Lord, Keep Us Steadfast In Your Word

Reverend Philip Stringer

John 8:31-36

LET US PRAY: Lord of Life, Give us ears to hear and hearts willing to receive, that your word may be food for our lives and a blessing to the world. AMEN

In the early 16th century, much of Europe was under the power of the Holy Roman Empire. There were the princes and kings of the nations, who saw their divine right to rule as confirmed by the Holy Roman Emperor, who derived his power by the authority of the pope. While there was often in-fighting between nations, when it came to dangers from beyond the empire, the armies of Europe functioned in large part as a united force.

Much of Europe was under the power of the Holy Roman Empire, but not all of it. The Ottoman Empire held southeastern Europe — Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and the Balkans — and it threatened Europe from its positions in northern Africa and the holy land. Battles were fought in Austria and Hungary in the 1520’s. The threat of invasion by the Ottoman Empire was real and active.

From Martin Luther’s perspective, it seemed as if the forces of destruction were rising up from everywhere. Not only the Turks on Europe’s doorstep, but the very reformation that began with his posting of 95 theses in 1517, had opened the door for a host of consequential fractures:

-Henry VIII instituted the Church of England

-John Calvin’s writings brought about the birth of the Reformed and Presbyterian traditions.

-The anabaptists emerged in Switzerland.

The crackpots came out of the woodwork, too — rebellions that hitched mule-teams to yank the organs out of church balconies.

Factions that incited the peasantry to rise up and attack.

And then in 1541 there were two battles with the Turks that sent shockwaves through Europe. The army of the Holy Roman Empire was defeated at Budapest in August. Then the fleet of the empire suffered a crushing defeat off the coast of Algiers in the Mediterranean in October.

It was following these battles that Luther penned a hymn that he intended as a comfort for children — but as is often the case, I think it was an effort to comfort himself and other adults, too. It is one of his most famous hymns: Lord, Keep Us Steadfast In Your Word.

Today, as we celebrate the Reformation of the Church, this hymn by Luther is as relevant for us as it was for those of his day, and the message of the hymn expresses what was at the heart of the reformation movement then, and what must remain at the heart of our lives today. For the Spirit of God is continually at work to reshape the expression of our faith in a changing world.

In our gospel reading today, St. John recounts an exchange between Jesus and a crowd of his followers near Jerusalem. Jesus said to them, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”

So, in that light I would like to use Luther’s hymn as the focus for this sermon. I invite you to turn to it in your hymnals to follow along — it is hymn #517.

There are three stanzas to the hymn — and that is no mistake, because it is a Trinitarian hymn — each stanza addresses one of the three persons of the Trinity.

Here is verse #1:

Lord, keep us steadfast in your word; curb those who by deceit or sword would wrest the kingdom from your son and bring to naught all he has done.

The appeal in this verse is addressed to God, the Father — and it is an appeal for God to preserve us — not by the power of armies, but by the power of God’s word; the message of God’s sovereignty and authority, revealed to us in Scripture.

Luther’s world was experiencing misdirection of allegiance, much as we do today. In his case, he saw the threat against faith in God from two sources: The church and the Turks.

Over the course of roughly 1500 years, the church has evolved into an institutional power whose mission had eventually taken the goal of its own preservation. There was no proclaiming of the gospel — the good news that we are saved by God through Jesus because God loves us. What the church proclaimed in those days was that people had to place their faith in the church.

It was their allegiance to the church that brought about their salvation. The church alone could forgive their sins, and this was granted when people proved that they submitted to the authority of the church. This was a complete abandonment of the good news — and insofar as the church tried to crush a return to focusing on the gospel, Luther saw the church as the enemy of God.

You and I don’t have to look too hard to see that such forces are still at work in the church today.

The Roman Catholic Church is no longer the church it was in Luther’s day — in fact, nearly all of the changes that the reformers called for, the Roman Catholic Church has made on its own. But within every Christian tradition is the danger of setting aside the Word of God, for the word of people. We are forever trying to fashion God into our image.

And there are forces within the church and without that try to co-opt the authority of God for military conquest. It is good and right that we pray for the men and women in our military, but it is important to understand that God never promises us military conquest or victory. Our prayer is that God will watch over and protect our service members, and that the exercise of might will be for the preservation of what is good and right.

In this hymn, we pray that God the Father will preserve us through the power of God’s word, and not by the force of arms. It is a prayer that God will sustain us, whether armies are victorious or not.

The second stanza is directed toward God, the Son:

Lord Jesus Christ, your power make known, for you are Lord of Lords alone; defend your holy church, that we may sing your praise eternally.

Mayors, governors, representatives, senators, presidents, kings, emperors, sultans, chiefs, captains, masters, Khalifs, all of them are beneath and subject to the authority of Christ the King. Jesus’ authority surpasses them all. He is the one who steps in as our defender in all circumstances.

Jesus is the one who does what no other ruler can do — he restores and preserves us to accomplish our first and greatest purpose — to love God with all of our heart, mind and soul, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. All of creation glorifies God, and we, too, are called to glorify God through lives that are shaped by thanksgiving.

The third verse is addressed to God, the Holy Spirit:

O Comforter of priceless worth, send peace and unity on earth; support is in our final strife and lead us out of death to life.

This is a prayer for unity — not only within the church, but throughout the earth — all nations, all faiths. Whether named or not, it is a prayer that all hearts come to know the one true God, and that the will of God will be embraced by all.

This is a prayer that the people of the world will not be divided by forces that oppose what is good. And the greatest divider of all is death, itself.

In Isaiah we read that God will wipe away the tears from all faces.

In Revelation we read that death will be no more.

This verse is a prayer that — whatever may happen in this world — our ultimate encouragement and comfort be in God’s promise to raise us from death — to break the power of death — to swallow up death and carry us into eternal life.

It is Reformation Sunday today, in a world that still sees forces within and without threatening to lead us astray with false hope.

The threats come from false teachers and those who use religious language and masquerade as being faithful in order to sway people to their will.

The threats come from political forces that call people to set aside principles for political agendas.

But the threat also comes from within our own hearts as we chase after dreams and comforts that usurp our faith.

Luther’s message to us in this prayer is simply this:

Look to God as your protector. Stay focused on Jesus — Have faith in the Holy Spirit’s work to bring you to salvation.

Have faith in the power of God’s love for you, poured out for you in Jesus — and may the love of God — poured out for you in Jesus Christ — continue to spill from you into the lives of others.

AMEN