Fall is in full swing and the leaves are changing from green to yellows, oranges, and reds. And these fiery colors will spread until all the trees are alight with color. The first time we visited Ashland last year, I remember my wife and I commenting on the beauty of these colors that blazed through the trees of Ashland, and I am delighted to see them again.
In October we also remember another fire. A brilliant light that burned throughout Christ’s whole Church: the flame of Reformation. When Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses upon the church door in Wittenberg, Germany, little did he know that a flame would be kindled. And in this refining fire, there would be a return; a refocusing upon the free gift of salvation found by grace through faith in Christ alone. And this gospel, this Jesus is the very light of the world.
And yet, today, we often become distracted. We often feel cold. We lose focus and some days it may seem as though the fire has gone out. But the Gospel doesn’t change. The flame of the Gospel burns even today. And it burns for your sake. That you might behold it and be warmed, filled, and assured.
Therefore, thank God for the Reformation. Praise God for opportunities to refocus. That we can recall the fire that was rekindled in the Reformation and was first set alight in and through Christ’s own giving of Himself to redeem sinners.
And as this flame of the Gospel burns in the hearts and minds of those who hear, may it burn within our hearts also. This year, as we reflect upon the Reformation, may our own hearts and minds be called back to this great light and may we behold the glorious Gospel, that is, the gift of Christ given for you.
In Christ,
