In
1817, the three-hundredth anniversary of the Reformation
was
celebrated as Europe was in the midst of the Age of Enlightenment,
Such
things as so-called religious superstition, belief in miracles,
were
being downgraded in support of a rational Christianity,
a
scientific approach to the world.
The
Reformation was remembered
as
the beginning of the epoch of the freedom of thought,
to
liberate the world from the Dark Ages.
In
1917, the four-hundredth anniversary of the Reformation
was
observed in Germany during the fourth year of World War I;
Martin
Luther was cast primarily as a patriotic German figure;
the
man who translated the Bible into his mother tongue,
creating
the modern German language;
who
liberated Germany from the encroachment of foreigners.
In
2017, there are a couple of things I’ve noticed.
First
off, the five-hundredth anniversary of the Reformation is being sold.
It’s
been a way to get tourists to ‘Luther-land,’
to
Wittenberg where he supposedly nailed his Theses to the church door
and
to the Castle Church where he translated the Bible.
And
I’ve been getting advertisements for about a year
to
buy Reformation coffee mugs and T-shirts
and
special stoles for pastors and shot glasses and beer steins
and
to advertise them to my church.
I
haven’t passed any of these on
because
I don’t really think the Reformation is about beer steins.
But
maybe I was wrong!
Maybe
you would have liked a 500th anniversary beer stein.
If
so, you can get one yourself.
Just
Google ‘Reformation Beer Stein.’
Hey,
maybe you’ll get a few years off purgatory if you buy it!
In
2017, we have been reading in the newspapers
of
the rapprochement between Rome and the Reformation churches.
At
many events, Roman Catholics and Lutherans
have
been commemorating the five-hundredth
anniversary of the Reformation.
That
word is chosen very, very carefully,
instead
of the word celebrate.
For
it is indeed one of the sad outcomes of the controversies of 500 years ago
that
the unity of the church in the West was broken;
despite
Jesus’ prayer ‘that they may all be one.’
How
can we ‘celebrate’ the disunity of the One Church?
But
we can certainly commemorate the good stuff together
and
rejoice in how far we’ve come.
And
yet, there are those Roman Catholics out there
who
don’t like all this ‘Luther was really an OK guy’ stuff.
That’s
okay, for there are lots of Lutherans out there (maybe even in here!)
who
are less than comfortable with all this cozying up to Rome.
As
a fellow seminarian said to me sixteen years ago,
during
planning for a joint Roman Catholic-Lutheran service,
‘Whatever
happened to Luther was right?’
So
at the same time there are calls for unity,
there’s
also more calls to strengthen our own separate identity.
And
what will it be like one hundred years from now,
when
the Reformation turns 600?
I
wonder if Christians will really be interested.
After
all, in one hundred years,
most
Christians in the world will likely be African, Asian, or Latin American,
and
they might or might not give much thought to an ancient European dispute.
But,
then again, none of us will be around to find out!
You
didn’t necessarily come to church today for a history lesson.
But
you got a little bit of one anyway.
And
it’s important to think about,
because
what is the Reformation all about?
What
should it be about?
Is
Reformation Day our ‘Independence Day?’
A
day to sing the Lutheran national anthem,
A Mighty Fortress
is Our God?
A
day to say, ‘Whatever happened to ‘Luther was right?’
Is
Reformation a principle by which we may live our lives;
that
we should be about abandoning tradition to embrace new thought?
That’s
how some people view it.
Since
Luther supposedly used drinking songs to set his hymns to music,
we
ought to write pop music, or some such other thing.
Did
Luther really use drinking songs, Joyce?
Yeah,
I didn’t really think so.
No,
Reformation was not about the triumph of reason over superstition,
nor
was it about German national identity,
nor
is it about proudly trumpeting our fading Lutheran heritage
with
the latest commemorative bauble.
It’s
not our ‘Independence Day’ as a church,
nor
is it a principle by which we can live our lives.
The
Reformation was –
the
Reformation is –
about
one thing only,
about
one person only –
Jesus
Christ.
Martin
Luther and the other Reformers wrote what they wrote
and
said what they said and did what they did
so
that the people could encounter Jesus and come to faith in him;
come
to call his Father ‘Our Father,’
and
be filled with his Spirit,
and
fear, love and trust him in all things.
Anything
that obscured or prevented the encounter with Jesus,
whether
it be indulgences,
or
tradition, or church hierarchy,
was
to be challenged.
And
anything which proclaimed Jesus was to be lifted up.
In
hearing the Word preached, we encounter Jesus.
In
reading the Scripture, we encounter Jesus.
In
the Sacraments of Baptism and Communion, we encounter Jesus.
Jesus
who died and was raised for us,
who
forgives us our sins
and
sets us free from the curse of the Law;
who
rescues us from death and the devil
and
calls us to follow him in discipleship.
When
we are encountering Jesus
as
proclaimed in Scripture and sermon
and
mediated by the Sacraments
then
reformation happens.
We
as individuals are re-formed,
in
that by the Spirit of Jesus we are led into newness of life,
led
to faith in the God who reconciles us
and
to do works that serve the neighbor.
And
we as the Church are reformed,
that
our life together may proclaim Jesus and serve Jesus,
using
whatever facilitates the encounter with Jesus.
What
was the Reformation of five hundred years about?
It
was about Jesus.
And
it’s still about him.
Wherever
he is proclaimed, wherever he is encountered,
then
the Church is still being reformed,
because
he is reforming us,
as
a church around him, as people into his image and likeness.
We
talk about Martin Luther and the others as Reformers of the Church;
but
there is One Reformer of the Church –
the
one whom they and we worship and praise –
even
Jesus Christ our Lord,
who
lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one
God, now and forever.
