Reformation Sunday

These Things Matter

Grace Alone, Word Alone, Faith Alone

You Might Be a Lutheran If...

...you only serve Jell-O in the proper liturgical color for the season.

...you didn't know chow mein noodles were a Chinese food.

...when someone mentions red and green (in terms of Christmas), you immediately think of a battle over hymnals.

...during the entire service you hold your hymnal open but never look down at it.

...during communion you hum the hymns so you can see who's at church that Sunday.

...rather than introducing yourself to a visitor at church, you check their name out in the guestbook.

...you think Garrison Keillor's stories are totally factual.

...you have your wedding reception in the fellowship hall and feel guilty about not staying to help clean up.

...a midlife crisis means switching from the old hymnbook to the new one.

...you forget to put water in the baptismal font but never forget to put water in the coffee pot.

...the pastor skips the last hymn to make sure church lasts exactly 60 minutes.

...you make spaghetti at your house with the little macaroni noodles because they're not so messy then.

...you don't make eye contact when passing someone in the hall because you think it's impolite.

...your choir believes volume is a fair substitute for tonality.

...you don't know what was sooo funny about dat movie "Fargo" then.

...in response to someone jumping up and shouting "Praise the Lord!", you politely remind him or her that we don't do that around here.

...you think a meeting isn't legitimate unless it's at least three hours long.

...peas in your tuna noodle hotdish add too much color.

...you make change in the offering plate for a ten.

...your dad's name is Luther N., your brother is Luther Hahn and you are Lew Theran.

...you think butter is a spice.

...the church is on fire, and you rush in to save the coffee pot.

...you have more than five flavors of Jell-O in your pantry.

...you know what a "dead spread" is.

...you talk to someone else and look at their shoes first.

...you have more than three friends whose first names have the letter "j" as the second letter.

...the only open pew is up front, so you volunteer to shovel the sidewalk.

...Ole and Lena are really the names of your relatives.

...you know what a Lutheran Church Basement Woman is.

...you give a party and don't tell anyone where it is.

...you think hotdish is one of the major food groups.

...http://www.luthbro.com is one of your bookmarks.

...your five-year-old recites the Old Testament books as Genesis, Exodus, Lutefisk...

...someone asks you after church if there's any "decaf coffee" and you laugh because you KNOW that if it doesn't have caffeine, it can't be coffee!

...you think anyone who says "casserole" instead of "hotdish" is trying to be uppity (or maybe even Episcopalian!)

...you think the term "Jell-O salad" is redundant.

...you freeze the leftover coffee from fellowship hour for next week.

In all seriousness beloved - do we know WHAT we believe when it comes to being Lutheran and a Christian in this day and age? What matters to us as we live our lives in faithfulness to the call that Jesus has given us?

(As we celebrate the heritage of this church - East Paint Creek synod Lutheran Church can we close our eyes and hear the voices of the past, Pastor's who out of duty to their calling to serve spent hours instructing us in the Christian faith, the teachings and guidance of Martin Luther. The cloud of witnesses that gather today may they be of encouragement to us as we gather around the Word and go forth in service to Christ.)

We Lutheran are an intentional bunch. Look around the sanctuary today. The design of our buildings says much about what matters.

Do our children and grandchildren know what matters? Have we passed on the richness of the gifts that are ever present in the gathering of Word and Sacrament? Do we live as people who bring our children to the services of God's house, teach the things that matter and enrich the faith, and place into the hands of hungering people God's Word? Reformation day is a time for us to pull out a package of brats, taste the greatness of a God who loved us so much as to send His own Son to suffer a brutal death for our sake. A God who makes salvation as clear as the thick black cloud of Asian beatles that gather on my house day after day.

Applying the Word

1. Sole Scriptura / Word Alone
1. Bible Ownership
   Most Americans own a Bible. In fact, 92% of households in America own at least one copy. Of those households that own a Bible, the average number of Bibles is three. This includes not only the homes of practicing Christians but hundreds of thousands of atheists as well. ²
   
   Bible Reading
   Although most Americans own a Bible, use of the Bible varies significantly. In a poll taken by the Gallup Organization in October, 2000, 59% of Americans reported that they read the Bible at least occasionally. This is down from 73% in the 1980s. The percentage of Americans who read the Bible at least once a week is 37%. This is down slightly from 40% in 1990. ³ According to the Barna Research Group, those who read the Bible regularly spend about 52 minutes a week in the scriptures. ⁴ Barna, "The Bible," data is from 1997.
   
   
   Which gender is more faithful at reading the Bible at least weekly? The prize goes to the women. Women (42%) are more likely than men (32%) to have read the Bible in the past week. What version do people prefer? As of 1997, those who read the Bible preferred the King James Version to the New International Version by a 5 to 1 margin. ⁵
   
   Bible Study
   When it comes to going beyond merely reading the Bible to actual study of the Bible, the numbers decline sharply. Only one in seven Americans report an involvement that goes beyond just reading the Bible. Fourteen percent of Americans currently belong to a Bible study group. ⁶ This is down a full one-third from 1990 when 21% said they were involved in a Bible study group. ⁷
   
   Bible Knowledge
   How about knowledge of the Bible? According to Gallup, "Despite the impressive statistics concerning Bible reading and study, it is apparent that ignorance about its contents is widespread." ⁸

   He gives evidence for this conclusion:
   --	Only half of adults interviewed nationwide could name any of the four Gospels of the New Testament.
   --	Just 37% of those interviewed could name all four Gospels.
   --	Only 42% of adults were able to name as many as five of the Ten Commandments correctly.
   --	Seven in ten (70%) were able to name the town where Jesus was born, but just 42% could identify him as the person who delivered the Sermon on the Mount. 9

1. "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
2. The Bible is the cradle wherein Christ is laid. Martin Luther.
   
3. Treasure the Word of God in your hearts. Live in the promises offered in these pages. Dwell richly in the Christ we encounter who declares freedom!
   

Grace alone

1. ²¹But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, ²²the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, ²³since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; ²⁴they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith.
2. Ephesians - WRITE IT ON YOUR HEART TODAY. ⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— ⁹not the result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.
   
3. And its all because of God's amazing grace.
   
4. Martin Luther ran smack into the face of his own frail nature. No matter how hard he tried to be perfect, how hard he tried to find attonment for his own sins - the Word of God came to his heart in a powerful way.
   
5. Remember beloved when these words of scripture became real in your own life.
   
6. PAID IN FULL.

Faith Alone

1. Three frogs sat on a lilly pad. One decided to jump off. How many were left?
   Three. He only decided to jump off, but never took the leap.
   
   It's not enough to make a decision. You've got to take a leap of faith and follow through with it.
2. "For we hold that a person is justified (made right in the eyes of God) by FAITH part from works prescribed by the law."
3. It takes faith to believe that God can move mountains!
4. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for....

These things matter - scripture alone, grace alone, faith alone. Everything else is well, everything else. We are a church that is built on these three things. Now go live it!