I’ve taken a “Four Pockets” look at both the regular lectionary texts for the week and the readings for Reformation Day, because it’s all an abundance of riches. As Jesus said in John 8: “the truth will make you free.” We have so many gifts to receive and celebrate this Reformation Day!
First, the Great Commandment, given by Moses in Deuteronomy 6:4-5, is a word for every part of life. It is the grace of God to promise a relationship of love with Israel, a word that reveals our failure to live into this trust, and a constant encouragement to return to the Lord in faith and love: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.”
Jesus didn’t add anything new when he joined this word from Deuteronomy 6 with the words from Leviticus 19:18: “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Instead, he held up the great light and mirror of the Jewish faith for all to know and live into. We give thanks to God where we see faith and love happening in our lives; we repent and get back on the Way of Jesus when we see our sins in that mirror, one day at a time.
This honesty about sin and God’s grace is the heart of the Lutheran Reformation. Martin Luther didn’t add anything new to the Christian tradition when he highlighted the liberation that comes through faith alone, but he brought a renewed focus and passion to what it means to trust in God and love our neighbors. Through faith in Christ we are free indeed to be who God made us to be and follow Jesus on his path of love.
Just as the Great Commandment applies to many aspects of our life with God, so Paul’s words in Romans 3 are both law and gospel at the same time. It's important not to leave people in their brokenness. For instance, I remember growing up hearing this word of judgment over and over again: “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” This was to let us know that we needed God's grace. But it was years and years before I learned that this line wasn't even the end of the sentence. It continues by saying, “they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” If preachers are going to talk about the first part of that sentence and our human sinfulness, I hope they give their people a thousand times more the second part, namely, the promises of God for us. Blessings.
Lectionary 29b: Deuteronomy 6:1-9, Psalm 119:1-8, Hebrews 9:11-14, Mark 12:28-34
Brokenness
“I will observe your statutes; do not utterly forsake me” (Psalm 119:8)
“After that no one dared to ask him any question” (Mark 12:34)
Grace
“You are not far from the kingdom of God” (Mark 12:34)
“[Christ] entered once for all into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12).
Love
“The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Mark 12:31)
“Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)
Encouragement
“Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe them diligently, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your ancestors has promised you” (Deuteronomy 6:3)
“Happy are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord. Happy are those who keep his decrees, who seek him with their whole heart” (Psalm 119:1-2)
“O that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes!” (Psalm 119:5)
Reformation Day: Jeremiah 31:31-34, Psalm 46, Romans 3:19-28, John 8:31-36
Brokenness
“Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin” (John 8:35)
“For ‘no human being will be justified in his sight’ by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20, citing Psalm 143:2)
“For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;”…
Grace
…“they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood effective through faith” (Romans 3:22-25)
“For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law” (Romans 3:28)
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1)
“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: 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” (Jeremiah 31:33)
“So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36)
Love
“Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law” (Romans 3:31)
Encouragement (really all of Psalm 46)
“Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth” (Psalm 46:10)
“If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:31)
First, the Great Commandment, given by Moses in Deuteronomy 6:4-5, is a word for every part of life. It is the grace of God to promise a relationship of love with Israel, a word that reveals our failure to live into this trust, and a constant encouragement to return to the Lord in faith and love: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.”
Jesus didn’t add anything new when he joined this word from Deuteronomy 6 with the words from Leviticus 19:18: “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Instead, he held up the great light and mirror of the Jewish faith for all to know and live into. We give thanks to God where we see faith and love happening in our lives; we repent and get back on the Way of Jesus when we see our sins in that mirror, one day at a time.
This honesty about sin and God’s grace is the heart of the Lutheran Reformation. Martin Luther didn’t add anything new to the Christian tradition when he highlighted the liberation that comes through faith alone, but he brought a renewed focus and passion to what it means to trust in God and love our neighbors. Through faith in Christ we are free indeed to be who God made us to be and follow Jesus on his path of love.
Just as the Great Commandment applies to many aspects of our life with God, so Paul’s words in Romans 3 are both law and gospel at the same time. It's important not to leave people in their brokenness. For instance, I remember growing up hearing this word of judgment over and over again: “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” This was to let us know that we needed God's grace. But it was years and years before I learned that this line wasn't even the end of the sentence. It continues by saying, “they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” If preachers are going to talk about the first part of that sentence and our human sinfulness, I hope they give their people a thousand times more the second part, namely, the promises of God for us. Blessings.
Lectionary 29b: Deuteronomy 6:1-9, Psalm 119:1-8, Hebrews 9:11-14, Mark 12:28-34
Brokenness
“I will observe your statutes; do not utterly forsake me” (Psalm 119:8)
“After that no one dared to ask him any question” (Mark 12:34)
Grace
“You are not far from the kingdom of God” (Mark 12:34)
“[Christ] entered once for all into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12).
Love
“The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Mark 12:31)
“Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)
Encouragement
“Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe them diligently, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your ancestors has promised you” (Deuteronomy 6:3)
“Happy are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord. Happy are those who keep his decrees, who seek him with their whole heart” (Psalm 119:1-2)
“O that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes!” (Psalm 119:5)
Reformation Day: Jeremiah 31:31-34, Psalm 46, Romans 3:19-28, John 8:31-36
Brokenness
“Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin” (John 8:35)
“For ‘no human being will be justified in his sight’ by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20, citing Psalm 143:2)
“For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;”…
Grace
…“they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood effective through faith” (Romans 3:22-25)
“For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law” (Romans 3:28)
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1)
“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: 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” (Jeremiah 31:33)
“So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36)
Love
“Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law” (Romans 3:31)
Encouragement (really all of Psalm 46)
“Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth” (Psalm 46:10)
“If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:31)