Reformation 2006

Jeremiah 31:31-34

Psalm 46:1-11

John 8:31-36

Romans 3:19-28

Who was it that said, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself?” Oh, yeah, FDR…back in the midst of the Great Depression.

I haven’t heard that line lately. Perhaps I’ve seen too many political ads this week. Looks like we should be afraid of terrorists, tax increases, not enough homeland security, a weak missile defense shield, immigrants from Mexico. We should be afraid of what will happen if the other guy gets elected!! As if we aren’t already afraid of what is happening now.

This past week the threat of North Korea is in the news, I heard a politician talking about how all terrorists are now hiding in Iran and it is only a matter of time before we go kick them out. And watch out! Other folks are starting to work on weapons of mass destruction. My favorite t-shirt this year says, “Hey, we found the weapons of mass destruction!” and it was a map of the USA.

That is fear on a global scale.

But let’s bring it closer to home. Look at what’s happening in Newton at Maytag. Over 260 jobs cut right before Christmas. That can make a person question their own job security.

What would happen if? There is local fear of one another. Some folks are afraid of campus town, choosing to avoid it. There is mistrust between the university and the community. There is fear of those new folks coming to town. Our own Latino population is increasing.

But even closer to home is the fears we carry around inside us. Fearful of our health deteriorating, our relationships falling apart, our own emotional instability. We are afraid of losing it…of letting go…of trusting in someone or something else.

We are caught up in cosmic fear, it permeates our everyday lives. At some level Halloween is about coming face to face with our fears. Dating back some 2000 years to harvest festivals, Halloween, was a day when the dead are close by. Bonfires were lit to keep ghosts and other scary creatures away. The Church turned this to All Hallows’ Eve, the day before All Saints’ Day. People would visit cemeteries and pray for loved ones buried there. In Europe, people would hold parades and dress as saints, angels, or devils and parade around their churches.

In America, we took in all these traditions and put them together in a night of making fun of our fears, fear of the dark, the devil, ghosts and goblins.

Maybe we should be dressing as nuclear warheads, or terrorists, or politicians!!

In Martin Luther’s time, the early 1500’s, actors would go from village to village putting on morality plays. They would dress as devils and put on skits showing the fires of hell for those who did not believe in God.

Martin was strongly influenced by this. In the days when literacy rates were too low to even count, most people learned about God in this way: a scary God who would condemn you to hell. In a country struggling with poverty, hunger, plagues and other illness…this type of God played on people’s base fears.

No wonder Martin Luther spent so many years afraid of God. He pictured God as vengeful, demanding, fear inducing. And, try as he might, Martin could never please a God like this.

Eventually, Martin came to see a different face of God. One of a loving parent, forgiving, gracious, merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

Martin learned of this loving God by studying Scripture, taking in passages like those from today…”God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

“Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea…” “If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” And “…the righteousness of God has been disclosed…through the faith of Jesus Christ”. We continue to translate that last bit incorrectly. It is the faith OF Jesus Christ that saves us, not our faith IN Jesus Christ.

Martin changed the church from being a sanctuary for frightened people into being a courageous and creative community. God isn’t about adding to our fear…the church shouldn’t be about the business of making us more afraid of the world.

Martin worked on re-forming the church…so that we might be aware of the power of God’s love. Not God’s revenge. For fear ends when we step out of the cycle of violence, revenge, when we start to forgive and reach out to one another and the world around us.

Living in fear isolates us. It makes us nervous. It breaks down our trust in those people out there and those people closest to us and even our trust in ourselves. Living in faith brings us together. It centers us. It builds up trusting communities and leads to openness and self-confidence.

Living in fear builds walls, barriers, boundaries. Living in faith breaks down walls, barriers, boundaries. Living in faith opens us up to learn from new experiences, new people, and new ideas.

Living in fear keeps us stuck in the past. Living in fear sets up that pie-in-sky, by-and- by- dreaming.

Living in faith lets us live today, in the present: fully aware of the world around us. Open to how God is working now! Today! In this place!

Yeah, we screw up. We still have fears, we still make mistakes. But we do them boldly. Luther’s line: “Sin boldly, but believe even more boldly”

And we forgive, not to forget…we are not God. But we forgive because it stops the cycle of violence and pain. We forgive because it stops the fear. We forgive because it allows us to be more fully present in this day.

We are still a Reforming church. The Reformation wasn’t a one time event. It is ongoing. We still are being re-formed each day in the image of a loving God. God is still re-forming this community each day into a corner of the kingdom of God. God is still using us to re-form our world into a world of peace, not fear.

Today, on Reformation Sunday we are challenged to picture a world without fear at it’s center. We are challenged to picture our nation without fear motivating us to build walls and shields. We are challenged to picture our lives free from the fear of failure and brokenness. We are challenged to picture our church as a place of no-fear. Only acceptance and support and love.

Let’s go back to the Psalm. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore WE will not fear, through the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; through its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult…The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge:

Therefore we will not fear. We will not fear. By the grace of God. Amen.