On this Reformation Sunday, I am drawn to a place where I previously served. Tabor Lutheran in Philadelphia has a set of beautiful, heavy wooden doors that are supposedly exact replicas of the church doors in Wittenberg, Germany. Wittenberg is the historic place where, according to the popular story, the Reformation began with Luther’s posting of 95 theses. I have never been to Wittenberg and have never seen the church there. But let me assure you, those double doors down in Philadelphia are gorgeous. They feature several carved figures and depict the famous Latin slogan: “Ecclesia semper reformanda” – the church always needs to be reformed!
That slogan – the church always needs to be reformed – is one of my favorite quotes of all time. My administrative assistant knows that too, because she has to deal with my urge to tweak and re-form the bulletin every single week. “Let’s change this prayer!” “Let’s use a different Benediction!” And so on.
As I thought about it more deeply this week, it occurred to me that it’s by no means only the church. Most institutions need reforming – or they became ineffective and stale. We could run the table here. Let’s see… Our democratic system could use a few tweaks to function better, do you agree? How many of us love the political ads showered on us every day at this unholy time? Or the by now billion dollars spent on them? And how about our school system? If you ask me, less would be more. There appears to be too much of everything – too much curriculum, too much homework, too many assignments, too many clubs – and many kids are already stressed out in 7th grade, if not before. Or what about our prison system… Does it need reforming or are we perfectly happy with the status quo? Which is: we lock up far more people than any other democratic nation in the world! And how about health care? Now, that conversation would be a fun can of worms to open… let’s keep that can closed this morning! My point is this: you go through all the major institutions in our society, you look at them more closely and you could probably say every single time: this needs a serious reform!
Why is that? Why do we constantly need reforms?
One of the biggest reasons is best recognized in a device that was invented 500 years ago, around the time of the Reformation. It was in the famous city of Venice where the first useable glass mirrors were produced and sold, one of the most useful inventions of all time. If we look more closely into one of our modern-day mirrors – and we all have a few of them in our homes – we see the reason why almost all institutions need constant reforming: it’s because of us, it’s because of people, it’s because people learn how to play the system, it’s because people corrupt it – constantly. It’s impossible for any system or law to predict all the ways in which one could possibly abuse it. You provide a welfare rule to take care of the poorest of society and it becomes a life saver for some people – and for others… a disincentive! You come up with rules that give people second chances – and some of them turn their lives around while others – abuse it to become even more corrupt! There are no perfect systems ever. And the truth is that while it’s probably good to keep on reforming the institutions that we have and need, we, the people, are the ones who need reform most desperately. Today, on Reformation Sunday, that’s what we need to focus on.
How can we be reformed? The gospel for this Sunday gives us a clue. The first and most important step would be to acknowledge that we are not free actually – but in many ways slaves to our own sinful nature and habits. The first step would be to look in that mirror and say: there is a wonderful person before me, a beloved person – but also a person who is part of the problem. That person is not always free That’s the truth!
In the 8th chapter of John, Jesus speaks to people in his community who believed that they were not part of the problem. They tended to identify other groups in society as culprits and were proud of their own, wonderful heritage. The deception is very apparent, even funny in this passage. Jesus’ contemporaries tell him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone.” Perhaps you could forgive them for having such short memory. People tend to have short memories on some things, but any Jewish person with rudimentary knowledge of their own history would have known about their nation’s beginnings as slaves in Egypt. And anyone with eyes to see would have noticed that their current situation was not exactly marked by freedom. They lived under Roman occupation. One is tempted to accuse John of staging this dialogue. People can’t possibly go to this degree of denial, can they? People can’t possibly be so blind to reality, can they? The answer is: yes, we can!
Here are a few examples from recent times:
Officials or engineers at a large automaker convince themselves that it’s OK to install software that cheats on vehicle emissions; shareholders lose their investments, consumers are betrayed, and 11 million cars spew destructive gases around the world.
A smoker goes for a hike, decides that she’s careful enough with her cigarettes to light up, and accidentally starts a forest fire that destroys tens of thousands of acres, hundreds lose their homes, and six firefighters die.
A driver tells himself that it’s OK for him to text while driving, gets distracted, hits another car, and kills three kids.
The truth that will set us free is often hard to see and accept, but the reward is greater than the pain of hearing the uncomfortable truth. Are there some things in our lives right now that are hard to acknowledge but could have the potential to set us free?
Let that question ruminate for a while in your soul and allow the Spirit of God to shed light on your favorite deceptions. We are people of the Reformation and our number one goal should be to allow God to reform our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Easier said than done, but the main work is done not by us and our willpower, but by the one who leads us into the truth and enables us to change. If we trust in Him, we don’t need to deceive ourselves, or deny, or pretend, but we can be honest and mindful and free. Let the reforming begin – in our hearts!
Amen.