“Reformation Sunday: Seeing the Spirit of Change” ~ Psalm 34: 1-8 & Mark 10: 46-52
October 27, 2024 ~ Northwood United ~ Rev. G. Scott Turnbrook
What do you see? A minister and an economist, two friends from university had gone camping. After making camp and enjoying a nice campfire, they went to sleep. A few hours later, the economist woke up needing to go to the bathroom. When she returned, she woke the minister and asked “look up at the sky and tell me what you see”. The minister replied, “I can see millions of stars”. So, what does that tell you? The minister thought for a minute and she said. “Well... astronomically speaking, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and billions of planets. Time wise, it appears that it is now about 3:15 am. And theologically, it reminds me of how awesome God is and how small we are in comparison”. The economist replied: hmm... It tells me, that I need a more reliable friend. Our tent has been stolen!
What do you see? As we begin working with this morning’s text and our theme of Reformation Sunday, I would like to suggest that this morning’s text is not merely about the restoration of Bartimaeus’ ocular ability. Vision meant A LOT to Jesus. In Luke’s account of gospel of Jesus, he announces that Jesus’ entire mission was the giving of sight to the blind. And to be very clear, Bartimeus was the ONLY person on the scene who saw the Messiah! Calling Jesus “Son of David”, he declares Jesus to be the Messiah, and the crowd (all those who were blind to what Jesus’ mission was) dismiss Bartimeus as a mere beggar. So, who was blind to the truth and who could see? How was Jesus helping people ‘see’ the way? If we can get past this text being more than mere eyesight; perhaps we can ponder its real intent to help us see what God hopes we will: Jesus in our midst; the work of the transforming Holy Spirit; God’s presence then, now and into the future.
This is Reformation Sunday: a day with roots all the way back to that fateful historical beginning remembered as October 31, 1517. It wasn’t that long ago that we celebrated the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther, a young priest, nailing his 95 theses of discontent directed to the Pope to the castle door of Wittenberg, Germany. What Luther did, was prompt a shift that would transform the church forever! His 95 Theses contained a number of questions and propositions for debate by the church. What, historians think, is that he was trying to correct the church that had gone off course, not create a whole new division of the Protesting/ Protestant church. We won’t go through all 95 thesis points in their entirety; however, there were some main categories that are important for us to be aware of. After all it is the legacy of reformers like Luther and others throughout Europe that would eventually birth Protestant churches like our beloved United Church of Canada.
Now, to be fair to Luther, the 95 Theses were written in a remarkably humble and academic tone: a questioning rather than accusing language. But his questions were not received well! The first two of his theses contained the central idea, that God intended believers to seek repentance and that faith alone (not one’s deeds) would lead to salvation. You might recall last Sunday to our conversation on the balance of faith and works in our connection with God? Luther was upholding the teachings of 4th Century Church Father St. Augustine who emphasized the primacy of the Bible rather than Church officials as the ultimate religious authority. Augustine had been teaching that humans could not reach salvation by their own acts, but that it was only God who could bestow salvation by grace. But as they do, things went astray. By the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church shifted to teaching salvation as being possible through “good works,” or works of righteousness, that pleased God. Things were going off course! Luther, in his theses, was upholding Augustine’s central beliefs, which went back over a millennia.
In Luther’s following 93 theses, we see them as being supportive of the first two. Luther criticized the practice of selling indulgences. Indulgences were the Catholic Church’s practice providing absolution to sinners and it had become increasingly corrupt. It was sold by the church! Yes, you heard that correctly. One could purchase, for a fee, a good relationship with God (salvation) for their past sins and the church would guarantee their right relationship with God! Indulgence-selling had been banned in Germany, but the practice continued throughout Europe. What infuriated Luther was a friar, named Johann Tetzel, had begun to sell indulgences again in Germany. Friar Tetzel was seeking raise funds to renovate St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. What Luther called: “St. Peter’s scandal” was very accusing! “Why does not the pope, whose wealth today is greater than the wealth of the richest Crassus, build the basilica of St. Peter with his own money rather than with the money of poor believers?” One year later, on November 9, 1518 the pope condemned Luther’s writings as conflicting with the teachings of the Church. Following several papal commissions, Luther is excommunicated from the Catholic Church. He returns to Wittenberg in 1521, but it is too late. The reform movement initiated by Luther’s writings had grown throughout Europe through the many Reformers doing similar work. It was no longer a purely theological cause; it had become political. In 1525 Luther married Katherine of Bora, a former nun and they had five children. To be fair, Luther may not be considered, entirely, as a lovable saint. At the end of his life, he turned strident in his views. He pronounced the pope the Antichrist, advocated for the expulsion of Jews from the empire and condoned polygamy based on the practice of the patriarchs in the Old Testament. Luther died at the age of 62 in 1546.
So many shifts and changes have continued to follow the Protestant Reformation. Some historians trace many of the major features of Western culture as having roots to this time: freedom of religion, freedom of conscience, the dignity of the individual, and political democracy. And influences continue with the creation of many different Protestant faiths throughout the world. Today, Protestantism is expanding in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, while continuing its strong presence in Europe and North America.
We are amidst a sea of change, and I wonder (as we think back to the gospel text of Bartimaeus), if we can actually can see the changes that are occurring. Or if we might be blind to them? Our church has been experiencing an evolving process of change. And while we (might) want it to stay the same, it too is continuing to change and reform even today. Even in our brief 100 years as a denomination, we have seen rapid changes in the ways we are ‘church’. There have been phases of birth, growth, and decline. In 1925, when our denomination came into being there was an enormous sense of optimism in Canada. The largest denomination in the country was birthed. Buildings were renamed “United” from their former denominational names and the influence of this denomination on Canada cannot be overstated. Following the World War 2 Baby Boom, churches were being built in every city and town. The dream of having a United Church nearby each school was nearly met. Since the 60’s, we have seen a constant decline. Yet there still are over 2,500 Communities of Faith throughout the country with 1 million members. So much has changed! Our music has changed a lot: Many recall the blue hymn book “The Hymnary” produced in 1930. It was the standard for four decades. In 1971, a join venture with the Anglican church produced “The Hymn Book of he Anglican and United Church”. In 1988, “Songs for a Gospel People” and in 1996 “Voices United” that most of us are familiar today. But change continued. In 2007, “More Voices: A Supplement to Voices United” and the soon to be released “Then Let Us Sing” coming to churches in 2025. The way we dress has changed with ministers in academic robes and stoles; choirs in lavish robes and people in their ‘Sunday best’ to more comfortable and familiar attire. We have run schools and hospitals and mission boats. We have offered ministry overseas and throughout all parts of Canada. We are, indeed, people of the reformation. Can you see the changes? Can you see Jesus amidst it all?
One of the strongest messages, I think, to us on Reformation Sunday is to learn from our roots. We are a people who have experienced God as constantly changing, reforming and shaping how we will be as a community of faith. I know that deep down in our humanity we always want things to stay the same; however, this morning, we are embraced that God’s very nature is change. And if change is God’s nature, then we must (try) to be open to being God’s changing people. And this openness (or lack of it) will be the defining feature for the church into the next generation and the next centenary. Pierre Burton challenged the church a generation ago for providing “A Comfortable Pew” and not being a changing institution to move us ahead. Will we rest on the comforts of the past or will we see the reforming nature of the church that is being called of us? It was interesting that, of the entire crowd that gathered around Jesus, only the ‘supposedly’ blind member (Bartimaeus) was the one who saw him, named him, and called for his help. I wonder how we are being called to be the church in new ways? I worry that we will stick to the old ways that give us comfort and satiation? I worry: if we aren’t growing; if we aren’t changing; if we aren’t a reflection of Jesus…I worry, then are we reforming…or are we falling into the traps of old?
I guess only history will tell the tale IF we can continue in the steps of the reformed church or if we have become a static body who no longer can see the living Christ in our midst.
Amen.