Sermon for October 26, 1997, Reformation Sunday

Pastor Gunnar L. Anderson

"To Change The World"

There's a great commercial on TV. It's hard to tell what they're trying to sell, but how they get there is remarkable! A series of photographs and film clips are flashed on the screen, one quickly after the other: Bob Dylan, Mohammed Ali, Mahatma Gandhi, Amelia Earhardt, Albert Einstein, Pablo Picasso, John Lennon, Martin Luther King; and as the pictures flash, the words say, "Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the round pegs in the square holes, those with little regard for the status quo!" And then the tag line of the commercial is powerful, riveting: "The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do!"

And on Reformation Sunday could we not add our own Martin Luther to the list; and of course, Jesus Christ? And today, I'm wondering about ourselves. "The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do!"

For the late fifteenth century world of young Martin Luther was dreary and dark, submerged in thoughts of hell and God's punishment, of burning forever in damnation, in hell's hottest fires; thoughts of this and of the Church's doctrine of penance, that you had to do enough good deeds or pay enough good money in order to somehow make it up to God for all your sins and therefore avoid those fires of eternal torment! Young Luther, who knew what a desperate sinner he was and that he could never do enough good deeds, and that he would never be so rich that he could pay enough good money, tossed and turned at night, waking up in cold sweats, literally terrified of God!

But then Luther left law school, entered the monastery and through study rediscovered Grace, God's Grace through Jesus Christ! How? From the Bible, as read to us today:

...since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by God's grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith...[God] passed over sins previously committed...I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more, says the Lord.

And the world changed! And the Reformation of the Church began!

Author Max Lucado, in his book, When God Whispers Your Name, tells of the thought that came to him one morning in the shower, one sentence. "I've never been surprised by God's judgment, but I'm still stunned by His grace." "God's judgment," he continues, "has never been a problem for me. In fact, it always seemed right. Lightning bolts on Sodom. Fire on Gomorrah. Good job, God. Egyptians swallowed in the Red Sea. They had it coming. Forty years of wandering to loosen the stiff necks of the Israelites? You bet. Discipline is easy to swallow. Logical to assimilate. Manageable and appropriate. But God's grace? Anything but, Examples? How much time do you have?"

"David the psalmist becomes David the voyeur, but by God's grace becomes David the psalmist again. Peter denied Christ before he preached Christ. Zacchaeus, the crook. The cleanest part of his life was the money he'd laundered. But Jesus still had time for him. The thief on the cross: hell bent and hung-out-to-die one minute, heaven-bound and smiling the next. Story after story. Prayer after prayer. Surprise after surprise."

"Seems like God is looking more for ways to get us home than for ways to keep us out. I challenge you to find one soul who came to God seeking grace and did not find it. Search the pages. Read the stories. Envision the encounters. Find one person who came seeking a second chance and left with a stern lecture. I dare you. Search. You won't find it...Seems to me God gives a lot more grace than we'd ever imagine."

And the world that changes is yours! Gone is the weight of the world; the crushing, inexorable burden of your sin. You are loved! You are forgiven! You are given eternal life! It is God's gift! It is not up to you, it is up to God, it is up to Christ. It is Grace! It is a gift! You don't have to be good enough. You don't have to be rich enough. You don't have to deserve it! As my pastor, Bertil Anderson, used to say, "God's grace is holy madness!"

And our Reformation world is still gone mad. It continues to change. This summer our Evangelical Lutheran Church in America signed the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification with the Roman Catholics! This document "states that the condemnations the two churches hurled at each other over this central Christian doctrine (of grace) during the 16th century no longer apply to the way the churches understand it today."

And I quote from this Joint Declaration between Lutherans and Catholics: "Together we confess: By grace alone, in faith in Christ's saving work and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit, who renews our hearts while equipping and calling us to good works."

We do not earn God's grace by our deeds, our money, our works; but because we first receive God's grace, God's love and forgiveness as a gift, we do good works. Our relationship with God is positive, not negative. We serve God, not out of fear, but our of thanks; not because we have to but because we want to! And in so doing, we too can change the world! "Who, me," you ask? Yes, you. You can. We are!

Just look at these quilts draped over our altar rail this morning. We have made them, and soon they will be sent to the victims of civil war and land mines in Angola. If you watched the video we showed about this quilting project several weeks ago, you saw a quilt like one of these being made by women in the basement of a little Lutheran church in Nebraska, and then you saw that very same quilt unloaded from the plane and place in the hands of an Angolan woman, bringing her warmth and comfort and love. And her world changed!

Homeless guests arrive once more on our doorstep this afternoon. And here are people who will not go hungry tonight and who will have a place to sleep. And their world will change!

Then notice the very different flower dedication this morning - to Walter Blenderman's great grandfather, George Gates, a soldier in the Civil War. Walter tells me that in one particular battle a great proportion of his great grandfather's company perished. And Walter has been reflective, understanding how fortunate he is to even be here; for his great grandfather could have so easily been among those who fell in the ultimate commitment of war. And might we all feel so reflective this morning for Christ's ultimate commitment on the cross, dying for us, making it possible for us to be here, grace-filled, loved and forgiven children of God; so that our own commitment of stewardship this day be grateful, honest and generous, a percentage, a proportionate share of what you receive toward or beyond the goal of tithing, or giving ten per cent!

Oh, when I speak about tithing and proportionate sharing at council meetings, or in sermons, or in private talks, people look back at me as if I'm crazy! But really, first think about your stewardship, your time and talent, your pledge cards for what will go into your offering envelopes each week through the coming year. Think of this congregation and how you can help it strengthen in mission and ministry! Think of Lutheran missionaries all over the world like Karen Anderson whom we love so much! Think of Lutheran colleges and seminaries such as in Philadelphia where our friend Barbara Sharrow now studies! Think of nursing homes; for instance, our Lutheran Home at Moorestown, where Lynn Blenderman's father, Harry Kucher, lives!

Oh, what would have happened if Bob Dylan had never written a song? If Amelia Earhardt had only flown to San Diego? If Pablo Picasso had never picked up a brush? If Martin Luther King had not sat down at a lunch counter? What would have happened if Martin Luther stayed in law school and never entered the monastery? And what will happen without your stewardship response to a graceful God?

"The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do!"

AMEN

Copyright © 1997 Gunnar L. Anderson. All Rights Reserved.

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