What Does Reformation Look Like?

Text: Matthew 23:1-12
Theme: “What Does Reformation Look Like?”
Reformation/All Saints Sunday
October 30, 2011
First Presbyterian Church
Denton, Texas
Rev. Paul R. Dunklau

IN THE NAME OF JESUS

1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
5 “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries[a] wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7 they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.
8 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

On this day, together with Christians throughout the world, we observe Reformation and All Saints Sunday. To bring us up to speed, Reformation Day recalls the momentous events that began when Martin Luther, a Roman Catholic monk turned university professor, posted what has come to be known as the “95 Theses” on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. His thoughts on what it means to repent and be forgiven of one’s sins started a large upheaval in Christianity. He posted his theses on October 31, 1517 which was the eve of All Saints Day. All Saints Day, traditionally held on November 1, began hundreds of years before Luther’s action in Wittenberg. In the year 609, Pope Boniface IV consecrated the pantheon in Rome, Italy to the Virgin Mary and all the martyrs. This, historically, is the origin of All Saints Day. In Mexico, the day is called “Dia de los Muertos” or “Day of the Dead.” Customs include visiting the graves of loved ones to clean up the surrounding area, place a bouquet of flowers, or light as candle. A lovely tradition, observed in our worship this morning, includes the naming of the saints who have passed from the church militant to the church triumphant in the last calendar year. We also sing the hymn “For All the Saints Who From Their Labors Rest”, a piece that musically captures the emphases of the day.

I have two short Scripture passages to share with you. The first one shapes our understanding of the Reformation. The second illustrates All Saints. If you’d like, turn to Ephesians 2:8 (p. 1225) in your pew Bible. What a powerful statement this is and what great relief it provides. The apostle Paul writes: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God… .” We did not earn our way, pay our way, work our way, decide our way, choose our way, or even will our way into God’s favor. Quite to the contrary, we were dead in our trespasses and sins. God had every right to forsake us forever. But here we are today – living, breathing, worshipping, praying, singing, thanking God once more for that amazing grace!

The second short Bible selection, referring to All Saints, is also from the New Testament. It’s Hebrews 12:1-2 (p. 1263). After spending an entire chapter referencing many of God’s saints who lived and died in the faith, the writer opens a new chapter with these mighty words: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Following the sermon, we will name those saints, known and loved by this congregation, who have died in the past year. Mindful of the verse from Hebrews and even though they are no longer with us in the earthly life we now live, we are still – to use the language of Scripture – “surrounded” by them.
This particular Sunday is a wonderful occasion to ask and answer the following question: what does reformation look like? At the heart of the word “reformation” is the word “reform” which means “change.” When it comes to our relationship with God, both as individuals and as a church, what would change look like?

Reformation/All Saints Sunday is prime time to ask that question. If the events of the 16th century Reformation mean anything today, then we will look like a people who trust in God alone. We toss out our moral resume’s; we leave behind our endless search for “meaning”, and we put ourselves at the mercy of God as He is revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. With whatever happens in this life, we know – first, last, and always – that God is sovereign; God is gracious toward us; God loves us. After all, He sent His own Son, born of a woman and born under the law, to redeem us, to buy us back. He did for us what we could not do for ourselves.

I talked to an individual this week who almost lost a child to illness. It’s hard to think of a worse pain to befall a parent than the loss of a child. This parent, a Christian, prayed an angry prayer to God one night. She prayed: “Dear God, do you have any idea what it’s like to face the prospect of losing as child that you love?” All of a sudden, it dawned. Indeed, God DOES know the prospect of losing a child. God did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all.

And reform would also look like something else. It would look like a person and a church that remembers and celebrates those who have gone before us. On this Reformation/All Saints Sunday, for some reason or another, I remember my Uncle Harold. He was a school principal in Kansas City, Missouri for nearly all of his adult life. He had hair as white as snow. He loved to fish and he taught me how to tie a hook on the end of a line. He taught me how to set the hook when that Bluegill or Crappie would go for the worm or minnow. He also loved the Lord his God with all his heart and soul and mind and strength. One winter evening, long ago when I was a boy, Uncle Harold came in the back door of Grandpa’s house for Sunday dinner in Arlington, Nebraska. He was singing that old Dean Martin song, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.” He was that kind of guy. Remember those people of faith who molded and shaped who you are today – in all the unique, meaningful, and even funny ways in which they did it.

What does reformation look like? It also looks like people who take God seriously. God is not one among many subjects for study. God is not an afterthought. God is not someone that “we’ve taken out of public schools.” I mean, really: we can’t take God out of anything. God is not someone hoping an hour of our precious schedule each week. God is not the means to our ends. Take the great reformers of church history – Martin Luther and John Calvin, to name just two – who threw their entire lives into the God question. These men – and other men and women like them – were people of Scripture. They studied Scripture; they memorized Scripture; they attempted to live it out; they sought to teach it. In fact, they endeavored to bring the Scriptures, God’s Word, back to the people. Martin Luther, for example, translated the Bible into German which was the language of his people. No longer would people have to go to church and hear everything in Latin – a language they couldn’t understand. The Bible was not – and is not! – the exclusive possession of priests or popes. It is for God’s people. It is nothing short of amazing to me that the printing press was invented by Gutenberg right about the time that the Bible was written in the language of the people. As a result, people could study, learn, read, and enjoy Scripture on their own. The Bible was no longer hid away in a monastery or cathedral. It was disseminated far and wide!

Since then, modern technology has given us far more than a new printing press. It has given us satellite, wireless, and broadband communication. It has given us an internet and iphones and ipads and kindles and nooks. You can read the Bible on your computer, on your laptop, on your phone. Passages can be cut and pasted into PowerPoint software and then projected onto a screen. There are applications that can send you Scripture readings for each day. Yet, despite all these wonderful advancements, we live in a culture increasingly illiterate when it comes to Biblical basics. People see the Bible as a book of ancient – translate: a boring -- wisdom, or as a rule book, a how-to book, or a manual of religious instruction, and all of it is of the “take-it-or-leave-it” variety. Oh, my friends, it’s so much more, wonderfully more, than that. But yet, if you ask people what justification is they say it’s a reason for what they’re doing or what they did. If you ask what redemption is, they say it’s something you do with a coupon. If you talk about some weighty Biblical terms such as incarnation or sanctification, they look at you as if you’re from another planet. Talk about discipleship and they think you’re a fanatic. As a Christian, you can have a “spiritual” life without the Bible, but not for very long. That spirit of yours needs to be fed. And what better food can there be than the living and abiding Word of God?

Finally, reformation looks like a people who see Jesus not as an important historical figure. Instead, they see Him as a daily and constant companion, guide, teacher, and mentor. Truly reformed people are ones who do not depend on what denominations – their own or others -- do or decide. As Luther once remarked, “Popes and councils have often erred.” They do not trust the religious establishment – current or otherwise. They do not blindly follow the dictates of pastors, priests, popes, presbyteries, synods, general assemblies, or even best-selling Christian authors.

Instead, they follow Jesus Christ – from cross to crown. And, in the following, they learn a little something about where true greatness lies. I’m talking about humble service to others.

In the past few months and longer, we’ve heard of various protests going on in our country. I think of two: the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street. In today’s Gospel reading, it looks as though Jesus and His followers occupying Jerusalem. There He stands, during Passover week and just days before His execution, speaking to the crowds as if He had a bullhorn in His hands. He dresses down the religious establishment, calls them on the carpet, and exposes their hypocrisy. Best of all, He give us his own glimpse of what real reformation looks like. Jesus says: “You are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Saved by the grace of God and surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, we are free to lead lives of humble service. This is what reformation looks like.

Amen.