The Good Confession
Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
1 Timothy 6:11-12
I have a friend who enjoys restoring old cars. Just about anything with a motor and wheels will do, but he especially values old FX Holdens. Some of the cars he has found have been beaten up, full of dents and rust. Unlike modern cars, you can’t just go to a repairer, replace a panel, get it sprayed, then drive off. The panels that are dented are no longer in the shape that was intended, so they need to be beaten back into the designed shape. They need to be reformed so they are once more like the designer intended.
The Christian Church is a little like an old car that every now and then gets out of shape. Sometimes it is due to wear and tear, other times it is the result of a bingle. Whatever the reason, the car needs to be repaired, restored, or reformed into its original shape.
Once it is as good as new, it continues to be driven down the roads the driver chooses. The roads in our communities today would be so different to the roads of the 1950’s when FX Holdens were new, yet the restored cars still transport people from point A to point B. They aren’t trying to be something they weren’t designed for. What’s more, they are more likely to turn heads today, simply because they don’t look like every other car out there.
This week we celebrate the 495th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession, which was presented by Philipp Melanchthon and others to Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Augsburg on the 25th June 1530. The Roman Catholic Church of the 15th and 16th centuries was moving further and further away from God’s Word and would have been unrecognisable to the first century Christian Church, which promoted the Gospel and served those in need.
Luther and the early reformers saw that the mediaeval church was in need of reforming. It needed to get back to the Word alone, Christ alone, Faith alone, Grace alone. The Augsburg Confession was the opportunity to put those corrections before Charles V. Rather than create a new church, the intention was to reform the existing church, returning it to the teaching of the Apostles and the Early Church.
The church needs to be constantly reformed. Some mistakenly believe the church needs to be reformed so it is always relevant to the time and culture it serves in. The Christian Church is truly the catholic (universal) church of all times and all places. It rises above the culture in time and place, serving God’s people by bringing them back to Himself through confession and absolution.
When we read the story of God’s people, especially in the Old Testament, we hear a constant story of people getting themselves into trouble, then calling on the Lord, who once more rescues them from the problems they have created. This same story continues into the New Testament, the early church, during the time of the Reformation, and to us today. God continues to raise up faithful people to do the work of reforming the church so that it serves God by bringing His means of grace to His people.
We rightly thank God for those who recorded God’s Word which we receive as Holy Scripture. We thank God for the apostles, the disciples, the martyrs, the reformers, and all those who have gone before us. Each generation is laid in a new course in God’s spiritual house of living stones (1 Peter 2:5). We are being built up into the Holy City of God, through his work and craftsmanship.
How do we make our good confession today? We go back to God’s Word, heeding St Paul’s advice to Timothy. Instead of trying to accumulate things for ourselves, things that will ultimately fail, wear out, or rust away, we look to enact the Christian qualities of righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness. None of these are things that we can hold in our hands. They aren’t specific instructions. They are attributes that faithful people put on like the finest clothes given to us. We cling to the eternal life that has already been given to us through baptism. As we do this, through all of the highs and lows of life, we are making our good confession before all the people God puts before us.
Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of your Word. Continue calling us back to you through the confession of our sins. Reform us through Your grace, so we once more are your saints, now serving with the Christian attributes your Holy Spirit stirs in us. Amen.
By Pastor Mathew Ker
Vice-President, LM-A