Sermon 26 October 2008
Reformation Sunday
Jeremiah 31:31-34; Psalm 46; Romans 3:19-28; John 8:31-36
Pastor Julie Webb
Scene: Pastor Martin’s home office. Pastor Martin is pacing. During the following lines, she sits down at her desk and types"
PASTOR MARTIN: I’ll need a long piece of paper—long enough to hold 95 ideas. And a hammer . . . and a nail. And I walk out there with them—maybe wearing a special robe, and some kind of Reformation hat. Will they know what’s going on? Will they know I’m supposed to be Luther? Well, anyway—so, then, I say, “The true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God!” Yeah, yeah. That preaches! And then . . . and then . . . (She yawns, and falls asleep on her keyboard.)
Grandpa Lou:
Well, there you are! How’s that granddaughter of mine?
Pastor Martin:
Grandpa Lou! What are you doing here? You’re dead.
Grandpa Lou:
Thank you for reminding me. Actually, at the moment, I’m speaking for God; but this is a dream, so I thought you could use a family face to go with the words.
Pastor Martin:
It’s a dream. It’s a dream, and you’re really God, but you look like my Grandpa Lou—oh, Lord, it’s a sermon dream! Those are awful. Wait—is everybody wearing clothes? Am I totally unprepared but expected to preach sometime in the next ten seconds?
Grandpa Lou:
Relax, child. I thought I’d give you a break, and intervene before that happened. Speaking of sermons, though—how’s it coming?
Pastor Martin:
I think I’m going to do something different, for Reformation Sunday. I’m thinking I’ll pretend to be Martin Luther, nailing the 95 Theses to the door of the castle church on October 31, 1517 .
Grandpa Lou:
Although there’s some debate about how he actually published them. And, hey—fresh new idea, there, pretending to be Luther.
Pastor Martin:
Right. Okay. Is God supposed to be sarcastic? Listen, I have to start somewhere. And, I’m thinking—most people don’t really know the content of the 95 Theses. Either they don’t really know what Luther was proposing to debate; or, they know that he was protesting the sale of indulgences, but they may not know how clever he was in his writing.
Grandpa Lou:
And they should know that?
Pastor Martin:
Well, there has to be a reason that Martin Luther’s stuff got circulated and talked about so much—a reason why he helped touch off a Reformation of the church. He had such a spicy way of expressing himself, but he was down-to-earth, at the same time.
Grandpa Lou:
It sounds like we’re discussing wine, now. Maybe I should have set this dream in a winery! Here, let’s share a cup. (Hands Pastor Martin a chalice. She drinks.)
Pastor Martin:
That’s beer!
Grandpa Lou:
Yes, it seemed more appropriate. We’re talking about Luther, right?
Pastor Martin:
Listen to this. He writes: “Christians are to be taught that if the pope knew the exactions of the indulgence preachers,”—if the pope knew how much they were charging people, in exchange for a promise that they wouldn’t be punished for their sins—“he would rather that the basilica of St. Peter were burned to ashes than built up with the skin, flesh, and bones of his sheep.”
Grandpa Lou:
Uh-huh.
Pastor Martin:
That’s gutsy. And he says, “ . . . the treasures of the gospel are nets with which one formerly fished for men of wealth. The treasures of indulgences are nets with which one now fishes for the wealth of men.” Clever, right? That’s Thesis 65 and 66.
Grandpa Lou:
You know, this is good beer. I was thirsty.
Pastor Martin:
And he’s really just warming up, in this document. This was a preacher who didn’t pull any punches. He got up there and critiqued his society. He asked the big questions. He offended people with the radical message that God’s love was given freely in Christ Jesus. He deconstructed the church of his time!
Grandpa Lou:
Hmmm. Envious, much?
Pastor Martin:
I guess so. Sometimes I want to be that kind of preacher. I ask myself, “What are the issues that are affecting people’s hearts? What will free them from fear, or lethargy, and get them to take risks in order to love their neighbor?”
Grandpa Lou:
Them, huh? And what do you answer yourself?
Pastor Martin:
Well, for issues, I guess it’s good old money, sex, and power.
Grandpa Lou:
Money. There’s a lot of fuss about that in this country just now. Folks are afraid about the suffering that happens when you don’t have enough—and this, in a nation that’s usually consumed by greed! You know, I’ve had to talk a lot about money, through the centuries, because people like to worship it, or use it as a power to control others.
Pastor Martin:
Yes. Power—there’s the controlling kind, and there’s the cooperative kind. So many politicians seem to prefer the controlling kind. I think that ordinary citizens are hurt and cynical. --War. Wiretapping. An epidemic of lies. Will the $700 billion Wall Street bailout be shared with the people who are suffering most right now? And what about reaching out to other countries? Less than [2/10ths of] one percent of our gross national income is currently spent on international development assistance.
Grandpa Lou:
Listen—there’s a letter that was written, recently, by thirty Christian leaders, from four continents. It wasn’t as strongly-worded as some of my prophetic pieces, but I kind of appreciate it. It said this:
[W]e have this against you, brothers and sisters, that . . . the Church from the United States has not also raised its voice in protest against the injustices that powerful governments and institutions are inflicting on the global South - injustices that afflict the lives and ecosystems of millions of people who, centuries after the proclamation of the Gospel, still have not seen the sweat of their brow turned into bread.
Pastor Martin:
That’s what I’m talking about! And then, in the middle of all of this, so much pain and upset about sex! We wonder how much we should try to control our sexuality, and what Law and Gospel have to say on the subject. We worry, we argue. Face it—the Church has been tying itself in knots about sex for millennia; I sometimes wonder how you—God, I mean you, not Grandpa Lou—are going to heal all that history.
Grandpa Lou:
So. Money, sex, and power. So much pain, and fear, and sin. What will free the people, and the animals, and the earth? What will you preach?
Pastor Martin:
I guess that, for me, the great thing about the Reformation is that somebody preached good news, and it began to change the world. Luther was just trying to follow Jesus, who preached that our whole lives should be turned around toward God and neighbor. Jesus showed God’s love to people who were unlovable; his life and death and resurrection showed that there are absolutely no barriers to divine love.
Grandpa Lou:
Grace!
Pastor Martin:
Grace. Each of us is loved and forgiven, before we even know we need forgiveness. Grace flows in and makes forgiveness and healing possible. It thaws what has been frozen. I believe that grace sets us free.
Grandpa Lou:
Luther wrote, “The law says, ‘Do this,’ and it is never done. Grace says, ‘believe in this,’ and everything is already done.”
Pastor Martin:
If grace has already done everything for us and in us, then we don’t have to be afraid anymore. We don’t have to be afraid of death, or evil, or sin, or even change. We don’t have to be afraid to take risks, to be generous, to speak and act. We don’t have to be stuck anymore.
Grandpa Lou:
If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
Pastor Martin:
So, I guess I have to preach what I always preach: trust. Trust in the all-sufficient love of God poured out for you and for the whole world. Trust, very simply, in the working of God’s grace within you. Trust, even when suffering is all that you can see; trust that God embraces all those who suffer. Trust that God works grace through you, often in spite of you! Live out your trust. Until your dying breath, only trust in grace. We all are beggars, and we can only trust.
Grandpa Lou:
. . . Do you have to dress up and carry a hammer to preach that?
Pastor Martin:
Well, I guess maybe not. You don’t think it would help?
Grandpa Lou:
I just don’t know if it’s necessary. Sleep on it, maybe, and see what you think. –Oh, yeah, you already are sleeping, aren’t you? Isn’t it dangerous to drool on a computer keyboard?!
Pastor Martin:
I think that’s just about enough from you! --I mean, Grandpa Lou, not God! Better drooling than dead.
Grandpa Lou:
Not from my angle. Now, how’s that sermon coming?
Pastor Martin:
I’m working on a new angle, myself. Something along the lines of “A Beer with the Big G.”
Grandpa Lou:
Good grief! I’ll leave you to it.
Pastor Martin:
Um, thanks. . . . Mmph . . . (Sleepily) So, let’s see . . . Martin Luther walks into a bar . . .
