Sunday Stretch: Vol. 53, Reformation Sunday
Start off your week with a grounded take on Bible, prayer, the world, and your life ...
Hi Readers,
Isn’t it like the church to take a fun secular holiday focused on candy and make it into an academic exercise? In case you didn’t know - Oct. 31 is also known as Reformation Sunday in the Lutheran Church. That’s not purposefully to conflict with Halloween (though pastors are known to enjoy the occasional Martin and Katie Luther costume) but instead because it marks the actual day that Martin Luther, then a Catholic monk, famously nailed the 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg, Germany - challenging the church’s commitment to the Gospel and crying out against the rampant corruption of its clergy and its pursuit of wealth and political power (hey, sound familiar?)
Most American Lutheran churches (and some other Protestant churches) commemorate Reformation Day on Reformation Sunday, which is the Sunday prior to Oct. 31 - also known this year as today! Tradition often suggests that people wear red to church, sing “A Mighty Fortress” and also recognize the rite of Confirmation for teenagers in the church.
Now, it might be easy for Reformation Day to merely become a celebration and remembrance of the past, assuming that Luther’s work was done long ago. But as I mentioned above, the very same claims Luther made against the Roman Catholic Church in 1517 very much still threaten the witness of the Gospel in our world today. We just call it the Prosperity Gospel instead of Indulgences and build megachurch campuses instead of cathedrals.
The best defense against the ongoing theology of glory is the proclamation and teaching of the true Gospel of Jesus, rooted in the theology of the Cross. For that reason, I think it’s important to invest in and celebrate every single person who goes through Confirmation on this day, and every single Confirmation teacher, parent, volunteer, and Sunday school teacher. As well as to celebrate investment into ongoing Christian education. (By the way, thanks to Pilgrim Lutheran Church in St. Paul for hosting me this Sunday for a follow-up adult education hour on Christian Nationalism. If you’re in the area, come join us from 10:45-11:30!)
For all of these reasons, on this special edition of the Sunday Stretch, I want to re-share with you some reflections on the Reformation Day texts as well as Confirmation from last year. This day is important - as is being a church that is always reforming (stealing that one from the Calvinists).
From Reformation Sunday 2022
Today is Reformation Sunday in the Lutheran Church, which also means in my church that we’re celebrating Confirmation Sunday with our Confirmands. For those who aren’t familiar with the rite of Confirmation, it’s also called Affirmation of Baptism. In Lutheran theology, we affirm infant baptism (as well as adult baptism), because we believe that baptism is about God’s love for us, not our decision to follow God. So in some ways, Confirmation functions in similar ways to adult baptism in other churches/denominations.
Central to the rite of Confirmation is catechesis, or religious education through Luther’s small catechism. Churches do this in a variety of ways, but many meet in small groups on Wednesday nights. In my current church, I meet with our Confirmation students (grades 7-8) on Wednesday afternoons. When I first started there, the public school bus actually dropped them off at the church — but that practice ended during COVID.
Still, as you can see, in areas of the country where Lutheranism is predominant, this is highly cultural - and some families end up seeing Confirmation almost like graduation from church. Pastors do try to discourage this notion!
But it’s a big commitment. And after spending so much time with my 7-8th grade students, I’ve gotten lots of insight into middle school, and we’ve also learned and grown in really critical ways together: both through biblical study and through the many challenges of the past few years, processed through a middle-school lens, and also through the lens of our shared faith. These discussions haven’t always been easy, but they’ve been so important, and I always end up proud of our students and their willingness to learn and grow in their faith, in different but all valid ways.
That said, I see the real value of this shared commitment to study, pray, and grow together — and I’ve found myself adding more time just for fellowship and snack, too, as I know it’s equally important that the students create trusting relationships and friendships with one another, so that they’re more comfortable when we get to the Bible study and catechesis.
There’s no shortcut to this kind of faith work. It’s inconvenient at times. It takes many weeks. Preparation. Commitment on the part of students, families, and pastors.
And yet there’s also no substitute for this kind of faith commitment on the part of the church. It reminds me that sometimes the church doesn’t grow or thrive exponentially or in a flashy way. Instead it grows slowly, week after week, in the hearts and minds of maturing middle schoolers, their families and their pastors/church leaders.
Let’s get to the (Reformation Day) texts!
Bible Stories
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Jer. 31:31 The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the LORD,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.
I’m reminded every Reformation Sunday that while I call myself Lutheran, Luther didn’t set out to create a new church. Instead he wanted to reform what he still (at least at the start) believed was the one true church. One of the slogans of the Reformation is Semper Reformanda, Latin for Always Reforming.
How exhausting! To be committed to a church that is always reforming. Yet as we’ve been reminded unequivocally in these past few years, the world itself is always changing. In this passage, we see God’s willingness to reform God’s covenant with God’s people, too. A new covenant was possible: even in the days of Exile and suffering, documented throughout the prophecy of Jeremiah. God’s promise endures. We are called to adapt, to be willing to be wrong, and to change - knowing that as we reform, we do so responding to God’s ongoing revelation and God’s enduring promise.
Questions to Ponder
Why was God willing to make a new covenant with the people of Israel, even though they’d broken the last covenant?
What does it mean that the Law would now be written on their hearts and live within them?
How does this passage make you feel? Does it bring reassurance and comfort?
Romans 3:19-28
Rom. 3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For “no human being will be justified in his sight” by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.
Rom. 3:21 But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, 23 since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; 24 they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; 26 it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus.
Rom. 3:27 Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. By what law? By that of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.
Romans 3 is a revolutionary text. It is the Apostle Paul at his most fiery and risky, revealing that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus has wrought major change for the cultural order of the world. The Roman Empire was full of human distinctions: some people were enslaved, others, like Paul himself, were imprisoned. There were Roman citizens, who enjoyed certain legal rights, and people, like Jesus himself, who lived in occupied territories. Men and women and people of different ethnic groups enjoyed very different rights. But Paul says in Jesus that the righteousness of God through faith is for all! There is no human distinction. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God; all are not justified by his grace as a gift. The freedom of this passage is expansive, and it would have been frustrating reading for the leading religious leaders of Paul’s day.
What human distinctions do you observe in your everyday life?
Romans 3:22 is a major and hotly debated theological text, partially due to questions about translations. Luther called this the doctrine of justification by grace through faith. But theology is in the prepositions. The Greek word εἰς can be translated as “in” or “of.” How does it change your understanding of this doctrine if it reads “faith in Jesus Christ” vs “faith of Jesus Christ”? Whose faith saves us? Our own or Jesus’ faith?
Also in verse 22: what do you think “all who believe” means? (A translation note, the Greek word πίστεως here is translated by BDAG as “the state of being someone in whom confidence can be placed.”
John 8:31-36
John 8:31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?”
John 8:34 Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. 36 So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
There was a recent meme about how to sum up various Christian denominations and their selling points, and the Lutheran meme I think was just a man yelling: “Freedom!” Ask any Church Council who has tried to change the carpet color in the Fellowship Hall, and they might beg to differ about the “freedom” of Lutheranism (haha). But in truth, this passage is used on Reformation Sunday to hopefully remind us that the truth of Jesus’ Gospel: that it is God’s love and grace that saves us, does set us free in irrevocable and powerful ways. Knowing that we do not earn our salvation removes us from the role of God and sets us free to love in response to love. That’s it. That’s some good stuff. That theology is a big part of why I still call myself a Lutheran today.
Questions to Ponder
What kind of freedom is Jesus talking about here, and how does it contrast with the limited version of freedom espoused by those he’s speaking to?
How does Jesus’ version of freedom contrast with popular conceptions of “freedom” in America, especially over the past few years?
How are freedom and truth connected for Jesus? Can you have one without the other?
PRAYER
Dear God,
It’s tempting sometimes to think that the important and heroic stories of your Church are all in the past, that everything has already been done and we are only left with years of wreckage of human sin and greed. But today You call us anew into Your ongoing work of reformation. Help us to be bold to speak the truth and teach the Gospel.
In Jesus’ name we pray,
AMEN
An Invitation
A Community that prays for one another is transformed by the power of the Spirit. We’ve been praying for and with each other now for about nine months! For the new year, and about once a quarter, I will re-start this space for prayer requests and praises. Please email with your own requests and I will share here with your permission!
For all churches and church leaders who are recognizing Reformation Sunday today as well as Confirmation Sunday. Help them to feel confident and renewed in their witness and work for the Gospel.
For all in the Holy Land facing violence and war, especially in Israel and Gaza, and for protection of human lives in the midst of terrorism and state violence. Help people turn away from terrorism and violence and war.
For Jewish people around the world, who have been reminded again of the powerful sway of anti-Semitism and past pogroms and hate-filled violence against Jews, including in the Holocaust. Bring solidarity and protection and peace in their midst, especially for Jewish faith leaders who are seeking peace and protection for Palestinians in Gaza as well as for Jews in Israel.
For all in Afghanistan who lost loved ones and suffered tragedy in recent earthquakes.
For Armenian refugees and all those who have been torn away from their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh, and for a cessation of violence in Armenia and Azerbaijan.
For farmers and farmworkers who are working on the harvest: for safety and a bountiful crop as they work in the fields.
For the people of Morocco, and the lands and towns surrounding the historic city of Marrakech, as they rebuild and mourn the destruction of a devastating earthquake last month. And for the people of Derna, Libya, and all those who lost their lives, their homes, loved ones, and everything they had in flooding there last month.
For victims of gun violence across America over the past year, and especially God for your justice to ring out against all those who continue to lend support and credence to white supremacy, especially in the Church. Help us to speak clearly for the call to justice and an intolerance of racist actions and policies in America.
We continue to pray for a cessation of violence and war in Ukraine, and for refugees and migrants around the world who are without a safe place to call home.
We pray for all people experiencing extreme weather, and those without safe shelter or a warm/cool place to sleep at night. For all those in need of food. For all those looking for work. For those injured in travel on the roads and on the sea and on the rails, especially migrants who travel dangerous routes with their families seeking safety and freedom, both on the Mediterranean Sea and at the U.S./Mexico border. For people in the South, in Mexico and Central America, and California - and all those living in the midst of extreme heat, that they would have access to cool places to sleep and live, and that rain would come. We also pray for those experiencing flooding, and those living in the midst of wildfires and wildfire smoke, especially in Canada and the Northwest Territories - also for those experiencing extreme heat and without enough shade and water in the midst of grueling outdoor work, especially farmworkers and construction workers across the United States, India, China, and the Middle East.
We pray for the people of Holy Land, for Israelis and Palestinians, Christians, Jews, and Muslims - that all will be treated with justice and be given equal rights before the government, to live, work, and practice their faith. We pray for an end to violence and protection of the vulnerable, especially children and the elderly.
We pray for all churches, church leaders, and volunteers as they lead congregations in this season after Pentecost. May religious leaders step aside to make way for the creativity of the Holy Spirit, and not resist the blowing winds of change and disruption.
We pray for the people of Iran, where protesters’ lives are being threatened and women are being arrested simply for advocating for their lives and criticizing an abusive government. We also pray for women and girls in Afghanistan, whose right to education and employment has been taken away by the ruling Taliban.
We pray for the victims of gun violence across America, and for brave legislators who are seeking to change overly permissive gun laws. Bring justice, resolution, truth, and mercy, dear God, and culpability to those who profit from the sale and manufacture of guns.
We pray for all those living and existing at the U.S./Mexico borderlands, and for migrants around the world who are seeking safety and a better life for their families. Protect and keep safe all those who travel far from home, risking their lives, especially parents, children, and seniors - and people from countries at war and under political strife, especially people from El Salvador, Haiti, Venezuela, Honduras, Colombia, Peru, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Syria, Ukraine, Sudan, and many other countries around the world. Grant mercy and open hearts to those who work in border enforcement, and prevent violence and death at the border.
We pray for all students, teachers, staff, administrators, families, coaches, bus drivers - and all those involved with kids heading back to school. God bring peace, safety, joy and laughter to classrooms across our world this school year, and help kids to have a safe and productive environment to learn and to love the world.
On this post-Labor Day month, we pray for all those who work hard to advocate for better conditions for workers across the world, especially those who work in dangerous conditions each and every day for low pay, especially farmworkers and caregivers and factory workers and nurses and first responders. Be with all those who are striking for fair pay and conditions, from autoworkers to hotel workers and restaurant workers.
I ask for prayers especially for a colleague and friend of mine who is going through cancer treatment and was diagnosed with another chronic illness earlier this year.
For those who serve in leadership positions in American politics and government, and for media members who report on American politics - may they all be guided by respect for truth and honor for the people they serve, to move past internal disputes or social media attention and to governing and reporting with attention to those in need and those suffering in the US. and around the world.
For protection for members of the media and journalists around the world who put themselves at great risk to report the news and share stories.
Dear God, we pray for renewal and hope and change in the power of the Holy Spirit, and in the Creating, Redeeming, and Sustaining God!
AMEN
This was a special FREE edition of the Sunday Stretch so that more people can learn about the special church day that is Reformation Sunday. Feel free to share with friends.
P.S. …
A Few Notes:
First, a huge THANK YOU to all subscribers. I get a little email notification every time someone signs up, and every time I get one, I feel joyful and honored that you want to spend part of your day with this community. I mean it when I say: “I’m listening,” to you as well, and please don’t hesitate to share with me your thoughts + ideas for what you’d like to read in this space.
To PAID SUBSCRIBERS: I am humbled and honored that you’ve chosen to spend part of your limited budget on this newsletter. To borrow words from another newsletter I love, you are directly funding freelance journalism with your subscription, and I have to thank you more than ever for your continued support. Our world’s media and journalism is in a state of crisis, with fewer and fewer billionaires in control of global news outlets, and journalists being either laid off or threatened with violence for their work every single day; with fewer and fewer newsroom positions paying a living wage. I pledge to you to steward your paid subscription faithfully + use it to support honest, hard-working, and LOCAL journalism. One of my goals in this first year is to open this newsletter to other journalists, and pay them a fair wage for their work.
THANK YOU for your support. If you’re not a paid subscriber, please consider becoming one.
On free vs. paid-subscriber posts only: My plan right now is that the Friday + Sunday posts, focusing on news + spirituality, in that order, are available for subscribers only (I am going to continue sharing a sample, with a line where the paywall cuts off for our paid subscriber community). My plan is that the Tuesday blog-style posts will always be free, to enable as much access as possible, while creating a smaller and more intimate experience for paid subscribers, who are also able to comment and share in community in fuller ways.
Free Trial: Substack always offers a free week-long trial subscription to this newsletter, so you can get a taste of the Friday + Sunday posts and see if you’d like to subscribe!
If a paid subscription is a hardship for you, but you’d like access to the Friday + Sunday posts: PLEASE do not hesitate to reach out. I will be happy to provide a complimentary subscription for you.