The Real Reformation

Readings:
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Romans 3:19-28
John 8:31-36

Pastor Johnson started off his sermon with a smile, tapping his foot and saying

“Is that Kyrie I heard from a Lutheran Church?”

Kyrie eleison , on our world and on our way
Kyrie eleison, ev’ry day!!

Yes … that sweet sound of feet a tappin’. I love that my kids call a similar twist on the Halleluia,, The Caribbean Halleluia!

Halle, Halle, Halle … lu – u- ia
Halle, Halle, Halle … lu – u- ia
Halle, Halle, Halle … lu – u- ia

Halleluia, Hal – le - lu - ia

We are a church that changes. We change our music, our liturgy … our theology even … and especially. We are willing to change, we will change … until we find a way to include everyone. This is not your Dad’s Lutheran Church. It’s not just ‘for some’. Jesus knew we don’t win, ANY of us, until we all do.

When Jesus heard Paul as Rule Keeper, He responded “Why do you persecute me?” Paul finally, eventually gets the message that The Word is meant for everybody. There are no Gentiles or Jews; no men or women; no ‘in or ‘out’ …

… it’s what’s in our hearts that counts.

The Reformation that matters is in our own hearts.

Like the Little Prince once said,

“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly.”

In this Earthly world, there are some unfortunate ‘truths’ that inclusion in the club is a break game …

You’re male, not female … you get a break
You’re young, not old … you get a break
You’re thin, not obese … you get a break

Not so in The Word. We don’t believe in ‘measuring up’.

There’s no room in the House of God to honor some and not all.

We all need to share the word of ‘you’re in’. Out there, right now, is somebody who needs our forgiveness, our apology, our reformed heart.

Like a bully in the playground, the world is ALWAYS looking for someone to pick on. There’s no place in here for that.

If you’re a ‘rules person’, defined by your denomination, this is not a good day for you.

If you’re a person wondering, “Is it really true that my sin’s forgiven?” …
… you’re ‘in’ already. God knows how sorry you really are.

It’s time to embrace ‘the unburdening and free Spirit’ and take it into somebody’s life, somebody who really needs it.

We are tasked to take a reformed heart out into the world and let Jesus work through it to spread The Word that ‘we’re all in’.

No measurin’ up, no admission charge … and that’s the truth.

“ … and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”