A Freeing Experience (Reformation Sunday)

Sermon Reflections

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Over the past couple of years, there have been some really cool upgrades to our building that I’ve been really excited about.  A couple of years ago, we completed the patio/courtyard area outside, and everyone continues to be excited about that.  Earlier this year, we “refreshed” the bathrooms in the main building, bringing them into the 21st century, including making them actually wheelchair accessible.  While not as visible or exciting as the patio, everyone has been really happy about the bathrooms as well.

But in the last week or two, I’ve been really excited about a renovation to a part of the building I never before told anyone to look at.  I’ve actually been telling folks to go back and look at the Furnace room – or as we’ll now call it, the room formerly know as the furnace room!  And that’s because the boiler is now gone!  Also gone, you may have noticed, are all the ugly old baseboard radiator units that used to be all over the building.

This is all because of the HVAC upgrades and repairs that we authorized at the special congregational meeting last month.  And we did that for several reasons, not the least of which is to make the HVAC systems actually work…! (but also efficiency and cost…)

But right now, I’m really, really excited about the side effect – that we have finally have a huge storage area that we can safely and efficiently use to store a lot of stuff that for years has simply sat out in the hallways and in the middle of the Fellowship Hall!  It feels like such a freeing experience!

Of course, in order to take full advantage of this new and freeing opportunity, we need to do a couple of things:

  • First, we need to throw stuff out – our congregation is really good at a number of things, but we’re really bad at throwing stuff out (that’s why we have yard sale every year!)  And as soon as the boiler got taken out, suddenly a whole lot of junk that should never have been kept suddenly became visible.  We need to get rid of stuff before we can start putting stuff back in…
  • Next, we need to rearrange and re-order how stuff is stored in the room – before, lots of stuff couldn’t be stored in certain places because it would be too close to the burners on the gas boiler; and other stuff was just thrown in haphazardly.  But if you really want to get the best use out of your newfound storage area, you need to re-order things…
  • Finally, we need to reassess what’s really important to be stored in the room formerly known as “furnace” – immediately after the boiler went away, both me and other people started getting excited about all the stuff we could throw in there.  But we have WAY more stuff than will fit; and some stuff needs to go in other places. We have to prioritize the stuff that must go in there…

And I tell you all of this on Reformation Sunday not only because I’m excited by the freeing experience of suddenly having storage space, but also because the Reformation reminds us each year of what Martin Luther told us the Gospel of Jesus should be for us – it should also be a message that excites us and empowers us to live into a freeing experience!  In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks of being “freed” from sin – that is, being freed from everything that separates us from God and clutters our lives so that we can’t move forward. The good news of Jesus is the ultimate freeing experience!

But for folks in the 16th century – and for folks today – to really experience the freeing power of God’s presence and work in our lives, we often have to do some of the same things in our lives that we need to do with the room formerly known as “furnace.”  That is, Reformation Sunday is a yearly reminder that to really live into the freedom Jesus gives us, we need to:

  • Throw stuff out – that is, we need to get rid of the stuff that clutters up our relationship with God and with others; or the stuff that used to work, but doesn’t anymore.  Often, we remember the Reformation as getting rid of stuff – whether it was indulgences or simply the idea that God could or should be paid off; But a freeing relationship with God – and one that opens you up to healthy relationships with your neighbors – is partially found by getting rid of the stuff that isolates you from God or from others…
  • Re-order and rearrange stuff in our lives – I am one of those people who likes to make lists and I like to have schedules!  And while sometimes my lists and schedules can make me crazy, I often like them because they help me to keep important things that I do need to do in the right places so that one thing doesn’t drown out everything else.  And whether you like lists and schedules, it’s still the case for most of us that we lead busy lives with lots of important things that need to be done.  But if somehow we’re not careful, those things can overwhelm us so that we don’t experience even a sense of God in our lives.  That also, was one of the issues in the Reformation – people got hung up on doing all kinds of “religious” things that people were supposed to do, and in the midst of doing all those things that might indeed be good things if kept in their proper place, they completely lost sight of God…
  • Reassess what’s really essential in our relationship with God – that is, what really matters, when there are so many things we might be about doing.  Another Reformation concept was the idea of “adiaphora” – which is sometimes mis-translated as “things which aren’t important.”  But actually, it means “that which is not essential” – it might be good, or even important, but it’s not mission critical at the moment.  People in the 16th century – and often people today – get wrapped around the axle by fights over the Christmas decorations or the hymns we’re gonna sing.  All of those are worth discussing, but none are mission critical to our relationship with God.  And to experience the freedom Jesus talks about, we need to always keep things in perspective…

So, on this Reformation Sunday, I invite you to do a couple of things.  First, do check out the room formerly known as “furnace”!  It’s a cool sight right now!

But more importantly, as we reflect on the “freeing experience” of God’s love in our lives, consider:

  • What it is in your life that maybe needs to be tossed out – is it an old grudge or hangup? Is it a routine that you’re stuck in? Is it even that you just haven’t re-thought what faith in the love and presence of Jesus means for you?  One of the things that I think all of the confirmands said in their faith statements, in some way, was “I think about faith differently now”.  And that’s great! But it’s not just for confirmands – often, the thing that needs to be tossed out is the idea that I’ve got it figured out and God isn’t calling me to re-think things in my life…
  • What in your life that might need to be re-ordered or rearranged so you can experience the freedom of Jesus in your life? Years ago, on internship, they wanted each of us to do an exercise where we counted the hours we spent doing everything from work to sleep, to watching TV, to eating.  It was too list-like even for me, but it was instructive in noticing whether something had too big a place in my life and maybe needed to be hung on a hook so I could fit other things in.  How is it for you? 
  • Whether you’re focusing on the really essential things you want to focus on, and which you feel God is calling you to focus on.  Years ago, when the ELCA was formed, the national church council identified something like 27 major priorities.  That was insane! There is no way you can have 27 major priorities (maybe 2 or 3)!  And yet, I constantly have conversations with folks who tell me about the (almost!) 27 major priorities they have going on in their lives.  But when you have that many, you’re in bondage to your many priorities, and can’t feel the freedom Jesus is calling you to.  So what are your 2 or 3 major priorities?  It’s a question each one of us has to answer for ourselves…

After all, the freedom Jesus calls us to isn’t simply freedom from being judged at the end of time.  Instead, the Gospel is a freeing experience we’re allowed to live into each day. 

It’s the freedom to give up worrying about our past, because Jesus has promised us a future. It’s the freedom to live in a new way, even when we’ve been stuck in an old routine.  And it’s the freedom to have new hope and excitement for the future, because Jesus has made us his priority.

Amen.