October 29, 2017 - Twenty-First Sunday After Pentecost - Reformation - Creator's 2017 Confirmation and "Living Wet"

Pastor Ray challenged us in his sermon to "live wet" (by remembering our baptism) and went on to detail what that means in celebrating and affirming our faith.

Jesus teaches in today's Gospel lesson that everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin but "to continue (Greek, meno, literally, abide, dwell, or tabernacle) in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free."


Altar with Banners and Baptismal Font

Living wet, living the gospel is about continuing... remembering who we are and is not about believing the right words. The Judeans who believed him the Gospel records answer back to this "We are the descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone." Jesus is teaching about abiding in relationship and they respond by falling back on their history and birthright.

Particularly in this time where crowds chanting "blood and soil" in America are defended under a blanket statement a presidential observation that "there are very fine people on both sides", this may serve as a potent reminder of an ongoing importance of The Reformation in the 500th anniversary commemoration of its beginning.

According to Martin Luther as Christians we are simultaneously free from all things -- that is, no one can determine our future with God -- and yet bound in service to all persons -- committed to their wellbeing and advancement. In the history I was taught in school the Reformation was all about the 95 Theses and Luther's criticism of the selling of indulgences.

Pastor Ray brought up the first thesis in his preaching and that guides attention to the first five:

1.When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ``Repent'' (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.
2.This word cannot be understood as referring to the sacrament of penance, that is, confession and satisfaction, as administered by the clergy.
3.Yet it does not mean solely inner repentance; such inner repentance is worthless unless it produces various outward mortification of the flesh.
4.The penalty of sin remains as long as the hatred of self (that is, true inner repentance), namely till our entrance into the kingdom of heaven.
5.The pope neither desires nor is able to remit any penalties except those imposed by his own authority or that of the canons.

The emphasis, perhaps, should be more on relationship than indulgences. The theses lay out new understandings of Christian relationships with the Pope, clergy and with each other that we are still trying to perfect today.

The sermon today reaffirmed the constant need to understand that we are all created in the image of God, a truth to contradict the lies of all economic, racial, sexual, "purity" and work-based valuations that are placed on all of us. It also affirmed  salvation is about community restoration of relationships, and not just the individual. Yet if this becomes another tribal identity to adopt nothing has progressed spiritually. There should be a constant refining of this move away from new, tribal understandings of relationship with God based on how we identify ourselves.

Jacob, Aidan, Meiling and Kai

Christian freedom then is not from freedom as American society understands freedom based on self-reliance and independence, however important that political freedom may be. Instead this is a freedom to be in relationship with God and each other because of a call that we are created for these relationships and we cannot be free apart from them.

Today we also celebrated the Affirmation of Baptism of Jacob, Aidan, Meiling and Kai with the Profession of Faith, Affirmation and Laying on of Hands. They read their Faith Statements to the congregation. After the service there was a Harvest Party / Chili Cook-off fundraiser for the youth.

Today my prayer is that we continue to refine our understanding of life in the way and that we keep our eyes on the truth we know that sets us free.