become the word of God for someone that person must hear it.   That is why it is so important to be in church every Sunday.  Only by coming to church can you be fed the spiritual food of the word of God.  Only in church to you grow as a disciple of Jesus Christ.   Because only in church do you hear the word of God spoken by a pastor who loves you and desires your spiritual growth.

When a qualified pastor faithfully proclaims the gospel and you hear it as the word of God something amazing happens.   The Holy Spirit come into you bringing you to faith in Jesus Christ.

14 For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of God’s churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus.

So as the Apostle Paul pastored the church in Thessalonica he saw them grow spiritually just as other churches has grown.   All Paul did was to faithfully proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.   He did this through preparation, prayer and study.  He did this through living an exemplary life and encouraging others to do the same.   And through the proclamation of the gospel he watched the church grow spiritually into disciples of Jesus Christ.

I urge you, as you search for a pastor, to use these characteristic.    Ask the candidates how they prepare for preaching and teaching.   Listen for how much they value preparation and the importance they give to study and prayer.    Check out references and determine if the candidate is living a life pleasing to God.   And ask the candidate how they plan to encourage you to live lives pleasing to God as well.

God's Instrument

This pastor appreciation poem is about how God uses pastors in our lives.

I see the hands that hold God's word
And fold in prayer to seek God’s will.
I see the feet that walk the path
And offers of praise as from lofty hill.

I see the hands that serve God well,
The ears that seek to hear God’s call,
The mouth that speaks truth and wisdom,
The busy feet that carry the message to all.

I see the heart that was priked and entered
When God's man or woman answered the gospel call
And yielded his life as a humble servant,
A man or woman who is willing, as was Apostle Paul.

I see all of this as he stands in the pulpit,
An instrument through which God speaks
The words of wisdom, of love and peace,
To lead and guide all those whom God seeks.
adapted from  Judy Crowe (http://www.my-pastor.com/pastor-appreciation-poems.html)

Let’s pray.   O Lord we pray for our nominating committee that you will guide them as they seek new officers and a pastor nominating committee for our church.   Call members of this church to serve.   Give them the what they need to lead this church and find a new pastor.   And bless the pastor you have already chosen.   Prepare this pastor in his or her prayers and study.   Keep this pastor living a pious life.   And bring this pastor to us quickly.  This we pray in your son’s name.   Amen.

Sermon – Romans 3:19-28 “Here I Stand, I Can Do No Other”

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon – Romans 3:19-28 “Here I Stand, I Can Do No Other”

Reformation Sunday

New Covenant Presbyterian Church

October 29, 2017

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed a piece of paper to the door of a school in Wittenberg Germany, in protest of corrupt practices in the church.  On this paper, he had written 95 Theses about how the church needed to be reformed.  Five hundred years ago the Protestant Reformation began.   And we celebrate this anniversary today.  We will get to this, but first, let's pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

Martin Luther was a bright student.   His father, in the mining industry, sent Martin to school to learn Latin grammar in preparation for becoming a lawyer.   But one day when Martin was returning from school he encountered a terrible storm.  Wind, rain, thunder, and lightning,  frightened Martin’s horse which threw him to the ground.  Young Martin thought he was going to die.   So he prayed to St. Anne, Mary’s mother, to save his life.  And he vowed to the saint that if she saved him from death that day, he would become a monk.   Martin Luther’s life was spared.   And so, over the strong objections of his father, Martin went to the Augustinian monastery near his school, fulfilled his vow to St. Anne,  and became a monk.

The Augustinians continued Martin’s education and he became a priest in 1507.  Martin Luther was on the fast track for leadership in the Augustinian order.   In 1510 he was selected as part of a group to go to Rome.  Upon returning from Rome he was sent as a teacher to a new Augustinian school that had been started in Wittenberg.  At this school, he began lecturing from the Book of Psalms because young men could learn proper behavior by studying them.

While Martin Luther was teaching in Wittenberg problems were arising in Rome.  Saint Peter’s Basilica was being built, and great artists and craftsmen had been recruited to do the work.   The great Michelangelo had been hired to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.  And all of these craftsmen had to be paid.  The church needed money.   So they turned to a fundraising program that had worked well in the past.  They decided to sell indulgences.

The sales pitch for indulgences was simple.   The church taught that you had to do good works to be right with God and go to heaven.    People were encouraged to do good works to earn their salvation.   But some people worried that they had not done enough of these good works to please God.  Some people were also worried about their families, had their loved one done enough to please God.  And some were worried about loved ones who had died.  Had they done enough in their lives to please God and to go to heaven?

The church told them that, if needed, they could buy extra good works from the church that would ensure passage to heaven.   The church said that the saints of old had earned an excess of good works that they left behind in the church when they died.   And so the church can sell these good works earned by the saints to anyone who needed them.   All they had to do to have all the good works they needed for themselves and the families was to buy indulgences from the church.   The indulgence was a receipt for good works of the saints purchase to please God.  Sales of indulgences were brisk, and money was coming in.

In Germany, there was a bishop who was very ambitious and wanted wealth for his family and a cardinal’s hat for himself.   But how could he persuade the Pope to make him a cardinal?   Archbishop Albrecht decided to sell indulgences to people in Germany and send the money to the Pope for the construction of Saint Peter’s in Rome.   This way, he hoped the Pope would grant his request to be a cardinal.  And so the selling of Indulgences spread throughout Germany.

After Martin Luther completed his lectures on the Psalms he turned his attention to the Book of Romans.   And while preparing for his class on Romans he read this.

Romans 3:21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.

As he read this, Martin Luther realized that church was in error.   We enter into a right relationship with God not through good works, but through our faith in Jesus Christ.   The sale of indulgences was a sham.  The church was praying on gullible people selling them worthless pieces of paper.   The church had to be reformed.  Martin Luther issued a protest be nailing 95 theses to the door of his school in Wittenberg.   A protestant reformation had begun.  

By nailing 95 theses to the door Luther had started a conversation in his school. And if that was all he did, little would happen.    But Luther did not stop there.   Luther knew of someone with a recent invention, the printing press.   Luther took the 95 theses to the printed and large quantities of pamphlets in both Latin and German began to circulate.   These pamphlets reached other countries and were printed in other languages.  And people all over Europe began to realize that a right relationship with God came not through good works, but through faith in Jesus Christ.   They stopped buying indulgences from the church.  

Pope Leo sent Cardinal Cajetan to Germany to speak with Luther and get him to recant.   But Luther refused.  And so in 1520 Luther was excommunicated by the Pope.   Luther had no intention of breaking away from the church.   He wanted to reform it.  But the church blocked his reforms leaving him no choice but to leave the church he had served.

In April of 1521 Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor convened a Diet or Parliament in the city of Worms.   He ordered Luther to attend.    As Luther looked up at the Emperor he was told to either recant or be declared a heretic and be sentenced to death.   Luther stood before the emperor and made a passionate defense of his beliefs.   

Romans 3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.
21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. 28 For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.

You are saved, made right with God and receive eternal life, not by your good work.  Good works will not save you.   Evil works will not condemn you.   Because God has chosen out of his great love and mercy to forgive you.   Our salvation comes not from anything we do.   We are saved solely by the grace of God.

But who gets saved?   Certainly not everyone?  Of course not!   God’s gracious salvation comes only to those who believe in Jesus Christ.   Paul said,

Romans 10:9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

So, those who have faith in Jesus Christ and believe in the resurrection are chosen by God for salvation.    You are not saved by what you do or fail to do.   Your salvation comes solely from your faith in Christ.   You are saved by the grace of God through your faith in Jesus Christ.

But where does this faith come from?   How can we obtain it?   Paul tells us this:

Romans 10:17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.

Faith comes from hearing the word of God read and proclaimed.  That is why we come to church, to hear scripture read and a sermon preached.  The Holy Spirit uses our hearing of the scripture to bring us to faith.   Only scripture can bring us to saving faith in Jesus Christ.   So we are saved not by works, but by the grace of God, through our faith in Jesus Christ, which comes to us as a gift of the Holy Spirit through hearing the word of God read and proclaimed.

When Martin Luther finished his proclamation to the Emperor he said, according to legend, “Here I stand, I can do no other.”   This became the rallying cry for protestants all over Europe.     Here I stand, I can do no other!

Luther had been given safe passage to and from the Diet by Emperor Charles.   So Luther was allowed to leave the assembly.    Then Charles declared him a heretic and ordered his execution.

Luther went into hiding.   He pretended to be kidnapped and then assumed a false identity while living in the safety of Wartburg Castle.  There, Luther did a truly extraordinary thing.   He translated the Bible from the original Hebrew of the Old Testament and Greek of the New Testament into German.  When this was printed and distributed all over Germany it became an instant best seller.   People wanted to read the Bible for themselves.   So they filled reading classes in schools and churches.  Literacy rates skyrocketed and a standardized German language was born.

Luther started something he had never imagined.  He sparked a protestant reformation which has covered the world.    We now know that our salvation depends not on anything we do, but solely on the grace of God.    We now know that God mercifully forgives only those with faith in Jesus Christ.   And we now know that faith comes to us as a gift of the Holy Spirit through the hearing of the world of God read and proclaimed.   Here we stand, we can do no other.   Let’s pray a prayer from Martin Luther...

Behold, Lord, an empty vessel that needs to be filled. My Lord, fill it.
I am weak in the faith; strengthen me.
I am cold in love; warm me and make me fervent, that my love may go out to my neighbor.
I do not have a strong and firm faith; at times I doubt and am unable to trust you altogether. O Lord, help me. Strengthen my faith and trust in you.
In you, I have sealed the treasure of all I have.
I am poor; you are rich and came to be merciful to the poor.
I am a sinner; you are upright.
With me, there is an abundance of sin; in you is the fullness of righteousness.
Therefore I will remain with you, of whom I can receive, but to whom I may not give.
Amen. (Martin Luther)  

http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/a-prayer-of-martin-luther)