Sermon for Reformation Sunday Year B
October 25, 2009
Texts:  Jeremiah 31:31-34; Psalm 46; Romans 3:19-28; John 8:31-36

Many of you are aware
That a couple of weeks ago
When I was on vacation,
John and I took a short trip to Quebec.

As is often our habit when we are traveling,
We took the time to visit some of the local churches.

One of the churches we visited
Was the Cathedral of Quebec.

We took the time to sit in the pews
And just reflect on our surroundings. 

At first, the architecture was awe inspiring,
Making me feel that I was definitely in the presence of God.

However, after pondering the architecture for a while,
It occurred to me
That based on theology as I understand it,
Something felt out of kilter.

The more I looked at the front of the church,
And the more I focused on the golden arcs framing the chancel,
The more unsettled I became.

The golden arcs leading to Christ
Seemed almost ladder like,
As if they were telling me
That I was to aspire to climb to Christ.

The cross at the very top of the ceiling
Really felt wrong to me.

I began to mutter about this to John,
And he gave me his usual penetrating comment
There must be a sermon in this somewhere.

I said to him,
I have to get some photos of this
Reformation Sunday is coming soon!

As physically beautiful as the Golden Arches of this cathedral are,
They do not portray the Christ,
I have come to know and love.

The Christ that I know, along with his cross,
Is firmly planted on the earth,
God with us.
Not elevated out of reach.

My theology says that God comes down to us
As Christ, the living Word.

When I picture Christ,
I see him in the middle of everyday people,
Teaching, preaching and healing.
I don’t see him and his cross, flying above us.

To me, the cross anchored on the earth
Reminds me that we meet God at the foot of the cross,
As God comes to us in the last places where we expect to find God.

The elevated cross at the top of a golden arch
For me, detracts from the grounding of the cross in the midst of us.

When we use the Nicene Creed in worship,
We say the words,
“For us and our salvation,
He came DOWN from heaven.”

The focus in the creed is Christ coming to us
Not our trying to figure out how to ascend to him.

Or as Paul wrote in the letter to the Romans
Which we heard as our Second Lesson this morning,
We “are now justified by his grace, as a gift,
Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus”

The good news of these words
Is that we are saved by the power of Christ’s death,
As a gift from God.

There is an echo of these words in John’s Gospel,
“Everyone who commits a sin is a slave to sin…
If the Son makes you free,
You will be free indeed.”

Most of us have heard these words in the past,
And some of us have heard them many times,
Maybe you even studied them in a Bible study.

But practically, what do they mean for you?

What does it look like that God comes down to us,
Rather than our having to climb our way up to God,
Or said another way what does it look like
That we are justified by faith, not by works. 

God comes to us in the Word—the hearing of Scripture,
In sermons, hymns, and the sacraments,
Creating faith in us.

With this faith,
God gives us salvation and forgiveness of sins with no strings attached. 

Think about it.
Without this assurance from God,
That our sins have been forgiven,
And that we are saved because of Jesus,
Life would be one constant worry
About whether or not we were pleasing God.

The kinds of questions that might plague you are questions like:

Was I nice enough to my neighbor?

Did I do enough for the church?

Did I tell enough people about Jesus

Am I a green belt, a brown belt or a black belt in church work?

Am I far enough up the ladder to heaven that Jesus will pull me in?

Without these words from Paul and John
Reassuring you that because of Jesus alone,
You have been saved,
You would be forced to think
That being saved was all up to you.

You and I would be standing on the floor of that cathedral in Quebec
Trying to figure out what we had to do to climb up to Christ.

But Saint Paul makes it abundantly clear
That what God does for us through Christ is pure gift.

First God gives us the gift of the Word,
And then through the hearing of that Word, gives us the gift of faith
And then through that faith, the gift of salvation.

All you have to do is to accept God’s gift
Pure grace!

In other words the only thing you have to do,
Is not reject God’s gift,
Or not walk away from the faith and salvation
That are freely given to you.

This gift transforms your life
Replaces worry, pain and angst with hope and joy.

You no longer HAVE to do anything.

But God’s love so transforms you,
That you want to love God
And you want to love your neighbor
And you want to do things for those around you.

There is a big difference between having to do something
And wanting to do something.

You know the difference between having to take a course
Because your job or your degree requires it
And wanting to taking a course because you love what you are studying.

This is the same difference that exists between helping your neighbor
Because God’s love for you
Has transformed the experience of helping someone,
Versus doing it because you believe
That it is the only way that you will get to heaven

On this Grace Giving Sunday,
As you ponder the act of committing to God
A promise of time, talents and money
In support of God’s mission in the church,
You may be wondering why you give
Or whether you really have to.

The simple answer is you don’t HAVE to give anything.
As long as there is a church here,
You can worship here and study the Bible here,
And your children and grandchildren can attend Sunday School,
Or Vacation Bible School,
Without ever you ever giving anything.

The pastor will come and visit you in the hospital
With no strings attached.

In this Christian Community services and resources
Are freely shared in God’s love.

And God’s love and forgiveness are freely given to you.

You don’t have to do anything or give anything to earn God’s love,
Or to buy a place in a Christian community.

The question is not “What do you HAVE to do?”
But rather “What do you WANT to do?”

Do you want to act as God’s hands in the world?
Do you want to share of the time and resources that have been given to you by God?
Do you consider giving money and time an act of discipleship?

The golden arches in the Quebec Cathedral were awe inspiring,
But they made me feel distant from Christ,
They didn’t help me think about discipleship,
Because they made Christ too remote to help me to think about being God’s hands.

I didn’t feel as if Christ were close enough for me to really be a disciple.

By contrast, I would like you to look at a picture of a stained glass window
That we observed in the Anglican Cathedral in Quebec,
Where we worshipped on Sunday morning.

It shows a picture of Christ’s ascension.
To ascend, he had to be present to begin with.

And I want you to look at his face
And the faces of his disciples.

Look at the mutual adoration. 

Christ loved the people he had been with while on earth
And they loved him in return.

From the looks on the people’s faces,
You can just see their devotion,
And imagine the discipleship
That they would be willing to commit to.

Many of them ended up going to the ends of the earth
To serve the Christ
Who had lived among them,
And loved them. 

This is the same Christ,
Whose death on the cross
Freely gives you forgiveness of sins.

This is the same Christ,
Whose love for you transforms your life.

This Christ does not order you to do something in return
Or something to pull yourself up to heaven by your bootstraps.

Rather this Christ
Begs you to “Come, follow me.”
You are given the opportunity to follow Christ as his disciple.

The good news for you
Is that God loves you.
God gives you everything,
Life, possessions, forgiveness and salvation.

God’s gifts are pure grace.

You don’t have to ask yourself,
What do I have to do to earn God’s love,
Or a place in this community.

These are freely given.

The question for you is:

As a disciple of Christ,
What do you WANT to do?

Amen