"Change" - a sermon for Reformation & Confirmation Sunday
Here is Pastor Madison's sermon preached in worship on October 29, 2023, to celebrate both Reformation Sunday and the confirmation of St. Olaf's five 9th grade students.
To read the preaching text, John 8:31-36, click HERE!
---
Today is Reformation Sunday, one of my favorite days of the church year, and a day in the life of the church that is a little bit strange. We are celebrating change, which is practically unheard of in the church.
Because over 500 years ago, Martin Luther saw these injustices happening. He saw the Catholic church, as it was in the 1500s, taking advantage of its people. He saw the church charging people money in order to guarantee their spot and their loved ones' spots in heaven. Money was the key to escaping eternal punishment. There was no grace about it. If you did something bad, the easiest way to make sure you still had your spot in heaven was by paying an indulgence.
Last week you heard me talking about how Jesus wants us to give our whole selves back to God, to use our time, our talents, our money to give back to God, so we can look outwards at our ministries and better be like Christ for the good of the world.
I think that’s some of what Luther wanted to do, too, to be more like Jesus and look outward. So, Luther decided to do something about it, about these injustices he saw. As an aspiring lawyer-turned-monk, he was good at studying and had a big desire to learn. He figured out for himself what the Bible actually said, since not many people during Luther's time could read the Bible for themselves. He studied, learned for himself, and chose to take these learnings and do something about these injustices he saw. Then, he wrote a dissertation, the 95 Theses, and with full German theatrics, on October 31, 1517, he nailed these 95 Theses to the doors of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany.
This was the start of the Protestant Reformation. With a protest. With an ordinary person doing something to try and make the church a better place. It wasn't easy...and Martin Luther wasn't always the best or most kind person. Even so, we can look back at Martin Luther as someone who was courageous, who loved the church and wanted it to change for the better.
Some of what influenced Martin Luther's theology was our reading today from John, where Jesus talks about what it means to be free in Christ. “If you follow my teachings,” Jesus says, “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Of course, the Jews who had believed in him, to whom he was speaking, were confused. “We’ve never been slaves to anyone! What do you mean by saying that we’ll be free?”
Through Jesus, we have the freedom to live with abundance, with freedom. It isn’t saying that we can and should do bad things, but it also isn’t just about our sinfulness or what we can do to earn our way back into the good graces of God. Through Jesus, we know the truth about God, that freedom doesn’t come from paying our way to heaven. Salvation has already been declared to and for us by God’s love for us, shown to us in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
And now that we have this freedom, we can ask another one of Luther’s favorite questions: what does this mean? What does freedom within a relationship with Christ look like?
It’s freedom to be yourself without fear of judgement.
It’s freedom to try new things and fail.
It’s freedom to love one another boldly, knowing that you are loved in return.
Jesus was reforming the world to better reflect what God wanted the world to be. He was casting down the mighty, uplifting the humble of heart. He recognized the humanity and belovedness of the marginalized, sick, and outcast. He didn’t sugarcoat his teachings to better suit the political correctness of the time, and he definitely called out the hypocrites when necessary, again, all for the betterment of the world that God desired.
My favorite example of Jesus reforming the church actually comes from the assigned lectionary text for today, from Matthew 22, and this is the text that would be the focus of this worship service had it not been for Reformation Sunday. When the religious authorities of Jesus’ time tried to test Jesus by asking which law of the land is the greatest, Jesus’ answer was simple. Love God, and love your neighbor like you love yourself. That’s it.
Jesus was saying that we don’t need to get into the specifics of HOW we love God, of HOW we love our neighbor. We just do it. We do the things that honor God, and we do the things that show love, honor, and respect to one another.
He loved God’s people, he loved everyone, without fear. That’s it. That’s what freedom in Christ looks like, and that’s how Jesus was reforming the church.
Now it’s our turn. It is our job to continue working together to continue reforming the church, to better live out God’s mission for the world.
Today/in just a little bit we get the privilege and honor of walking along our five 9th graders as they affirm the promises that were made for them when they were baptized. Some of these 9th graders have been members of the church for their whole lives. In fact, if you head out to the gathering area outside of the sanctuary and look at their pictures, pictures of the day they were baptized, you’ll recognize this space. This sanctuary. This community of faith.
It’s a church that has changed a lot since they were baptized, though. Mostly good and necessary change, change that would make the church more like God’s vision for the world, change that would make the church what it is today.
And, the church that Luther was working to reform was different than the church that Jesus was trying to reform. And, the church today, this community of faith, 500 years later, is different still than the church that Luther was working to reform.
God’s promises to them and to us stay the same: that we are free in Christ to live as God calls us, to live fully into the people that God has created us to be, knowing that God never leaves us alone, whether we like it or not.
A few weeks ago, these 9th graders shared with Pastor Mark and me their faith statements, which included what they believe about God and what they believe about the church. And one common theme through those five very unique faith statements was that God isn’t done with them yet. These five bright young people know for certain that God is still working in them, calling them into that freedom God promises, and that their gifts are needed in God’s mission for the world.
What I learned from them over the past few years, and what was solidified on that day a few weeks ago: if they are the future of the church, if they are the ones who are going to continue working for change, working to make the church a better place for all of God’s people, the church is in very good hands.
Dear friends in Christ, reformers of the church, students of faith, God needs you to keep working for the sake of the Gospel…not because we need to do it for our own salvation, but because God thought that the world was better with you in it. God made you in God’s own image. In you there is an expression of God that has never existed before, and in you, there is an expression of God that will never be again. God made you to help make the world better.
To some extent or another, you have a voice, every single day of your life in this world. When you can use it to further Grace and Love, do so boldly and loudly to the best of your ability. You never know who you may impact or the good change that you can create.
Thanks be to God! Amen.
Comments
Post a Comment