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October 25, 2009 A Lutheran Pep RallyIf we were to play "I Spy" this morning and I said, "I spy something red," it might be a rather long game. From where I stand, I see a lot of red. In fact, I see so much red that if were in Alabama, someone might think we were at a Crimson Tide football game. If we were in Detroit, someone might think we were at a Red Wings hockey game. If we were in Boston, someone might think we were at a Red Sox baseball game. This is what people do in order to cheer on their favorite team... they wear the color that represents that team. We use this concept in the church, too; we use color to represent certain things. The color red represents the Holy Spirit. Besides today, when do we use the color red? When our eighth graders are confirmed and claim the faith into which they were baptized, they wear red. On Pentecost, the day we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit to the whole Christian church, the color of the day is red. When someone is ordained as a pastor of Christ's church, he or she promises to lead faithfully by the power of the Holy Spirit... the color of the day is, you guessed it, red. We wear red today because we believe that the reforms started on October 31, 1517 were spirit-led, too. That's the day that a monk and a professor by the name of Martin Luther pounded the 95 Thesis on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Looking back on these events, historians say that was the beginning of the movement known as the Reformation. On Reformation Day in the church... the day we celebrate our unique heritage as Lutheran Christians... not only are the banners and the paraments and the flowers red... but, by tradition, we often wear red, too. I suppose we ALL wear red on THIS day (as opposed to other days associated with the Spirit) because, like fans wear a team's color, Reformation Day is a bit of a Lutheran pep rally. After three years in Minnesota... where everyone is Lutheran and milk is a spice... I know this is out of character for many of us. And yet, why not celebrate our unique contribution to the whole Christian church? I believe that all of the various traditions have something to contribute and something to learn from each other. Honestly, I think our strongest asset... what we have to offer... is our theology. Lutherans have a beautiful way of reading and interpreting and understanding the living Word of God. Personally, I can't claim any credit for this... I was born into this tradition. But as I grew to understand what it means to claim the Lutheran way of seeing and hearing and understanding and living... I began to realize that this tradition really does fit me... what I think... what I believe. For example, like Luther, I believe that, at its core, the Bible is a story of a God who stubbornly refuses to give up on us. We are saved not because of anything we do or ARE, but because of who God is... or as Luther put it, we are saved by grace through faith. I also believe that we are simultaneously saint and sinner. We are made in the image and likeness of God and therefore have worth and dignity and value... and we are washed in forgiveness in the waters of baptism... yet we will never get everything right. Being honest about this takes a lot of pressure off... we never have to pretend to be perfect; we admit right up front that we're not. Like Luther, I also believe in the priesthood of all believers. I believe that God's work is in OUR hands. Luther really was all about this. He wrote the Large and the Small Catechism as a way for parents to teach their kids at home. He translated the Bible into a language everyone could read. Luther took God's work out of specialized "mission centers" such as the monastery and gave it to US to be lived in daily life. This is the reason we're all in red today... this is the reason the color of the Spirit isn't limited to my stole and the altar paraments and the floral arrangement. You're wearing red... those of you who remembered... because our tradition says that the Holy Spirit lives in and among you. The color of the Spirit is red. The Spirit is often described in other ways, too. The Holy Spirit is often compared to a dove... or fire... or wind. I suppose those are good analogies of the Spirit because, as John tells us, "it blows where it wills." No one can predict the path a dove will take... or fire will spread...or the wind will blow. Likewise, it's hard to predict which way the Spirit will urge us. Church leaders are now saying that the church of the 21st Century is more like the early church (the church of the 1 - 3 rd centuries) than the church of the 18-20th Centuries... probably because we can't consider ourselves the dominant culture anymore. Again, because the Spirit is mighty unpredictable, we'll see which way the wind blows in the next several years. Regardless, we as Lutheran Christians have a lot to share with the whole Christian community... and with the communities in which we live. Like Luther, I am passionate enough about the church I love and the faith I hold dear that I want everyone to hear and understand. What will it take for that to happen? Certainly, I don't have all the answers. I simply know that God refuses to give up on us and... for good or for ill... God continues to put God's work in our hands. We, who are forever imperfect... destined to be both saint and sinner, are given the sacred task of carrying on the role of the disciples begun so long ago. Perhaps it is a good thing we have a pep rally once a year to get "fired up" for such a daunting task. Certainly, I also know that the Spirit... that unpredictable wind... will continue to move in and among us. May we be able to discern which way it is prodding us so that our voice may be heard among all the other voices in our world... not so that the name of Lutheran will be upheld, but so that people may come to the table fully aware that they are broken somehow and never perfect, and yet loved by a God who refuses to give up on them... and on the world in which they live. Gracious God, today we are especially grateful for your stubborn refusal to give up on us and our world, for your unconditional love, and for the gracious gift of the Holy Spirit. We pray that this Spirit will inspire us... as it did the reformers we celebrate today... to do your work with our hands and to make your name known throughout the world. Amen. |
St. Paul's Lutheran Church § 824 N. Lewis § Waukegan IL |
