VDMA and You
It is again the time of year when the weather starts cooling down, pumpkins start appearing in the
supermarkets and on the doorsteps of homes, and Halloween decorations are popping up in our
neighborhoods. We are in full Fall season.
This time of year is also a time of celebrating and remembering the past. Reformation Sunday is coming up this Sunday and All Saint’s Day is the following Sunday. These two festival Sundays call to our remembrance what the Christian faith is built upon, and we give thanks to those who have lived and died in that faith.
Seasons come and go reminding us that we live in a world that is ever-changing, nothing is permanent. Summer is not endless and winters don’t last forever. There is only one thing that does last forever, one thing
that time cannot affect, one thing that has the power over the forces of change; it is the Word of God. Peter quotes Isaiah in his first letter writing:
“for All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever. And this word is the good news that was preached to you.”(1 Peter 1:24-25)
“The Word of the Lord remains forever,” in other words, God’s word does not change, and when God makes a promise, it stands! Peter reminds us that this “word” is a specific word from God, it “is the good news that was preached to you.” The power of God’s word to endure and deliver what God promises through it was the hallmark of the Reformation and is the heart of biblical Christianity. What is a Lutheran? Simple, a Lutheran is a Christian who takes God at His word. We simply believe what God promises us in his unchanging and faithful word.
That word is good news; it is the best news, because it is news for you. Seasons come and go, life comes and goes; yet, God broke into space and time to deliver us from death that we might have life forever with Him.
VDMA – was the slogan of the Reformation: Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum, the word of the Lord remains forever.
My friends, this world around us is always changing and our lives along with it. There is only one thing we can count on that will never fail us, never change, never peter out…the good news of God’s Word. That word
became flesh to dwell among us (John 1:14), so that through that living word, we have eternal life.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not
come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24). When Jesus says “truly, truly” whatever follows you can be sure it is true. He gives you forgiveness not judgment; he gives you life even in the face of
death.
We give thanks this Reformation season for those men and women who have fought to keep God’s unchanging word the driving force behind the Christian faith and to keep Jesus Christ at the center of our faith. We also give thanks for those loved ones who have lived and died in that faith. It’s is not a permanent
good-bye but a “we’ll see you again soon.” God has kept His promises to them, so too, he keeps them for us. God’s Word of life and promise remains forever, for you.
-Pastor Darrin Sheek
