Reformation Sermon 2010: Psalm 46

Sermon Reformation Sunday 2010

Text: Psalm 46

Reformation Day! A day often filled with celebration and amusement. We have many ways of remembering the day, often it is confirmation day, or there are celebrations of Martin Luther and his 95 thesis. Countless good memories result from this day. On my internship the tradition was to order reformation day T-shirts and to wear them during service. I must say leading a service and preaching while wearing a T-shirt is a rather odd feeling. When I was in college one year my Campus Pastor took 95 post-it notes and posted them on the front door of the Catholic Campus Ministry building. And every time I think of reformation day it is not complete without a great huge celebratory singing of the hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is our God.”

Reformation Day has become a celebration for us, and I think it should be, but the reason for why we celebrate is often obscured.

Luther, by 1517 when he wrote the 95 theses, was teaching at the University of Wittenberg. While there he began to be upset at some of the methods of the Catholic Church at the time, especially Indulgences. The thought at that time was that it was through good works that one was justified and if you bought these indulgences it was the equivalent to good works.

Luther became upset about this, as he had begun to discover that it was because of faith alone that we are justified, and that good works follow. We are justified not through our work, but through God’s grace. And so he wrote a letter to the archbishop of his area not with the thought to break off from the church but to simply protest these sales. His ideas caught peoples attention, and through the printing press recently invented the 95 thesis’s became widely spread. This eventually started what we now call the reformation.

But throughout Luther’s life, before and during the reformation, he found himself full of doubt. His doubts over his ability to do the good works he first thought were needed led to him pouring over scripture and being opened to the idea of God’s grace. His doubts over whether reformation was the correct path, and his fear over the chaos that resulted throughout Europe caused him to be racked by depression.

The writing of “A Mighty Fortress in our God” was not in the midst of celebration, but in the midst of that doubt, fear, and uncertainty. It is because of what Luther found in this hymn that we celebrate. “A Mighty Fortress” is based primarily on psalm 46, which we read today.

Psalm 46 is powerful to me. It conveys pain, separation, and grief, but also comfort, grace, and strength. This last January a mighty earthquake hit the country of Haiti. At that time three of my best friends, Jon Larson, my roommate this last year, and Ben and Renee Splichal Larson, were there working with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Haiti, which receives funding through the ELCA. They were teaching theology classes and helping at some local health clinics. When the earthquake occurred they were resting on the 2nd floor of the St. Joseph’s Home for Boys, as they tried to run the roof collapsed upon them, Jon and Renee were able to find themselves to a doorway, but Ben was crushed and killed. Jon and Renee eventually found themselves on the roof of the building and finally after seeing they could not reach Ben, climbed down from the roof and reached a field filled with other Haitians, all mourning and fearful, the ground still shaking from aftershocks. It was here, in this field, surrounded by others, that someone began to read psalm 46.

1God is our ref- | uge and strength,

a very present | help in trouble.

2Therefore we will not fear, though the | earth be moved,

and though the mountains shake in the depths | of the sea;

3though its waters | rage and foam,

and though the mountains tremble | with its tumult.

4There is a river whose streams make glad the cit- | y of God,

the holy habitation of | the Most High.

5God is in the midst of the city; it shall | not be shaken;

God shall help it at the | break of day.

6The nations rage, and the | kingdoms shake;

God speaks, and the earth | melts away. R

7The LORD of | hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob | is our stronghold.

8Come now, regard the works | of the LORD,

what desolations God has brought up- | on the earth;

9behold the one who makes war to cease in | all the world;

who breaks the bow, and shatters the spear,

and burns the | shields with fire.

10"Be still, then, and know that | I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations;

I will be exalted | in the earth."

11The LORD of | hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob | is our stronghold.

That is the context needed to truly understand this psalm and this day. The doubt of Martin Luther, the grief of the all who go through death and separation and the fear of all those who are scared by disasters whether natural or human made. This psalm, written by King David, speaks of the fears that go through all people, grief, fear, loss and separation. The loss of a friend, of a family member, the separation from divorce, loss of job, fear of hunger and thirst, concern from loss of housing, and doubt of God’s concern. It is a text that speaks to each and everyone of us.

It speaks of the primal forces of this world. Order and Chaos. This world is full of chaos, it is something that we do not consider enough. The sheer chaotic nature of our world. Whether this is natural chaos in the form of earthquakes, floods, hurricanes or tornadoes. Or whether it is sinful chaos. The chaos that results from the unavoidable power of sin in our lives, all which turns us from God to destructive forces, physical, spiritual, or emotional.

In this psalm we hear God’s complete promises. We hear of how God is more, greater, than everything. But, there is still Chaos in this world. Pastor Paul Bellen-Boyer says in an article.

God is more than we dare suspect. More than creation: “God speaks, and the earth | melts away.” (Psalm 46:6). More than empires: God “breaks the bow, and shatters the spear,” (Psalm 46:9). And even when we dare to cling to God’s might, “The LORD of | hosts is with us” (Psalm 46:11), we might ponder the nature of God’s power.

For we know that, much as we might wish it, the fortress God does not make us invulnerable. That is the desire of those who build castles and fortifications, which stand only for a moment. “A might fortress is our God,” sing the Psalmist and Brother Martin and all the faithful. If we wish to find refuge in God, let us cling not to that which is fleeting – but to God’s righteousness, God’s justice, God’s saving power, God’s loving faithfulness, and yes – though it may be unjustified and totally unexpected – to God’s mercy.

We hear God’s promises in our first 9 verses. We hear God’s promise that in the City of God, the place of comfort in the psalms, the waters of Chaos are ordered by God, the earth will not shake, the nations will rage, but war will cease. God is indeed with us. God is our stronghold. But, we need to be told this time and time again, because we constantly doubt. And the psalmist knows this. God knows this.

And so we find the ending of this psalm. Words that are known everywhere. Are seen everywhere. “Be still and know that I am God.” Words of comfort in ordinary times, but in this psalm, in this moment, words of ultimate grace.

Up to here we hear of God promising to stop natural disasters, to stop war, to end destruction, to control chaos. But this can lead us to doubt even more. We cry and scream at God, why?! WHY? Why are you not stopping it now?

And to that, God again speaks to us, God does not abandon us from our continued doubt even as words of comfort are spoken to us. God tells us, “Be still, then and know that I am God.”

I don’t know why death happens, I don’t know why earthquakes occur, but I know that God calls to us, I know that the Lord of Hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our stronghold. I know that nothing in this world can remove that. I know that our God is a Mighty Fortress, a place of refuge from the chaos of this world.

And in the midst of chaos, in the midst of pain, maybe that is all we can hear. Maybe in the midst of countless voices telling us that all will be fine, it’s ok, you’ll get better, the voice that stands out strongest is that still, small voice calling to us, Be still, and know I am God. Sometimes that is all we have left to lean on. Sometimes that is all we can celebrate.

Amen.

Hymn of the Day: A Mighty Fortress is our God.