Journal: Global Journal of Classical Theology
Volume: GJCT 17:3 (Mar 2021)
Article: A Sermon From Psalm 46 For Reformation-Day Sunday, 2018
Author: Ronald K. Hodel

A Sermon From Psalm 46 For Reformation-Day Sunday, 2018

Ronald K. Hodel

Preached at Faith Lutheran Church of Capistrano Beach, California Sunday, 28 October 2018

Pastor Ron Hodel was born in Denver, Colorado “around the middle of the last century.” He is a graduate of Denver Lutheran High School, Valparaiso University (Indiana) and Concordia Theological Seminary (Fort Wayne, Indiana). He has served as Pastor in Richmond, California, and in Piedmont, California. For more than 25 years Pastor Ron has been at Faith Lutheran Church of Capistrano Beach, California.

He is married to Gail, a retired elementary school teacher. They have four children and four grandchildren. They make their home Dana Point, sometimes in a house, and sometimes on a boat.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

This Reformation-Day Sunday I’d like you to consider Psalm 46, which is also the basis for the hymn A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. Lutherans have always held in high regard both the singing of hymns and the proclamation of the Word in sermons. Whatever we do, we do it theologically. Our liturgy is packed full of theology and so are our hymns.

Take, for instance, the Paul Speratus hymn, written in 1523, Salvation Unto Us Has Come. If you were born on a deserted island and never saw a Bible, with this one hymn you would learn all you need for faith and trust in Christ. It would take ten stanzas to get you to that point, but it would get you there. Sure, some of our hymns might be hard to sing (no—some of our hymns are impossible to sing), but when you’ve sung them, you’ve really sung it all.

Our hymnal conveniently notes the Bible passages that moved the hymn writers to write their words. They teach us something about the faith of the person who took pen in hand and started writing the hymn. Martin Luther wrote A Mighty Fortress Is Our God in 1529 and based it upon Psalm 46. It was probably written to be sung during the Diet of Spires. The Diet of Spires wasn’t a city-wide weight reduction program. No, the Diet of Spires was a church convention which began on March 15, 1529 in the city of Spires (in the southwestern corner of present-day Germany). The Pope’s (and Emperor’s) representatives aimed to rein in and ultimately stop the Reformation. But the Lutheran reformers protested—formally—and it was at this Diet that they were first called “protestant.” They were recognized as protesters—protesting against all those measures of the Diet which they saw as contrary to the Word of God—protesting for the Gospel.

Listen now to Psalm 46 and...