Reformation 2013

BASE HEADER LEVEL: 2

“The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the LORD,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31.31–34 NRSV)

Sounds nice, right? God’s Word will be so apparent that Sunday School teachers and pastors will be unemployed!

Well, we still have teachers and preachers and confirmation classes, so what went wrong? This new covenant that God entered into with God’s people of faith was supposed to be different.

If we hear the words of God thru the prophet Jeremiah, it sounds like a Reformation is taking place. There is a change taking place. There is an old covenant. In fact, there are many old covenants. And in our infinite capacity for creativity, we humans have been able to destroy all of them. Like for example: God’s people were bound in captivity to the Egyptians. God brought us out of captivity, promised to sustain us, literally parted the waters, and a few days into it, we were complaining. Why didn’t we stay in Egypt? God delivered food. We complained. God provided helpful rules for life together. We broke all ten. God did everything for us, doted on us like a spouse according to the Bible. God looked forward to anniversaries to celebrate our relationship. Put a roof over our heads. Celebrated with us. Mourned with us. So of course, we built ridiculous statues of cows and thanked them instead.

This is a one-sided relationship. Good time for a Reformation. Essentially, this was the same issue in Martin Luther’s time. Except then, God’s people had built so many rules and traditions and techniques for receiving God’s love that we had pretty much written God out of the equation. Who needs God when we can manufacture our own grace?

Time for some honesty.

“Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” They 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’?” Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8.31–36 NRSV)

Ah, how the truth sets us free. Notice that Jesus doesn’t say that truth is easy. It’s especially difficult with our short memories. If you wonder why our relationship with God is so one sided, listen to God’s people tell Jesus that they have never been slaves to anyone. Even though it’s the central story of God’s people.

This is like in a relationship when you might say, but I always do the dishes! And you never bring me flowers! I always have to wait for you. And as soon as you say it, you know it’s a lie.

As in any good relationship, the truth is not the easy way out, but it’s the only way out. God’s truth for us is simple: we have not held up our end of the covenant. We cannot hold up our end of the covenant. We can’t save ourselves, we can’t save our relationship with God or with anyone else on our own. We can’t figure this one out with golden cow statues, more resources, or any other of lies we tell ourselves.

We’ve busted our end of the promise of God so many times, that there’s really only one thing left. God.

And Jeremiah tells us that God is doing something new. That God’s Word will be so close to us that it would be part of us. That it would be written on our hearts. That it would go from being an external thing to an internal thing. Could Jeremiah know that God would take that more literally that anyone previously imagined? That God’s Word would come so close to us that it would wear our skin, eat food with us, suffer with us?

That God’s Word would not only be written on our hearts, but would have a human heart that would pull ours into God’s?

For the past year, young people in Confirmation class have been pondering the heart of God and God’s promises by studying the scriptures and searching their own hearts for the Reformation that is going on there.

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They’ll declare their faith — not once and for all, but with God’s help, they’ll declare the faith that comes from always being made new. From getting to the heart of our relationship with God which is God. From admitting that we can’t do it on our own. And it’s fitting that they’ll affirm this faith on Reformation Sunday.

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Reformation church is always being made new. Continually being made new. Reformation isn’t a gold star that Lutherans can wear on their caps to pray, “I thank you Lord, that I am not like those other Christians who couldn’t find their way out of the dark ages of the church.”

In fact, if we think about the Lutheran Reformation as something that “we” Lutherans did to finally get things back on track…we’ve missed the entire point. Reformation does not belong to Lutherans. Reformation belongs to God. It’s God’s constant work in us. On us. In Christ we are a new Creation.

God is not done with us yet. God has taken care of the Covenant thing. God even took care of our part. So remember all that creativity we used in breaking our end? Now it’s time to set that loose on the world. The faith in which were baptized and confirmed — the faith that we live in, and the faith that we die in — our faith in God sets us free.

Free to live among God’s faithful people. Free to feast of God’s word and meal at the table. Free to share with others the good news that we’ve received. Free to serve and to love like Jesus, even when it’s so hard. Free to strive for peace and justice in all the earth.

Free to live in an honest relationship with God and our neighbors, where we admit when we need Reformation, and celebrate when God unleashes it upon us and the world.