Sunday Sermons

Sermon: 10-28-07, Reformation Sunday
Pastor Phil Lee

Title: "Wrapped in a Robe"
Text: Isaiah 61:10; (Rom.3:19-26)
Theme: Wrapped in a robe – surrounded by God’s grace, protection, and blessing.

Introduction

• Thirty-eight years ago, in late November of 1969, seventeen of us stood before the congregation of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Tacoma, Washington, to affirm our Baptismal covenant. It was my Confirmation day. My friend, Mike DiBonaventura, was one of the Confirmands. I remember Mike every year at about this time. Mike had an inherited disease caused by a defective gene, and he died the next year, in 1970. I will always remember Mike, standing in front of the altar on our Confirmation Sunday, skinny, weak, and pale, wrapped in a white robe, and affirming his faith in Jesus Christ right along with the rest of us. It is an enduring image for me.
• And as I remember that scene from my day of Confirmation, I believe the image of being wrapped in a robe is a significant metaphor for us today, on this Reformation Sunday. A robe is symbolic of the covering and comfort of God’s grace, so evident in our lives and in our life together.

Point

• Long ago the prophet Isaiah said, “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness…” (Isaiah 61:10) We inheritors of that promise, and so, we are wrapped in a robe of righteousness – surrounded and blessed by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
• On this Reformation Sunday, we are reminded that this robe of righteousness is God’s gracious gift to each of us, established in a new covenant of forgiveness that God has made with His people through Jesus Christ. “Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” the apostle Paul wrote, “they are now justified by God’s grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (Rom.3:23-24) This free gift of grace is received by the open hands of our faith.

Problem

• But, there is an important saying that has been with us since the 16th century Reformation of the Church: “Ecclesia Reformata, Semper Reformanda Secundum Verbum Dei” (the church reformed, always being reformed according to the Word of God)
• The Church always needs to be reformed. This idea does not promote either conservation for conservation’s sake or change for change’s sake. It was neither a liberal nor a conservative notion, but radical one. The 16th century Reformers believed the Church had experienced corruption because it had departed from the gospel of God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone, so change was needed. But it was a change in the interest of restoration and preservation of a more authentic faith and life.
• The Church – yes, even you and me, for we are the Church! – always needs to be reformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the great truth of Reformation Sunday.

Power

• We recently began Confirmation classes here at Glendale, and there are six students attending every Wednesday. These students have been wrapped in a robe of God’s grace and faithfulness from the day of their birth and the establishment of their Baptismal covenant – God has been with them, and will be with them…forever. For God Himself has given His people this precious and dependable word: “I will never leave you or forsake you.” (Deut.31:6; Heb.13:5) And so we celebrate the fact that God is reforming the lives of these students, and the rest of us, as the Holy Spirit uses the good news of Jesus Christ (called the Gospel) to bring all of us into a deeper and more authentic faith and life.
• It was a year ago today that Carolyn and I and our family left Sacramento for good to come here to Seattle and GELC. Since that time, I have gained a greater awareness that I, too, have been wrapped in a robe – a robe of welcome, partnership, and blessing through this congregation. Carolyn and I and our family were met with a warm welcome when we came here, and we have joined together with you in a mission partnership to make Christ known in this community. We have already been richly blessed by God’s faithfulness in our life together.
• However, I am mindful that I still have some time to spend with you people, and we are still wrapped in a robe of grace and righteousness that is God’s enduring gift to His people. This congregation will continue to live and thrive in the lasting promises that have echoed down through the centuries to this very day. For the promise that God made through his prophet, Jeremiah, holds true for this congregation in the present and the future: “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” (Jer.29:11)

Conclusion

• I think about my friend Mike every year at about this time. We were teenagers when we met, almost by chance. We were very different people, but somehow a friendship developed. And through that friendship Mike began to come to church. And as Mike came to church he also came to faith in Jesus Christ.
• When I think back, I remember that Mike was aware that he probably didn’t have long to live, so he was asking deep questions about life and death and God. And when he came to understand that God was offering him a robe of righteousness, Mike accepted the gift. And there he was on Confirmation Sunday, all skinny and pale and wrapped in a robe.
• God is offering you this robe of righteousness, too. If you try it on it will fit you perfectly! Amen.

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