Biblical Text: Romans 3: 19-28

I don’t often preach from the epistle texts. A part of that is that the Epistles typically lack a hard narrative. I think we as humans understand narrative – the story of a life. And we understand how God works in our lives through the narrative. The narratives that the apostles had were ancient Isreal’s, Jesus and their own. The Epistles end up being authoritative examples of how one does theology – how you proclaim doctrine from the narrative. In that way they are great at teaching, but at least to me less for preaching.

But today was Reformation Day (Observed). And there is a narrative – the story of Martin Luther and the Reformation – that ties directly into the doctrinal teachings of the Epistle lesson. This Romans passage on the Righteousness of God is what Luther was reading when he had his “tower experience.” That experience was when the gospel was cemented in his brain.

This sermon attempts to weave that narrative, and Paul’s doctrine together with how we might live our lives – how we might tell our own stories. How the righteousness of God comes to us. How it is the sure foundation. And How we might build on that.

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