Reformation

John 8: 31-36

10-25-15

Reformation Sunday

Today we remember the day Martin Luther

nailed the 95 thesis up to the door of Wittenberg.

You won’t see this celebration in other denominations of churches.

Methodist, Episcopal, Roman Catholic, churches.

Just really Lutheran churches and some other stray protestant Churches

but certainly was one of the most important event in world history.

If you don’t know it yet by heart,

When Martin Luther was an Catholic, Augustinian Monk

he was told what the church taught throughout the ages:

that the less he sinned, the more he prayed and went to mass

the more he followed the traditions of the church,

the closer he would be to God and Jesus.

But the truth is, Martin Luther said that during his time as a monk,

Even with most of his time spent in worship and prayer -

he felt the opposite.

The more he prayed, the further away from Jesus he felt.

He said it was a time of deep spiritual despair.

He said, “I lost touch with Christ the Savior and Comforter,

and made of him the jailor and hangman of my poor soul."

Other people felt the same thing about God and Jesus for sure.

The church was causing people to be afraid of God instead of love God.

This feeling hung on for Luther

And then when the Roman Catholic church started to collect indulgences

for the building of St. Peters,

with a threat of Purgatory for people who didn’t give,

Luther started to feel that instead of

something not being right in his head or with God,

maybe it was not right with the church.

  

And when he was reading Paul’s letter to the Romans

he realized what it was, the truth of the gospel of Jesus:

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,

The Gospel said “We all sin, and we all are saved by God’s grace alone.”

It was the church’s teaching that were wrong.

So Martin Luther outlined 95 grievances he had with the church

places where he thought the church went against the gospel.

And he nailed them to the door

of the Wittenberg Church on October 31^st, 1517.

So today on the nearest Sunday,

We celebrate the Reformation.

But today, and every Reformation day,

we need to remember that we don’t worship Martin Luther.

And we don’t just celebrate one moment in history

and we don’t need to cling forever to the

German roots of our denomination.

Today we celebrate the Reformation.

The Reformation means that

the human institution that holds

holds the gospel in its hands, can be changed.

It needs to be changed, in order to keep up

with God’s spirit and the wonderful things God is doing in the world.

  

The Reformation means that

The church is something that can be questioned

and challenged. It’s not infallible,

you don’t have to check your brain at the door

and listen to everything that one person says or thinks is right.

The reformation means that God’s spirit

and the truth of the gospel of Jesus

will never be stopped by

corruption, or greed, or our own fear or indecision.

God’s Spirit is always finding new ways to

reach and inspire people,

whether that is in a church or on a computer

or around a table at someone’s house.

The Spirit of God will not be stopped.

The reformation means that

the inspiration of even one person can

start a movement and create change.

And what the Reformation really means is that

You can tell your children and grandchildren

and neighbor and the stranger you meet on a bus

that no matter where they go

no matter what they do, or what decisions they make,

God will love them forever.

The Reformation means that

We can tell everyone that God loves them.

Even someone who spent his youth

on drugs and doing bad things

and going to jail.

Even someone accused of murder.

Even someone who has never been to church.

  

Because of the Reformation,

We can tell this man , or woman.

and we can tell ourselves that

God has picked them as God’s child,

God has forgiven them,

God loves them,

and God will welcome them home when the time comes.

When we celebrate Reformation

we’re not celebrating a monk with a hammer,

We are celebrating the gospel of Jesus

that was covered up by years of

human law and power and tradition

and was then revealed and set free on the world,

When we celebrate the Reformation,

we’re celebrating how the Spirit changes us,

reforms us, renews us and gives us new life in every age.

The Reformation means that  

this Sunday and every Sunday,

we celebrate Jesus crucified and risen again.

we celebrate God’s power, grace, and love.