The Faith of the Reformers
Reformation Sunday + Cornerstone Dedication; Matthew 22:34-40Today we mark a unique confluence of events: the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, and the dedication of the cornerstone at First Presbyterian’s new building.I’ve thought about this day for a long time, all the way back to 1983, when I was a student at the University of Michigan. The school sponsored a special lecture series marking the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s birth. For the occasion, the university invited a visiting scholar who was very Luther-like. His name is Hans Küng. He is a Swiss, Roman Catholic theologian who, like Luther, had gotten himself into trouble with Church authorities. In 1979, he was formally censured by the Vatican for denying traditional doctrines such as the infallibility of the Pope, and banned from teaching in Catholic schools. These events provoked an international controversy, and formed the context leading to his popularity. I was fortunate to be a student in Dr. Küng’s class. At the time of the class, I was applying to graduate school, and knew that I would be answering God’s call to full-time Christian ministry. I imagined that if I survived the challenges of life and the rigors of the pastorate, then there would come a day in the latter portion of my ministry that we would be celebrating the 500th anniversary not of Luther’s birth, but the event of his adult life for which he is best remembered: the nailing of the 95 Theses upon the door of Wittenberg Cathedral, the symbolic act that launched the Protestant Reformation. It’s no exaggeration to say that I’ve been looking forward to this day all my ministry, just as I realize this is a day which, for quite different reasons, some of you have been looking forward to for twenty years.This weekend, Protestant Christians all around the world are marking this event that was a harbinger for greater freedom of conscience, and religious freedom in general. The Reformation that was launched by Martin Luther was extended and organized by John Calvin in Switzerland. Through the leadership of Calvin’s disciple John Knox, the governance of the Presbyterian Church was established in Scotland, with profound benefits for the development of our democratic form of government in the United States, and throughout the Western world.In retrospect, and in sympathy with our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters, the reformers were not perfect in every respect. Luther’s frustration and impatience with the Jewish people for not converting to Christianity led him to advocate some very harsh and unjust anti-Semitic practices.[1] John Calvin, too, was frustrated by the beliefs and practices of other Christian sects, leading to his approval of the execution of a pastor who did not believe in the trinity, a sad chapter often referred to as “the Servetus Affair,” after Michael Servetus, the executed pastor.[2] The reformers displayed reactionary zeal for their newly rediscovered doctrine of salvation by grace through faith, a belief so vehement that it sometimes resulted in behavior so unChristlike that it damages our reputation yet today.In this light, it is a particularly good coincidence that the revised common lectionary suggests for this day the gospel text I have read. The question that the lawyer put to Jesus was aimed at getting his sense of priority about 600+ laws you might codify from the Hebrew Testament. This approach to the law was one in which the average man and woman had little hope of fulfilling. Only the religious elite could claim superior obedience, and therefore superior favor with God. This system of law has the power to reinforce evil and deliver death to the people among which it is practiced. It was this evil and death that Paul had in mind when, speaking of his former life as a Pharisee, he called it all “rubbish.”[3] It was this evil and death that Jesus had in mind, when he said to the Pharisees, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others.”[4]We listen to the story of Jesus and the Pharisees, and we hear that to grasp the letter of the law too tightly is to risk sacrificing its spirit. Among all the religious laws and traditions we have received, we need a way of sorting out which laws are most important. No longer must we live by the limited ethic of the hundreds of laws and codes we cannot possibly remember. When faced with more competing religious claims than you can keep track of, remember that charity is more important than doctrine. Jesus says, “You shall love the Lord your god with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the greatest and first commandment. A second is like it, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”NOTES[1] Noam E. Marans, “On Luther and his lies,” The Christian Century, 11 Oct. 2017, https://www.christiancentury.org/article/critical-essay/on-luther-and-lies, accessed 27 Oct. 2017.[2] http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-12/servetus-affair.html accessed 25 Oct. 2017.[3] Philippians 3:4b-9.[4] Matthew 23:23.