Thoughts on Reformation Sunday

Portrait of Martin Luther by Cranach

“So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36)

“Ecclesia semper reformanda est.”

(Trans: “The church is always reforming.” Quote attributed to theologian Karl Barth, 1947)

This Sunday is that peculiarly Lutheran holiday we call Reformation Sunday. It’s the Sunday which falls either on or immediately before October 31^st—the day in 1517 when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, setting off the Protestant Reformation. For almost 500 years we Lutherans have made a big, hairy deal out of this anniversary. For me, as much as I love celebrating great events of the past, Reformation Sunday serves as a reminder that the reformation isn’t over. Rather, it’s an on-going event in which Christians can rejoice that we have the freedom in Christ to reinvent and recreate our witness and our spiritual practices and do whatever it takes to reach the world with the message of God’s love and grace.

  

For lots of Lutheran churches, this day will be celebrated with the re-telling of Luther’s story and the singing of a rousing chorus of Luther’s hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.” There will be red paraments and the feeling of smugness at not being a Roman Catholic. I’m not entirely sure Luther himself would approve of all of that, however. I sometimes think that if that great reformer were to drop in from heaven today he might well ask us what we are doing to advance the gospel in this needy secular age, and be less impressed with our mummified homages to the past.

So! In the spirit of Reformation, my parish has elected to celebrate this day with as short a worship service as possible, immediately followed by a day of service to our neighborhood. Some of us are going to visit nursing homes and shut-ins and bring the Eucharist, music, and prayer. Some will be standing on the sidewalk offering prayer to passers-by. Some will be making care packages for homeless Philadelphians. Some will take to the streets with garbage bags and clean up some of the ubiquitous Philadelphia garbage which perpetually blows through our part of town. All of us will be priests doing God’s work.

Of course the OLD religious guy in me still wants to honor the traditions, so next Saturday night we’ll do some old-fashioned Lutheran things—we’ll have a German-inspired pot-luck dinner, we’ll sing “A Mighty Fortress,” and we’ll screen the 2003 MGM bio pic, Luther. (We’ll stop short of nailing anything to the door of the near-by Catholic church. That might be overkill.) We’ll also take time to review a few things which, in spite of our changing world, will remain the same for us:

      We are put in a right relationship with God only through our faith in God’s loving grace.

      We are all priests: We can all do God’s work and are all called to be intercessors for one another.

      God has given us the sacraments of Baptism and Communion. We don’t do God any favors when we make use of them. They are instituted to help us.

      We are all 100% sinner and 100% redeemed by God’s love all the time.

      The Bible is God’s Word, but not a god itself. Not every word is literal, and some portions—those which lead us to a relationship with Christ—are more important than other parts.

      God’s law will always condemn us because no one is perfect, but God’s unconditional love will always forgive us.

      We meet God only through Christ on the cross, for on the cross Jesus entered into all of our suffering. When we feel lost and helpless, we are still close and dear to God’s heart

With this faith to guide us and this tradition to support us, we are free to go into the changing world and be a presence for Christ in new and exciting ways.

A blessed Reformation Day, to you, my friends. Go reform something!