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Startle us, O God, with your truth. We come to this place
eager for a word of hope, compassion and love.
So silence in us now every voice but your own,
and speak your word to us in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
ROMANS 3:19-28 REFORMATION SUNDAY October, 2008
491 years ago, on the eve of All Saints' Day (a day we know as Halloween) - October 31, 1517 – A Roman Catholic Priest by the name of Martin Luther posted on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, 95 theses or statements, and requested a meeting to discuss and debate the substance of these 95 theses.
Thus began reaction that resulted in the events that we know today as the Protestant Reformation
So we observe this last Sunday in October as Reformation Sunday, the birthday of the Lutheran Church.
Several years ago the Arts and Entertainment Network listed the most influential people of the past millennium.
1. Guttenberg, for his invention of the movable-type printing press that made books readily available and affordable for the first time.
2. Isaac Newton for his work in science, physics, and astronomy.
3. Martin Luther, who brought religion to the common people, by translating the Old and New Testament into German and as the catalyst that set into motion the Renaissance..
In 1983 US Postal service issued a first class e stamp
Celebrating the 500 year anniversary of Luther’s birthday. Not bad for an excommunicated Catholic..
Over the past 500 years, the Catholic Church has gone through it's own Reformation…
Luther’s excommunication has been revoked..
Luther decided early on, that he did not want to spend all of eternity in hell so he set out to make himself right and pleasing before God…
· He left a promising future in law school
· And took on the disciplines of becoming an Augustine monk.
· He continued his schooling and was ordained as a priest.
· He earned his Ph.D. in Bible and Theology.
· And eventually he became a professor at the University of Wittenberg in Germany, one of the new and upcoming schools of the Church.
One day, as Luther was preparing for a series of lectures on Paul's letter to the Romans, he was reading chapter 3.
As Luther describes it, "It was as though the gates of heaven were opened to me!"
3:21-25
But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed...
since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified (put right with God) by God's grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.... For we hold that a person is
justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.
In our Gospel reading today, Jesus said, "You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free!"
Luther found truth of the Gospel, and he was set free!
He was set free from trying to make himself worthy and acceptable before God, something he could never achieve for himself, no matter how hard he tried.
He was free to simply rest in the grace and favor and love of God, grace and forgiveness freely given to us because of what Jesus Christ accomplished for us on the cross.
Luther re-discovered the Gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. The truth of that Gospel is that we are not put right with God by:
· being good
· or obeying the law
· or going through all the outward rituals of religion
· or anything else we may try to do to make ourselves worthy before God.
“Humpty Dumpty”
All the kings horses and all the kings men couldn’t put humpty together again.. not the kings men only the King… could do that!
We are saved by the love and grace of God freely given to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Salvation comes as a free gift of God's grace.
Faith is saying:
 "Yes, Lord, I believe.
   Yes, Lord, I accept your gift of love and forgiveness and acceptance.”
Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone)
Sola Fide (Faith Alone)
Sola Gratia (Grace Alone)
Thank you, Lord, for loving and forgiving me."
As Lutherans, we have the distinction of being the oldest and the largest Protestant denomination in the world today…
And yet, today, there are many who have only a cerebral understanding of grace… 
some still believe  that grace depends on how good they are and how closely they live by all the rules….
For many people Christianity is equated with being a “good” person.
The Apostle Paul begs to differ!
 “For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” 
Sin is not a popular word these days…
But from the looks of the state of the world there seems to be ample evidence for its existence. But there are Others for whom the whole Christian enterprise is a sham.
David Kinnaman in his  book UN Christian states:
“there are about 24 million outsiders in this country who feel left out – excluded by traditional Christianity ..”
In national surveys of young people he found that three of the most common perceptions of Christianity are:
1. That Christians are antihomosexual 91%,
2. Judgmental 87%
3. Hypocritical 85 %.
Those are the big three… to a lesser degree most young adults feel Christians are old-fashioned, too involved in politics, out of touch and not accepting of other faiths and boring… We have an image problem!
The ELCA has steadily lost membership for the past 16 years…. We are not alone.
If misery loves company we have lots of company:
We are joined by the Baptist both American and Southern.
Methodist, Episcopalian, Presbyterian (USA) who have gone from 4 million to 2.4.million-  Disciples of Christ, UNC.
For some the drop between 1968 and 203 has been 50%.... Even with the growth of the Mega Churches – Christianity continues to decline in the West.
Between 1990 and 2000 congregational membership in US increased by 9% while US population increased 14%   If I do the math right that is a minus (5 %-).
There are exceptions Albert Winseman in his book Growing and Engaged Church, notes that the rare exceptions all have 4 things incommon:
 It's nice to know something about the history of the Reformation and what is happening or not happening in churches today.
But I would much rather that when you leave today, you will leave with the knowledge and assurance and certainty
· That God loves you,
· That by the grace of God through Jesus Christ, you are forgiven and made a child of God,
· That you might leave here, truly knowing the joy JESUS.
As Martin Luther read the Scriptures, he discovered the Gospel, and, as he put it, the "gates of heaven" opened to him.  As children of the Reformation,
may we know that same assurance of God's love and grace, and may heaven be opened for us!
MLC –  has a mandate to be part of the emerging church.. That means that along with other Lutheran’s in Cape May
we have to be open to change… but
as St. John’s Gospel cautions:
lets not confuse change for the sake of change or  worse let us not hold on to tradition  as did those who appealed to their pedigree
“We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone.”
So, let’s stop saying “we have never done it that way before.”
            what is  God calling us to be now.
We are not called to build a building on Hwy. 9 to replace the one we left on Landis Ave.
We are called to be disciples with a mandate - a mission!
Being Christian is not for sissies .. never has been never will be – but one thing is sure:
  “Listen, Listen God is calling through the Word inviting, offering forgiveness, comfort and joy…. “
 Thanks be to God! Amen.