Fellow Christians, may you be comforted in the knowledge that we are saved by faith alone, grace alone, and we learn of this through Scripture alone. Amen.

Aren’t freedoms wonderful? Here in America we enjoy a lot of freedoms – freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion. On November 7^th we get to exercise our freedom to vote. Tonight our children have the freedom to go house to house to beg for candy. In Kentucky it was a law that a pastor could carry a loaded weapon into the pulpit. Aren’t freedoms wonderful? (You might feel safer knowing that I never did carry a gun into the pulpit … and I still don’t.)

Today as we celebrate the Reformation of the Christian Church, we celebrate our freedom. We celebrate that Jesus Christ set us free through his death on the cross and his resurrection from the grave. He set us free from sin, from death, and from the power of the devil. What glorious freedoms Christ, our Savior, won for us.

Unfortunately, over the course of 1400 years many of those freedoms became lost or hidden. Between the time of the apostles and the time of Martin Luther, the church began teaching that you are saved by what you do, instead of by what Christ has done. The church was teaching that if you worship relics like slivers of the cross or bones of the saints, you can receive forgiveness. It was being taught that you could pay money to buy your way out of purgatory – a horrible place of suffering between heaven and hell. The biblical teaching that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone, was rejected – and even called heretical. Through these Dark Ages, the Bible was relegated to the background. Tradition and the decrees of church councils held more authority than Scripture. The worship of Mary and the adoration of the saints had become more important than worship of Christ.

The church had left God. The church had left God’s Word. It was a time of horrible darkness. It seemed as if the devil had won. It seemed as if Satan had ripped away the freedoms Christ had so valiantly won. People had again become slaves to their sin and slaves to Satan. They feared hell more than they desired heaven.

But God had promised that the gates of hell will not overcome His Church. (Matthew 16:18) In these dark ages God called a man to be a light. God called Martin Luther. Through this man, the Lord worked to return people to the Bible and give them back the freedoms Christ had won for them. God convinced Luther, a former monk who believed he had to be saved by his own good works, that he had peace with God because of what Jesus had done. People did not have to earn God’s favor because God had done it for them through his Son. The Lord worked to reform the church. He worked to change it and bring it back to the truth. On October 31, 1517 the Reformation of the Christian Church began as Luther nailed the 95 theses (statements) to the church door at Wittenburg. Luther took a stand against false teachings. He took a stand in order to let people know that they were free, free at last, free in Christ!

Today, on this celebration of the Reformation of the Christian Church, let us celebrate our freedom. Understand and believe that you are free! Christ has set you free. Stand firm in the faith of that freedom.

The apostle Paul told the Galatians about the freedom Christ had won for them: "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Paul wrote those words because there were Jews in Galatia who were telling the Christians in that congregation that they were still obligated to obey the Old Testament laws. If this was true, then the Christians would still have to offer sacrifices, eat only certain kinds of foods, celebrate Old Testament religious festivals, the men would still have to be circumcised, etc.

Jesus Christ had fulfilled all of these Old Testament regulations. They had all pointed to him, and now they were completed by him. Christians didn’t have to fulfill these regulations anymore. And if they felt that they still had to, then they were putting on a yoke, a harness, of slavery. Christ had set them free, but they were making themselves slaves to good works.

What did Paul have to say about this? "Mark my words!" Paul said, "I tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, [and continue in these regulations, then] Christ will be of no value to you at all. You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace." Paul was saying, with some pretty strong words, that if they were going to "go it alone," they were doomed to failure. If they wanted to be justified, declared innocent, by obeying God’s law, they had alienated Christ – they had done away with his grace. Why should Christ have died and done everything for them, if they were still going to try to do it themselves? They were doomed to failure.

The same thing happened in Martin Luther’s day. The Church was teaching that Jesus had saved the people from some of their sins, but they still had to do good deeds to earn heaven; they still had to pay money to purchase God’s love; they still had to obey the regulations of the church to win God’s forgiveness. Thankfully, God sent Martin Luther to bring the people back to the truth. Luther taught the same things that Paul had taught. He taught that Jesus Christ had won forgiveness and salvation. But if the people rejected that forgiveness and salvation, they were alienating Christ. If they were going to try to get to heaven with money, or penance, or good deeds, they were doomed to failure. If they wanted to be justified by their own actions, then they were going to receive a verdict of guilty, instead of the verdict of innocence Christ had won for them.

Imagine yourself in a courtroom. You hear a gavel pounding. You look up at the bench and there you see the Judge, in all his authority and justice. The judge announces, "I have reached a verdict!"

Everyone hangs on the judge’s words, especially you, because you are the defendant. You are on trial. You are on trial for all the crimes you have committed against your God. You know in your heart that you are guilty. You are guilty of slander, and lies, and lack of worship, and coveting, and adultery, and hatred, and even murder. Yes, you have even killed someone. You killed your Lord Jesus Christ with your sins. (Acts 2:36) If was your crimes that put him on that cross and caused him to suffer the wrath of God.

You know you are guilty, and you are terrified of receiving an eternal life sentence in the prison of hell.

Do you know what, my friends? No gavel will pound on Judgment Day. No lawyers will be present. But the Judge will be there and your verdict will be in his hands. Will you be declared guilty of your sins and face the punishment of eternal hellfire? Is there any way you can be declared not guilty and go free to inherit eternal life? Your eternal future hangs in the balance. What will the verdict be?

The Bible says, "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). You are "justified freely by [God’s] grace and through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:24) "Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved." (Ephesians 2:4,5) "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free." (Galatians 1:5)

Christian friends, God’s verdict is already in! The Judge has declared all who are in Christ Jesus not guilty! Our eternal future is secure, because it has been taken out of our hands and put into the nail-marked hands of our Savior! The Christians in Galatia and in 15^th century Europe felt uncertainty about God’s expectations and uncertainty about their eternity. You and I don’t have to be uncertain. God doesn’t want to leave us hanging in uncertainty but to be sure of his gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We celebrate this verdict today in the Festival of Reformation. Reformation Day is much more than a day to celebrate our heritage as Lutherans. It offers more than a chance to reflect on history. Reformation Day brings us another opportunity to celebrate God’s verdict: not guilty through faith in Jesus Christ.

Our knees will have no reason to knock as we stand before the Judge. Our hearts will not need to race in fear and worry. We know the verdict, for we know Jesus! That certainty is our Reformation heritage, a gift from God to treasure, a gift from God to share!

Reformation Day reminds us that we don’t have to do anything to win God’s favor or earn his love. The verdict is in! We are set free in Christ!

A kindergarten class was asked to bring a symbol of their faith to class for "show and tell." The first child to show and tell said, "I am a Muslim and this my prayer rug." Another child stood up and said, "I am Jewish and this Star of David is a symbol of my faith." A third child stood up to show and tell stating, "I am Catholic and this is my rosary." The next child stood up and said, "I am a Lutheran and this is my casserole dish."

You laugh because it’s true. We bring our casserole dishes, crock-pots, jell-o molds and other foods for Bible classes, Home and School potlucks, chili cook-offs, and Easter breakfast. We even need to have food after funerals.

It seems that the early Christian church believed in casserole fellowship, as well. The Bible says that in the early church "… they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers." (Acts 2:42) Daily the early Christians enjoyed fellowship meals with each other. Fellowship calls us together on the common ground of knowing Jesus Christ, so that our hearts and minds will reflect him. Fellowship is to be like a great marriage: cooperation, closeness, and joy. It can be that. It takes work, just like marriage. It’s worth it, isn’t it? God promises this oneness, this sameness. So we should approach our fellowship with each other, not as just something to do, but as an opportunity to grow in this oneness God has given us.

Our fellowship with each other is a reflection of the fellowship we have with God. That fellowship can only happen through Jesus. Our sins severed that fellowship. Our daily sinfulness continues to breech its walls. But the blood of Christ cleanses us from every sin, including our sins of lack of fellowship with God. Jesus restores us to perfect fellowship with God. We reflect that fellowship as we join with fellow Christians in the same spirit (Spirit) of forgiveness and restoration.

There’s nothing better than sitting together enjoying a meal shared with fellow Christians, enjoying each other’s company and conversation. It draws people together. Maybe a casserole dish isn’t such a bad picture of Christianity after all.

I guess a casserole dish could be a symbol of our faith. It represents how close we are to God and to each other. Some of the Christians in Galatia certainly must not have felt close to God. They felt they had to do things to earn God’s favor. Certainly most of the Christians in Europe must not have felt close to God. They were terrified of hell and purgatory. They looked upon God as an angry Judge, someone they had to appease. They looked upon Jesus as an Example, but not as their complete Savior from sins. That is certainly the way Luther felt during his early life.

Please don’t ever feel that you have to earn God’s love or forgiveness. Don’t beat yourself up over your past sins – no matter how grievous they are. Jesus has already won forgiveness. He has already earned God’s love. He has reestablished the fellowship with God that our sin had broken. As Paul said, "Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Christ has set you free!

On this day when we celebrate God’s Reformation of the Christian Church, thank God for preserving his Church against the very forces of hell. Thank God for the freedom of forgiveness, the freedom to fellowship with our heavenly Father once again, and the freedom to enjoy life eternal in Christ. You have received a rich heritage of faith. Stand firm in that faith. Don’t let yourselves be burdened by a yoke of slavery to sin and regulations any longer.

It is for freedom that Christ has set you free. Amen.

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is a gift of God." (Ephesians 2:8) What a wonderful freedom of faith you enjoy. Amen.