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A God of Surprises

Grace and peace to you from God, our Creator, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, who abides in each of us.

On the last Sunday of October, every year, we celebrate the anniversary of the Reformation. The anniversary remembers October 31, 1517, when Martin Luther posted his Ninety-five Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. At the time, Luther posted the theses in hopes of sparking a dialogue about ways to begin reform in the church. Unfortunately, the leadership of the church at the time didn’t see it that way and division occurred. But, that action did spark a series of reforms in our theological understanding of God’s grace, worship practices, the notion of offering scripture in the language of the people and much more. And today starts a year-long celebration in the Lutheran church worldwide, and in other denominations, as well, including the Catholic church to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the reformation that will culminate on Oct. 31, 2017. In fact, tomorrow, October 31, Pope Francis will be in Sweden to participate in a joint ecumenical commemoration of the start of the Reformation, together with leaders of the Lutheran World Federation and representatives of other Christian Churches. This is a big deal, not because of what happened 500 years ago, but because since that time, the reforms have not stopped. Oh, I know, at times it seems like the church never changes, but when we talk about the reformations of the 16th-century we cannot, and should not, speak of them as a one-time event. Reformation is ongoing. The church of Jesus Christ always stands in need of reform. As it was 500 years ago, and as it is today, God’s word is alive, speaks truth, it surprises with grace and it sets us free. This is what we are celebrating.

Our Gospel text today speaks of all this when Jesus says, "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free" (8:31-32). Now when we hear those words today, like the Pharisees in Jesus’ day, we most likely think, “What is Jesus talking about? We are free. In case you haven’t noticed Jesus, we live in America, the land of the free.” But Jesus wasn’t talking about personal independence or autonomy. No, Jesus was talking about the freedom we get when we are in relationship. You see, the Greek word we translate as “continue” in John 8:31 is meno, and literally this word is about being in an “ongoing relationship with” Jesus, or God’s Word. Jesus is saying when we stay in relationship with him, then we will be free because our freedom comes from God’s truth, which is Jesus. We are freed from sin through Jesus. In other words, we can’t do this alone. As hard as we try, as much as we would like to be autonomous, Jesus says, our true freedom is on our relationship with Jesus Christ. Through our relationship with Christ we discover God’s surprising grace and freedom from sin.

Luther had been taught that God was holy and that he needed to literally fear this God who expected righteousness and punished those who could not meet that standard. Luther agonized over such a God. Why would God create us and allow us to sin only to punish us for being sinners? But, through his struggles, and in his willingness to stay in relationship with Jesus, God’s Word and God’s people, Luther discovered the freedom and love Jesus came to share. He discovered that God’s righteousness isn’t a standard God sets for us. No, it is a gift God gives us. As one scholar notes, “Righteousness isn’t a requirement but a promise.” Jesus didn’t die so God could become a loving and forgiving God. No, Jesus died to show us how loving and forgiving God already was, and is. The God Luther finally discovered on his faith journey was filled with surprising grace, surprising love and surprising forgiveness.

So, what does this mean for us today? Today we are challenged to find way to stay in this healthy, live-giving relationship. And to do this, we are challenged to live out our baptismal vows. In a few minutes we will hear our four confirmands affirm their baptismal vows, I pray each of us reaffirms our vows, as well. Here are those vows. We will continue to live among God’s faithful people, to hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s supper, to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed, to serve all people, following the example of Jesus, and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth. The way we stay in relationship with Jesus and come to know this surpassing grace and freedom from sin is by living out these vows. These vows proclaim we will seek to be in relationship with each other and with God as we seek to come to know God more and more each day. This is God’s desire for us.

Although many in the church, and the world for that matter, want us to believe God is a God of wrath and judgment, and God has the right to be that God, instead, we begin a year-long celebration today that reminds us we have a God filled with surprising grace who seeks to be in relationship with us, as we are, so that we might come to know true freedom though being in relationship with each other

So, Julia, Thomas, (Talin) Rose and Thomas, my prayer for you today is that you don’t see this a graduation that sends away from this this community, but that as you commit to your baptismal vows today, that you will promise live out Jesus words and that you stay in relationship here. As Jesus said, if you continue in my word, you will be free. That freedom will be found here in this faith community..

But I don’t want you to just take my word for it. You know we are in the midst of our fall stewardship appeal and each week we have heard from various members about what it means to be a part of Salem and Id like you to hear from four more today. (Video: Video # 5 BJ, Anika, Lorel, Pat)

This is what it means to remain in a faith community. For BJ, one of the great things about being in community is to share his gift of music and to be blessed when he hears the congregation follow along with joy. For Anika this community is about being able to build relationships with others. For Lorel, this community brings support and love for her family and her, and for Pat it is the joy of knowing that everyone is welcome at the Lord’s Table. Our freedom comes through God’s surprising grace and love that we discover as we remain in relationship. And the really awesome thing about this is that God wants us in this relationship just as we are, both sinner and saint.

Yes we have a God of surprises. Our God surprises us with gifts of love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness. I think this is something worth celebrating, I hope you all join me this year as we celebrate this gift of the Reformation. Amen.

Tags: Sermons