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Martin Luther’s Seal
Romans 3:22-25

 

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Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas

Reformation Sunday—October 26, 2014

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians, “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!”  But in the era before the Reformation, that was the sad state of the Christian Church.  The preaching of the Gospel, the central message of the Christian faith, had largely been forgotten.  Today is Reformation Sunday, when we remember and give thanks for that era in church history when the Gospel was again made known, beginning with Martin Luther posting his 95 Thesis on October 31, 1517.

On the front of your bulletin today is a symbol which you may have seen used in the Lutheran Church.  This is Martin Luther’s seal or coat-of-arms, which he designed for himself to be “expressive of my theology” as described in a letter to a friend in 1530.  This morning we are going to look at the meaning of “Martin Luther’s Seal.”

“The first thing expressed in my seal,” Luther says, “is a cross.”  Luther brought back again the meaning of the cross.  Christianity had degenerated into a religion of salvation through works, the worst example of which were so-called indulgences, which Luther’s 95 Thesis were a protest against.  With an indulgence you could supposedly buy your way into heaven, for you and your loved ones.  The indulgence advertising jingle was, “As soon as a coin in the box rings, another soul into heaven springs.”

But Scripture says, “The wages of sin is death.”  The only thing we’ve bought for ourselves, with our sinful lives, is death and damnation in hell.  And no amount of good works, or money, or anything else could ever buy our way out of hell and into heaven—except the cross of Christ.  Jesus said, “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”  St. Paul says in Galatians, “the Lord Jesus Christ gave himself for our sins to rescue us.”  Jesus Christ gave himself as a ransom for you, to rescue you from hell.  His blood shed on the cross is the true indulgence, which has bought your way into heaven for you.

St. Paul explains this meaning of the cross of Christ in Colossians: “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.  Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.  But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.”  Because of Christ’s sacrifice for you, you are at peace with God, for you are “without blemish and free from accusation” in his sight.

“The first thing expressed in my seal,” Luther says, “is a cross,” which is very appropriate, because through the preaching of the Gospel, the Good News of salvation in Christ, Luther restored to the Church the meaning of the cross.

Luther says next that the cross should be “in a heart, to remind me that faith in Christ crucified saves us.  [As St. Paul says,] ‘For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified.’” 

The great rallying cry of the Reformation was, in Latin, Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Sola Scriptura: Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Scripture Alone.  Scripture teaches that we are saved not by our works but by grace alone, through faith alone.  As St. Paul says in Ephesians, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”  Notice how St. Paul stresses that even faith itself is not a good work we do but the gift of God: “and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” 

Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Scripture Alone.  The Reformation brought to light again the Biblical teaching that faith in Christ is not a good work which we do to earn salvation, but rather faith in Christ is like a pipeline which God himself lays down in your heart, a pipeline through which God gives you—as a gift—the salvation Christ earned for you.

Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”  And so Luther says next that the cross in his seal should be black, to symbolize taking up “cross,” suffering for Christ.

Many people have the mistaken notion that coming to faith in Christ means the end of troubles and struggles in this world.  Many false preachers, especially on television, promote what is actually called a “health and wealth” Gospel.  They say that if you are a true Christian God absolutely must bless you in this life with health and wealth, and freedom from all troubles.

But St. Paul says in Acts, “We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”  Our Christian faith is not a magic end to earthly troubles.  In some cases being faithful to your Lord may actually cause persecution and hardship.  That was certainly the case with Martin Luther.  When it was demanded that he recant the teaching of salvation by grace through faith alone, he boldly stood before the Emperor and said, “I cannot, I shall not, I will not recant.”  And because of his faithfulness, for the rest of his life he was a wanted man with a price on his head, always facing the possibility of being burned at the stake as a supposed heretic.

That is why the cross is black in Luther’s seal, to symbolize taking up the cross of suffering and following Christ.  As St. Peter says, “If you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.  To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.”

Luther then goes on to say that the heart in his seal should be red, to symbolize that as long as we remain in this world, we are still human, flesh and blood, and we still are burdened with the old sinful nature, we struggle everyday against temptations of the flesh.  St. Paul puts it this way in Galatians, “For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.”  And St. Paul confesses in Romans that even he had this struggle in his own life: “I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. . .  So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.”

Being a Christian does not mean that temptation just goes away.  In fact, if you were the Devil, who is it you would go after the most, who is it you would hit with your best satanic shots: Unbelievers, who are already in your kingdom of darkness, or believers, who are in Christ’s kingdom of light?  There’s an old saying that when the Devil comes into a town he goes around and peeks in all the windows until he finds a Christian home, and THAT is where he tries to sneak in.  St. Peter puts it this way: “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.  Resist him, standing firm in the faith.”

When you fall, turn back to the Lord.  He always says, “I forgive.”  Like the father in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, your heavenly Father always welcomes you back with open, loving arms when you have strayed.

Luther then says that the black cross, symbolizing suffering, and the red heart, symbolizing struggles against the flesh, are “to be in the midst of a white rose, to symbolize that nevertheless faith gives us joy, comfort and peace.”

Jesus put it this way at the Last Supper: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”  In Philippians, St. Paul calls this Christian peace we have even in the midst of troubles and struggles, “The peace which surpasses all understanding.”  In Romans he explains the source of our inner peace: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. . .  If God is for us, who can be against us?”  We have inner peace and joy even in the midst of troubles and struggles because we know that it is not a punishment from God, God is not angry with us.  God is for us, God is on your side, and is somehow working all things together for your good.

Finally, Luther says that the white rose in his seal symbolizing the joy, comfort and peace we have in this life by faith, “is to be in a sky-blue field, symbolizing that such joy in the Spirit and faith is a beginning of the future joy of heaven.  And around this field is a golden ring, symbolizing that in heaven such blessedness lasts forever and has no end, and in addition is precious beyond all joy and good, just as gold is the most valuable and precious metal.”

St. Paul puts it this way in 2 Corinthians, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles will result in an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.  Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.  Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling. . .  Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.  We live by faith, not by sight.  We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”

In “Martin Luther’s Seal” the cross at the center symbolizes that the cross of Christ is at the center of our faith; the cross is on a heart to affirm that we are saved through faith alone in Christ crucified; the cross is BLACK to symbolize taking up our cross of suffering and following Christ; the heart is RED to symbolize that we still struggle against the sinful nature in this world; the WHITE rose symbolizes that despite our suffering and struggles in this life, faith gives us joy, comfort and peace; the BLUE field behind the rose symbolizes heaven, where our joy will be complete with no more suffering or struggles; and the GOLDEN ring surrounding it all symbolizes that in heaven such blessedness lasts forever, and like the precious metal gold the joy of heaven is more precious than anything on earth.

Amen.

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