Semper Ecclesia Reformada

Reformation Sunday is a reminder that whenever we dare to look ahead, we would be wise to also look back.  There is great wisdom to be gained in remembering what those who have preceded us in faith went through in order to lay the foundation for the church as we know it today.  We are wise as we seek to reclaim our roots and find our grounding, to hear again of what others endured as they followed their hearts in following God. 

Reformation Sunday is a day set aside in the church year to recognize and acknowledge those men and women who heard the call of God and challenged the existing church and its leaders in a pivotal time in world history.  It is a day set aside to remember those who dared to seek change at a time when the powers of the church resisted change; those who in good conscience sought to reform the church at a time when the church was, as all human institutions are capable of becoming, corrupted by sin and evil.

Change within the church--whether within the local congregation or the church universal--never comes easily. We can so easily blur the line between the sacred, the absolutes that God sets before us as the ways of life and faith with the ways that religious authorities declare to be the correct ways, at times the only ways, to live.  And we see increasingly in these days, the damage that unwavering fundamentalism and blind allegiance can cause among the faithful.

But change the church must, as the world and the lives of those who make up the church, the living body of Christ in the world, change.  When the church refuses to change, it becomes stale and spiritually dead.  We go through the motions of being faithful without the Spirit in our midst, much like a machine running without oil to lubricate it or water to cool it.

The church in medieval times had grown stale and stagnant.  In those days, the church had become too comfortable.  It had lost its prophetic edge, the ability to be the conscience of the community.  We have seen throughout church history, that many times, the church flourishes and is its most faithful when it is a prophetic and at times, an oppressed minority rather than a righteous and comfortable majority.  In becoming the official state religion, the church had allowed itself to be controlled and manipulated by the government officials who sought to influence or even become high-ranking church officials.  The boundaries between church and state had dissolved.   The challenge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which we see throughout history moving to separate the wheat from the chaff among the faithful, had become blunted and dulled.

 Also at that time, the universities and the scholars of the Renaissance began to challenge the church's ultimate authority over knowledge and truth.  The church had existed as the unchallenged authority in areas other than faith and spiritual development; areas in which, we see now, it was not qualified to be the authority.  Increasing secular scholarship challenged this.  For centuries, priests and clergy were the well-read and at times, the only literate people in many communities.  They had become the authorities, the answer men for many others.  Having the capacity to read set the clergy above and apart from others in ways that the church at that time exploited.  But with the invention of the printing press and the growing movement toward literacy came a new challenge to the church's power.  For as others learned to read and study, they began to grow independent of the clergy for knowledge.

Also, in those days, the church was challenged on its own teachings and authority from within.  At that time, indulgences were official papers sold by the church which promised God's grace and release from purgatory for relatives and friends already dead.  If you paid enough money, you were given a paper assuring you of your beloved’s salvation for all time.  It is outrageous and criminal for anyone to suggest that God's grace has a price tag.  And so, the church was confronted by Martin Luther, John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli and others to change its ways; to renounce the evil that was within and to remove it.  The church was called on to reform itself and to be renewed.

And so, on All Hallow's Eve, October 31st, 1517, (496 years ago), Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany.  These were theses which Luther was prepared to debate and defend.

This was an action which changed Luther's life dramatically, but more importantly, it was an action which confronted the church at a time when it had lost its sense of direction.  It was an action that eventually led to a split in the church, but also forced the church to be reformed.

The great German theologian, Karl Barth, writing in the 20th Century, proclaims the need for Semper Ecclesia Reformada, Latin for the church must forever be reformed.  Luther challenged the church to reform itself then and we have benefited by the efforts of others.  We are challenged today to reform, remake, reshape the church, with the blessing of the Holy Spirit, to do the work we believe Jesus would have us do in his name.

One of the words used for “worship” is “liturgy.”  "Liturgy" is defined as the "work of the people” and all Christian worship is based on Isaiah 6:1-8.  In these verses, the basis for worship as we know it, Isaiah approaches God, admits his unworthiness, praises God and seeks to know what God calls him to do.  The Reformers sought to return to the Biblical roots of worship, to recreate worship which followed that model as its basis.

James White, professor of liturgics, writes that the Reformation coincided with the growing literacy, a movement that was accelerated by the technology of a printing press.  Words did not matter to those worshipping in a Latin mass, since most did not understand them.  Consequently, there was an emphasis on visual symbols--the breaking of the bread being quite visible, the ringing of bells at critical times in worship to alert worshippers of a particularly sacred moment, and the use of incense.  But with increasing literacy, changes took place.  Speaking in the native language was central to all of the Reformation liturgies.  The Reformers wanted to make God accessible and what better way than to use the language the people used with one another.  The reading of Scripture and the sermon, an exposition of Scripture, came to replace the sacrament of Communion as the central part of worship.

Worshipping in a native language made unnecessary some parts of liturgy.  If one could hear and understand the prayers of consecration, what need was there to get the people's attention by ringing a bell at the time of consecration?  If all the people could offer praises and prayers to God, what was the need for incense, which was seen by many as the means of lifting prayers to God in heaven?

Innovative church music, which involved the entire congregation, began.   Two of our first three hymns today came directly from the time of the Reformation.  Reformers took seriously the challenge of the Psalmists to “sing to the Lord a new song."

We hear the call for reform now--Semper Ecclesia Reformada--as time and people have changed dramatically.  In Biblical times, lay people were, compared to now, almost universally illiterate.  In Reformation times, people were becoming increasingly literate.  Now we are in the information age, where computers and the internet enable people to become skilled and knowledgeable in ways which amaze us.  Surely as we live in this the “information age,” the church must reform itself to proclaim’s Christ’s truths in new ways to an educated population who have learned to think critically and who base their knowledge on “scientific methods of proof.”

So how does the community of faith, the body of Christ reach out now?  Semper Ecclesia Reformada.  The church must continue to change as the creation of God continues and the revelation of God is ongoing.  We must learn to sing a new song to the Lord.  We must be reformed and renewed by the Holy Spirit before we reach out in the Lord's name.

In these days, can we dare to open ourselves to hear the calls of the modern day Martin Luthers?   Hear the calls of those in this day and age who dare to challenge the status quo.    In these days, rather than posting lists of items for discussion and debate on the doors of our churches, modern day Reformers use the internet and social media.   Earlier in the summer, Rachel Held Evans, blogger and modern day church observer and critic, posted on her blog on the CNN.com website, a provocative article entitled “Why Millenials Are Leaving the Church.”   Millenials are that age group from 18-35 in our modern culture.  Her article provoked a rich and spirited response from the loving critics as well as the not so loving critics of the church.  

Rachel Held Evans writes these challenging and provocative words:

“Time and again, the assumption among Christian leaders, and evangelical leaders in particular, is that the key to drawing twenty-somethings back to church is simply to make a few style updates – edgier music, more casual services, a coffee shop in the fellowship hall, a pastor who wears skinny jeans, an updated Web site that includes online giving.

But here’s the thing: Having been advertised to our whole lives, we millennials have highly sensitive BS meters, and we’re not easily impressed with consumerism or performances.

In fact, I would argue that church-as-performance is just one more thing driving us away from the church, and evangelicalism in particular.

What millennials really want from the church is not a change in style but a change in substance.

We want an end to the culture wars. We want a truce between science and faith. We want to be known for what we stand for, not what we are against.

We want to ask questions that don’t have predetermined answers.

We want churches that emphasize an allegiance to the kingdom of God over an allegiance to a single political party or a single nation.

We want our LGBT friends to feel truly welcome in our faith communities.

We want to be challenged to live lives of holiness, not only when it comes to sex, but also when it comes to living simply, caring for the poor and oppressed, pursuing reconciliation, engaging in creation care and becoming peacemakers.

You can’t hand us a latte and then go about business as usual and expect us to stick around. We’re not leaving the church because we don’t find the cool factor there; we’re leaving the church because we don’t find Jesus there.

Like every generation before ours and every generation after, deep down, we long for Jesus.”

I hope that Rachel Evans’ words prompt a reaction among us something like that experienced by church leaders on All Saints Day, 1517.   Her words are provocative, challenging and engaging.   To some of her critiques, I believe that we here at the Spring Glen Church, Hamden CT USA, have done well in being responsive.   To some, the denomination we are a part, the UCC, also has been pro-active.   But her words deserve further reflection and conversation in their well-intended effort to speak to us.

Many of the points raised here by Rachel Evans were also given voice last week at the CT Conference Annual Meeting.   Our keynote speaker, the Rev. Mike Piazza, gave a spirited speech in which he called on modern day churches to take Jesus seriously; to act like Jesus in service to others and to love like Jesus in being inclusive to all. 

The church exists to proclaim that which is eternal and everlasting in a creative, yet consistent way to a changing and sinful world.   On this day when we remember and celebrate the Reformation, the call to change, let us not forget to affirm also the eternal truths that sustain and inspire us all.   That God’s love and care for us is demonstrated in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.   That God has created the world, created each one of us as an individual and special being.   That God continues to create and in the process, call us to change.   And that the Holy Spirit continues to move within and amongst us, comforting us in times of need and challenging us in times of comfort.

May this day be one that serves to embolden us to trust and believe in this good news, now and forever.     Amen.