EDITOR'S NOTE: In October 2017 I began a new venture as a synodically authorized minister at Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. The ride over the past 3 years has been an amazing journey of learning, growing and a deepening of my theological mind. This sermon took place on Oct. 20, 2020. This was the 27th digital service we performed after our church was shuttered because of the COVID pandemic.
So, as we were talking about at the beginning of service, 503 years ago this year on Oct. 31, as legend tells us, a German monk named Martin Luther tacked his "95 Theses" to the wooden door of All Saints Church in Rittenberg, Saxony, as it was known at that time. Of course, later on we would know it as Germany
And with that act, he set a collision course for himself and his fellow reformers within the
church for the next five centuries, and thus he launched a 500-year lineage of reform right up until this very day here in our church. And so, on Reformation Sunday, we celebrate it every October, and it's become a cherished tradition of ours, indeed.
But it is a different tradition this year, isn't it? .... Much like so many other of the traditions that we are yearning for right now, traditions such as worshiping together and singing out loud in our sanctuary, taking communion around our beautiful altar, and so many more of our traditions. But it seems the more that we miss right now, the more it becomes apparent to me that we continue to be a reforming church.
church and a people. We've reformed throughout these past seven months; as has
our Sunday school and our Vacation Bible School and our confirmation classes; and our outreach to others in the community; and even in our ministry. And, of course, we're not alone. There's many millions of other fellow believers in this great greater wider church who have seen their church continue to reform as well.
So it's at this point that I'd like to draw your attention back to the very front of your bulletin. If you look at the top of the introduction -- I don't know how often you read these, but
I am often struck by how well they just break down all of the scriptures in the week -- and so right up there above the stained glass window it reads: "Rooted in the past and growing into the future the church must always be reformed in order to live out the love of Christ in an ever-changing world. We celebrate the good news of God's grace that Jesus Christ sets
us free every day to do this life transforming work. Trusting in the freedom given to us in
baptism, we pray for the church that Christians will unite more fully in worship and in
mission."
So as I studied that this week, and I pondered that bulletin, it made me realize that it raises a really important question in our lives right now. So how is it that we continue to live into our reformation and continue to be a church when so many of our cherished traditions seem to have been taken away from us? ... You know, there's it seems to be a kind of white elephant in the room each week as we gather to perform this digital service. We're happy to see you, and we hope that you are as happy to welcome us into your homes. But we all gather together knowing that it's not exactly what lies in our hearts, is it?
So how do we answer that question: How do we continue to be a reforming active church
in this very strange time?
Well, I think the answer is laid out for us tonight in tonight's gospel. In that gospel, which compared to the last three or four weeks is a very short one, we learn a very important lesson about "truth." ... And he's not using the term "truth" lightly as we so often hear in the political or social battles of our day. ... No, not in this gospel, Jesus is talking about "Truth" with a capital "T." ... The Truth! ... His Truth! ... God's truth! ... And so his answer to that question about how do we continue to be a reforming church in such a strange time, as the front of our bulletin asks -- Jesus tells us it's in the Word, with a capital "W" on the "Word."
Go back to your gospel and read that very first line again: "Jesus said to the Jews who have believed in him if you continue in my word you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free." ... In other words, Faith Family, we continue to find the "Truth" in the "Word" which is Jesus Christ. And if we continue to live in his "Word,"
or stated another way, continue to live in relationship with him, we are his disciples. ... Jesus tells us that.
Now, I know some of you might be thinking to yourselves right now, "Well, that's great. You just used a circular logic to tell me that the 'Truth' is in Jesus and to live in him is to live in the
truth." ... And as such, I did tell you that, but more importantly you might ask so, "How do we do that? How do we do that when we're not in church and we can't look across that
aisle to see familiar friends and neighbors? How do we do that when we're not singing
hymns together out loud in praise? ... On Reformation Sunday, how do we do that when we're not here communing together around an altar? ... So how do we do that?
I think the answer that comes in the gospel tonight from Jesus is the same answer that we've heard since Sunday school: We live in him, in how we live in others. It's all relational, Faith Family.
We've gone through some tough weeks, and I know that many of us are feeling
weary. I talked about it yesterday in an update on our Facebook page, and you know this pandemic weariness is not a phase. It is absolutely real, and we all feel it in our own ways. And maybe most importantly right now for us as a faith family we feel it in ways that we yearn to be together here. And I know that our services on Tuesday nights fill a very small hole in your heart, but hopefully it fills a piece of that hole.
I know it's not hard to be here together on Reformation Sunday, or any other Sunday now for that matter, but we still don't get a pass from living out the love of Christ in an ever-changing world. As our bulletin tells us right at the very beginning of our service.
Are we missing church right now, Faith Family? ... You bet we are each, and every one of us is missing it for very particular reasons. We all have our special moments here in the sanctuary on Sundays, and we could all share those stories with each other. But yet, meanwhile, I know that we are still called to live out our faith in love, to live out our lives in Christ, and maybe just as much now if not more than we ever have been called to do so.
And we do that by living in others, by living in the "Word," by living in that "Truth" that Christ reminds us of in the gospel tonight, by living in Christ through others. And, Faith Family going back to that original question, as we celebrate celebrate Reformation Sunday, I think that is how Jesus is telling us tonight that we continue to be a reforming church in these strange times.
Even some 503 years later ... and that is the Good News for this Reformation Sunday ... Amen
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