Sunday, October 25, 2026, Sunday of the Reformation… “Holding On”

Scriptures: Psalm 46; Revelation 14:6-7; Romans 3:19-28; Matthew 11:12-19 

A Reformation Hymn Service, with Holy Communion

Hymns: “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” #656; “Now Thank We All Our God” #895; “Lord Jesus Christ, with Us Abide” #585; “Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow” #805; “All Glory Be to God Alone” #948; “Lord, Keep Us Steadfast In Your Word” #655

Dear Friends in Christ,

     Grace, mercy, and peace to you, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

     Jesus says in our Gospel, “The kingdom of heaven is forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.” That tells us that being a follower of Jesus Christ in this world isn’t for the faint of heart. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther was a “forceful” man, a man of faith, courage, and perseverance. When Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the doors of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, on the 31st day of October, 1517, 509 years ago, he was only looking for was an honest debate about where he believed the Church he dearly loved had gone wrong.

     But the “powers that be” in the church wanted to burn him at the stake for what he said, for the same reason the Pharisees and Sadducees hated what Jesus said and wanted Him crucified; not because of faith or spiritual conviction or even theology, but for the sake of holding on to their position and wealth and power. It’s the same reason those with power in the world today seem to hate truth – and especially God’s truth – so much. That call of Jesus to “sell all you have and give to the poor” and “pick up your cross and follow Me” calls for an act of faith, trust, and genuine courage on the part of anyone willing to give their heart to do it.

     The Reformation God began through Martin Luther, that day in 1517, took him in a direction he never thought God would ask him to go. When he was called, finally, to “stand before governors and kings” (as Jesus said we Christians would be), and ordered to deny his teachings and recant his faith, he answered, “Here I stand; I can do no other. So help me God.” This Christian faith of ours, all these years later, is still all about “holding on” – that is, holding on to Jesus and our faith in Him, no matter what our enemies (and we still have them) may do.

     The VDMA symbol on our bulletin cover comes from the Latin words Verbum Domini Manet Aeternum, “The Word of the Lord Stands Forever,” which comes from Isaiah 40:8: “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of our God stands forever." Those words became the motto and rallying cry of the Lutheran reformers – and it’s a good rallying cry for us, too! Lord, help us to hold on to our precious faith until You come for us at last.

     Jesus says in our reading from St. Mark’s Gospel: “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.” Wouldn’t it be nice if God would just rain down manna from heaven on us, pour down His blessings into our open mouths, like a mother bird feeding a baby? But if He did that, we’d always be babies, and our faith would never grow. St. Paul wrote that even babies, at some point, need to “go on from milk to solid food.”

     God’s intent for us isn’t that we have a faith that’s passive, but faith that’s living, active, and eager, a faith that is “forcefully advancing.” Not a faith just dropped into our open hands, without any effort on our part; but a faith that has to be seized, held on to, and clung to tooth and nail with everything we have. It’s the faith of Father Jacob, who wrestled with the Lord and finally told him, “I will not let you go until you bless me.” It’s faith that takes hold of Jesus by the fringe of His robe and refuses to release Him. “If only I touch the fringe of His robe, I’ll be made well.” It’s faith that’s determined to hold on to Jesus, whatever happens, and never let go.

    “For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John,” Jesus says. God’s kingdom isn’t ever passive, but always moving forward; and God doesn’t call His servants to hide or isolate themselves from the world. The prophets were outspoken and bold about the coming Messiah – with John the Baptist being the boldest of them all. ‘He did not fail to testify,” the Scripture says. He said, “Look! The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” What good is a prophecy if it’s hidden or left unspoken? God’s Word was always meant to be proclaimed, shouted, and heard above the noise of the world. “Faith comes by hearing,” St. Paul says – and for hearing to happen, someone has to open their mouth to speak. 

     “And if you are willing to accept it,” Jesus says, “he (John) is the Elijah who was to come.” Prophet Elijah wasn’t shy, either. He looked King Ahab and his wicked wife Jezebel in the eye and told them, “This is what the Lord says!” He took on the prophets of Baal and all the evil in the Kingdom of Israel, and with the help of God, he won. The battle nearly broke him, to the point where he wanted to die, but he won. John the Baptist was the second Elijah, the new Elijah, the “Elijah who was to come.” He looked King Herod in the eye and told him the truth about his sham of a marriage, a truth the king didn’t care to hear; and telling the truth cost poor John his head. Yet even to the end, John held on to his faith.

     “He who has ears, let him hear,” Jesus says. What kind of ears do we need? Spiritual ears! We need to listen with the “ears of our hearts” (which is what faith is). God’s prophets, pastors, and Christian witnesses do the speaking, and put the Word in people’s ears; which is all we can do, and all we’re called to do. From my heart to my mouth to your ears is my part; from your ears to your head and your heart is the Spirit’s work. If someone chooses to cover their ears and refuses to listen and “resists the Holy Spirit,” all we can do is pray for them, and pray for a chance to try again. What we don’t have is the option of not speaking, of being silent “about what we’ve seen and heard.” “Christ’s love compels us” to speak, St. Paul says.

     The Good News we have to share, what we ourselves have seen and heard and believe, St. Paul outlines nicely for us today in Romans 3; this is one of the passages that turned Luther’s heart from works to grace – and it’s Good News for us, too: “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.”

     The Good News is that our hope for being saved isn’t by doing good works, which will never be enough, or by trying to keep commandments that no sinful human being could ever keep; we’re saved by the love of Jesus Christ alone, who “loved us and gave Himself for us” on a cross. 

     What pained Martin Luther most of all was that his beloved church seemed to have forgotten about forgiveness by the grace of God; and in so doing, they were robbing people of the peace that should have been theirs. And it broke Jesus’ gentle heart to see the religious leaders in His own day doing the very same thing. 

     Jesus says in our Gospel, about those scribes, Sadducees, and Pharisees: “To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others: 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge and you did not mourn.'” So many people still are like selfish children, who only want the Word of God their own way -- which really means they don’t want God’s Word at all, but a word of their own. We don’t want to conform ourselves to God’s Word; that takes too much work!We want God to bend and agree with us (which calls for no change on our part at all). So we pick and choose our way through God’s Word, nodding our heads at the things we like, and ignoring the parts that cut us to the heart and call us to repent; not holding on to the Word as God gave it to us, but changing it as it pleases us and accommodates our sin. Do that, and you’ll end up with nothing to hold on to at all.

     “For John came neither eating nor drinking” says Jesus, “and they say, 'He has a demon.'” If you don’t like the message, shoot the messenger; that’s what they’ve always done to God’s prophets. John the Baptist was a Nazarene from birth; he lived as Nazarenes lived and did what Nazarenes do. He never touched a drop of alcohol, and he never cut his hair. He wore rough clothes and ate locusts and wild honey for dinner (just like Elijah!) He was true and obedient to the calling and life God gave him. Jesus called him “the greatest of the prophets.” He was a holy man. And his enemies twisted it all around to call him evil. Again, because John called the Pharisees and Sadducees and Herod to repent of their sin and be baptized - and they wouldn’t give up what they had to get in the water and turn their hearts to God.

     And likewise, says Jesus, “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.' But wisdom is proved right by her actions." Saying is one thing, doing is another. “The proof of the pudding comes in the eating,” the old saying goes. “I will show you my faith by what I do,” the Book of James says. Jesus told the Pharisees, “If you don’t believe what I say, at least believe in the things you’ve seen Me do.” “If You don’t believe Me,” He said, “at least believe in the evidence of the miracles themselves.”     

     What miracles are we talking about here? What have you and I seen and heard, that we can tell the world about? There are the miracles Jesus did while walking the earth, to start with, the ones Scripture tells us about; walking on water, calming storms, healing the sick, raising the dead, and all the rest – “more miracles than all the books on earth could hold of I wrote them all down,” apostle John said.

     And then there’s the miracles He’s still doing for us today. There’s Holy Baptism, for one thing, faith planted in a heart by God’s Word and a little bit of water – a miracle every time it happens. There’s the miracle of the Lord’s Supper, God’s Word putting in the blessings of forgiveness and life, and we in faith so blessed to receive it. (A miracle waiting for us all!) There’s the miracle of hard-hearted sinners brought to repentance and faith, which is the greatest miracle that can ever happen in God’s Church. (There’s joy in heaven over one sinner who repents!) 

     Miracles of healing still do happen, when the doctors say one thing, but God says another. I’ve seen miracles happen in answer to prayer many times, and I’m sure you have, too. There are miracles of broken lives and broken families being healed and reconciled by the love of Christ and His forgiving grace. (I’ve seen that happen, too!) Jesus and His holy angels have been known to appear us on battlefields, at accident scenes, and in emergency rooms, bringing peace in even the worst of our circumstances. “I’ve seen hospital rooms turned into cathedrals,” a song on Christian radio says. Many of you have “angel stories” to tell, and I love to hear you tell them. God is good!

     And there’s the on-going, everlasting miracle of a risen, living, and active Savior, here with us “to the end of the age,” just as He has promised; here with us by His blessed Holy Spirit, still working through the living and active Word of God to change hearts, minds, and lives, wherever the good Word is spoken.

     The calling for us on this Reformation Day is the same as it was for Luther and all the rest of those brave and courageous souls from five hundred years ago. 

The call is for us to have a lively, “living and active” faith, a faith so firm on the inside of us that it can’t help but show through on the outside of us, in a way that people in the world around us can’t help but take notice of - a faith that leaves no doubt - to anyone – about who our Savior is and who our faith is in. Some will welcome what we have to say with joy, thanks be to God. But many won’t, and that’s sad. But what can we do about that but keep opening our mouths to put the Good News in people’s ears, and praying for those miracles to happen?

     You and I, we’re holding on. Holding on to this faith that’s been handed down to us, and to the only Savior in this world who can help us. “I am not ashamed of the Gospel,” St. Paul says, “for it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.” 

     The Word of the Lord stands forever! That’s the Good News! In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Rev. Larry Sheppard, M.Div.

Trinity Lutheran Church, LCMS, Packwaukee, WI

St. John’s Lutheran Church, LCMS, Oxford, WI

pastorshepp@gmail.com