On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed a list of 95 statements to the Castle Church door in Wittenberg, Germany. They were “theses” for debate. It started a chain of events that resulted in what we call “the Reformation.”

We think of Martin Luther as bold and heroic. But he certainly experienced self-doubt. Just four years after posting the 95 Theses he looked back and said:

“How often my heart struggled, rebuked me, and threw up to me their one and strongest argument: Are you alone wise? Can it be that all the others are erring and have been erring for so long a time? What if you are erring and leading into error so many people? Such questions continued until Christ strengthened and settled me by His own certain Word so that my heart no longer struggles but confronts these arguments of the Papists as a rock-bound shore confronts the waves and laughs at their threatening and storming.”

Is it hard to believe that Luther, the same person who could be so brave, could also be filled with doubts? Why would he not hide this weaker picture of himself from the world? Because here he shows where you take your doubts, weak faith, fears and struggles. You take them to God in His Word.

For what did he say? – “… until Christ strengthened and settled me by His own certain Word.” Our prayers and struggles should lead us not to the God as we wish Him to be, but to the Lord as revealed to us in His certain Word. This is God’s Word that in life guides our way, in death is our stay. Let’s rise to sing:

Festival Hymn Verse: “God’s Word Is Our Great Heritage”

Sermon Text, St. Mark 11:12-14, 20-25 (ESV). On the following day, when they came from Bethany, He [Jesus] was hungry. And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if He could find anything on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And His disciples heard it. … As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. And Peter remembered and said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that You cursed has withered.” And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass,

it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

Lord, this is Your Word and these are Your words. Sanctify us by the truth. Your Word is truth. Amen.

SAVING FAITH IS A PRAYING FAITH, BUILT ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS

Dear fellow redeemed in Christ, for whose sake our faith saves us:

Jesus cursed a fig tree that was not producing fruit. This was right after He came into Jerusalem on a donkey. He cursed the fig tree to make a point about the people who were rejecting Him: Although they sang their Hosannas, they were not producing the fruit of repentance, would soon yell out “Crucify Him!”, and were like a bad tree that would be cut down and thrown in the fire.

But all the disciples notice – led by Peter – is: “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that You cursed has withered.” All they notice is the miracle. What Jesus said, though it seemed impossible, it actually happened. Imagine that! Jesus patiently engages what’s on their mind. He preaches this little sermon on faith.

Jesus’ words are puzzling: “Whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.” Does Jesus want us to go around changing nature’s landscape? What if everyone did that? What chaos it would be. Is He saying we get whatever we ask for, regardless? Is He promoting selfish prayers? What if someone wants a mountain moved into the ocean but someone else wants to put it back? How ridiculous!

Of course that isn’t what Jesus is saying. His point here isn’t to hope for a miracle more spectacular than the last one. His subject is faith.

Faith is one of the main subjects on Reformation Day: Faith alone! It was the special discovery by Martin Luther, when he discovered what the Gospel means: it is by faith alone that we are saved from our sins. When we talk about faith on Reformation Day, it’s faith in the Gospel, faith in Jesus as your Savior, faith in the forgiveness of sins, faith in the Bible’s promises.

This faith may not seem to have much to do with our daily concerns, the stability of the stock market, the price of gas or groceries, the election for crying out loud, how the kid at school is going to treat you, or why you’re sick again. Of course “faith alone” is specifically saving faith, faith in Jesus.

But it isn’t disconnected from the other things, and these verses tell us why. God expects this faith to be used. Faith doesn’t just sit in your back pocket. It isn’t something you store in your spiritual attic as a get-into-heaven-free card.

Saving faith is a praying faith. That’s what Jesus’ words here are about.

· Right before Jesus says “believe,” He says “whatever you ask in prayer.” Right before He speaks about a person “believing that what he says will come to pass,” He speaks of “not doubting in his heart” and then about an answer to prayer: “it will be done for him.”

· Jesus is connecting faith to prayer.

As Lutherans we know you don’t pray for your own conversion. The view that you have to pray Jesus into your heart is salvation by good works: that having faith depends on what you do. But we know faith is “a gift of God, not of works” – then comes prayer. What about if we say, “Lord, I believe! Help my unbelief?” Aren’t we praying for faith? Yes! – but when you pray for faith daily that way, you’re praying for stronger faith. If you pray, you already have faith.

Prayer is the first fruit of faith. But it’s specific faith. It’s faith in Jesus, that He is your Savior. That’s the basis for our prayer. We might not think that as we pray. When you pray for a sick child, for your car to not break down, for an answer to a problem, even for our church to grow or our church’s expenses to decrease, you don’t always think of Jesus. You just pray for help.

But why are you confident God will hear your prayer? Is it because you use all the best words? Or because you beg and beg? Or that you promised to do such-and-such if God answers you? That’s the heathen way: appeasing a god with sacrifices, having prayers answered if certain conditions are met.

There is no condition you have to meet for God to answer your prayer. Jesus met all the conditions, for you, in His perfect life, suffering, death, and resurrection. So Jesus says, “when you pray, say ‘Our Father.’ ”

You say, “Our Father,” because you’re His child – not because you obey well but for the sake of Jesus’ perfect obedience. “We aren’t worthy of anything we ask, nor have we deserved it, but we pray that He will give us everything by grace,” free grace as Luther wanted everyone to know, God’s undeserved love that is ours in Christ by faith alone. When we say “Amen,” we’re saying we are sure that everything we pray “is acceptable to God and has been heard by Him.” (Small Catechism, Lord’s Prayer, 5th Petition & Amen)

For that reason, Jesus says, every Christian can “believe that what he says will come to pass”and “not doubt in his heart.” See how this faith is a praying faith? It’s just as obvious that it is not selfish praying, either. It is a faith built on the forgiving of sins – God forgiving yours.

So Jesus brings the forgiving of others into the picture: “And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone.”

This might put a damper on what Jesus is saying for some, because we know we don’t do this well. You find it hard to forgive. Our faith, or our view of forgiveness, can be selfish: taking it in more freely than we give it out.

Because of our failures to forgive it troubles us to hear: “Forgive, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” But Jesus is not saying our faith or His forgiving us results from what we do in forgiving others. Jesus always forgives you before you forgive others.

Jesus is really saying we don’t put our faith in the Gospel into our back pocket when it comes to others, if there’s someone who needs our forgiveness. We use this faith! If the way you use this faith is lacking in some way – if it’s hard to forgive someone – then how will you use it right? Not by your strength but only by His. We learn to forgive others by learning His forgiveness better.

We learn this by spending time in His Word, coming to confess these sins and be forgiven. We learn it at His throne of grace. We learn it in prayer, so as you pray for God’s help to be able to forgive a brother or sister, in so doing you bring them with you – where? – into Jesus’ loving care and forgiving arms. We all “stand praying” – a beautiful picture of what His Church is like: truly believing! And truly loving! Connected to Him and each other by His grace and resting in His grace, in His forgiving arms. Amen!