Reflection for Reformation Sunday

“If the Son makes you free, you are free indeed.”

Today, we celebrate Reformation Sunday, that day when we celebrate the entire Reformation, from Martin Luther nailing his 95 these on the door of the church in Wittenberg, to the lives of all those who continue in his footsteps today. That’s right: the Reformation has not stopped. It continues in the lives of all who receive God’s grace and recognize it for what it is: pure grace, and who stand up in the face of the world saying, “no, you must have to earn it,” and say again, “no, it is pure grace.”

The theme of the ELCA’s most recent churchwide assembly was, “Always Being Made New,” a theme that reminds us that, though we are a people of tradition and culture and history, we are a people who trust in God the Creator, who are indeed a part of a continually created creation. When we speak of God the creator, we are speaking of the God who constantly creates: creation is not a single event that happened once, but one that happens every day, every moment, in all our lives. It is the same with baptism, which is also not really a singular event that happens to us once and then is done. We are continually baptized people, as we are continually created people, who are constantly experiencing the benefits and rewards of the water having touched our heads, and the Word of the triune God being proclaimed over us. It is why we do not believe in needing to be baptized by water more than once: once we have been touched by the water and the Word, that grace and promise is forever.

So, we are people who are always being made new, in creation and in baptism. And today, we celebrate Reformation Sunday. Yes, it is celebrated on (or, in this case, near) the anniversary of when Martin Luther nailed his theses to the door of the church. We celebrate the fact that this one man had the courage and creativity and attention to the Spirit to stand up and say, “No, we are not saved by what we do, but saved by our faith. And, further, faith isn’t even something that we do on our own, but a gift of God through the Holy Spirit.” It may make sense to us now, but in Luther’s day, to say that one doesn’t not have to DO anything in order to receive God’s love… well, this was quite an odd and difficult thing. And so, we celebrate, both that one event, and how it affects us even still today.

But, what does this really mean for us in our age? Does it mean that, since God loves us no matter what, we shouldn’t do anything? Should we, as Paul asks in his letter to the Romans, “Sin the more, that grace may abound?” Well, again quoting Paul, “By no means!” Instead, we respond to God’s love with more love. The Son has indeed made us free: free from sin, free from fear, free from punishment, free from danger to our souls. And so, being free, we are free indeed: free to love all God’s people, free to work for justice in all the world, free to serve our neighbors, free to love our enemies, free to give all we have to the One who is continually creating us, free to reach out to those who are sick or hurting, free to stand up, like Luther, for those who have no voice that is heard by the ears of those in power. WE have been made free, and so we act in that freedom: not in order to earn God’s love or to get a step closer to heaven, but because we are already loved, and love is the only response we have to give.

There is nothing that we can do to earn God’s love: we already have it. There is nothing we can do that would make God stop loving us. There is no “if… then…” in our relationships with God. There is no “if you do this, then God will love you.” There is no “if you don’t…,” or “you have to…,” or “once you have…” in our relationships with God. God already loves us through Christ by the gift of faith which comes from the Holy Spirit.

Now, we don’t believe it. We want to have the power ourselves to control our relationships with God, but it isn’t possible. God is constantly creating us, constantly forgiving us, constantly washing us in the waters of baptism, constantly prepared to feed us at this table, constantly loving us. There’s nothing we can do. Well, nothing but return love for love.

Thanks be to God.

Amen

Reflection for the Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

“"But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, ‘Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites?’”

The Pharisees have had enough. Ever since entering Jerusalem, Jesus has not hidden in the shadows as they would have liked, as they would have hoped. No, instead he has spoken openly, with parables and teachings that, while never directly naming them as the "bad guys," have not put them in the best light. Each parable and story about this promised "kingdom of God" has been just clear enough that the Pharisees have realized that Jesus has been talking backhandedly at them. Who does he think he is? He can't just come in here and talk about them, the ones with power, in this way.

So they decide, again, to try and trick him into saying something that they can use against him. He is getting dangerous, after all. The people seem to love him, they don't hear the danger in what he is saying, they don't see the ways that his teachings could uproot all that has been established, could make the Roman oppressors pretty mad.

Finally, a plot: "Tell us, Jesus, Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?" A trick question, of course, since the "law" could be interpreted to mean the law of God, Torah, or it could mean that laws that the Roman oppressors had imposed on them. Either way he answers, he will be in trouble.

But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, "Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites?"

Jesus knew what they were trying to do. It isn’t the only reason that he gives the answer he gives, one that has been quoted numerous times, and twisted and used for many different purposes. But he knew what they were trying to do. He finally calls them out on their intentions, and yet he still answers their question.

What parts of our hearts and intentions do we secretly hope that Jesus won’t find out? What questions or demands do we make of our God, and yet hope that our true fears are not seen by the one who, in fact, sees everything?

It doesn’t matter what our “true intentions” are. We cannot hide from God. And yet, also, we find comfort in the fact that, even knowing their attempts to trap him, Jesus answers the Pharisees’ question. He does not say, “Hey! That’s a trick question, so I’m not going to answer!” He names what he sees in them, and then answers any way.

It is the same with us. Jesus knows our hearts. Jesus knows our fears, knows our questionings, knows our doubts, knows our truths. And yet, he answers us any way. God in Christ Jesus loves us, and so does not abandon us when we question, when we doubt, when we lash out in anger, frustration, or fear.

Thanks be to God.

Amen.

Reflection for the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want.”

This familiar line is the opening to Psalm 23, perhaps one of the most well-known poems in the Bible. It has been set to music, translated in countless renditions, been cited in movies, and painted into image, again and again.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want.

The image of God as shepherd is a familiar one, and comforting, and for good reason, too. It is immensely comforting to have a guide, a protector, whose sole purpose is to care for us, tend to our needs, lead us to safe places to eat and live, and who protects us from dangers.

The Lord makes me lie down in green pastures and leads me beside still waters.

This line is the one that pervades our “shepherding God” images: green hill, calm stream, quietly grazing sheep: the kind of place that busy, tired, stressed humans find to be the picture of serenity and comfort. If only our lives included so much peace and tranquility.

You restore my soul, O Lord, and guide me along right pathways for your name’s sake.

But it is not the call of humans to lie in fields and rest for all of our lives. We are called into the world, where we are led by our shepherd, who also did not avoid the difficulties of the world. God made God’s self into a human person, to live and walk and work among us. Our lives take us along all kinds of pathways, and we hope that we will be able to follow the call of our shepherd into the “right” pathways, for God’s work.

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Here’s where our picturesque vision of the quiet, green, safe field starts to shatter a little. Valley of the shadow of death? Evil that could be feared? These are not usually part of the scene. But they are very much a part of life. There is no way to get around the difficult, stressful, painful parts of life that leave us wishing for a respite, no matter how brief, in a quiet place. But, we are not alone. The One who became incarnate and walked among us also walked in the difficult, stressful, painful parts of life. Our God knows our valleys and our peaks.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil, and my cup is running over.

God who knows our heights and depths prepares for us what we need: a table for food, blessing with oil, and cups overflowing with goodness, even in the presence of the very things that haunt us, that make us want to fear, though the psalmist declares that, with God, there is no fear. We may not always recognize the good gifts that have been given to us, or the strength of the One who gives them, but our shepherd does care for us, even in the difficult, stressful, painful times.

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

And so the psalm concludes, reminding us that these gifts and God’s protection are not just for one moment, one rest, one brief period of time, but for all the days of our lives, now and forever.

Thanks be to God.

Amen