Rev. Dr. Devin Strong

Spirit of Peace Lutheran Church

Everywhere else in America, Tuesday was Halloween, but in the Lutheran Church it was Reformation Day. (We celebrate it in worship on the last Sunday in October.) On October 31, 1517,  Priest and Professor Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the door of the Castle Church in Whittenburg. Germany.

 Back then, the church door of the cathedral in town was something of a public bulletin board. Luther’s “theses” were arguments calling for change in church policy. By posting them there, he was throwing down the gauntlet, asking for a public debate on the issues, Professor Luther got what he wanted. What followed was a church-wide battle that resulted in his excommunication from the church, his followers launching a new church in his name (something that he never wanted!), and a movement that reshaped all of religion in the Western church.

Martin Luther’s biggest problem with the church of his day was the sale of indulgences that allowed believers to cancel their sins and those of their loved ones and buy their way into heaven with a donation of the appropriate size! To be fair to our Roman Catholic sisters and brothers, the modern Roman Catholic Church has made many changes and comes nowhere close to selling indulgences today. Indeed, if the church then looked like it does today, there might never have been a Reformation.

I am of two minds about the Reformation. I grieve the split of the church into so many disparate, and sometimes opposing, pieces. Think about how much more the 29 different congregations in Richmond Hill could accomplish for God’s kingdom if we could all work together on the same goals and missional priorities, to say nothing about what Christians across the country and the world could do if we were truly together.

One of the things that I appreciate about the Roman Catholic Church is that it is so large that Catholics who are like-minded politically or socially can gather together in corners of the Church. There are parts of the Catholic Church that quietly support the ordination of women or of gay and lesbian people and of course, other Catholics who don’t, but they are all able to coexist as Catholics. Too often when we Protestants don’t like the direction of the Church, the preaching of the pastor, or the color of the carpet, we pick up our marbles and go to the congregation across the street.

We are like the man who was stranded on a desert island for years. When he was finally rescued, he couldn’t wait to show his rescuers the life that he had built for himself. He showed them the hut that he lived in and the hut where he worshipped. They asked him about the third hut that he built, and he explained, “Oh, that’s where I used to go to church!” I grieve the splits in God’s church.

At the same time, I am humbled to be part of a denomination that was willing to reform its practices to try to get closer to Jesus. Reform was needed then, and it’s still needed today. The whole church needs to be constantly evaluating its habits to see if they are conduits or obstacles to God’s grace. We need to regularly update the techniques and the media that who use to reach the next generation. We need to toss everything that does not promote God’s kingdom, even when it’s comfortable. We are called to be a reforming church.

God Loves You, And So Do I!