Nearly 500 years ago, if you
will remember from your world history classes (or from your confirmation
classes if you grew up in the Lutheran tradition), the church ruled over every
aspect of a gal’s life. The church
controlled not only your worship life, but it also took charge of your
education, your finances, your vocation, and even whether or not you would be
granted entrance to heaven. The church was
in bed, if you will, with the politicians and rulers, and as Pastor Susan noted
last week, those make strange bedfellows.
The intermingling of these entities led some of the leaders down dark
paths of power grabbing toward abuse of the people in the name of God.
Now, about that time, a
university professor looked around and decided that as much as he loved the
church, it was time for a few changes.
He had thought he would achieve some conversation and scholarly debate,
but he had hoped for some reform. And so,
Martin Luther pounded 95 Theses to the front door of the chapel at Wittenburg,
Germany. Now, when I heard this story as
a younger person, I always pictured this as a radical movement. NAILING
demands to the church DOOR? Was
Luther asking for trouble? But really,
it was more like posting something on the bulletin board in the narthex here at
Holy Cross. Remember, the church
controlled just about everything in those days, it was the center of community
life, and so the front door was often used as a means to disseminate
information…kind of a city web page, if you will. And those 95 Theses we hear so much about
were not so much demands for change… serious matters to be sure, but, well, we
might think about them as merely suggestions for improvement or things to talk
about over lunch or a beer with colleagues.
It was very likely that that
fateful day in October started out just as any other day. The day was probably
crisp, the leaves were changing colors, and Martin Luther crawled out of his
bed roll, spent an hour in prayer, washed his face, remembered his baptism, was
probably fascinated with his daily BM (didn’t know that one?...we can after
worship), and headed to work to post a little invitation for conversation with
the guys. Little did ol’ Marty know…that
invitation, that nailing of theses, that action of posting notice…likely one he
had taken several times before…little did he know that that one moment would
set the whole world on fire.
Martin Luther’s invitation
for conversation regarding change ultimately sparked a revolution, divided the
church, and changed the course of history.
Fascinating. But what in the world does that have to do
with us today?
Luther’s action sparked the change for the way the church functions
in the world. And by most accounts, it
was a very good thing. The church, the
world needed to change. The corrupt powers, those strange bedfellows,
needed to be reminded of their call in the world…a call to first of all love
God with everything they had, and second to love their neighbors as children of
God.
Things needed to
change.
Whew, that’s’ funny, right?! Change?? Ironically, in the church and for Lutherans
especially, that is a very dirty word, isn’t it? (“but we’ve always done it that way”)
And yet, our psalmist today
reminds us that we shouldn’t worry so much about change. “God is our refuge and strength, a very
present help in trouble. Therefore we
will not fear, though the earth should change…”
And change it has. Not only is our world and the church’s call
in it very different from the world 500
years ago, many of us will argue that the world, and the church, is very
different than it was even just 30 years ago.
When I read Psalm 46 again
last night, I wept at the prophecy: “the
nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth
melts.”
I bet you can think of a few
places this prophecy rings true.
Syria. Iraq.
Afghanistan. These are countries
where the bloodshed in the name of God is nearly incomprehensible. There Muslims are killing Muslims in power
struggles masquerading as significant difference in religious doctrine. Insurgents are killing those who come to
help. They are killing those who
fight. They are killing those who cannot
or will not fight. Killing the innocent
and the complicit alike.
“the nations are in an
uproar, the kingdoms totter”
Guinea. Liberia.
Sierra Leone. These are countries
which are being ravaged by a virus so potent that the entire world is upon its
knees in terror…and then, the fear begets violence. Not in terms of warfare, but in ways that are
even more insidious…in ways that cause us to question the sanctity of life of
another person based solely upon privilege of race or nation of birth. The United States of America. Where we say things like “keep those West Africans
out of my country”…as though we who managed to be here a year ago are somehow
more entitled to safety from a biological nightmare…even though all of us are simply
longing for a good life, a healthy life, a safe place, a land to lay claim to
us, and to grant rest to our weary souls…refuge.
“the nations are in an
uproar, the kingdoms totter”
Nigeria. Where hundreds of girls were kidnapped this
spring and sold or traded into slavery.
They are still missing.
“the nations are in an
uproar, the kingdoms totter”
Ferguson, Missouri. Where an unarmed black man was shot dead by
police. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Where a couple was beaten because they are
gay. Because the way those people were
understood to be outside of God’s creation.
Made in the image of God and yet declared “not good” by those with
social power.
“the nations are in an
uproar, the kingdoms totter”
Marysville, Washington. Right next door. In our own county. Where some of you live. Where a bright and laughing teenage boy brought
his father’s gun to school and murdered his friends. And then, he took his own life. And for
what? We may never have the
answers. Marysville-Pilchuck High
School. The latest in a long string of
devastation in this country. I learned
yesterday that this shooting, this one which claimed the lives of our neighbors is the 50th
school shooting in this country THIS YEAR.
and it is the 87th school shooting since the tragedy at Sandy
Hook.
“the nations are in an
uproar, the kingdoms totter…the earth melts.”
When are we going to demand
change?
When Luther nailed those
theses seeking the reform of the church, he got it. The church became less about institution
governing lives and more about the ways in which WE are the church. The Roman Catholics, the Lutherans, the
Methodists, the Baptists, the Presbyterians…those are merely titles, factions,
ways of interpreting how we read the scripture and how we worship. But those ways, those factions, those
splinters, those institutions and governing bodies and councils and synods and
denominations are NOT the church. WE
are the church. The body of our living
Lord.
I don’t know about you, but
I think the world could stand to once again be set afire. I think we need a little change. A little REFORM. Some improvement in the ways we live with one
another. And who is going to do
that? Who is going to be responsible for
stepping forward on an average October morning, remembering God’s claim over us
in baptism, and saying, “here are some plans, some ideas, some demands for
transformation in the church…which is the whole
world?”
Hear the Good News:
“God is our refuge and
strength, a very present help in trouble.”
God with us.
“He makes wars cease to the
end of the earth; he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear, he burns the
shields with fire.”
God through us.
God with us. God in us.
God through us. WE are the
church. We are the dynamic,
ever-changing body of Christ. We are the
ones called to leave these doors and to do
something about the things in the world that need to be changed.
We are the fire-starters,
brothers and sisters. In the name of God
who redeems us…by the strength of God who sustains us…by the call of the God
who created us and shelters us in radical love.
“God is our refuge and
strength, a very present help in trouble.”
WE are the church.
Go, reform once again… Set
the world on fire.
Amen.
