When people find out that I am a pastor, it’s often met with a variety of reactions from “that’s really interesting” (tones may vary) to awkward silence to people asking a lot of questions about what I do and why. This last one is often the most common. I have been asked many, many times about why I wanted to be a pastor. I usually have a self-deprecating joke about how I did not want this life, but got drug into it anyway, but I think in reality it’s because sometimes I have a hard time answering this question for myself, or at least answering it in a way that won’t require an hour-long story about my history and how I got here. The closest I’ve been able to come is recognizing that part of my call is because I want to change the church and our social narrative around what it means to be a Christian. I know, such an easy task, right?!
Part of the formal candidacy process to become a pastor includes not only being able to articulate our call to ministry, but also why we are even Lutheran. Surprisingly, this was something that I deeply struggled with, not because I didn’t value Lutheran theology, but because I didn’t have the words to describe it. This is something we laugh about now because one of the former pastors on my internship committee once described me as being “more Lutheran than Luther!” Despite being a Lutheran my whole life, I just couldn’t describe why I resonated so much with Lutheran theology, that is, until I took my first theology class in Seminary and then people couldn’t get me to stop talking about it!
Additionally, as we studied Luther and the other Reformers writings and what they were striving for in the Reformation, I realized that in many ways this is what I loved about being a Lutheran. I fell in love with this idea that we can hold onto our faith and the traditions of it, while also pushing it forward to align with the Gospel more fully. That our faith doesn’t require that everything has to be done exactly as it had always been done before. As I’ve mentioned, Luther really didn’t want to create a new denomination. So, this day in the church is not at all about celebrating the schisms and the harm that have come to church and society because of the Reformation, but I think we can recognize that Luther felt the church could do better. He loved the church so much that he didn’t want to leave it as it was. In many ways, I think this is where we are again now.
This is what I resonated with when it comes to understanding and articulating my call in the church. Our church, even the Lutheran denomination, has caused great harm to my community and to people that I care about. Over and over people are told every day by Christians that they are not enough or that they will never be loved how they are; that there is something inherently flawed in them that needs to be changed, for so many reasons. As someone who wants to change that, I can see how we are at a new Reformation point. Because something needs to change to bring us back to the heart of the Gospel. To remind us that we are saved by grace through faith alone; that our faith isn’t a popularity contest before God or a my Bible verse is better than your Bible verse contest. If that is what our Bibles are used for, then I think we have the point all wrong.
My Reformation history professor used to always say that the Reformation wasn’t about grace…after all, the Roman Catholic church had so much extra they were willing to sell it! It was about faith. Just as today, I don’t think our new Reformation is about a lack of love, it is about how that love is lived out. Because right now, love in the larger church structure feels incredibly conditional. And it comes back to faith. To the trust we have that God created us, and loves us, and desires us all to live abundant lives. It is faith that God who creates and redeems us didn’t make mistakes as a part of our creation, and that God’s love is so much broader than we might even like it to be. It’s about faith that isn’t coercive or manipulative, but that still changes us at the very heart of our being because we are loved fully. Because we are seen as whole and capable instead of something for others to fix. It is faith grounded in God’s saving work, not our own; to trust that Jesus knew what he was doing and that we don’t have to explain our way around that to get his teachings to fit our point. This new Reformation is still centered in faith, but also a reality that we can meet people where they are at, even though this looks different than how we have always done it. To trust that church is still happening there too. It is a reminder that the Reformation is a part of our history and that we are continually reforming, just as God is continually recreating; that there is grace and space for this.
I have often said that some of my most fruitful conversations about God and theology have happened outside of the church, with people who might never step into a church building again. I’m not saying that church isn’t important because obviously it is or we wouldn’t be here this morning, but I also know that there are many people longing for these sorts of conversations about life and faith that may never want to be a part of the church, again for a whole variety of reasons. I think that part of our call today is to continue to walk alongside our community, to be willing to risk having these conversations, and to also not put the pressure on the younger generations to always do everything exactly the same way. I say this as a young person who has sat through many “discussions” about what young people want in church without my voice ever being listened to because I was too young to know what I was talking about. It’s time to start listening to what the needs of our community are to better support them. And, while I say this, I want it to also be clear that I’m not saying we need to toss everything out and start over. Reforming is about returning to our roots and remaining faithful to the things that are important, while also understanding that what worked decades or centuries ago might not work the same way today because we love the church enough to want to see it be the best that it can be. But, I will be honest and say that sometimes it feels like the grace part has been lost when it comes to being a young person in the structure of the church because instead we are handed a list of all the things we need to do and how we need to do them, all while being reminded over and over again that we are the “future of the church.” It’s a lot of pressure.
The reality is that our church’s future is starting now and we all get a say in how this church will continue to grow and change, while staying rooted in the what God has done through Jesus Christ. Like Luther, we can be inspired to change the church and change the world around us, not for our own sake, but for the sake of being more faithful to the Gospel. It might mean risking speaking up more about what we believe and fully living into our belief that God’s grace is a free gift we receive. It is not something that we earn, but it does still comes with responsibility. We get to live out this reality in the world, whether that is on Sunday mornings in the church or in the conversations and daily life that happen outside of church. Personally, I think that is a beautiful reminder that God’s promises don’t just last for 1 hour a week when we’re sitting in the sanctuary, but that we are called into this world and into this life. To believe boldly and live as if it is true.