Thoughts on Reformation Day

October 31, 1517 is the day Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the doors of Castle Church at Wittenberg. It was the beginning of what we call the Protestant Reformation.

Here we are, 506 years after this historic day and we still continue to be renewed and reformed in our faith. There is so much that divides us. So much we place our opinions and beliefs in. We continue to argue over orthodoxy (right belief) and orthopraxy (right practice). In other words we are very concerned about the how to live out our faith and how to have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ that we end up labeling people as wrong if their beliefs do not align with ours.

I would like to ask us to think about a particular word this Reformation Day, and each day after. As I think about the Reformation, today, I realize it is truly about unity.

Unity because:

We need to be united with God, through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We need to be united in his message and life to reveal the kingdom of Heaven all around us.

When we find ways to be united with God, we begin to have more awe of the majesty of our Creator and we keep God at the right place, above everything and everyone. Our reverence for God, our holy fear, should be a distinguishing mark among Christians to display, live into, and live out the holy love of God.

Living a life of holy love means we are seeking to restore the broken relationship with humanity, ourselves, with God, and with all of creation.

Reformation is a time of uniting us under the umbrella of God’s holy love. Now our challenge is to live this out so the world can see what Christians, followers of Jesus Christ, stand for more so than what we are against.

We are for the world knowing and living into the love and presence of the Almighty God.

We are for the world knowing and living into the forgiveness God offers through Jesus Christ.

We are for the world being remade into the likeness and image of Jesus Christ.

We are for the world living in abundance and peace.

We are for the world seeking the presence and peace God brings in each and every situation.

We are for the world paying attention to the movement of the Holy Spirit.

We are for the world knowing the incredible worth God has placed in them when God sent Jesus Christ to be the Savior of the world.

We are for the world living out all of this, and so much more, so everything is done “on earth as it is in heaven.”

We are for so much. Maybe this Reformation Day we look at the ways God is bringing healing, hope, reconciliation, reformation, unity to the world that is desperately seeking to be healed and whole by the salve the holy love of God brings.

May we all live our lives in such a way that the world will see, experience, and know the incredible transforming love and grace God offers through Jesus Christ and empowers us with the Holy Spirit.