Reformation Sunday
By Pastor Bill
Near the end of his life somebody asked Martin Luther what he had done to bring about the Reformation and with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek he replied, “I did nothing; I was just taking a nap and having a beer with my friends, the word of God did it all.” Although spoken facetiously, for Luther this was ultimately true. Both Martin Luther (1438-1546) and John Calvin (1509-1564) have gone down in history as the twin skyscrapers of the Reformation period but back in the sixteenth century they saw themselves simply as obedient and faithful servants of the word of God.
This year is the anniversary of the 500th birthday of the Protestant Reformer, the French pastor and theologian, John Calvin. From sermons to lectures to letters to tracts to treatises to confessions to catechisms to books, his adult life was consumed with one focus: the word of God – the word as a summons to obedience, the word as a blueprint for reform, the word as the foundation for all truth.
Ten years from now your EQAO and SAT scores will be ancient history. If you win the championship playoffs, you’ll be forgotten the next year you don’t. Irreversibly your beauty will deteriorate into crow’s feet and wrinkles. If you write a great book some day it will gather dust in a library. Win a trophy and eventually it will tarnish hidden in a box in the attic. Gain a reputation in your field; you’re still unknown to over 6 billion people in the world. Build an amazing house or church, and some day it will crumble. All of our achievements and successes are fleeting and impermanent destined to be like dead grass and faded flowers.
The only reason why Calvin’s theology and vision of the world continues to capture the minds and hearts of people in the 21st century is because as an expositor and preacher his confidence was in the word of God. If we strive for relevance in our day, we may make a difference for a few years. If we anchor ourselves in what is eternal we may influence the world for another five centuries. If we want a legacy as parents, grand parents and young people, if we wish to transcend our own meager existence we must know, love and practice the word of the living God. “This is the one I esteem,” says the Lord, “he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word (Isaiah 66:2).
Fads and fashions will come and go, but the word of God will keep on accomplishing its purposes. It will outlast us all. So let our reading, memorizing, catechizing, preaching, teaching, counselling and mentoring be saturated with the word. Let our songs, ministries and mission submit to the word. May all of our theological questions, relationship questions, family questions look to the word. May every new doctrine, new movement, new church, and new book be tested against the word. God’s word is wise and fully true in all that it addresses; it is sufficient for living life in the here and now in abundance; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes and it speaks to people’s deepest needs more than you and I ever could. “A voice says, ‘Cry out.’ And I said, ‘What shall I cry?’ All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever” (Isaiah 40:6-8).