The Reformation not only uncovered the Good News of the Gospel, but it also put the Law of God back in its proper place in the life of the Church.
On Reformation Sunday, the Good News of the sinners’ justification by grace alone, through faith alone, on account of Christ alone is front and center. You might have some fun at the introduction to your sermon talking about different Reformation traditions from around the world or how your congregation celebrates the recovery of this eternal Gospel. But after that, I would like to suggest a sermon which not only gives thanks to God for recovering the Gospel during the Reformation, but also God’s Law.
Since the time of the Reformation, Lutherans have oftentimes been criticized of cheapening God’s grace. We place such an emphasis on the sinners’ justification by faith apart from the works of the Law, that we are sometimes accused of paying little or no attention to God’s Law (also known as antinomianism). But nothing could be further from the truth! The Reformation not only uncovered the Good News of the Gospel, but it also put the Law of God back in its proper place in the life of the Church.
The Cheapening of the Law
The Law of God in the time of Luther had been diluted. Theologians in his day were cheapening God’s Law by teaching that while a person was not able to keep the whole thing “to a t,” that at least, by trying their best, God would give them an ‘A’ for effort. The Medieval Church came up with all sorts of activities by which you could earn brownie points for things as trivial as saying a “Hail Mary” to more rigorous activities like taking a pilgrimage to Rome. So, on the final day when you had to give an account, you could say, “No, I didn’t do everything You demanded of me, but look at all of the things I did do!” This is taking God’s Law, which demands perfection, and toning it down.
To this sort of cheapening of the Law, the Apostle Paul says in Romans 3:19: “Stop.” He writes, “Now we know that whatever the Law says it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.” Did you catch that? The Law tells us to “be quiet!”
The New American Standard Bible (NASB) translation renders “ἵνα πᾶν στόμα φραγῇ” as “so that every mouth may be closed.” The New International Version (NIV) and New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) have “so that every mouth may be silenced.” The King James Version 1900 (KJV) renders it, “that every mouth may be stopped.” You might try a couple of different glosses of this subjunctive to drive your point home. The Law tells us to “stop talking” or “shut up” (although, I would not suggest using this last one if any of your hearers are children; their parents will not appreciate it).
The image is a forensic one. The sinner is on trial, and the Law shows him how he has no case. He should not even waste his breath trying to convince God of his righteousness. By nature, every human being is in the business of convincing God of their own righteousness. There is no desire more fundamental to the human race than the desire to be justified. You can mention examples from Scripture, including the pharisee in the Temple who justifies himself by comparing himself to others (Luke 18:9-14) or the prodigal son who returns home with his story to convince his father to receive him back (Luke 15:18-20).
There is no desire more fundamental to the human race than the desire to be justified.
The attempt to justify oneself before God is sometimes less obvious than we realize. Things like pilgrimages or indulgences are easy to peg as man seeking his own justification. But our attempts to justify ourselves are much more subtle than that. We tend to be in the business of making sure we have all the right answers, of living a morally pure life, or by finding the right spiritual experience.
But to each and every one of our attempts at self-justification before God, the Law says, “No! It is not enough! All are condemned!” Take your filthy rags you call righteousness and get them out of here. “For by the works of the Law no human being will be justified in [God’s] sight, since through the Law comes knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20).
In Thesis 1 of the Heidelberg Disputation, Luther writes how the “Law of God, the most salutary doctrine of life, cannot advance humans on their way to righteousness, but rather hinders them.” The Law puts us in our place: “For all have sinned and all fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). “[All] who rely on the works of the Law are under a curse” (Galatians 3:1). When we cheapen God’s Law by assuming we are capable of keeping it by our own strength, we risk losing the Gospel!
The Recovery of the Law and the Gospel
This is why we celebrate not only the Gospel on Reformation Sunday, but also the Law. God’s Law protects the gifts of the Gospel. It keeps us from saying to God, “I realize You want to give me the very thing You demand of me, but I do not want Your charity. That is so demeaning! I would rather take a stab at fulfilling the Law myself.” Our righteous and merciful Lord will have none of this. He loves us too much to have us keep thinking we can justify ourselves.
He gives us His Law in order to silence our attempts at self-justification, to knock us to our knees, so we will have no choice but to look outside of ourselves and, instead, to Jesus for our justification before God in Heaven. “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the Law, …the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe” (Romans 3:21-22).
The Good News we celebrate on Reformation Sunday is that our God Himself freely gives us our righteousness as a gift (Romans 3:24-25).
Christ alone is righteous. He alone fulfilled God’s holy and perfect Law. He alone met its demands. He kept the Law because you could not. And He did it all FOR US! Christ, who is the only Righteous One was obedient to His Father in all things, even unto the point of death, even death on a cross, where He shed His holy blood in order to cover us with His righteousness. To what lengths will our merciful Lord not go in order to give us His righteousness?
He shuts us up with His Law in order to speak to us His Gospel. He takes our unrighteousness in order to give us His as a free gift. Having received such a gift, we do not have to worry about making our case before God. Instead, we can “save our breath” and use it, instead, to share the Gospel! Rather than worrying about justifying ourselves before God, we are free to love our neighbors with our words and deeds. The Law always accuses, but it does not only accuse! The Law becomes a good thing for us who have been justified by God’s grace. The Law of God is good and wise! It shows us not only our sin, but also how to love our neighbors. It guides us in our lives as freed and forgiven Christians.
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Additional Resources:
Craft of Preaching-Check out 1517’s resources on Romans 3:19-28.
Concordia Theology-Various helps from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO to assist you preaching Romans 3:19-28.
Text Week-A treasury of resources from various traditions to help you preach Romans 3:19-28.
Lectionary Kick-Start-Check out this fantastic podcast from Craft of Preaching authors Peter Nafzger and David Schmitt as they dig into the texts for this Sunday!
