As we remember our Spiritual Father, Martin Luther, and his bold actions for
the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ
—his
standing up to Popes and Emperors. He and his fellow Reformers putting their
lives on the line for the sake of conscience.
As we remember all these things, it would be easy to bring it all to “A Mighty
Fortress is Our God” crescendo or a clamorous “Here I stand, I can do no
other.”
But, I would like to take it down a notch this Reformation Sunday—to look at
the Reformation from another perspective—after all, a song and a speech can
start a Reformation, but it can’t sustain one for nearly 500 years.
Back in 1986, there was a hit book with an interesting premise and title,
Robert Fulghum’s “All I really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.”
The title kinda says it all… much of the basic bits of life—wonder and connection—are
already found in the simple stuff of childhood,
in
crayons and “hide-and-go-seek”/ Dick and Jane Books and the earliest of science
projects.
In a similar vein, I would propose a Lutheran equivalent this Reformation
Sunday.
“All
I really need to know about the Reformation I learned in Luther’s Small
Catechism.”
Luther wrote the Small Catechism in order to pass on the faith to his son Hans,
and to make plain the total package of his Reforms to peasant and prince alike.
And for generations of Lutherans is has served as our primer, our Kindergarten
ABC’s if you will,
teaching
confirmation students, informing Pastor’s sermons, and speaking the faith
clearly to millions of souls.
And even today, nearly 500 years later, it serves as a rock of the Lutheran
tradition
—like
Washington Rock not that many miles away, it is a place on which we can climb
up, and from which we look and see everything else. We can get a panoramic view
of the Spiritual landscape.
We
can be ecumenical, and even engage in interfaith dialogue, because we know where
we stand, so we are not lost even when we’re far afield.
We
can change and grow in a variety of ways, because the Small Catechism is a
landmark for us.
“All
I really need to know about the Reformation I learned in Luther’s Small
Catechism.”
Prayer
“All
I really need to know about the Reformation I learned in Luther’s Small
Catechism.”
I
learned that the Triune God is awful… that is, God fills me
with awe
…
God’s holiness is so frighteningly beyond us to speak of it is to defile
it, is to come up short, is to fail as a witness
…and
yet we try.
God fills me with Awe like the Grand Canyon,
on a donkey, on a switch-back, while the poorly packed gravel gives way under
the beast’s feet, and the donkey may or may not gain its grip.
Awe like swelling with pious feelings on pilgrimage on the Mount of Olives
where Jesus wept over Jerusalem, just as the
first plumes of smoke and pops of gun fire and clashes between Jews and Muslims
started across the Kidron
Valley at Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The
Triune God is awful, He fills me with awe.
I
learned that the Triune God is worthy of my love and my
trust… for God did not simply create and leave, but instead sustains every
motion and every breath.
All good things that are necessary and nourishing for my good health, and that
of creation, are from God.
And not only that, but in every time of despair, every moment of doubt or hurt,
in all the depths of human life, the pits that are part of my existence,
God
is there with me, for God never abandons, but is there for me in every trial
and temptation, comforting and delivering me.
I
learned that in the Old and New Testament God gives commands and
promises to me, and that they inform and shape my faith life.
For example, Christ commands baptism and communion.
Christ
also promises my re-birth… my resurrection with him, in Baptism
And
he promises that he’ll show up and sustain me, in the Holy Meal.
The commands of God, especially those 10 commandments of Moses, are to be read
in a strenuously positive way. I’m not to ask only “what shouldn’t
I do,” but also add the question, “If that’s true what should I do for the sake
of my neighbor?”
For example, I should not steal… instead I’m going to improve and protect my
neighbor’s property and income.
I
learned that as a human being, I am a radically dependent
creature.
I’m always trying to sell out to someone.
In fact, by my very nature I’ve happily sold myself out to Sin, Death, and the
Devil.
And I thank God that while yet a sinner Christ forgave me.
That Christ my brother saw me sold—a miserable self-made slave, and
bought me back, paying the highest of price for my life.
I
learned that as a human I’m still inclined to sell-out.
Sell-out
like an aging rocker becoming a Vegas Act,
or
Troy McClure and Crusty the Clown on the Simpsons—Selling out is always an
option.
Just as there are no Recovered Addicts, only Recovering Addicts,
so too there are no Recovered Sinners, only Recovering Sinners.
I’ve been bought back by Christ, yet I constantly check the smart-phone ap.
Zillow to know my re-sale value.
I
learned that this is the case for the whole Church, we’re a
Sinners Anonymous meeting.
We’re
always, daily, in need of forgiveness
—of a
forgiving word
and a
reminder to give forgiving words, as well.
We are called to ongoing repentance, confessing together this need
… and
when my conscience pricks or provokes me I ought to confess that which troubles
me to a Pastor or a trusted Christian friend, knowing their forgiving words are
from God.
They
remind me that Christ came for me, and forgives me, and bought me out of
slavery.
I
learned that despite myself and despite the Church being forever
filled with recovering sinners, the Spirit will not leave us,
the
Spirit’s work in me, and in the whole Church, is irresistible.
The Spirit alone,
not
building programs,
bible
studies,
lay
education,
New
Bishops,
Old
Bishops,
Young
Pastors,
Old
Pastors,
Tattooed
Pastors,
Altar
Guild,
or
Food Pantry
will
sustain us.
The Spirit alone sustains us and allows us to continue on our journey of
repentance and forgiveness.
“All
I really need to know about the Reformation I learned in Luther’s Small
Catechism.”
A+A
