Presentation of Augsburg 1530

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE 

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Genesis 15:1-6

• 1 John 4:16-21

• St. Luke 16:19-31

Dear Saints, Grace to you all and Peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus, the Christ.
 
Who speaks to you today, from His Gospel heard in His Church, saying: 

“What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops”

 
As we commemorate the presentation of our Augsburg Confession to the Emperor today, in 1530, we remember the purpose is unity, not division. Let this phrase continuously roll around in your head: “Our Churches, with common consent, do teach” (AC I:1).
 
From there, in true godly fashion, Jesus scares the pants off of us in threatening to deny us before the Father if we deny Him. And, in true sinner fashion, we hear this condemnation only, taking this verse out of context. The true context in St. Matthew chapter 10 is that this “threat” is sandwiched between “you are of more value than many sparrows” and “whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (v. 31, 39).
 
Thus, the Gospel is to far outweigh the Law. Sin and evil are real and have dire consequences. But, the Good News is that we have life and salvation given to us, by God, in and through Jesus Christ and that surpasses God’s denial of sinners, in eternal glory. Meaning, when we hear God speak these hard sayings, we need to first remember our value in Christ and then cling to the promises of God in trying to understand them.
 
This is part of the importance of our Lutheran Confessions. That it is a help when we try to understand, for it faithfully interprets God’s Word for us, Lutherans.
 
Speaking of, Denominationalism among Christians in America is sickening in that it is so divisive and contrary to God’s Word and will of unity for us. And when we think of that and the family and friends involved, we get even more sick because now Jesus’s words of denial are real. Someone is denying God. Who is it?
 
We can play that game all day, but remember the Gospel. Do not seek out who is in and who is out. Be sure it is not you first, and that you believe the Gospel and so have eternal life in Christ. Believe that your value is more than sparrows and you find your life in Christ.
 
As Confessional Lutherans, that is those Lutherans who trust the Confessions because they are a correct interpretation of God’s Word, we view the Church more organically than others. We emphasize and acknowledge that in different times and places, the Church has faithfully confessed the one, biblical truth. Further, we seek to maintain that historic confession in our belief and practice since it transcends time, culture, and language.
 
All that to say, without creeds or confessions, the Church quickly loses its center and everyone does what is right in their own eyes, which then gives us one denomination per person. This is what divides American churches. Not Jesus, but the belief that each individual can decide for himself what Scripture means, with no accountability, and the oversimplified confession: the Bible is our only creed.
 
Repent. When you say “I only need Jesus” or “the Bible is my only creed”, what you really mean is “Jesus and the Bible are whatever I make of them”. They are mine and I don’t have to answer to anyone. God comes to me, speaks to me. And this makes sense, because we are all different and we all need different things. There cannot be a “one size fits all”, because, even though we look alike, I am not like you.
 
And if you disagree, even if you have facts and a good discussion ready, you are judging and disturbing the peace of the church. You cannot have the truth. You can only have your truth. In this way, we shut down debate, in our sin, favoring tolerance, whatever that means. We close our minds, in favor of ignorance. We stop chasing after the truth, and settle for a lie of our own making. The lie that “only I can understand what God wants for my life”.
 
You might as well expect a tiger cub to remain a tiger cub and not grow into a killer than to expect error to remain content with a subservient position in the church and in your heart. So I will declare to you right now, that we have a superior right for the truth. Bigotry, I know.
 
But we have to say that. Not only have we fought a losing battle to discover the truth in our own lives, but we have struggled to make that match up to what life is like outside of Sunday School. We have to say that, if only because Jesus calls Himself the Truth and if we would be followers of Jesus, then we must declare, and not deny, that we have the truth of the world and all things.
 
Repent again, because you are not supposed to pursue the Truth of Christ for your own personal gain, though you will gain by gaining the Truth. You are to pursue it for the sake of your neighbor who needs the saving grace of Christ and not the denial of Christ before the Father.
 
You see, Creation has persecuted its Creator and you can’t get much lower than that! “You will be hated for my Name’s sake”, Jesus said, not because everyone sees you as a meanie, but because Jesus was persecuted first and you are united with Him in baptism. 
 
What is revealed, as our Gospel said, is revealed in Christ Crucified. That God, in the flesh, has come to reconcile with His enemies: us sinners. What was hidden was God’s mighty work of salvation accomplished by the suffering and death of Jesus. What was in the dark, was whether or not God truly denied His creation and so was going to destroy it once again, like the Flood. 
Or was He going to have mercy?
 
When Jesus revealed that God was going to have mercy, sin could not stand it. It lashed out and when it found purchase on this Man, claiming to be God, it found purpose in killing Him and offering Him up to governors and kings, on the cross. “We have no king but Caesar”, they said.
 
Now if God had made war with earth, that would have been acceptable. Choosing sides, picking favorites, raising up campions and warriors. Those are all things sinners understand and can get behind. Anyone born after 2001 has not seen a day without the US at war.
 
Jesus acknowledges sin, death, and the devil on His cross. He gives them their say. He allows error and denial to rule the day. And what do they accomplish? Nothing. They cannot conquer the world, because everyone disagrees on how to do it. They cannot conquer creation, God’s Word upholds it. They cannot even create a different reality, they have no power.
 
They can’t even accomplish their name’s sake because Jesus undoes them. Sin He forgives, death He forces to produce life, and the devil He judges and condemns. They tried to charge Jesus with those crimes, but He simply rose again from the dead, vindicated in His Truth. The Truth.
 
In the Truth, we are reconciled to God and given the words to confess Christ properly. That is that we proclaim His mercy, not our party lines. We acknowledge His work, not our purging of the rolls. We deny the works and ways of our sin, death, and the devil and instead offer the good confession.
 
This is where the Augsburg Confession steps in. It gives us aid in that good confession. Those who say “the Bible only” are quick to turn to their favorite teachers to define their denomination. Finding the good confession is never for our own sake, though we benefit. The good confession is all for the sake of proclaiming the pure Gospel to a world that no longer shares basic Christian assumptions of the Bible, sin, and redemption.
 
Which includes our neighbor. He wants to know what you know. He wants the forgiveness you have in Christ. He wants the devotion, the Liturgy, and the Communion you have with God. He wants the truth and you have Him. Or rather, He permits you to have Him in His Word and Sacrament.
 
Yes, Jesus bows low to the earth and submits to your senses in the Divine Service in order to save you. He comes down to give free handouts of forgiveness, faith and eternal life in Him. As The Servant God, He chooses the lowly things to reveal His heavenly things. And since it is eternal life on the line, we need to be sure we have it right, or at least as right as we can.
 
Jesus is our right, our righteousness. How that is and why that is, is what our confessions and catechism and history teach us. Jesus leaves behind His Word which is to be told publicly. Nothing is secret. Nothing is private. Jesus saves everyone the same way and unites everyone to Him. One Lord. One union. One faith. One baptism.
 
Are Lutherans going to be the only ones in heaven? Absolutely not. Are we the ones taking this Salvation from God as serious as possible so that we are sure that we don’t deny Christ, in the end? I think so.