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Reformation Sunday October 25, 2015

This Weekend's Readings (click each reading to view the passage)

Jeremiah 31:31-34; Psalm 46; Romans 3:19-28; John 8:31-36

Pr. Christine's Sermon - The Heart of It All

Faith Statements - 2015

Children's Sermon - Play-Doh is Always Play-Doh

Youth Bell Choir - Simple Gifts

Choir Anthem - How Majestic Is Your Name

Sermon Notes from Pastor Christine...

One of my favorite declarations in the bible, one of the promises I ground my life on, is found in Jeremiah's proclamation to us today: "I will write on their hearts and I will be their God and they will be my people."
This idea that God has reached down into the darknesses of my body, into places that are in some ways unknown even to me - so that His very words are on my heart - I think that's absolutely stunning. There is so much passion, possession, and dedication to us from God found in this piece of the covenant.
"I am your God. You are my people."
I like knowing that I belong to someone who can spin entire universes into existence. It's pretty cool. It's also true that I've often romanticized this notion of God writing on our hearts. I've clung to the intimacy of the claim as a safeguard, often reading the words on my heart as reminders of God's love, forgiveness, and grace.
All of those pieces are true, but they aren't the whole of the story. God's claim on our lives means more than just protection and kinship.
Which brings me to Martin Luther. Actually, first we should talk a little bit about the prophet Jeremiah and how he ruins my affinity for the mushy-gushy view of God's etchings on our hearts.
See, Jeremiah's declaration is made because the people broke God's covenant, despite all that God had done for them, somehow God and the Israelites remained oddly separated from each other. They, in essence broke His divine heart, which makes me wonder how I break God's heart.
So, to fix this, God wrote on their hearts. In our text it says will put his law within them. Does that mean imprinted their hearts with:
1. Thou shalt have no other Gods before me
2. Thou shalt not take the Lord God's name in vain.
3. Thou shall keep the Sabbath.
4. Thou shalt honor they mother and father
5. Thou shall not kill
Etc...?
I doubt it. I think God's a better writer than that; I think God's got a lot more to say then fits on a stone tablet of 10 Do's and Don'ts; and, well frankly, I know God to be more creative than that.
So then, what else does God write?
Let's ask Martin Luther. After all, it's Reformation Sunday - I think it's in the Lutheran code of conduct for pastors that we have to talk about Luther on this 'high holy day'.
When I took 'Reformation 101' in seminary there were a lot of books. Like a ton. And let me tell you - not all those words actually got written on my mind or my heart, because there's only so much one can read and actually retain. So, I partially got through Reformation 101 with a supplemental book I purchased on my own called 'The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Reformation and Protestantism.' I'm not necessarily proud of this fact, but it certainly helped make a series of very complicated and nuanced events a bit more understandable and clear.
However, the book was written in 2002, almost 400 years after the Reformation. Everything seems clearer and more obvious in hindsight. The book in fact sanitizes and distills a horrendously painful schism and monumental cultural shift within church and society into a neatly organized primer.
Martin Luther would be like, "You have got to be kidding me! Where does it mention the heartache, the sleepless nights, and the people I ticked off? Where does it mention how scared I was? How many times I thought about just keeping my mouth shut? How I had no idea what I was doing much of the time? And how this was not at all what I had planned?"
In Reformation 101 we spent a great deal of time talking about Ephesians 2, which is where Paul talks about being saved by grace through faith. It's the basis of the Reformation. Those are some of the words that God wrote on Martin Luther's heart.
There are, however, words that I believe God wrote on Martin Luther's heart that we didn't talk about in seminary and don't say in our churches.
In church we watch our language; we don't swear; we use proper etiquette. Well, I'll let you in on a little secret [I feel like the kids should cover their ears]... When I'm writing I try to extricate the emotion that's on my heart and put it on paper - the good, the bad, and the ugly - and sometimes I use 'inappropriate language' to explain things, so fairly frequently I need to sanitize my words for my venue and audience, which is totally appropriate.
Now, before I go on... I am NOT advocating cussing or swearing or taking the LORD's name in vain. Do not go to school or work tomorrow and tell your principal or boss that your pastor says it's ok to cuss. I'm not saying it's ok; it's become way too status quo.
But the reason I'm using cussing as an example is because often it arises because we find ourselves at a loss to convey some extreme emotion we are experiencing. Honestly, sometimes there just aren't other words that fit. Plus, I feel like there may have been a little cussing on God's part when he was dealing with Pharaoh or when the Pharisees had him so hot that he turned the tables over in the temple.
Regardless... back to Luther. I think God wrote some swear words on Luther's heart.
And eventually when Luther got tired of being proper; he got tired of towing the line; he got tired of peddling the status quo of orthodox speech when he knew the people weren't connecting to God through the church...
He looked inwardly at his heart what he found written there was something to the effect of, "What the heck [or something to that effect] are you doing? My church needs you."
And that's when he knew, that not unlike the Israelites, he had been breaking God's heart for a long time by not reading his own heart words; not reading what God had been writing to him. Those rogue swear words of: dismantle, blasphemy, dispute, and rebellion weren't welcome in the comfortable church.
But, Martin Luther and God started cussing up a storm. And the reformation was born. Martin Luther knew that the church was in trouble when it was no longer relevant in people's lives, no longer connected them with God.
Is this any different from what we are facing today? For some years now people have been saying the church is in trouble. Actually, we've been saying it so much that I think we are all tired of hearing about it.
I mean, good God please... don't talk about attendance being down, giving being down, religious affiliation waning one. more. time. And seriously, if the Bishop utters the words 'missional church' again I may actually throw up. The church has been missional from the day it was born.
And then, my great fear is realized as I read, "So when are you going to do something about it?" on my heart. By God himself.
And so I find myself in Martin Luther's shoes today in many ways. Not liking what I'm reading on my heart, but knowing I can't continue to feign illiteracy, because now I'm the one breaking God's heart.
So, flat out honest question to all of you who love God, love His church and His people:
Anyone else reading a similar message on their hearts? When are we going to do something?
Now, here's the danger in my bringing this issue up in a sermon:
I don't actually have an answer to this enormous problem. I have lots of questions and lots of unfinished thoughts, all of which have potential far-reaching ramifications, both positive and negative
That being said, I do not believe that we can continue to sweep this issue aside, either within this congregation or the larger church body.
If we truly believe that there's a reason for church, and if we really do believe there is a God who calls us to make a difference in the world, and if it's really true that God (as in the maker of the cosmos) LOVES you and me and everyone in the world and not everyone knows this... and this actually matters...
Well, the rebel in me rises up and wants to take a page from the unabridged version of Luther's catechism and toss the hierarchy, the structure, the statistics to the far corners of the world and you know, somehow transform the church into what God must dream it could be.
But, as soon as I say those words, alarm over what the consequences of a new reformation might mean grips my heart. It's then that I know that there are two 'beings' writing on my heart.
God and the Devil They are both writing a story.
I know how horrendous that sounds and maybe it's a little dramatic, but it's true that the Devil (or fear, or Satan, or myself, or whatever word you want to put in there for that which works in opposition to God) thrives on complacent hearts and in comfortable pews. Just ask Martin Luther.

I honestly debated whether to say this or not, because sermons are supposed to be good news. You know, the 'feel good' message of the weekend which spurs us on for the upcoming week. But, not saying it; not saying that we really need to seriously think about a new kind of reformation is unfaithful. We can't dodge the hard work.
Nobody else is going to do it. But a few somebody's can kindle the fire of the new reformation.
Remember I said that I have lots of questions and no answers... and that's true.
A lot of my questions are logistical. They are things like:
~Does Sunday morning worship make sense or another day?
~Do large church buildings make sense? Or conversely, what about tiny congregations - do they make economic sense?
~How do we do religious education in a world that is increasingly secular and multi-faith?
I have a lot more questions than those and a lot more worries than questions. Most church leaders and congregations do. But those questions aren't the essence of what makes church.
The questions we should be seeking answers to is:

Why aren't we connecting? Why aren't we connecting to God? To others? And to ourselves? Why church? Why Jesus?

Those are the questions of the New Reformation. I really invite you to pray over those questions and read your heart. God's claim on us demands that of us. Amen.