“Examining Our Roots: Reformation 500”
Romans 5: 1-5 & Matthew 11:25-30
Rev. G. Scott Turnbrook ~ Northwood United Church ~ October 29, 2017
When the French Novelist Alphonse Karr wrote “The more things change, the more they stay the same”, I don’t think he paid much attention to Martin Luther’s work that had occurred three centuries prior. Martin Luther continues to be one of the most significant figures in Western history. His life’s work birthed a profound reformation, the likes of which the world has never seen. Born into a prominent family in 1483 in Eisleben, Saxony (now Germany) which was part of the Holy Roman Empire, young Luther received a good education: learning reading, writing and Latin. Following a powerful conversion experience, to his father’s dismay he left law school and he entered an Augustinian-based monastery where he began studies to become a monk. His studies continued and he went on to receive a doctorate and became a professor of biblical studies. Luther’s education and theological ponderings would have implications for the church that would extend to the present day and beyond. He, along with other theologians and scholars, were beginning to do the unthinkable… to question the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. This was also the time of a cutting-edge invention, the Guttenberg Printing Press, which was beginning to make the Bible ~ along with other theological writings ~ available to the masses, not just the elite who could afford a hand-written book. For us to begin to fathom the influence of the digital era and the internet today would be a parallel consideration to the advent of the printing press back in the 1500’s.
Martin Luther’s thought was formed in seminary which was fashioned after the teachings of the 4th Century Church Father, St. Augustine who emphasized the primacy of the Bible, rather than church officials as being the ultimate religious authority ~ sola scriptura was a foundational belief of Luther. Augustine also emphasized that humans could not reach salvation by their own actions, but rather only God could bestow salvation by God’s divine grace ~ saved by grace through faith was the other key concept Luther promoted. This, of course, opposed the teaching of the church in the day. It was in the Middle Ages that the Church had begun teaching that salvation was possible through “good works” or “works of righteousness” that pleased God. And so, Luther’s two central beliefs, ‘sola scriptura’ and ‘saved by grace through faith’ became the guiding principles for the reformation movement.
Of the texts that were crucial for Luther’s work, I chose two of the key ones. The first passage, Romans 5, lifts up Luther’s fundamental belief in how we are saved by grace through faith. Paul writes: “therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”. This was to counter the consideration that we could ever earn God’s favour on our own, that we are justified by our ‘good works’. Everything, Paul argued, begins with our faith, our connection with God. This, of course, later prompts our actions to good deeds. Good works follows a deep faith. But it all begins with faith ~ grace through faith. That is where the heart of the connection is. The second reading crucial for Luther relates to that sense of God’s amazing grace versus the guilt the church was placing on its people. Matthew records Jesus as teaching: Come to me, all you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light". Jesus’ Way, Jesus’ call, the Christian life should not be a heavy yoke that we cannot bear. It is one which we can bear, which we can handle. In fact, it is one where we will find rest for our souls when we do follow this way!
And based on Luther’s beliefs on scripture ~ sola scriptura, grace and faith ~ saved by grace through faith, he raised some deep concerns with what the church was doing and where the church was heading. One of the ‘straws that broke the camel’s back’ things was the practice of the Church’s sale of “indulgences” to provide absolution to sinners. The church, to put it frankly, was becoming increasingly corrupt. In 1517, Friar Johann Tetzel began selling indulgences in Germany to raise funds to renovate St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. This infuriated Luther prompting him to write: “why does not the Pope, whose wealth is greater than the wealth of the richest Crassus, build the basilica of St. Peter with his own money, rather than with the money of poor believers”. This prompted Luther to sit down and write his famous 95 theses ~ a list of questions and propositions for debate with the church and its current practices. He wrote the list and nailed it to the door of the Wittenberg Castle church 500 years ago on Tuesday. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Luther’s 95 Theses fell into two categories. The first two theses contained Luther’s central idea, that God intended believers to seek repentance and that faith (not our deeds) would lead to salvation. The following 93 predominantly criticized the selling of indulgences. With the printing press now available, these theses by the distinguished Professor Luther quickly made their way throughout Europe, and of course … all the way to the Pope. Luther was required to defend his views over a three-day church assembly. He was examined and refused to recant his statements saying “Here I stand. God help me. I can do no other”. His writings were burned and he was named a heretic. Luther went into hiding; however, his 95 theses began to spread faster than Donald Trump’s latest tweet. And then, in hiding, Luther did the most unsettling thing…he translated the entire New Testament into German…and mass production of Bibles began to spread throughout the country. Imagine that…for the first time… people reading God’s word…themselves. Not just listening to what the priests said about scripture, but actually engaging with God’s word in their homes! Sola scriptura ~ God’s word being placed into the hands of believers. At the time, dozens of other Reformers were doing similar things in their own countries ~ the Bible translated into English, French, and so on. The church was changing; church was birthing into a new reality; she was reforming. And the various strands of the Reformed movement of the church were birthed and continue in denominations like Lutheranism ~ as we think of Martin Luther. And, of course for us, for us the denomination of the United Church of Canada, which is a blending of the Methodist, Congregationalist and Presbyterian Churches in Canada.
‘The more things change, the more they stay the same’. I’m not sure if that is true. Approximately 400 years after Luther’s work, a theologian named Ernst Troeltsch sought to explain the changes of the church in the modern era. In his 1912 book “Protestantism and Progress: A Historical Study of the Relation of Protestantism to the Modern World”, he talked about the cycles that faith communities inevitably go through. We begin as a ‘sect’, as we gather around a common set of beliefs. Jesus’ people, followers on the Way was the early Christian sect. Our genesis in the faith was as a sect ~ a small group of people with a radically different set of beliefs from the dominant culture ~ proclaiming “Jesus as Lord” and not “the Emperor as Lord”. Over time, as a sect grows, it develops an identifiable set of norms and values. It becomes more than just a small band of rebels, it becomes an established entity which he names as being a “cult”, a small religious entity. And as the cult grows, it forms into an established order on its own. In the 4th century Emperor Constantine declared what was the ‘cult movement’ of Christianity to be the official religion of the Roman Empire. Doctrines and rules were formed, and officials were named, and ‘the church’ was shaped and then you have “a religion”. Troelstch argued, however, that “a religion” is not the end point of the movement that began as a sect. As we humans get deeply involved in God’s business, in the religion, there comes a breaking point ~ there comes a reformation. Our selfish desires, our greed, our sin enters the picture and things inevitably break down. It sounds outlandish to hear the history of the church selling indulgences as a fundraiser to put a new roof on the Vatican, yet that is a part of our religious history. It seems inconceivable to think of our church barring people based on their gender or sexual identity from entering the ministry, yet that is part of our history. It seems unthinkable to think of our church participating with the government in running Residential Schools, yet that is part of our history. What Troelstch argued was that eventually a religion will break down and ‘re-form’. It will be re-shaped, re-fashioned. The church will be re-born.
I wonder how the church will be reformed today? We were re-formed in Northwood in 1998 as the visionary founders imagined the Spirit uniting Fleetwood and North Surrey United Churches amalgamating to become Northwood at this location. I wonder how the church will be reformed today? My former congregation, the United Churches of Langley went through an amalgamation process during my ministry. Moving from four separate congregations into one united ministry in Langley. The three churches in White Rock are going through a similar change right now. I wonder how the church will be reformed today? Sadly, money is a large driving force in the re-forming of churches. But it doesn’t have to be! As we examine our call and direction in ministry priorities, we need to be mindful of how the Spirit is ‘re-forming’ us. In geographical area, there are three United Churches that are really struggling as they realistically take stock of their time, talents and treasures. Bethany-Newton, Colebrook and even us here at Northwood ~ having just last year gone done from two full time ministry positions to 1.5. I wonder how the Spirit is continuing to re-form and re-shape who we are and how we will function as the church in this little part of the world. Sometimes churches disband and close down, yet this allows the new life of reformation to occur. Our Tuesday night S.P.A. ~ “Spiritual Practice Alternatives” night has been made possible through a grant that we received through the United Church’s ‘Embracing the Spirit’ fund that seeds new and innovative ministry. As people come together to practice yoga, meditation, spiritual discussion, and other spiritual practices, they form a different kind of spiritual community and further reform the church! I wonder how the church will be reformed today? Within our National Church structure, you may be aware that we are slowly reforming the church to move from being a 4 court model ~ presently made up of local congregations, presbyteries, Conferences, and the General Council. In the next few years, we will have eliminated the second and third court, thereby merging presbyteries and conferences and streamlining the church to do its work. I wonder how the church will be reformed today?
We are even seeing reformation with the Catholic Church. One year ago, as we were about to head into the 500th year of the Reformation, the Pope preached a sermon in Lund, Sweden at an ecumenical prayer service to Lutherans and Catholics ~ imagine that! Quoting Jesus’ words in John 15:4, “Abide in me as I abide in you”. The Pope said: “Now, in the context of the commemoration of the Reformation of 1517, we have a new opportunity to accept a common path, one that has taken shape over the past fifty years in the ecumenical dialogue between the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church. Nor can we be resigned to the division and distance that our separation has created between us. We have the opportunity to mend a critical moment of our history by moving beyond the controversies and disagreements that have often prevented us from understanding one another”. And, if we pay attention, I would suggest that we too are constantly being re-formed. Changed, shaped, moulded into God’s creation ~ providing we allow that to happen. We are children of ‘the journey’ followers of ‘the way’. And God is far from done with each and every one of us, no matter what age or stage we are at in life.
Getting back to Alphonse Karr’s famous quote: “The more things change, the more they stay the same”, I’m not really sure he is correct. At least when God’s Spirit has a part to play. And thanks be to God for that, for the shifting tides of this life, the ebbs and flow of our families, our churches, and ~ indeed ~ our very lives. How are you being re-formed? Maybe it’s not some much ‘the more things change, the more they stay the same’. Perhaps the better observation came a century later through Bob Dylan when he said: “The times, they are a changin’”. And thanks be to God for that!
Amen.