Reformation Sunday C October 27, 2013
Luther Memorial Church Seattle, WA
The Rev. Julie Guengerich Hutson
Jeremiah 31: 31-34 + Psalm 46 + Romans 3; 19-28 + Luke 18: 9-14
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
Happy Reformation Day! This is that rare occasion when Lutherans actually become a bit boastful…woo hoo! We cheer for ourselves! (Look I even have a spare shaker for this….) We are the reformers! The Protestant church came to be because of the boldness of Martin Luther! Alright! Go Team! We sing the Lutheran Fight Song: A Mighty Fortress is our God!
Or, perhaps to paraphrase the Pharisee in Jesus’ parable from this morning’s Gospel reading: “God, we thank you that we are not like THAT church….or THAT church. We are the reformers….away with indulgences! Away with purgatory! Hooray for grace!”
I don’t want to diminish the work of the Reformation; far from it. It is considered to be one of the most pivotal times in history. And it reminds us that we are part of a church that is always re-forming. No matter how difficult that might be for us. We understand Scripture to be a Living Word, inspired by God, yes, AND….always living and breathing in this world.
In December I will have the chance to visit the castle church in Wittenburg, Germany where Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses….those 95 things he hoped the church would gather and talk about. I must tell you that I am nerdily, geekily excited…..like a Lutheran pastor on Reformation Sunday, I am! I plan to stand at that door and have Bruce take my picture….I’ll probably even pose like Luther, maybe even with a hammer. Quite like the picture on the front of your bulletins today.
But whenever I think about Luther and about his life it’s important to recall his struggle with the church and with God. Because of those struggles, we have a much clearer understanding of what it means to differentiate between the Law and the Gospel.
And this was BIG for Luther and it’s BIG for us. And it’s BIG for the Protestant Church which is why today, Reformation Sunday, is such a BIG DEAL.
The law as we understand it in the Lutheran church, has two uses: to point out and condemn sin AND to propel the sinner toward the grace and mercy present in Jesus Christ. So, in church talk, the law isn’t the sheriff or the police, but rather whatever it is that tells us what we ought to do or not do, (so not actually that different from the sheriff). One sure way to know that what you are hearing is law is if it is leaning heavily on the “should”. You should do this or you should do that. You must do this, you have to do that. The law is also often filled with if/then’s….If you speed down Greenwood on school mornings and afternoons, the cameras will then take your picture and you will then get a ticket. If you eat more calories than you burn, then you will gain weight. If you don’t score more points than your opponent, then you will lose the game.
So, in Luther’s lifetime, and in some churches today, there’s a heavy emphasis on this if/then sort of talk. You might say the law has a long arm in those places. What Luther was resisting was the Roman Church saying “If you give us more money, then you will spend less time in purgatory”. Well, that and 94 other things.
You see, Luther had been reading Romans 3, just like we did this morning when Grace began to pour out from the pages of his Bible. This is what he read….”For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…” There is no distinction….all have sinned….all fall short of the glory of God. And this was the part that really “got” to Luther: “they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Wow. As a gift.
In this case, there is no “if/then” there is only For. For there is no distinction. The Gospel is For us….all of us. And there is nothing we can do to earn it and there is nothing we can do to lose it. And that is just so hard for us to wrap our heads around.
This summer I was doing some pre-baptismal counseling for the precious ten year old daughter of some friends. As I told her about how God comes to us in baptism and names us and claims us no matter what we have done or failed to do, her eyes widened and she looked at me and said “So, it’s like God loves me and there’s nothing I can do about it!”
Exactly! Exactly! It is gift and it is Gospel. And it is the turning point of Luther’s understanding of God. For there is no distinction. All have sinned. They are now justified by his grace as a gift.
Now, I could end the sermon here and we could all go home feeling pretty good about our Protestant, Lutheran selves. We could hum A Mighty Fortress all the live long day and pat ourselves on our Lutheran backs and say “Thank you God, that we are not like them.”
But here’s the deal. While we are justified by grace that is free gift – it is not cheap grace.
On one level, it was bought through the sacrifice of Jesus. The most costly gift of all.
But on another level, what it sets us free to do is to live and work as the freed people of God on behalf of a world still held in bondage to the Law. To a world still leaning heavily into the IF/Then’s. And this is bound to stir the pot.
After Luther nailed his theses to the door, he was chased around Germany; he had to hide in a castle. The Pope wanted him dead and so did a fair number of other folks. Grace might be free, but there was a price tag on his head.
This morning when we sang “A Mighty Fortress” we sang these words: “Were they to take our house, goods, honor, child, or spouse….should life be wrenched away, they cannot win the day, the Kingdom’s ours forever.”
And this is true. The kingdom is ours, according to Paul, the Kingdom is everyone’s since all have sinned and fallen short and Jesus died for all. But it is a hard thing to sing those words, and it is hard to live in the freedom of the gift of grace when you have lost your house, goods, honor, child, or spouse. It is hard not to believe in an If/Then God when life is being wrenched away.
If only I hadn’t done this, then God would not be punishing me this way.
I hear it almost every day.
Because that’s how the world works. We understand an If/Then world because it’s what we were brought up to know. But friends, we are if/then people who belong to a For You God. God is having no part of our If/then….God says I love you no matter what. I sent my only Son to die FOR YOU. God says Jesus came and walked on this earth FOR YOU. God says that this gift of grace is free FOR YOU. And there is nothing we can do about it. God loves us. We are justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.
Oh, the radical unfairness of it all. That’s what we celebrate this day. That despite the many ways we all fall short….we are justified by God’s grace as gift….freely given….FOR US.
If God were an IF/Then God, then who could stand?
This is the reason we celebrate the bold reformation on this day. And this is why we are a re-forming church. We re-form each time we gather. We re-form at the font, we re-form at the table. We re-form as we hear the words spoken to us, this is the Body of Christ, given… For You.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
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