Without doubt, the greatest upheaval, though some would say the greatest tragedy, to happen in the Church in the last 1000 years, is the Reformation, the schism which separated the Catholic Church into what’s now become the Roman Catholic and what are commonly, though in many cases quite erroneously called, Protestant Churches. Though there had been reformers in the Church for many hundreds of years, the instigator of the Reformation proper was the German priest and theologian, Martin Luther and it’s from Luther that one of the central tenets of the Reformed Churches come; justification by faith, the idea that irrespective of what good works we may do, salvation is a free gift of God which is given to us on account of our faith.
This idea is one that Luther developed over quite a long period of time. In 1505, 12 years before what most people regard as the start of the Reformation, Luther narrowly escaped death when lightning struck a tree as he was riding past it. And this terrified Luther, quite understandably. But what terrified him in particular was the thought of judgement and the prospect of dying unprepared to meet God. He wondered how he could be prepared for death, how he could be certain that he’d shown enough penitence for sin and how he could be sure that the good works he’d done were enough, or good enough. And as he thought about this he became more and more depressed because he decided he could never be sure of these things. And in the end he came to the conclusion that, as he could never be sure that he’d done enough to be ready to meet God, to be justified before God, all he could rely on for justification was the grace and mercy of God. And so he came to the idea of justification by faith alone.
Many people in the Church hold to this belief, but actually, it’s incompatible with another central tenet of the Reformation, the idea of scripture alone, that scripture is the sole source of authority in the Church and that all the Church teaches and does must be in full agreement with scripture. We simply cannot hold these two ideas together because Jesus himself said,
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
These are undeniably words of scripture, they’re the words of Jesus himself, and they, also undeniably, tell us that faith alone is not enough; we must also do something about that faith, we must do what the Father wants us to do, just as Jesus himself did.
Unfortunately, this idea of justification by faith alone has led many people to believe that simply saying “I believe in God” or “I’m a Christian” is enough and that they don’t need to do any more than that. And we only have to look around us in church to see that. I don’t mean at what those here say, or do or don’t do, but at the empty pews, to look at how many people aren’t here, the number of people whom we know who say that they believe in God and say that they’re Christians but who won’t even do so much as spend an hour in church on Sunday morning to show that. People who, in fact, don’t think they even need to do anything more than say “I believe” or “I’m a Christian” to be right with God. But that simply will not do, it is simply not enough and not good enough.
We call Jesus the ‘Light of the World’ and, as Christians, we’re called to carry that light with us in the world and to the world. We do that by proclaiming the Gospel. But we have to do that by both word and deed. The will of the Father is that we love our neighbour as ourselves and to do that, we have to actually do something more than talk. Let me put it this way. If we see somebody in need, do we think it’s enough to simply say to that person, “I’m a Christian”? If we were in need and that was the extent of the help we got from someone in the Church, what would we think? Would we think that was a Christian thing to do? Would we think the person who said that cared about us at all, let alone loved us as much as they loved themselves? I doubt it very much.
Jesus said it’s not those who call him ‘Lord’ who’ll get to heaven, but those who actually do the will of the Father, and what is that but loving our neighbour as ourselves because we call Jesus ‘Lord’?
So faith and deeds, good works, go together.
Those who think talk is enough are like the foolish bridesmaids in this morning’s Gospel. Those bridesmaids were there to provide light, but they did nothing about providing light, they just turned up and then went to sleep. And so when the bridegroom arrived, they weren’t ready and by the time they were, it was too late. And so it will be for us if we’re not ready to meet the Lord at a moment’s notice. And the only way we can be so prepared is by making sure that we’re always ready do what’s required of us. Being a Christian means doing something to bring light to the world. We can’t just say “I’m a Christian” and then sit back and do nothing more, we might as well go to sleep as do that.
To be fair to Luther, and those who hold to the tenet of justification by faith, they’re not entirely wrong. Justification and salvation are a gift of God, and one that we don’t deserve on our own merits. But as Christians, we don’t rely solely on our own merits, but on the merits of Jesus Christ who bore our sins on the Cross. But that doesn’t mean that we’re saved by faith alone, the Scriptures tell us that isn’t the case and Jesus himself tells us that isn’t the case. We’re saved through faith in Christ and our obedience to Christ’s teaching and example. And to be obedient to his teaching and example we have to do more than simply say “Lord, Lord”, “I believe”, “I’m a Christian.” We have to do something about those words. And if we don’t then, just as Martin Luther feared he wouldn’t be, and just like those foolish bridesmaids in the parable weren’t, we won’t be ready to meet the Lord when he comes. That is the undeniable word of our Lord as revealed in scripture:
Jesus said, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you did it to me.’
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Amen.
Propers for the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (3rd before Advent) Remembrance Sunday 12th November 2023
Entrance Antiphon
Let my prayer come before you, Lord; listen and answer me.
The Collect
Almighty Father,
whose will is to restore all things in your beloved Son, the King of all:
govern the hearts and minds of those in authority,
and bring the families of the nations,
divided and torn apart by the ravages of sin,
to be subject to his just and gentle rule;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
The Readings
Missal (St Mark’s)
Wisdom 6:12-16
Psalm 63:2-8
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Matthew 25:1-13
RCL (St Gabriel’s)
Wisdom 6:12-16
Psalm 70
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Matthew 25:1-13
Parish Church of St Mark Chadderton 