Reformation Read

Reformation Sunday is soon upon us...but what does that even mean?

John 8:31-36
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.  Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.  So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

VDMA...Verbum Domini Manet en Aeternum...This is the motto of the Lutheran Reformation and it means "The Word if the Lord Endures Forever."  This symbol was inscribed on swords, cannons and armor used by the Smalcaldic League which was formed to be a mutual defense organization, against the Catholic princes trying to overthrow the Reformation in the various territories of Germany that had embraced it. It remains at the center of the Lutheran Reformation even to today.

You might see that as a question on Jeopardy one day, but what does that have to do with you?

In case you missed it,it's Reformation Sunday.  That's right, this is the weekend we commemorate Reformation Sunday.

You will note I say "commemorate" not celebrate . While the division in the visible church here on Earth was necessary to set some theological wrongs right it is still not exactly something we "celebrate".  It is sort of like in a divorce when one partner needs to divorce the other because of abuse.  You may recognize it as an essential thing for the safety of the spouse, but it is still a tragic event that you remember, but hardly fondly.

Now, technically Reformation Day is on October 31st, but no one wants to compete with Halloween so it is usually celebrated on the last Sunday of October.

Maybe the history of the Smalcaldic League is the deep end o' the history book...Let's start small and work up...so what is Reformation Day?  Well we'll need a bit of history:

Let's Start with Martin Luther
Once there was a German monk.  He wasn't an important or high ranking monk, nor was he from an important or high ranking monastic order.  He had been sent to the backwater town of Wittenberg to help a local prince start a university. While serving as president of the University he had his students engage in an active exchange of ideas through regularly scheduled debates. One topic Dr. Luther felt strongly about was called "indulgences" and Martin took it upon himself to pose some potential debate topics as part of the open invitation to discus this.  Being a bit of a workaholic he presented 95 total theses having to do with the theology of indulgences and salvation which he nailed to the church door.

Indulgence
An indulgence, or "Plenary Indulgence" is when the Pope sells forgiveness of sins for someone either living or dead that guarantees them either to get out of Hell or get out earlier from Purgatory.  In Luther's day the Roman Catholic church was a wee bit strapped for cash (too many home improvement projects) and needed to raise some fast dough. So they had the ultimate raffle sale. They sold indulgences.

This did not set well with Luther, a New Testament scholar, who had read enough St. Paul to know that salvation does not come from coins or popes but from the grace of Jesus Christ through faith. This he knew was the truth that sets people free. So Luther's 95 Theses laid out, in no uncertain terns, how the whole notion of indulgences was wrong.

The Split
To compress a long span of time and a great many events... despite his best effort to avoid it, the church in Luther's part of Germany split from the Roman Catholic church. This was not what Martin had hoped for as he simply wanted to fix things, not take them apart. But seeing no other way the Lutherans split from the Catholic church, mainly over the notion that salvation is freely offered to any who believe in Jesus Christ.  Over the next few years the German reformers fixed a number of other faulty theologies like priests not marrying, the perpetual virginity and reverence (read "worship") of Mary, closed communion, Biblical illiteracy, the cult of saints, Latin worship services (though they still had them in addition to German ones), and many others, but the primary issue had to do with the understanding of salvation, the other stuff could have been worked around.

At some point the Smalcadic League had to actually fight the Catholic backed military forces to be allowed to continue to worship this way, but by the time the Roman Catholic church moved against them it was already too late and the theology of the Reformation was already spreading. On Reformation Sunday we remember that we can never stop being the Reforming church, and that the truth he stood up for is our truth too, and it is the truth that sets us free.

Fast forward about (exactly 499) five hundred years. Now things are different.  In fact very different. Instead of  trying to kill each other we have learned to pray with and for each other.  The Roman branch of the One Holy Church has recognized that the things Luther said about salvation were accurate, as was his criticism at the time.  They're still miffed about the split part but we seem to be getting past it.  We agree about salvation and while we may not be able to set aside (nor should we) our doctrinal differences we now are ready to sit across the family dinner table (metaphorically) with our brother Roman Catholic Christians and share in a common understanding of our contentedness as members of the Body of Christ, the one family of God that all call upon the Father, through the Son, by the Holy Spirit together. The Pope is even in attendance at the annual Reformation Commemoration at the Lutheran World Council of Churches in Sweden, for the first time in history.  Unity without Uniformity comes only through being unified by the Gospel of Jesus Christ which transcends human wisdom and foolishness.
    There are rumblings that one day in the not distant future we may be able to sit at the same literal table and share communion.  This does not negate our doctrinal differences but it does point to a future where those who have been pardoned by the grace on the cross learn to live in peace with one another.

That would be a fine Reform if it happened.