May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God, and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.  Amen.

Matthew 11:¹²And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.  ¹³For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. ¹⁴And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. ¹⁵He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” (NASB)

    On October 31, 1999, in the city of Augsburg, Germany, the bear filled his belly.  On that day officials of the Lutheran World Federation and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, (that’s a delegation from the Roman Catholic Church under the direction of the Pope) met to sign “The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification.”  Now that sounds oh so wonderful.  And indeed, it would be if not for the fact that the Roman Catholic Church has changed nothing in its doctrinal position.  It is the “Lutherans” who have yielded the day.

    Today is the Festival of Lutheran Reformation and if there is a day when a Lutheran Pastor should be given a pass on the modern imperative to be “tolerant” and “inclusive” of “diverse religious opinions,” it is today for as the Gospel reading says, “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. . . He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

    On October 31, 1999, in the City of Augsburg, where once Lutherans stood grand and true, a fraud was perpetrated upon all of Christendom.  Unfortunately, the vast majority of Lutherans the world over are either ignorant of what took place, or just don’t care that their precious birthright, the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Sacraments of God’s holy house, have been negotiated away in the name of this grand and glorious Church called the Evangelical Lutheran Church.

    First, a little background.  The Lutheran World Federation is defined as a “global communion of 128 members church bodies” in 70 countries representing 58 million of the world’s 61.5 million Lutherans.   To say that the Lutheran World Federation is not a confessional organization is an understatement.  The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod has not yet joined the Lutheran World Federation, although some powerful people within our synod have been trying to move us in that direction for sometime now.  But praise be to God the LC-MS is the last major hold out and the LWF does not speak for us.

    That does not mean the LC-MS is doing a whole lot better in preserving our Reformation heritage.  There is evidence all about us that shows we are not far behind in giving up our birthright and that we ourselves are doing violence to the Kingdom of God.  Our own leadership has acknowledged that many of our own LC-MS pastors do not understand the doctrine of justification.  This is the most fundamental doctrine of our Lutheran faith.  While acknowledging this to be true, the same leaders refused to take corrective measures to correct erring teachers among us.  Pastors are not disciplined for erring doctrine.  They are disciplined for “unpleasant” personalities and, as in the Roman Church of old, for challenging the authority of our own little popes to do as they please.

    The LWF does represent, however, the thinking of most “Lutheran” churches in the world and is working very hard to try to bring us all together into one communion under two grand slogans:  “unity in diversity” and “an agreement to disagree,” both of which do violence to the Kingdom of God; and neither of which have anything to do with the doctrines restored to us in that miraculous event called the Lutheran Reformation.

    Here is what the press reported the world over about the ceremonial signing.

The two dialogue partners confirm that they have reached “a consensus on the basic truths of the doctrine of justification” and “that the mutual condemnations of former times do not apply to the Catholic and Lutheran doctrines of justification, as they are presented in the Joint Declaration.

Thus, by a theologically well-founded joint action, a new interpretation has been made with regard to the doctrinal condemnations and tensions of the past concerning the doctrine of justification . . . The common goal is “to reach full church communion, a unity in diversity, in which remaining differences would be reconciled and no longer have divisive force.”  (Press release Oct. 22, 99)

    Let there be no mistake about it.  The Roman Catholic Church has not changed its teaching one bit.  The Joint Declaration is not so much a compromise between Roman Catholics and Lutherans as an out-and-out concession by so called “Lutherans’ on a teaching that cannot be compromised.  These so called “Lutherans” have given away the birthright of the sons and daughters of the real Lutheran Reformation.

    What is the Birth Right of every Lutheran?  It is the three great “Solas” of the Reformation - - Sola Gratia, Sola Fides, and Sola Scriptura - - Grace Alone!  Faith Alone! Scripture Alone!   The heart and soul of all Lutheran doctrine is the doctrine justification; “Salvation by grace through faith alone, for Christ’s sake alone.”

    The story of Lutherans compromising away the doctrines of Jesus Christ did not begin here.  It has been going on for a very long time. It has been going on since the time of the Reformation.  Throughout the history of the Lutheran Church, real Lutherans have had to contend with its own forms of scholasticism, pietism, rationalism, and modernism.

    But now we are seeing the fruits of these forces growing to maturity.   Among those fruits, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has already declared “Pulpit and Altar Fellowship” with three major non-Lutheran church bodies in the United States, none of which believe in the real presence of Christ in the Lord’s Supper or the saving power of Holy Baptism.

    Four years ago an agreement was reached wherein the ELCA “reinterpreted” the Lutheran doctrine of the Lord’s Supper in such a way as to yield the real presence of Christ.  Why?  Because it is considered rude and religiously arrogant to be so certain of one’s interpretation and religious opinion.  They would have us believe that the “Christian” thing is to do is simply recognize that other interpretations of the Lord’s Supper, of Holy Baptism, and of the Word of God are equally valid, and that the highest virtue is “unity in diversity” and “an agreement to disagree.”  Next, the ELCA is expected to approve pulpit and altar fellowship with the Episcopalian Church and in so doing will submit themselves to the episcopacy of that Church.

    You see, just because people and church bodies claim to be Lutheran, does not mean that they are really Lutheran.  I live in a home surrounded by trees.  I could dress up in green clothing, go out into my yard, stand among the trees, hold branches with leaves in my hands, and could claim to be a tree, but standing among the trees and claiming to be one does not make me one, now does it?

    It is God who makes real Lutherans, because it is God who opens our ears and causes them to hear the pure Word of God.  It is God who has opened our eyes to see Jesus Christ and Him alone.  It is God who causes us to know only Jesus Christ and Him crucified.  It is God, through His Water and the Word who causes us to abide in His Word of Truth.

    We, real Lutherans, are not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation.  We are not ashamed to offer our thanks and praise to God for the work He did through His servant Dr. Martin Luther.  We will not pretend as if the Lutheran Reformation was simply a matter of misunderstanding.  It was not!  We will not pretend as if the Word of God is unclear on this doctrine or any other article of faith.  It is not!  We will not cover ourselves with a false sense of humility stating as opinion that which is true.

    The Reformation was not simply a matter of “differing interpretations” shaped by personal experiences.  In Luther’s day all sides understood well what the other was claiming for itself.  Each side, the Romanist, the Reformed, and the Lutheran were all claiming to adhere to the one and true teachings of the Christian Faith.  We will not act as if the Lutheran Reformation was simply a creation of a new flavor of Christianity, a new denomination.  It was not!

    The Lutheran Reformation was the reassertion of the true doctrines of Jesus Christ by God through the public preaching and teaching of a man named Dr. Martin Luther.  The name given those who adhere to these doctrines is Lutherans.

    Brothers and sisters in Christ that is what we are.  We are, for lack of a more defining term, “Lutherans.”  We are authentic Lutherans in the midst of a Lutheranism that is in trouble.  We are real Lutherans who stand in the midst of a false Lutheranism that regards us as arrogant and unpopular.

    Within Lutheranism, and yes within our own LC-MS, our liturgy, the Sacraments, confessional practice, Lutheran hymns, the veracity and clarity of God’s Word, our distinctive doctrines based on Scripture alone, and yes, the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ are being compromised away bit-by-bit in place-by-place, by weak minded clergy, closed minded laity, and political pragmatists at the district and synodical level.

    The Lutheran World Federation is not the only ones giving away the birthright of the Reformation. The ELCA is not the only Lutheran Church body that is doing violence to the Kingdom of God.  We too have fallen prey to this tendency to forsake the battle and to set aside the full meaning and import of our Reformation cry.  We have compromised where we should not have compromised.   We have changed our practice where we should not have changed our practice.  We have asked our pastors and churches to do the same for the sake of “peace and unity.”   Too many within our own synod bend their knees to the tyranny of bureaucrats who lord their authority over anyone who dares challenge the wisdom of their age.

    We have said to ourselves that the doctrine one holds makes little difference in the day-to- day living of our lives.  We have forsaken the theology of the cross and have run full speed ahead into the theology of glory, the cult of personality, and the language of the “psycho-babbleist.”

    Yet, by God’s grace, in this time and in this place, in the midst of all that is happening around us and to us, God in His grace and mercy is using this little congregation and congregations here and there around our synod; congregations filled with people who stand before God the Father, as Luther rightly taught, “as sinners and saints at the same moment,” to proclaim the Gospel and call our church to repentance.

    While others give away the birthright of the Lutheran Reformation, God is using this little congregation and others like her to call upon all those who wish to bear the name “Lutheran” to repent of our apathy, our pragmatism, our political expediency, and our weariness in faithful diligence to duty to reclaim what He has given to us!  Fear not oh little flock for if God is for us who can stand against us.

    On October 31, 1517, Dr. Martin Luther nailed 95 Theses to the chapel door.  Dr. Luther did not know that God would use his preaching and teaching to change the world.  He sought only to be faithful.  He sought to protect those under his charge from evil men who would mislead and teach falsely concerning the way of salvation.  He stood against those who acted as tyrants and thieves.  His ears and eyes were opened!  They were opened so clearly that he could see that any attack upon the Gospel, regardless of its mask, was an attack upon the whole Gospel.

    In his deep and dark despair, the kind of despair that is being foisted upon 58 million Lutherans in our day, Dr. Luther heard the Gospel and God did marvelous things for us through him.   God freed His children from their captivity, from a terrible form of works righteousness, and brought His people back to their One and Only Savior - Jesus Christ.  He made them righteous by grace through faith alone for Christ’s sake alone;  Let no churchman, be he a so called Lutheran, or Catholic, or Protestant tell you otherwise.

    In the years that followed the 95 Thesis, Luther and his followers would be called upon again and again to compromise the sacred teachings of God.  Time and time again they would be asked for the sake of unity, political peace, and “Christian” charity to yield the Holy Doctrines of God’s Word.  Time and time again Dr. Luther and his followers refused.

    There were church politics in those days, as there are in our day.  The politicians then as now were always trying to get people to yield this or reword that for the sake of peace and unity.   But Dr. Luther would not yield unless he could be shown from the Holy Scripture and clear reason based on Holy Scripture that his teaching was in error.  Luther would not violate his conscience and contradict the truth that God had shown to him in the Gospel.

    Authentic Lutherans do not reinterpret the Word of God.  They listen to it!  They hear it!  They confess it!  They repent of their sins and of the violence they sometimes do to the kingdom of God.  They trust in the grace and mercy of God.  They practice what they preach!  They defend it!  They contend for the faith against friend and foe alike!

    Authentic Lutherans care enough for their neighbor to die for the Word and their neighbor, as so many have done over the centuries.  We are sinners by nature and will remain so until death.  But we have also been made saints in the eyes of our Father by the blood of the Lamb.  In the person and work of Jesus Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit, God the Father made each of you holy and blameless in His sight.  He has made you a confessing, caring, contending, and authentic Lutheran congregation of the Lutheran Confessions, not by any merit or worthiness on your part.

    By His sheer grace we are the recipients of the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Dear Christians, do you understand what God has given to us in the Lutheran Reformation?  Do you understand what He has given to us in the Lutheran Confessions?  Out of His pure grace, He restored to the Church, the pure Gospel Jesus Christ and the authentic ministry of Word and Sacrament.  Out of His pure grace He has given to us His full counsel so that we may never again be taken captive to churchmen who lord it over the church and thus destroy the Gospel and its freedom among us.  These are the teachings that have saved you from sin, death, and hell.

    The battle rages on every side tearing down the sacrifice completed by God's Son, dishonoring Holy Baptism and the Lord's Supper, looking to man's works for salvation, or for the growth of the Church, instead of to the Water and Word and Body and Blood, all of which brings us the victory won by Christ on the cross!

    But sadly, from the office of Synodical President down to the man in the pew, few within this synod understand those teachings and even fewer practices the full measure of the same.  The leaders of this synod, the pastors throughout our church body, and the laymen of the LC-MS are indeed doing violence to the Kingdom of God.  A little yeast does leaven the whole loaf and all our churchmen can seem to do is to cry “Peace, Peace when there is no peace!”

    We are Lutherans, that is to say nothing more than this:  We are a people whose ears have been opened to the full counsel of God, who have been justified freely, not of any works of our own, and who have been saved by pure grace, given true Christian faith, and who are brought here each week by faith to hear the Word of God rightly preached in the historic liturgy of our church, in the readings, and in the blessed hymns born in authentic Lutheran doctrine.

    We are Lutherans, that is to say nothing more than this: We are a people who are brought by the Word to this holy house each week to hear those blessed words, “In the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

    We are Lutherans, that is to say nothing more than this; We are people who are brought to the communion rail to receive Christ’s very own and true body and blood and to hear those blessed words, “Given and shed for the remission of your sin.  Depart in peace.”

    We are Lutherans, that is to say we are people who now have ears to hear and now you have heard, your sins are forgiven.

May the peace that surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.