Jeremiah 31:31-34
Psalm 46
John 8:31-36
Pastor Tom Johnson, October 29, 2023
Happy Reformation Sunday. Reformation Day is October 31. It was on October 31st 1517–more than 500 years ago. On All Saints or All Hallows Eve, this German monk named Martin Luther was very upset. He was upset with a preacher. Johann Tetzel, a priest raising money for St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome was selling pieces of paper called indulgences. If you purchased one, you were able to buy your way or someone else’s way out of suffering in purgatory. “When the coin in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs!” Luther wrote 95 theses—95 statements against indulgences and in support of true transformation—of mind, life, and heart. Luther sparked a reformation of the church in Europe, Luther was most concerned that everyone—from the nobles to the common people—that everyone would personally know Jesus Christ.
Luther’s doctorate in theology, all his books, and teachings were not so that people would be smarter but holier—that the cry of our hearts for God would be answered—that our minds and hearts would be soothed by God. That we would know that forgiveness, life, and salvation are a gift of God. To move us from the head to transformation of the heart. The Holy Spirit is the one who draws us into a relationship with God by grace—unmerited—undeserved. We are received by God and receive God through faith—childlike, tenderhearted trust in our Heavenly Father—who sent his eternal Son to take on our humanity—who sent Jesus to walk with us, heal us, teach us, suffer with us, die on the Cross, and rise again in new life so that we would have new life and new hearts.
Luther was way ahead of his time and even designed his own logo. At the center is the Cross—symbolizing Jesus Christ and his work for us. The Cross is in the heart—symbolizing Jesus dwelling richly in the heart of believers. The white rose is the Holy Spirit who draws us into this life by God’s Word and Spirit. The green leaves are continued growth in our faith and trust in God. The blue background is the heavenly joy we have now. The golden ring is the never ending circle of love and life we have in Christ.
Our reading from John reminds us of the sense of entitlement we can develop if we forget that all God’s goodness, love, forgiveness, and relationship with him is a gift. God’s people say they have never been slaves to anyone—forgetting that God delivered them out of 430 years of slavery—for free—just because he loved them. It seems laughable that such a lie could spread—the lie that you could purchase God’s forgiveness and salvation with silver and gold coins? But even today, we still can easily fall into the trap of pride, entitlement, and intellectualism. In other words, we can still fill our lives with all sorts of religious things. We can treat God like a vending machine—if we put the right coin in the slot—say the right prayers—or believe the right things, God will bless us. Or we can believe the lie that God is waiting for us to say the right thing, think the right thing, or do the right thing, then he will love us. This is transactional religion—quid pro quo theology. Our relationship with God is not transactional. It is transformational. It transforms our minds and hearts.
It’s right there in our reading from the prophet Jeremiah: “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. “No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sins no more.” The Sioux nation have a saying: The longest journey is from the head to the heart. This is what the Reformation is all about—re-forming our minds, hearts, and lives—transforming our thinking, our visceral knowing, and our daily living. This is the work of the Holy Spirit who writes his Word into our hearts—who takes our hearts of stone and replaces them with hearts of flesh. He takes us on a journey from the inside out and the outside in. God takes us on a walk. And we walk—not by sight but—by faith. He leads us into the depths of our being. He reveals a whole interior world that we have neglected. By his Holy Spirit, he speaks and writes his Word into our hearts. As our Psalm says, God calls us to be still and know that he is God.
This is a visceral knowledge. We don’t just know about God with our minds. We intimately know God. We know in our guts that he is a good, gracious, loving, giving, and forgiving. The Holy Spirit moves us on this interior journey—this epic journey—from the head to the heart. It’s a transformational journey. It’s a life-long journey. It is a relationship we now have with Christ at the center. It’s a relationship that the least to the greatest of us have. It’s a relationship where our flaws and sins are overcome by Christ who lays down his life for us and takes it up again so that our relationship will never come to an end.
Spirit of God, descend upon my heart;
Wean it from earth, through all its pulses move;
Stoop to my weakness, strength to me impart,
And make me love you as I ought to love.
(“Spirit of God, descend upon my heart,” LBW 486, vv. 1-5)
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