10302022 – Reformation Eve
I am not saying the church, right or wrong. Because I would never say that…But rather, I am saying that the church is right for me…
It was invaluable for Ruth and Wally, Emil, and Marie…and, the mainstay of Carl and Maime and their nine children.
I have always loved the church. The church is home to me. It is my safe dwelling place, my haven. I have taken refuge here. There is no place I would rather be.
I have heard countless horror stories about what happened at “this church” or “that church,” what “this pastor said,” “what that priest did.” What this denomination did, or that one.
Trust me, I get it. I understand and am sorry for those experiences.
The church on earth is not perfect, nor will it ever be. It aint-a-gonna happen. We are human beings, frail and infirmed.
While Jesus Christ might be the head of the church, it is WE who attempt to carry out the day-to-day mission of the church, WE are the grunt workers, and it is WE who interact with each other and with others…
Sometimes, WE get it right. And sometimes we get it terribly wrong.
Sometimes, WE advance the kingdom forward. Baby steps, I like to think.
Sometimes there is that glimmer of joy and hope. Sometimes we do better…and seemingly are headed in the right direction.
And then, sometimes, we fail miserably and fall flat on our faces. We can actually bring progress to a halt…or we can advance it.
We are human. We sin. We hurt one another. And sometimes we do it consciously. And, at the very same time, we love one another, support one another, and pray for one another. Sinner and saint, both at the same time.
WE are subject to error and failure. Subject to sin and to wrongdoing…and at the very same time, together we can accomplish wonderful things…glorious things…good things…baby steps…
“There have been so many abuses… and innocent people, innocent individuals have borne the brunt and the pain and lives have been ruined.”
And there are millions that have been blessed by the ministry of the church. Millions and millions, throughout the ages.
If Jesus comes back now, “Lucy we’ve STILL got some splainin to do.” Lots of splainin’…
The sins, the errors of the church, the abuses, were not just in the 14th -15th– and 16th centuries. Do not kid yourselves!
Simony, Ignorance, Pluralism, Worldliness, Indulgences, Nepotism, Pedophilia, none of it is new. It has all been around, a long-long-time. Poor leadership, ill equipped leadership, leaders that fail to lead. The Patriarchal sentiments that still exists…Racism, Anti-Semitism, Xenophobia, misogyny, the blatant disregard for life, agendas from the left, agendas from the right. The cult of Saints –the buying and the selling of Holy Offices.
Do not get me started on holy relics…Scripture not being taken seriously, saying one thing, and doing another…or, on the extreme wealth that IS the church catholic (with a small c.)
I am just attempting to be honest. And even as I am, there is no other place, I would rather be, than right on here, with you…members of the church of Jesus Christ.
We are in the trenches. We are engaged. We are the ones fighting. We are the ones still battling, because we still care.
Theologians talk about the church -triumphant in heaven and the church militant on earth. YOU DO KNOW where that leaves us.
We are the ones in the thick of things. It is here that we make our stand. The Reformation began 505 years ago tomorrow. The reform continues on…it has to because we are not where need to be YET!
Holy Mother church still has a long way to go…
An Iowa newspaper dated 1926, said, “It is easier to fall for anything than to stand for something.”
It is from there, that the saying morphed, and took off.
I prefer to stand for something.
I prefer to follow, him, whom I call Lord.
My preference is to do what I can, while I can.
My preference is to stand up and be involved…and to be counted.
My preference is to stand up and to join those faithful individuals from millenniums past and to recite the ancient liturgies with them and to boldly proclaim the faith of the church.
On October 31, 1517, one Doctor Martin Luther nailed the ninety-five theses to the door of All Saints Church in Wittenberg, Germany.
You heard me correctly, the name of the church, was All Saints.
He believed he had an obligation to challenge some of the teachings of the medieval Roman Catholic Church.
Make no mistake about it: there is an enormous difference between the Roman Catholic Church of the 16th century and the church of today in the 22nd century.
Reform is possible.
Change is possible. We can do better.
We can correct errors.
Thank God, the church is constantly reforming, and changing, and attempting to do better, and attempting to get it right.
Baby steps…I tell you.
And yet, there is nowhere, I would rather be, baby steps and all.
Amen.