SUNDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2023 | AFTER PENTECOST - Proper 25 (A) - Reformation Day and Stewardship

Notes

Reformation Day texts:

Romans 3:19-28

19Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20For “no human being will be justified in his sight” by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin. 21But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, 22the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, 23since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; 24they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; 26it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus. 27Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. By what law? By that of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.

John 8:31-36

31Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; 32and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” 33They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?” 34Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. 35The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. 36So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”

News:

At least 16 people dead, sources say, as a ‘person of interest’ is being sought in two shootings in Lewiston, Maine

https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/25/us/lewiston-maine-shooting/index.html

Things to talk about:

Luther’s Alien word

World vs. kingdom of God

Reformation continues

Matthew: Jesus summarizes the law and then demands answers about whose son is the Messiah

Leviticus: source of Jesus mini-lecture: we ought to imitate God’s justice

Romans: tie it to Alien word

John: nobody is beyond reproach, sin is prevalent among all

Children’s moment idea:

Do you see my stole? It’s got lutheran rose on it? Do you know why?

It is to commemorate Reformation, more than 500 years ago, where a bunch of people chose to live in truth rather than comfort and the protestant church was born - not just the catholic church any more!

Do you know Martin Luther? He is the founder, he is the one that disagreed about paying money for God’s favor and believed that salvation is a free gift.

Let us pray:

Good morning,

Happy Reformation slash Stewardship Sunday!

It has been 506 years since Martin Luther pinned his debate piece to the church door - primarily about a topic as old as the oldest religion that is promising favor with God in exchange for money. The leaders of the time, however, did not want to debate, they only sought compliance, even if it was at the cost of the truth! Martin Luther, the academic he was, just wanted to debate the theology behind selling indulgences shaving off years in purgatory, but instead found himself at the forefront of reformation that led to the creation of the protestant faith leading to the evangelical church (or as we call it in the U. S. Lutheran).

By the time of Martin Luther, the Roman church was firmly established as an international organization, a religious empire so to speak. And they needed money, so eventually they had to turn the lofty and pious idea of indulgences, piecemealed extra blessings created by saints, into a commodity - 'When a coin in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs” (Sobald der Pfennig im Kasten klingt, die Selle aus dem Fegfeuer spring). These two things apart - giving to the church for its ministry and granting forgiveness - nobody really had a problem with that, not even Luther! But once they started to mix, well, they’ve done it now!

Never let anybody tell you that you have to pay your way to God and to the kingdom of God - why would God Almighty need your money? Our generosity should spring out of our glad heart in thankfulness for what God does through God’s saints, in and out of the church. Generosity of time and space, generosity of gracious leadership, generosity of relationship, generosity of truth telling, wellness, and also money, of course. And none of that out of fear! We have enough of that in capitalism, where hardly anyone works out of joy and conviction, but most just try to survive.

But of course, not to do things out of fear, that means to have at least a degree of hope and security…So what is it?

Of course, our readings today hint at that:

For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law. (Romans)

So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” (John)

Nothing too surprising, am I right? But if you have been a Lutheran for a while or at least hung around them long enough, you know that plenty in our confession has an edge - we are saints AND sinners.

There is an edge to “justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law” and that is how it may come about to happen. We talk a lot about the agent of this event, the Holy Spirit and her power to change and influence so many things, including ourselves.

Adapted from “The Alien Word” by Peter Goldman

Martin Luther believed that “the only way to know God is through the suffering and violence of the crucifixion,” the scandal of the incarnate God on the cross. In the spirit of John’s Gospel, Jesus is the sacrificial lamb, the scapegoat - not that God really needs a payment for sin, but it is ultimately a demonstration of Jesus living what he was teaching - in response to human violence, he turns the other cheek!

And faith, for Luther, “is not simply assent to a doctrinal creed but a life-changing gift from God.”

“Faith is first of all a way of approaching God

through the scripture promises.

Faith is required because we do not know God through his simple

presence, but rather through the anguish of his absence—our own lack of

divine love.” We are radically alienated from God and the Holy Spirit’s mediation of the word is necessary, so that we can actually HEAR God’s word.

The word that is alien for us and only in the violence of the crucifixion it is revealed to us, because violence is our lived experience and thus we understand it. That is the edge to the free gift of salvation.

We are unfortunately surrounded by violence - around the world as the ongoing invasion of Ukraine or the Hamas-Israel conflict or in our backyard like yet another mass shooting massacre in Lewiston, Maine, where 18 people were killed by a lone gunman, who was able to legally acquire several guns, even though he was known to be hearing voices and was evaluated for erratic behavior as he made threats against his Army base last month. Once again, the gun lobby has more blood on their hands. Violence is a common human experience - be it bullying, harassment, road rage, racism, …

Please allow me to reiterate: “The meaning of the crucifixion is the love of God for humanity. But the only language we (truly) understand is that of violence.” The Christian revelation has a rational content that can be merely stated, but we humans are so blinded that only through the narrative of the Passion we can understand it. “Jesus passively accepts the violence of the cross in order to teach us the possibility of personal resurrection,” even though we are surrounded by violence and many of us are indeed victims, just like Jesus was.

I am glad that God did that, but…if you think about it…how tragic it is that we need it this way? It definitely proves God’s point as if saying: “y’all need Jesus!” And the good news is that we got him, the whole world got him because we have all fallen short of God’s glory and we cannot match up, in Luther’s words, our foolish wisdom against God’s wisdom. All of our “what ifs”, “maybe if”, “what about” are hanging on that cross - we need to jump out of that cycle of violence, say no to more violence in the world, and stand firm alongside Jesus, the Prince of Peace. As it is stressed by Pope Francis in Joy of the Gospel - authentic religion is not purely a personal affair or a preparation of the souls for heaven, because “God wants God’s children to be happy in this world, too.” Thanks be to God for that!

Let it then also inform our stewardship and generosity - it is not just about sustainability and some preservation of heritage, but living into God’s desire for ALL God’s children to be happy and whole - free from violence, oppression, and discrimination in any form. Jesus made way for it once and for all, we just need to grasp it and make it our own. Amen.

Blessing over pledges:

The proper use of wealth

God of abundance, you have poured out a large measure of earthly blessings: our table is richly furnished, our cup overflows, and we live in safety and security. Teach us to set our hearts on you and not these material blessings. Keep us from becoming captivated by prosperity, and grant us in wisdom to use your blessings to your glory and to the service of humankind; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Congregational ministries

Almighty God, your Holy Spirit equips the church with a rich variety of gifts. Grant that we may use them to bear witness to Christ in lives that are built on faith and love. Make us ready to live the gospel and eager to do your will, so that we may share with all your church in the joys of eternal life; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.