Christ is the beating heart of Christian faith and its only object.
Jesus said to them: ‘Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.
You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit’ (Mark 13:5-11).
Reformation Sunday, which recently was celebrated by Lutherans and other Protestants, is an interesting festival in the church year. It offers a glimpse into what Lutherans think being Lutheran means, which could be just about anything – from potlucks to preaching to pipe organs. What exactly are Lutherans celebrating on that day? You might get as many answers as people you ask.
The Lutheran Reformation addressed and impacted many things, but it wasn’t about many things. It wasn’t about freedom of conscience, personal Bible study, opposition to the papacy, or anything like that, although it touched upon those things. It wasn’t even about law and gospel, although that certainly is important. The Lutheran Reformation was about Christ. It was about the person and work of the God-man to save sinners.
Jesus warned that there would be many who would claim to be the Christ. History has proven him correct in spades. We have no shortage of purported “christs” in our day. People love christs. People want heroes and saviors. And it’s not just the world that’s full of self-appointed christs; the church has plenty, too. And so who Christ is and what he came to do is of first importance.
Luther didn’t put his life and salvation at risk to be a contrarian. He didn’t stand against both the Pope and Emperor to usher in the modern age. He risked his head and his soul because he had come to know Christ clearly, and nothing mattered more than that. He dug in because he loved his neighbors, and that Christ who was for him was for them, too. The Reformation was about Christ.
Christ comes to us in the Scriptures. The Scriptures are therefore important, and we should read them. The medieval papacy opposed the message of Christ and the free and full forgiveness he brings, and so in turn, Luther stood against the papacy. We should also stand up against those who attack or obscure the gospel. Luther refused to go against his conscience which had been formed by the Word and belonged to Christ. We too should strive to have fully formed consciences and put on the mind of Christ. All of this, though, goes back to Christ, is centered in him, and driven by his person and work.
I get a little uncomfortable with persecution texts these days, not because I have a personal problem with them, but because many American Christians seem to have a persecution complex. I’ve heard enough sermons about how hard we supposedly have it, as if the martyrs in heaven must marvel at our steadfastness. The fact is that we in America have it pretty good. And you need not go looking for trouble to make yourself feel better. It’s Christ who saves you, not hardship or persecution. Although Christ sometimes saves you through hardship and persecution, and did save you through hardship and persecution perpetrated against him.
If the point of Mark 13:5-11 and the Lutheran Reformation isn’t that we’re persecuted or will always be persecuted or should seek to be persecuted, then, what’s the point? The point of the text and the Reformation is that Christ is all in all. Christ is the beating heart of Christian faith and its only object. Christ is our foundation and our hope. Christ has done and is doing it all. And nothing, nothing, is ever worth giving up on or losing sight of Christ.
Maybe you will be persecuted today. Maybe you’ll have a nice lunch and go watch sports. I don’t know. But Christ will be Christ and many others will claim to be but will not. Know the difference. Know who he is. Know what you need. And know that he gives and is what you need. That is what the Reformation was about. That’s what leads people to put hearts and heads and souls on the line for God and neighbor.
During Jesus’ passion, the crowd was given a choice. Pilate would release one of two prisoners. There is reason to believe that they both may have been named Jesus: Jesus Barabbas or Jesus of Nazareth. The crowd famously chose Barabbas, which is fortunate for us, because Christ came to suffer, die, and rise for our salvation, not do a little time.
The world is full of jesuses. It has an abundance of christs. Make sure you know the right one, because it’s all about Christ. Everything else flows from him. Cling to him even as he hung on a cross to cling to you. He is our mighty fortress. He is God on our side. He is him, and no one else. Amen.
