Our hymn for our devotion this week is hymn 866 If God Had Not Been On Our Side
This coming weekend, many Lutheran churches across America and across the world will be celebrating Reformation Sunday. This festival in the church year is a celebration of the work that Martin Luther and the rest of the Lutheran reformers did over 500 years ago by bringing law and gospel back into the Christian church.
A common misconception is that this Sudnay is “Martin Luther Sunday.” We mention him by name in our prayers and sermons. We sing his hymns in our worship services. We call ourselves Lutheran because of him. But Luther hated the idea of his followers being called “Lutherans” (at least at first.) Rather, he preferred those who were a part of the Reformation to call themselves evangelicals (because they preached the gospel) or simply Christians. We don’t worship Luther, or give him more credit than he’s due. We simply acknowledge the work God did through him and the other reformers by bringing the life-giving gospel back into our churches.
One amazing example of how Luther brought the gospel back into the church was with his hymns. No Reformation Sunday is complete without singing “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” or “Lord Keep Us Steadfast In Your Word.” But there are many other beloved hymns that Luther wrote over his career. The hymn for our consideration is one such example. It’s a paraphrase of Psalm 124, a song of thanksgiving for God’s protecting hand.
Verse 1: “If God had not been on our side and had not come to aid us, our foes with all their pow’r and pride would surely have dismayed us, for we, his flock, would have to fear the devil’s wolves, both far and near, who rise in might against us.”
Sometimes as Christians, it can feel like we’re surrounded. The devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking to devour us. He erodes faith through a constant stream of doubts and questions throughout the day and throughout our lives. He will never stop hunting us and seeking to undermine our faith. As if that wasn’t bad enough, we also live in a sinful world that hates and rejects the message of Christ. Jesus told us to be prepared to be hated by the world because it hated him first. At best, we can expect indifference to the life-changing gospel. But a time may come when the gospel message won’t just be ignored, but it will be stifled and repressed. And perhaps worst of all, even though we’ve got the devil and the world out to get us, our own sinful nature is constantly warring against the gospel message in our hearts and minds. Every day it’s a struggle to lead a God-pleasing life. Yes, our foes are certainly powerful, and they are seeking to dismay us. But we have God on our side! These enemies rise against us every day, but we don’t have to fear them because God will fight for us. He daily pours out his Holy Spirit on his people. That Holy Spirit works through the means of grace, the gospel in word and sacrament to increase our love and strengthen our faith. We have nothing to fear.
Verse 2: “Their furious wrath, did God permit, would surely have consumed us and as a deep and yawning pit with life and limb entombed us. A hellish storm would o’er us roll from Satan, who desires our soul and seeks to overwhelm us.”
Around this time of year, people love watching and talking about football. For fans of both college and professional football, every weekend there are dozens of games that can be found on a number of television networks. Sometimes in those games, the matchup between teams is very one-sided. It’s not unheard of to see scores like 49-6, or 21-0 even before the game is finished. Sometimes announcers will talk about how teams get “eaten alive” by the other team, or they’re “dead and buried.” The odds are simply too great to overcome. The other team is simply too good. Player morale is too low to make a comeback. It’s those kinds of situations that we on this earth would be facing if we didn’t have God on our side. The foes that face us are simply too powerful for us sinful human beings to overcome. If God allowed it, we’d be eaten alive by that roaring lion, or we’d be dead and buried because of a sinful world and our own sinful flesh. Our enemy wants us completely defeated and hopeless without a chance for a comeback. But that’s why Jesus came to give us the victory. God did not permit our foes to overwhelm us. Rather he overwhelmed them by sending his only begotten son to die for us and rise again. Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse 3: “Blest be the Lord, who foiled their threat that they could not devour us. Our souls, like birds, escaped their net; they could not overpow’r us. The snare is broken—we are free! Our helper and our strength is he who made the earth and heavens.”
There’s something so encouraging about watching people rescue helpless animals who are trapped and in need of assistance. Whether it’s a sick-looking cat or dog found on the side of the road, or an owl or hawk trapped in a soccer net, or a cow or a sheep trapped in a farmer’s fence, it’s so gratifying to see an animal escape being trapped and being released back to freedom. It’s that picture of a helpless animal that’s trapped and in need of assistance that King David used in Psalm 124, and the picture that Luther used in his final verse of his hymn. Just like those animals who were trapped with no way out, our souls were trapped in our ways and sin. Without assistance, we were destined to die without any hope of saving ourselves. This was the plan of Satan, who first led us into sin. But God foiled his plans! Jesus came and crushed satan’s head, and freed us from sin forever. The same God who made the earth and heavens became a helpless baby, lived like us, and died for us so that we might rise again. The same God who set the stars in place and raised mountains from the ground is our helper and our strength in times of trouble. That gospel truth is what frees us to lead lives of faith, free from the cares of the world and the guilt of our sins. It frees us to live as Christians and rejoice in the gospel day after day.
When looking back on his career as a reformer, Luther said “I simply taught, preached, and wrote God’s Word; otherwise I did nothing… the Word did everything.” God’s Word is powerful and effective. It’s like a hammer that breaks rock. It is sharper than any two-edged sword. It is the mighty rock upon which we build, and the sword that breaks our chains and frees us to go and lead lives of faith. That is what we celebrate on the Reformation, and every day when we live our lives as Christians liberated by the Word. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone taught in scripture alone on account of Christ alone. It is Christ alone who frees us. He is on our side, still fighting for us and forgiving us day after day. It is Christ alone who promises to bring us at last to the joys of heaven. It is Christ alone we celebrate on Reformation, and no one else. Glory to God alone for his forgiveness found in Christ alone! Amen.