Psalm 46:1-3  *  October 30, 2005  *  Reformation  *  Pastor Leyrer

 

Dear Friends in Christ,

 

The hymn with which we opened our service this morning is perhaps the best known hymn in the Lutheran Church.  It has been called, among other things, the Battle Hymn of the Reformation.   Some of you know that it was written by Martin Luther based on the words of Psalm 46.

 

Church historians are not sure exactly when he wrote it.  Some have suggested that it was written at a time when a particularly lethal plague had descended upon Wittenberg, the city where he lived and worked as a University professor.  The plague was so bad that the University of Wittenberg temporarily relocated to a neighboring town; but Luther and his family stayed behind.

 

Others suggest it may have been written to observe the tenth anniversary of what is considered the official “beginning” of the Lutheran Reformation, the nailing of the 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church on October 31, 1517.  Those were the hammer blows eventually heard around the world because they set the wheels in motion for the huge but necessary changes in the church that were to come.

 

Still others suggest Luther may have written this while he in exile at the Wartburg Castle.  You may recall that after being summoned to the German city of Worms and defending his writings, all of which centered on the clear Scriptural teaching that we are saved not by our own good works but entirely on embracing the work of Jesus Christ through trusting in Him as our Savior, Luther was declared to be an outlaw by the Emperor.  His local leader (Duke Frederick) staged a “kidnapping” to remove him from harm’s way.  The Wartburg Castle with its mighty fortress-like walls may have brought to Luther’s mind the words of Psalm 46 – and possibly inspired him to respond with this hymn.

 

Whatever the case may be, both the words of the hymn and the words of the Psalm on which it is based are rich in imagery and symbolism.  They call to mind images of strength and security and solidness.  Both the hymn and the Psalm provide the believer with a comforting picture of God.  

 

On this Reformation Sunday we’re going to weave together elements of Luther’s spiritual journey, the title of the beloved hymn he wrote and the Psalm on which it is based as we reflect on this blessed reality: 

 

A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD

1.  The Gospel is the key that lets us in  

2.  Security lies within it

 

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.

 

The news commentator Paul Harvey has made famous the phrase “now you know the rest of the story.”  He starts out by telling something we know about somebody, and then backtracks to tell the story behind it.  Oftentimes it is not what we would expect to hear.

 

That’s kind of the way it is with Martin Luther and the words of our text.  We think of Martin Luther as a man who had a strong relationship with God.  And he did.  But it wasn’t always that way.  There was a time when God was anything but a mighty fortress in which he could reside comfortably and with confidence.

 

In fact, for many years God was like a mighty wall.  Impenetrable.  Imposing.  Unable to be scaled.  In Luther’s mind God was a fortress alright, but one constructed to keep people out, rather than let people in. 

 

There are all kinds of quotes we could cite from Luther about those days.  He talked about how he actually hated God.  Why?  Because in his view God was not a Heavenly Father to be loved, but a relentless taskmaster to be appeased through a life of involuntary good works and endless demonstrations of holiness.  If heaven was to be attained, he (Luther) was the one who had to do it.  Consequently, his life was defined by joylessness and fear.  The harder he tried, the more he became aware of his failure to please God.  Spiritually, it was like being on a treadmill; he exerted a lot of energy but he never moved forward.

 

If you think I might be overstating the case, listen to his own words in another one of his hymns (“Dear Christians, One and All Rejoice”): 

 

My own good works availed me naught, no merit they attaining

My will against God’s judgment fought, no hope for me remaining.

My fears increased till sheer despair left naught but death to be my share

And hell to be my sentence.

 

Or how about this line from the same hymn:

 

Yet deep and deeper still I fell; life had become a living hell

So firmly sin possessed me.

 

Those are not happy words.  Like many others back in his day as well as many today, Martin Luther was simply verbalizing the anguish and despair of those who are caught up in a performance-based religion.  The nagging, gnawing question for those who feel they have to earn God’s favor always is:  have I done enough for God to love me?

 

Maybe you know someone like that.  Maybe, like Luther, you were someone like that. For those trapped in a performance-based idea of salvation, God is not a mighty fortress that provides refuge and strength; He is rather a wall that is impossible to be scaled.  Try as you might, you can’t ever get right with Him.

 

But then something changed for Luther.  And with that change, a radical transformation came about.  God ceased to be an impenetrable wall, but became the personal refuge and strength and ever present help in trouble that the Psalmist talks. 

 

What happened?   That’s the rest of the story.  What happened is that Luther rediscovered the Gospel.  And the Gospel is the key to a right understanding of God, sin and eternal salvation.  While working through the Book of Romans Luther came to understand that we become righteous and forgiven in God’s eyes not by what we do for Him, but because of what He’s done for us in His Son, Jesus Christ.

 

It came to Luther as he pondered words like these in Romans chapter 3:  21 But now a righteousness from God (that is, a way that God makes us righteous), apart from law (that is, not based on our doing or keeping the law/Ten Commandments perfectly), has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.  22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference,  23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,  24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.  25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.

 

In other words, salvation is by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ.  Jesus did keep the law perfectly – for us.  Sin deserves punishment, so Jesus then died on the cross as the substitute payment for all of our sins.  Three days after His death to prove that He did what He came to do, He rose from the grave.  And here is the best news yet – everything Jesus did is credited to the account of those who embrace Him through faith. 

 

And the door to castle is opened. We enter by the key of the Gospel.  A mighty fortress is our God and safety lies within.  Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.

 

Do we hear what’s being said?  When we are in the fortress we do not have to fear.  When we understand the promise of the Gospel message and all the other promises of God that build off of it, we are safe and secure.  What don’t we have to fear?

 

First and foremost, we do not have to fear where we are going when we die.  This is not morbid talk.  Although we live in a death-denying culture, the fact of the matter is that we will all die.  But the no-fear promise of the Gospel is we know exactly where we’ll be the moment we close our eyes on this earth for the final time.  We’ll be in heaven.  Why?  Because eternal salvation does not depend upon what we do for God, but on what God has done for us.   So we can say with certainty we will be with God forever.

 

Nor do we have to fear the future.  Most of us like to be in control.  Most of us like to know what’s coming next.  Most of us like to think we have a hand in planning what will take place in the years ahead.  But most of us also know that life doesn’t always go as we plan it.  There are detours along the way.  Our lives invariably are what they are, but not always what we had in mind.  One of my favorite book titles makes this declaration about life:   “This Isn’t the Trip I Signed Up For.”

 

And because of this, sometimes we get scared about the future.  We think about our health.  Our finances.  Our children’s welfare.  Lots of things can frighten us.  The Psalmist talks about the earth giving way and waters roaring and foaming and mountains quaking.  Emotionally speaking, sometimes we may feel this same kind of disruption and upheaval in our lives.

 

But when we remember we are safe within our Mighty Fortress, we can be at peace.  Because He who has met our greatest need through the Gospel (the forgiveness of our sins and with it the provision of eternal life) will meet every temporary, lesser need as well.  And so we go forward into the future not necessarily with perfect knowledge, but with perfect confidence.

 

A German theologian by the name of Helmut Thielecke put it this way:  A piece of fabric when viewed through a magnifying glass is clear in the middle but blurred around the edges.  But we know the edges are clear because of what we see in the middle.  There are many edges in our lives which are blurred in the sense that we may not either know or understand why God has allowed them in our lives.  Things may not always be clear to us.   But they are to be interpreted by the clarity of what we see in the middle.  And in the middle of the Christian’s life is the Gospel message of Jesus Christ.

 

That’s what Reformation Day is all about.  It’s not just about celebrating the life of Martin Luther, worthy as that might be.  It’s not just about reveling in our Lutheran heritage, as grateful as we are for it.  It’s all about rejoicing in the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. 

 

That’s the key to the Reformation.  That’s the key to our salvation.  That’s the key that moves us from God as an unapproachable and unable-to-be-scaled Wall to God as our Mighty Fortress, within whom we find peace and safety and protection. 

 

Because of the Gospel we can confidently say with the Psalmist and with Luther:  God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear…  Not now, nor forever.  Amen.