On Reformation Day we focus on the commitment of one man in particular, Martin Luther.  Luther was committed to proclaiming God’s word in its truth and purity.  Luther was committed to taking out of the church the false teachings and practices that taught how man’s works are what saves.  He committed himself to bringing back the true gospel that saving faith is in God’s miracle of salvation through Christ crucified, raised and ascended. Luther was committed to searching the Scriptures and not the traditions of men for God’s love and mercy.  And, based on God’s word, Luther was committed to God’s grace alone by faith alone in God’s word alone.

 

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--               Ephesians 2:8

 

But now, a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.  This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.                                   Romans 3:21-24

 

            We see this commitment begin when Luther, frightened in the woods during a severe thunderstorm, pledges that if his life is spared, he will become a faithful monk.  We see this commitment when Luther arises as an outstanding student in the Augustinian order and eventually a professor at the new university in Wittenberg.  We see this commitment in a Luther who struggles every minute of every day with his sinfulness and how to achieve the righteousness needed to be saved.  We see this commitment in a brave young monk challenging the church’s practices of selling indulgences for salvation as opposed to God’s free gift in his grace and mercy through the blood of Jesus offered once for all at Calvary.  We see this commitment in a maturing pastor and theologian as he stands his ground at the confrontation at Worms.  We see this commitment in his studies and work while in captivity at Wartburg and in his continued preaching, teaching, writing, studies and prayers until the day of his death in the town of his birth.

 

            But the commitment does not start or end with Luther and all of the work that he did, the leadership and inspiration he gave.  The commitment with Luther started on November 11, 1483, the day after his birth.  On that St. Martin of Tours’ day, his father took him across the street to receive the blessings God gives in Christian baptism.  In the faith sealed in that baptism, God made a commitment to adopt Martin Luther as his own dear son, giving him a new life, a new spirit, and a new promise.

 

            But that commitment did not begin only on November 11, 1483.  It began at the beginning of time when God said, “Let there be…”  That commitment began when God said, “Let us make man in our image…”  That commitment began when God commanded man to take care of his creation for him.  That commitment began when God, immediately after Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, entered the Garden and called out, “Where are you?”  That commitment began when God did not curse Adam and Eve, but cursed the serpent, Satan himself, and promised a Savior to his beloved man. 

 

            God has committed himself totally to you from before the time he first said, “Let there be…”  God has committed himself totally to you knowing that “in sin my mother conceived me.”  God has committed himself completely to you even as he said, “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."  [Genesis 3:19]

 

            God has committed himself completely to you in the hope Job expressed:  “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.”  [Job 19:25]  God has committed himself completely to you as he promised Moses, as he promised Joshua, as he promised in Solomon’s prayer for all of God’s people, and as he promised in the Letter to the Hebrews, “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” 

 

            God has committed himself completely to you in the passage Luther calls “The Gospel in a nutshell,” “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,  that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. 16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.”  [John 3:14-18]

 

            God has committed himself completely to you as Jesus promises:  "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.  In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  You know the way to the place where I am going."  Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"  Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  [John 14:1-6]

 

            God has committed himself completely to you when Jesus said, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."  [[Matthew 28:20a]]  God has committed himself completely to you in the very last verses of Scripture:  “He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. 21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen.”  [Revelation 22:20-21]

 

            God’s love is his commitment to you.  As we have focused throughout this year, God’s love spreads only as it is echoed through his people to other people.  There is no other way that lost souls are brought to Christ except through God’s children bringing his word, echoing his love to new souls.  Think about yourself.  How did you first hear and learn of God’s love?  Did God just hop on the hood of your car one day and say, “Stop!  Now listen here, buddy…”

 

            No.  It was like with Martin Luther, someone brought you to hear God’s word and you received his gifts in baptism.  Whether as an infant, in your child or adolescent years, or as an adult, it was someone who “Echoed” God’s love to you by sharing his words of comfort, relief and strength that although you are a lost and condemned sinner, God still loves you, has given his one and only son to die to pay for all of your sins, and takes you, in faith in that forgiveness through Jesus, to live with him eternally in heaven.  Without Jesus and without faith in him, you are eternally lost to a frightening and eternal punishment in the unquenchable fires of Hell.

 

            God made quite a commitment to Adam and Eve. God made quite a commitment to Martin Luther.  God made that same commitment to you.  He makes that commitment as David Einoris spoke to us four weeks ago, he makes an extreme commitment.  That extreme commitment is his undeserving, unlimited and unending love as John writes:

 

1 John 3:16  This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

 

 

It is all so easy to wave our arms and sing delightful praises.  And God loves to hear  all songs of praise in response for his love to you.  But opposite that favored sign on Harry Truman’s desk, “The Buck Stops Here,” God wants and commands that his love is reflected out so that others know that love first hand.  That is why he speaks to us through John, “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”

 

Every family in this congregation has received materials to evaluate, “What is my commitment to “Echo God’s Love” in my personal life, in my life as a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church, and in my life as God’s dear child on this earth?” 

 

As you live knowing God’s grace and his commands to love one another as he has loved you, what is the commitment you make to reflect that love to others?  Not one of us can do all that there is to do to effectively “Echo God’s Love” here at Immanuel, let alone throughout this community, our region and the world.  But when each one of us steps forward in faith and in loving response to God’s love not just for earthly joys, but the ultimate gift of absolute forgiveness and free eternal life, the collective response of all of God’s children will overwhelm the world.  As there is no limit to his love to you, there is no limit to what Christians stepping forward in faithful commitment will achieve by God’s grace and by the power of the Holy Spirit who works faith through the works of faithful believers.

 

 

Let us pray as we prepare to present our commitments to our Lord:

 

Heavenly Father, you are our creator and entrust to us all that we are and have.  Guide us, encourage us, and strengthen us through your word and by your Spirit to dedicate ourselves and our treasures to the glory of your name, not just for our salvation, but to reflect your love to effect the salvation of many.  In Jesus name we pray.  Amen.