October 27 — Reformation Sunday

Listen to this sermon HERE.

Freedom in Christ is yours this day, sisters and brothers.  AMEN.

Today is Reformation Sunday, the day the Lutheran church remembers and commemorates Martin Luther nailing the 95 theses to the church door, the spark that ignited Europe and set the church on multiple courses, challenging the assumptions of the Roman Catholic church of Luther’s day:  Salvation was not in the hands of the church, and certainly not the pope, rather Martin Luther and the reformers lifted up this powerful passage from Romans, that we are justified by our faith, a gift given to us in baptism, apart from our good and rightful works.  And all this is on account of Jesus Christ.

But let’s be careful today not only to look backwards into the past just to applaud and admire Martin and Katie Luther and their contemporaries.  One of the pillars of our church is that we are semper reformanda — always reforming.  It didn’t just happen in 1517.  It’s happened again and again, all the way up to today.  We are always reforming, but we are reforming with direction.  We’re not just changing for the sake of change, just blindly following the trends of our culture, trying desperately to stay relevant.  Rather we watch and observe and critique and participate with the culture, but the church is always reforming toward the center: the Word of God, the Word which becomes flesh and dwells among us, the truth which sets us free.  And so the church has kept reforming over and and over toward that Gospel center.  And you can see on the cover of this month’s Lutheran Magazine (in narthex) a great picture of our newly elected, newly installed FIRST female Presiding Bishop of the entire ELCA, Elizabeth Eaton.  In fact, 2013 has been a big year in terms of changes in leadership — Elizabeth Eaton, Guy Erwin, and let’s not forget Pope Francis.  Semper reformanda.  Always reforming.

So those are some noteworthy changes in institutional leadership.  But I want to tell you about another place where we can witness leadership and reformation.

A couple weeks ago, I was in Chicago for a brief 2-day conference on stewardship.  While I was there I met another pastor from outside Kansas City.  Her name is Janice and she’s starting a mission congregation on the edge of town.  At some point she shared a story with our group that just struck me so much to the core, and I’ve saved it to share with you on the day we celebrate the Reformation.  There’s a little girl in that small congregation named Emma.  And Emma is larger than life, about 4 years old.  They only have a small handful of people worshiping and so people can affect and distract one another much more easily.  They were worshiping in a sort of Community Center, kind of a fellowship hall.  Worship was beginning but Emma, stopped it all when she saw someone newer, about her age coming in from the parking lot.  They were a family that was kind of on the fence about whether or not to come, thought they might be too different.  But Emma knew the little boy already, and she, cried out in the assembly, “Wait!” and went running outside, shouting, “Michael, I’m so glad that you’re here!” And she threw her arms around little Michael.  Then she ushered the family in — mom and dad a little embarrassed — but her arm still around Michael.  Then she announces: “Michael’s here, we can start worship now!” (which, we realized, already had started, right?).  little Emma had just led the invocation (the calling in), as she ran out to throw her arms around the straggler, the wayward, the late-comer.  Pastor Janice and I now refer to this little girl as St. Emma. (pic on cover)

How does this tie into Reformation Sunday?  

The church has for most of my life claimed to be a welcoming place.  And I thank God for that.  I’ve been receive into that with my own doubts and questions about religion.  (I’ve shared this story more than once this week: How I approached my campus pastor during a semester that I was taking a challenging philosophy class, and told him that I didn’t think I believed in God anymore.  “OK.  But I still need a lector on Sunday.  Can you still read?”)  I’ve been fortunate enough to have experienced the church as as welcoming place; others just hear or read about the church’s claim as a welcoming place.  But the welcome gets even bolder, even more tangible, even more centered on the Gospel, under the reformation leadership of St. Emma, and so many others like her (some in this congregation too).  

It is a tangible grace, running-out-to-meet-you grace, wrapping-arms-around-you grace, calling-you-by-name grace, shouting, “I’m so glad that you’re here!”  That’s a Re-formation!  That’s nailing 95 theses to a church door and announcing to all the world, “This is what we’re about!”  

(It’s not a demolition and a complete rebuild. There’s good stuff here in this ancient tradition, but like an eroded sculture, the edges need some sharpening, the facial expression need some clarifying and redefining.)  

This gift of grace that’s given freely to each one of us is so good we have to share it.  We have to interrupt worship with worship and go running out of the church doors to invite others into this life of faith, this life of grace, this life in the Spirit, in the Beloved Community of Christ, which is much larger than this wonderful congregation — it stretches out like a blanket across our lands!  The church of Jesus Christ goes on, reforms on, nearly 500 years after the reformation!

This is the truth that sets us free: that God is LOVE in spite of our selves.  It’s not a truth to be waved over our opponents head.  “I know the truth and you don’t!”  The truth is a humble truth that we are broken and sinful.  But because of God, we are made “whole” (the meanEmma).

This love of God is so good, this forgiveness is such an ever-flowing stream, this grace is so real and so powerful, that this truth — not just invites us but — compels us even to start loving our opponents, to love our enemies, as Jesus commanded us.  We can’t help but worship all week long as we work and play, to throw our arms around those who are on the edge, and assure them that they have a place.  “I’m so glad that you’re here!”

Thanks be to God for the reformers, for St. Martin and for St. Emma, and for each of you, who God also calls saints!

We go forth now to share God’s unbounded love, to put on Christ and follow him, bearing the fruits of the Holy Spirit...this day and every day.  AMEN.