Reformation Thoughts.
Reformation Sunday this year is October 29, the Sunday preceding October 31. It marks the 506th year since Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of All Saints’ Church in Wittenburg, protesting beliefs and practices of the medieval Catholic church — sparking the Reformation. With no initial intent to split the church and make a new church, - but here we are 506 years later, and we know that the Reformation truly changed the church and history.
As A Lutheran Church and Denomination, we gather to celebrate the Reformation and to pray for continued Reformation in our church. One of the slogans closely associated with the Reformation is Semper Reformanda. Always reforming. That the church should always be reforming and reflecting on practices, theology, society and context.
Dressed in red today – I ask you to reflect on what Reformation was and what Reformation can be.
You have each received a small red card.
Please write ideas and dreams for the church of today… not just that we need younger and more new members, but how we get these younger and new members to attend and get involved, how we can be a Lutheran Church of Grace in our current time and age: how we can serve as a church. How we can be a church here Sunday Morning but also the rest of the week in different places and settings.
Always Reforming.
Today we honor the Reformation of the past and celebrate the Reformation of today.
This is reflected in the Hymn choices today.
We just sang the Reformation Hymn per excellence: A Mighty Fortress from 1528 by Martin Luther himself!
We began singing our beloved “Amazing Grace.” By Newton in late 1700.
WE will listen to a new Solo by Marja and Rush “Here is my Heart.” With reference to our hearts and the Lutheran Logo.
WE will sing a newer hymn by Susan Palo Cherwin from 1994 “God has called us.”
And then finally conclude the service with a call to us to GO to the world, Go into very place……
Let me know when you leave today – or make a comment on Facebook, which hymn spoke most to you today and why.
Always Reforming, always singing, always believing.
Gospel John 8.31-36
31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, ‘If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’
33 They answered him, ‘We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, “You will be made free”?’
34 Jesus answered them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. 36 So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you look for an opportunity to kill me, because there is no place in you for my word. 38 I declare what I have seen in the Father’s presence; as for you, you should do what you have heard from the Father.’
Sermon “To be Church in a time like this.”
When we listen to the Gospel of today of Jesus in conversation with the Jews, - we listen to poignant words like Freedom, Sin, and Truth. And it should spark our conversation with each other as a church and as a congregation.
As modern citizen living in a modern democracy, we would oppose, just like the Jews – but of very different reasons – that we are indeed free. We live in the land of the Free, with liberty and justice for all, we say. Just like the Jews said that they were indeed free as they were the proud descendants of Abraham and had never been slaves to anyone.
As modern citizens we are proud to be living in the land of the brave and free, and rightfully should be. But we must be honest about the extent of bravery and freedom. We must be honest of our history, - a history of slavery, segregation, civil war, constitution and civil rights, a history of change and needed continued change. And a history of sin: sins against the Indigenous people, the slaves, the marginalized, the poor, the undocumented.
Also, a history of bravery and freedom. But still as a country and a society we are also still reforming and learning on our way.
Freedom, Sin and Truth.
Jesus spoke into his time – and through time he continues to speak into our time.
Jesus spoke about grace, showed grace, embodied grace and lived with grace.
Sola Gratia – Grace Alone – is one of the 5 core Lutheran Teachings.
Sola Scriptura: God’s Word alone has authority.
Sola Fide: Faith alone can justify.
Sola Gratia: grace alone can save.
Sola Christ: through Christ alone
Sola Deo Gloria: To the Glory of God.
That amazing grace was at the center of the Reformation as it was at the center of Jesus’s ministry – and it should be the center of our faith and Christianity.
I was just recently in a Wonderful Oasis of shade and water. I attended the annual Theoasis, Days of Theological Reflections in the Desert with colleagues from Pacifica and Southwest Synod.
The theme this year was: “Bound by Grace. Bound by Race. What does it mean?”
We had wonderful meaningful speakers who talked about how we as Lutheran are bound by Grace to be in the world, how we are set free despite sin and frailty to be gracefully in the world as advocates, protectors, stewards and servants. And how we also honestly should acknowledge how we are bound by our race, our history, our privileges, - and how that calls us to commit to be Christ Disciples of Truth and Grace in this time and age.
Jesus never saw race. Jesus never saw gender. Jesus newer saw age, color, positions, privilege or power. Jesus saw people. And he looked with grace and lived with grace.
The legacy of the Reformation is bittersweet. Jesus wanted to his disciples to be one, just as he and the Father were one. But since the Reformation, Protestants and Catholics have been divided. Not only do we not worship together, but we have persecuted each other and fought wars over our divisions. Within the Protestants theological controversies have also divided into hundreds of denominations.
We as Lutherans have a distinct history, and we have some core commitments that it is wise to celebrate and confirm today:
· We proclaim and believe that the gospel/good news that God’s love makes us whole or saved. God does it all!
· We affirm the priesthood of all believers and boldly assert that everyone has a vocation and that all vocations are equal.
· We confess that each of us are simultaneously 100% saint and 100% sinner. We can grow spiritually but we can never escape this truth.
· We bear witness that the capital “W” Word is Jesus Christ, and that Word is found most clearly (but not exclusively) in the holy scriptures.
· We are called to live out our God given freedom by loving our neighbors and addressing systems of injustice in our world. Freedom is not license to exercise libertine individualism, but to see and serve our neighbor as another child of God.
So, we have so much to celebrate on Reformation Day – we have so much to reaffirm and reflect on too. Our context is different from the time of Jesus and the Disciples, from the time of Luther and the Reformation, from the time of Grundtvig and the Danish Lutheran Church and even from the time 50 years ago.
“The Trurth will make you free.” Jesus said.
Martin Luther repeated this and through our church history and Lutheran history, we know that we need to be honest about who we are, where we are and how we are.
Where are we going as congregations and as Lutherans? We are indeed in challenging times where many congregations like ours are in the midst of change. Many are anxious. Many are worried about our churches.
In our congregation many are sad and anxious as we are losing many of our core corner members, but we are also receiving new corner members. But it will not be the same. We are not and should not be a church founded on nostalgia, but on hope. We should not be a relic of the past glorious days, but a living testament of the coming days of change and reformation.
Our wonderful Danish Lutheran Church that was founded in 1906 in LA on the traditions of the Danish Lutheran Church that was founded by the Danis reformation in 1536 and consolidated as a state supported church with the Constitution of 1849, - has changed since 1906 and rightfully so!
Most of the congregation in the Lutheran Family are experiencing this change. Most of the mainstream churches are. We are not alone!
But we should embrace this with hope and not despair – and truly listen to the Holy Spirit invoking faith and hope in us: Fear not!
We might not be as many and as regular in the pews on Sundays: but then we have added many regular faithful worshippers who worship virtually with us every Sunday.
We might not have the same ones in the pews every Sunday, but we have seasonal and occasional congregants that are equally faithful members of this church.
We might not fill the pews every Sunday morning, but never have this church and campus been more vibrant with different people using our facilities: Mondays AA group that supports and greets vulnerable people with grace: Tuesdays Troop 733 that supports and strengthens local youth with grace: Wednesdays Danish Classes that greets students of all ages with grace: Thursdays various meetings by Sons of Norway, Church council or Thursday Thoughts that truly opens this place with grace; Saturday mornings Spanish Ministry that worships with grace. All our seasonal events, lunches, concerts, health Screenings, Hygge fest, and dinners that gather us here to share time with each other with grace. Even going Troll Hunting yesterday as a group from Church.
All of this is Church.
All of this is community.
All of this is hope for the future.
At the Theoasis our Biship Dave Nagler shared his thoughts and visions for this church and this Lutheran Branch of the Jesus Movement, as he calls us.
“What if we are in the middle of a long-term divine project to end the age of Christendom where the church was closely aligned with the power of structures of empire and transition to be a renewed Christianity?
What if this is a time of focusing on what matters most and whose voices have yet to be listed to? Imagine a revival that embraces our leadership role as one of spiritual midwifery. We would not long to be working to restore the structures of the past because we hear the voice of the new church that yearns to be born. We would not think that if only we worked harder or innovated more cleverly, we would turn back the clock. Instead, we would go deeper into our spiritual practices to listen for the voice of the Holy Mystery. We may not see the end of this transition, but what an honor to be part of it.
Jesus began a movement in Judaism. He understood the prophetic path of his tradition and stepped boldly into it. He called people to remember who they were and to live in right relationship with God. He saw and affirmed the inherent worth of every person, including his enemies. His disciples watched him, imitated him, struggled with his teachings, grew in their ability to embody God’s love, and expanded his movement.
The institution of the church has only one reason for its existence; to continue the movement of Jesus and his reconciling love. It has done this well at times and completely failed at other times. Sometimes, the church has gotten this backward and behaved like the mission of Jesus was a successful institutional church. When this happens, God sends reformers to remind the church that it only finds its life when it has “the mind of Christ” and pour itself out on behalf of the world.
Context matters. We are the people God has gathered to serve in this place and time. Southern California and Hawaii are wonderfully diverse places with many languages spoken and traditions observed. Our neighbors are recent immigrants and indigenous peoples. The people in our congregations hold very different political views. Our context calls us to be a “big tent” community where difference is not dangerous but an opportunity for growth.
Over the ages congregations have begun and ended. Denominations have come and gone. Yet the movement of Jesus has been resurrected in myriad ways and places. We carry the baton for this movement in this time and place. Not all of it, but an important part of it. May our voices be loving and strong. May our “reason for being” be clear! May our service be joyous! Peace, Bp. Dave
What if this is the time to be the church? Not the church of yesterday of yester year, not the church of nostalgia, of how it used to be but how it could be?
What if this is the time? Men