This month marks the 501st anniversary of the Reformation. Last year it was all Reformation all the time. It was our year!<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sjlc-elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Bishop-Eaton.jpg\")
News, media and the public paid attention. Hundreds of Reformation-themed events took place. Documentaries were produced and joyful liturgies with our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters were held. I have lost track of the number of \u201cFlat Luther\u201d photos that were taken. We walked with a spring in our step. We read Martin Luther\u2019s Small Catechism together. Even Lutherans in parts of the U.S. where Lutherans are not dense were noticed!<\/p>\n
But the spotlight has dimmed, the public and the media have turned their eye to other things. Reformation 500 swag has taken up residence in the backs of closets and the bottoms of file drawers. And, I\u2019d wager, our Small Catechisms sit alone and unopened on shelves and apps. This really is Oct. 32.<\/p>\n
But, dear church, now is the time for us to refocus our attention on the gospel of our freedom, forgiveness and reconciliation given to us through God\u2019s indescribable act of love in the death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. Take out your Small Catechism and take a fresh look at Luther\u2019s clear and concise exposition of the faith.<\/p>\n
To start, turn to Luther\u2019s explanation of the second article of the Apostles\u2019 Creed. In beautifully spare language, he lays out the truth about God and human nature: \u201cI believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father in eternity, and also a true human being, born of the virgin Mary, is my Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two things jump out\u2014the God of all creation, infinite and omnipotent, set aside all of that to become finite and helpless as the Christ child and the broken one on the cross, and this Jesus is Lord. There are many things that claim our attention and allegiance, but none of these can save us and none of these is Lord.<\/p>\n
Luther continues: \u201cHe has redeemed me, a lost and condemned human being.\u201d He had a conservative and realistic assessment of humankind. Yes, we affirm with the psalmist that we are \u201cfearfully and wonderfully made\u201d (Psalm 139:14), but it is also clear that we are seriously and terminally broken. We are a rebellious lot constantly rising up against God\u2019s good and gracious will and trying to set ourselves up as savior. This never ends well. And while there is pain in acknowledging that we are sinful, there is also freedom in confessing that truth.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the thing: we have to get past a kind of Billy Joel theology in which God sings \u201cI Like You Just the Way You Are\u201d to the realization that God does not like us just the way we are and in infinite love has done something about it. In Christ, Luther wrote, God has \u201cpurchased and freed me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver but with his holy, precious blood and with his innocent suffering and death.\u201d<\/p>\n
Here is pure grace. It is God\u2019s action, not ours. We don\u2019t have to\u2014in fact, we cannot\u2014do anything to save ourselves or the world. God has done it.<\/p>\n
So now what? So now we live, really live, in freedom and in service. Luther wrote: \u201cHe has done all this in order that I may belong
\nto him, live under him in his kingdom, and serve him in eternal righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as he is risen from the dead and lives and rules eternally.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is what the world needs to see in us and hear from us\u2014not a vindictive, capricious god who must be appeased, nor a purveyor of therapeutic moralism, but an all-powerful God who comes to us in humble human form to set us free from our murderous rebellion so we may be whole, holy and wholly devoted to joyful service.<\/p>\n
This is most certainly true.<\/p>\n
The Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton<\/em> \u201cSo Now What?\u201d This month marks the 501st anniversary of the Reformation. Last year it was all Reformation all the time. It was our year! News, media and the public paid attention. Hundreds of Reformation-themed events took place. Documentaries were produced and joyful liturgies with our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters were held. I have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":5718,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[81,1],"tags":[539,538,519,1126],"yoast_head":"\n
\nPresiding Bishop
\nEvangelical Lutheran Church in America<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"