Proper 26 (C) - Reformation - October 30, 2022

Zacchaeus - flawed man called to be a reformer

Isaiah - Gomorrah - inhospitality

Highlight Global Lutheranism

We are unique, but also not

Luke - Zacchaeus - wanted to change his ways because of faith - Stanley Hauerwas - without faith, we do not know we are sinners - he definitely defrauded someone

we need faith to understand we are sinners, it is in our nature to call out others like the crowd

Elections - looks for people that self-reflect

Guten Morgen!

Und Alles Gute für den Reformationstag! Good morning and happy Reformation Day! The day that marks the occassion of an originally quaint seeming event (placing theses for academic discussion on the town’s bulletin board by Martin Luther) that blossomed into a global Lutheranism we have today. But he was only a part of the movement that was brewing for quite a while.

In the medieval history of reforming the church, there are three names we should know about - John Wycliffe (1300), John Huss (1400s), and Martin Luther (1500s). Just that spans three centuries of work and is illustrated on the wall of Bethlehem Chapel in Prague, where John Huss preached:

• One picture / medallion features Wycliffe with some flint stones – “Wycliffe struck the spark”;

• Another shows Hus with a lighted candle – “Hus lit up the candle”;

• Completing this a representation of Martin Luther holding aloft a torch – “Luther wielded the torch.”

An Englishman, a Bohemian, and a German, all intellectuals and men of certain privilege, carried the fire of reforming the institutional church out in the open, for it has been in the hearts of the people for a long time! And this work continues to this day, as some of us here in the Euroamerican context, we use this fire to become more affirming, accepting, and welcoming, in Latin America it has been a contributing tool of liberation as it helped bring about the recognition of independent nation states away from Catholic sanctioned colonialism, and for example in India, it gives voice and community to the Dalit, the untouchable caste. The same fire and God’s love and justice shining through it, but different emphases and utility.

That is why on this day I need to affirm that Lutheranism does not belong to us and we are not even its main pioneers anymore - while here, there are roughly 11 millions Lutherans and about the same number in Germany, there are almost 8 millions Lutherans in Ethiopia, 6.5 millions in Tanzania, 5.5 millions in Indonesia, about 4 millions each in India and Madagascar.... They are the current inheritors of the unquenchable fire as those are results of missions and more people are taking part in the confession rather than being simply born into it, meanwhile we have work to do to make the fire blazing again after decades of choking it in the West. We will loop back to it, but let’s look at our texts today.

In the case of our text from Isaiah, we are reminded once more why nobody quite chooses to be a prophet - can you imagine standing in front of other people and conveying THIS word of the LORD? Rulers, enough with your proforma empty sacrifices of any kind! Stop your endless festivals. Your prayers I will not receive, because your hands are full of blood! And then comes what the Lord wants the rulers to do instead:

Revised Common Lectionary 10-30-2022: Proper 26

16Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;

remove the evil of your doings

from before my eyes;

cease to do evil,

17learn to do good;

seek justice,

rescue the oppressed,

defend the orphan,

plead for the widow.

18Come now, let us argue it out,

says the LORD:

though your sins are like scarlet,

they shall be like snow;

though they are red like crimson,

they shall become like wool.

Do you think we would be well received? A feast-like spread laid before us? Yeeeeeeeeah, probably not. Being chased out of the community with torches more like!

And Luther’s wonderings have met similar response by the church of the time - perhaps the most important among them was his exhortation against the commercialization of the indulgences, documents sanctified by the pope that have the power to forgive years in purgatory, where most souls allegedly go to be refined for acceptance into heaven, for you or those dear to you in exchange for a donation. Luther pointed out something important as soon as thesis number 6:

The pope cannot remit any guilt, except by declaring and showing that it has been remitted by God. And then continues later in theses 36-38:

Any truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without indulgence letters.Any true Christian, whether living or dead, participates in all the blessings of Christ and the church; and this is granted him by God, even without indulgence letters.Nevertheless, papal remission and blessing are by no means to be disregarded, for they are, as I have said (Thesis 6), the proclamation of the divine remission.

And that, thesis 41, Papal indulgences must be preached with caution, lest people erroneously think that they are preferable to other good works of love.

I hope you better understand why they wanted to give Luther the prophet welcome - indulgences, just like sacrifices, were a big business and more than that, it may serve as what Marx seen as the consequence of heaven dangling on the horizon religion, the opium of the masses for societal control, even in the face of suffering and injustice. It’s like understanding that the CEO of Nestlé REALLY does not want water to be seen as an essential human right, because his company makes a ton of dough selling it in tiny overpriced bottles with expired spring water permits. Oops.

In the same sense, Luther is saying that God’s forgiveness is our birthright that doesn’t have to be bought from anyone, but sought and received from God directly! Oh no, what do we do with all those indulgence letters, now that they are all written and ready to go?

And then how does the story about Zacchaeus fits into all this? I’d begin by pointing out that Luther is more like Zachaeus than we care to admit. They are both a part of the systems of oppression - Zacchaeus as a rich chief tax collector and Luther as a budding theologian and an ordained Franciscan friar. And they both recognized their guilt in the face of Jesus and believing in Him set them free and gave them a new purpose. All the while others saw them as sinners beyond redemption, not worthy of God’s love.

See, I think that there is a large distinction here - Just like the crowd in Luke or the opponents of Luther, just about anybody can call out others as sinners or transgressors, most often than not in a rather hypocritical way.

However, I believe it takes a living faith to recognize oneself as a sinner in need of repentance. That just doesn’t happen out of the blue, but it is the work of God! Pointing to other people’s fault is easy and it can be done all day long every day. But to say, as Zacchaeus:

Revised Common Lectionary 10-30-2022: Proper 26

Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much

Or as Martin Luther said on his death bed:

"We are beggars. This is true."

To humble ourselves and ask for God’s help is beyond ourselves, it is an impulse beyond this world!

And the good news is that God stands at ready to help, just like Jesus was hurrying Zacchaeus to come down for he was intending to stay at his house. It doesn’t require the purchase of animal sacrifices at the temple and it sure does not require the purchase of indulgence letters. God’s forgiveness stands beyond our church structures, the economy, the society, the world… That is the root of our protestant faith, it frees us and gives us a new purpose, so that we can do good works of love not because we have to, but because we get to in recognition of our sinfulness and liberation at the same time. And that is also what makes it a truly global movement - it is not reliant on one culture or another, on any specific church structure, or any societal model, but rather on the at the same time rousing and freeing fresh look at the gospel. In the West, we have work to do, because we try to choke the unquenchable fire of the gospel with our wilful self-indulgence and cultural complacency as I think we need to once again acknowledge the urgent need of the world for the liberating gospel and reach out into the community with it showing God’s love and care for all people! Where to begin?

Why not with what God through Isaiah recommends:

Revised Common Lectionary 10-30-2022: Proper 26

17learn to do good;

seek justice,

rescue the oppressed,

defend the orphan,

plead for the widow.

For we have enough in Christ, Luther says, and thus we can labor much for our neighbor for we are subject to none and servants of all. Amen.