No More Barriers
This is the sermon I preached on Reformation Sunday, 11/30 at St. Timothy and St. Mark Lutheran Churches. The scripture text is Romans 3:19-28. Doing seems to be an intrinsic part of who we are, especially as Americans. We are a nation of doers. In the church, we are a community of doers--it's part of our DNA. This sometimes carries over into to our faith life as well. There are even pious cliches that may sound good, but are dead wrong; such as "God helps those who help themselves." In faith, we are not to be passive. We are to participate in our relationship with God, just as we would any other relationship. However, we cannot on our own, make ourselves right with God. That's what today's second reading is all about. These verses lifted the burden from Martin Luther's life and opened his spiritual eyes. You see, at that time, Martin Luther was an Augustinian monk. He did everything he knew of to become a better...