If you are a Lutheran Pastor, chances are you have preached a sermon on Reformation Sunday: the last Sunday in October in which the Lutheran Church(s) commemorates and celebrates its reforming heritage. Well, said Sunday is just a few days away.
I could go into an in-depth description of the liturgical, theological and social details of "Reformation Sunday," but if you are reading this blog it's probably because you are a Lutheran Pastor and know all of that stuff anyway.
Instead, you'll find some informal thoughts on preaching on Reformation Sunday: some of the challenges and pitfalls, as well as some of the real benefits and opportunities. If that interests you, keep reading! If it doesn't, I'm surprised you clicked on the blog-post and got this far...
'Going Into a Ditch' When Preaching on Reformation Sunday
As I put my sermon together this week through contemplation, prayer and study I have to recognize that it's very easy to make one of two mistakes. These mistakes are like skidding off the road and into a ditch while driving. And just as an over-correction at the wheel can make you miss one ditch and end up in the other, the same thing can happen in a sermon.
Ditch #1: Being a Lutheran Cheerleader and "Insider."
Many people have told me that Reformation Day sermons in the past were used as an opportunity to talk about how great it was that we weren't Catholic anymore. ("those darn Catholics and their crazy ways...") I wouldn't be surprised if there are still sermons like that out there. Reformation Day has also been used as a chance to talk about how great Lutherans and our amazingly quaint, yet classy culture are. What a great time to make the usual "jello" and Garrison Keillor jokes? I'll always remember the "Reformation" sermon I heard in seminary, given by a visiting bishop. He barely mentioned Jesus at all. Instead, he spent 90% of the sermon talking about our new Hymnal.
There can be a temptation or tendency to preach a sermon where the underlying message is: "Hey, I'm Lutheran: You're Lutheran! Isn't it cool to be Lutheran!?! Wow, I'm glad we're Lutheran."
I remember sitting in the Super Dome in New Orleans during the 2012 Youth Gathering, watching the live Twitter Feed from attendees flash across a screen on the stage. I was chagrined to see the VAST majority of messages say something along the lines of:
1) "Wow, I love hanging out with 30,000 of my new Lutheran friends!"
2) "Hey, this is now the "Luther Dome" sweet! I love being a Lutheran!"
Again, Jesus got a mention once and awhile on the Twitter feed, but not nearly as much as being Lutheran and how cool it was. Despite many really great notable speakers at the Gathering who actually talked about Jesus (Shane Claiborne really comes to mind), it was easy for the whole time to feel like a "Lutheran Mutual Appreciation Convention."
And, if truth be told, I used to look at the Reformation as an exciting historical adventure, back when I was a young impressionable history-geek (now I'm just an older history geek). Of course the Catholic Church was like the Evil Galactic Empire and Luther and his band of freedom-fighters were like Luke Skywalker and the Rebel Alliance. Who wouldn't want to be part of the Lutheran-Rebel Alliance?
The problem is, sermons like these are not missional, they become tribal, they are not welcoming to outsiders, and they take our attention away from Jesus Christ.
Ditch #2: The One You Fall Into After Overcorrecting
Now you might see this first ditch coming and swerve in enough time to miss it...only to overcorrect and go into long apologies for everything Lutherans have gotten wrong in the past 500 years or so. It could be so easy to take all of the mistakes from "Ditch #1" and expose them: pointing a finger at all of those "terrible" people who put the emphasis on the wrong things.
This is very tempting because it can make a preacher feel better (relieved that THEY are not the problem). It can also feel like you are being progressive and revolutionary: a trendsetter who is making a difference!
But...these sorts of sermons can so easily become what Jon Acuff calls "Jesus Jukes" which make you feel much better and righteous, but just tear others down. You can learn about Jesus Jukes here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/morgan-guyton/seven-obnoxious-jesus-juk_b_3793045.html.
Once again, these sorts of sermons can be used to make the preacher (and the preacher's definition of "the good people like me who get") the real center of things. If Jesus is mentioned (even if it's quite a bit), He will probably be a means to an end, not the end itself.
THE ROAD BETWEEN THE DITCHES:
I've mentioned both of these "ditches" NOT because I would NEVER fall into them. I mention them because it's all too possible for me to find myself at the bottom of one or the other, upside down with my wheels spinning.
So how can you preach on Reformation Sunday? Here are just a few things I'll be shooting for:
- Make Jesus the end, not a means to an end.
- Talk about how "The Reformation" was not just a historical period: it's a mindset and a way of life that still has life: Ecclesia semper reformanda est or, more simply semper reformanda: the church is always to be reformed, or more simply, always reformed.
- Talk about some of the main tenets of "the Reformation" without giving a history lecture: justification, law and gospel, etc.
- Talk about the "two ditches" mentioned above...or your own ditches and then build to the Gospel Message.
- Read David Lose's Preaching Blog at Working Preacher. His stuff is always good, just careful when you read, it's hard not to just parrot whatever he says!! http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=2813
- Say a kind word about other denominations, while not making everyone feel guilty for being Lutheran.
These are just a few thoughts: what are some of yours?
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