First Lutheran Church
October 31, 2021 – Reformation Sunday
Psalm 46 - God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be moved, and though the mountains shake in the depths of the sea; though its waters rage and foam, and though the mountains tremble with its tumult. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be shaken; God shall help it at the break of day. The nations rage, and the kingdoms shake; God speaks, and the earth melts away. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold. Come now, regard the works of the Lord, what desolations God has brought upon the earth; behold the one who makes war to cease in all the world; who breaks the bow, and shatters the spear, and burns the shields with fire. “Be still, then, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth. ”The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
“A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”
Martin Luther
A mighty fortress is our God, a sword and shield victorious;
He breaks the cruel oppressor's rod and wins salvation glorious.
The old satanic foe has sworn to work us woe!
With craft and dreadful might he arms himself to fight.
On earth he has no equal.
No strength of ours can match his might! We would be lost, rejected.
But now a champion comes to fight, whom God himself elected.
You ask who this may be? The Lord of hosts is he!
Christ Jesus, mighty Lord, God's only Son, adored.
He holds the field victorious.
Though hordes of devils fill the land all threat'ning to devour us,
We tremble not, unmoved we stand; they cannot overpow'r us.
Let this world's tyrant rage; in battle we'll engage!
His might is doomed to fail; God's judgment must prevail!
One little word subdues him.
God's Word forever shall abide, no thanks to foes, who fear it;
For God himself fights by our side with weapons of the Spirit.
Were they to take our house, goods, honor, child, or spouse,
Though life be wrenched away, they cannot win the day.
The kingdom's ours forever!
Sermon
“A Mighty Fortress is Our God”
Pastor Greg Ronning
Today we celebrate “Reformation Sunday.” A special day in the life of the Lutheran Church. So special that we break out the “red paraments” signifying the work of the Holy Spirit. Many of you are wearing Red for the occasion. And of course, we began our service with the singing of the traditional Reformation Hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.” We even added the Trumpet to make if more festive.
Many people think of the hymn “A Mighty Fortress” as the “Battle Hymn of the Reformation. ”However, “A Mighty Fortress” was not written for this occasion, it was not written to celebrate the Reformation! It became the traditional Reformation hymn sometime around 1648 when churches in Germany first began to celebrate this day. Scholars believe that Martin Luther wrote the hymn in the year 1527, ten years after he nailed the Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, and for a completely different occasion. So, to fully understand the meaning and significance of this wonderful hymn we need to go back to the years surrounding 1527 to see what was going on in the life of Luther, the original context for the hymn.
Luther scholars describe the years surround 1527 as some of the bleakest years in his life. In April of that year, a dizzy spell forced Luther to do doing something that was unconceivable, he stopped preaching in the middle of his sermon. In July of that year Luther felt an intense buzzing in his ear, became cold, clammy, thirsty, and was convinced he would not survive the night. After ten years of political and theological struggles, ten years of living under death threats, and recent battles with the other reformers over the nature of the Lord’s Supper; Luther was deeply disturbed, angry, depressed, and severely ill. Luther wrote to his colleague and friend Philip Melanchthon, “I spent more than a week in death and hell. My entire body was in pain, and I still tremble.” And if all that was not enough, in August of that year a plague broke out in the city of Wittenberg where Luther lived. Out of fear many of the townspeople fled the city but Luther considered it his duty to remain and care for the sick. Even though his wife was pregnant, Luther’s house was transformed into a hospital. He watched many of his friends die. His son also became ill. Not until late November of that year did the epidemic abate and the ill begin to recover.
During this troubling year in his life, it is believed that Luther penned “A Mighty Fortress.” A heading from one of the original publications of the song dated 1529 reads, “A Mighty Fortress – A Hymn of Comfort.” Rather than a “battle hymn,” or a “festival hymn,” Luther intended this hymn, based on Psalm 46 to be a hymn of comfort. A hymn written for a people in the midst of a plague, a hymn to give them comfort and hope, a hymn reminding the author himself that God had not abandoned God’s people.
So it is that this hymn might take on some new significance for us today, so it is that this hymn is more than a relic from the past, so it is that on Reformation Day 2021, as we continue to battle a world-wide pandemic, as we endure intense and violent political division, as we experience devastating new weather patterns; as we endure some “bleak” and “troubling” years; this hymn suddenly becomes “very contemporary,” offering us the same hope and comfort it gave the people of Wittenberg in 1527. It’s true, on October 31, 2021, we don’t need a “battle hymn,” we need a “Hymn of Comfort.”
Today we are invited to gather around the promise of Psalm 46, the promise of “A Mighty Fortress,” the Gospel promise that God is with us, - “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. ”Though the earth be moved, the mountains shake, and the waters rage, - God is with us. Though nations rage, and kingdoms shake, - God is with us. Though hordes of devils fill the land, - God is with us. Even though life may be wrenched away, - God is with us. Though the pandemic continues, - God is with us. Though our politics seek to divide us, - God is with us. Though fires burn out of control, though floods swell, though the temperature rises, - God is with us. 1527 and 2021, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
Yes, God is with us! I truly believe it. I believe that God is present, that God is with us in these trying times. Yet I must admit I am not always sure how, how God is present, and how that presence makes a difference. As I pondered this question, as I wondered how I would finish this sermon, as I mused how I might answer my own theological question; I noticed something in Luther’s hymn that caught my attention. The good news of God’s presence in our life, especially in these difficult and trying times, is found in the grammar of the hymn, - God is present in the plural!
Notice the language found in “A Mighty Fortress.” “A mighty fortress is our God, …” “No strength of ours …” “We would be lost, ...” “threat'ning to devour us,…” “We tremble not, unmoved we stand; they cannot overpow'rus.”“In battle we'll engage!” And finally, ultimately, not “the kingdom is mine,” but rather, “The kingdom's ours forever!”
God is present in the plural! Luther reminds us that the life of faith, the life of the church, the life of God’s beloved children is lived in -with – and through “community.” In Christ we are not isolated individuals, but individuals forever united as the family of God. And it is in this community of faith that the promises of God abide, that the promises of God are held, that the promises of God are experienced. “A Mighty Fortress ”was written to be sung in church, in the assembly, in the midst of the faithful - gathered. And the comfort and hope it proclaims is experienced in the church, in the place where Christ is fleshed out and dwells among us. Luther lived faithfully, confidently in faith, during those “bleak and troubling” years, despite suffering from depression, anxiety, illness and plague, - because he was not alone. Christ was with him in the life of the church, in the life of the faith community, in a community united in song and prayer, in a community serving those in need, - surrounded by faithful people doing faithful things. Because of this Luther is finally able to declare in the last line of his hymn of comfort, “The kingdom's ours forever!”
Alone we are doomed to live in fear, together we are inspired to live in the confidence of God’s grace and love. That’s what makes the difference!
The church is a different kind of community. In a just a few minutes we will sing another great hymn, “The Church’s One Foundation.” The second verse describes the church as a community made up of different people from all over the world, yet united as one, “Her charter of salvation one Lord, one faith, one birth.” We are all members of many communities, different kinds of groups and organization, yet the only one that ultimately matters, the only one that makes a difference, is the church, the very Body of Christ. Once again, the church, the true church, the Body of Christ is a different kind of community. It does not look or act like a political party, it does not look or act like a fraternal organization, it does not look or act like a city, a state or a nation; it is radically different, amazingly diverse, and filled with grace and love; - united only in the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Christ. And this church, this mighty fortress, will hold us together through plagues and pandemics, religious and political strife, even though the mountains shake and the seas rise up. Hold fast to the church, hold fast to grace, hold fast to love, - hold fast to these things and they will hold fast to you! Together in Christ we have all these things, “The Kingdom’s ours forever!” Amen.
“The Church’s One Foundation”
The church's one foundation is Jesus Christ, her Lord;
She is his new creation by water and the word.
From heav'n he came and sought her to be his holy bride;
With his own blood he bought her, and for her life he died.
Elect from ev'ry nation, yet one o'er all the earth,
Her charter of salvation one Lord, one faith, one birth:
One holy name she blesses, partakes one holy food,
And to one hope she presses, with ev'ry grace endued.
Though with a scornful wonder this world sees her oppressed,
By schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed,
Yet saints their watch are keeping; their cry goes up: "How long?"
And soon the night of weeping shall be the morn of song.
Through toil and tribulation and tumult of her war,
She waits the consummation of peace forevermore;
Till with the vision glorious her longing eyes are blest,
And the great church victorious shall be the church at rest.
Yet she on earth has union with God, the Three in One,
And mystic sweet communion with those whose rest is won.
Oh, blessed heav'nly chorus! Lord, save us by your grace,
That we, like saints before us, may see you face to face.