“How to Be the Church: Being Faithful”
October 29, 2023
Dear brothers and sisters, grace and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.
As we do every year on the Sunday closest to Halloween, we celebrate Reformation Sunday, on which we traditionally remember Martin Luther nailing the 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, on October 31st, 1517, protesting against the sale of indulgences, and demonstrating why those, along with many other teachings and practices of the church of his time, were against the actual teachings of the Bible. In response, the church kicked him out for contradicting its teachings, and so he and his followers started a movement to reform the church, to bring it back to the original teachings and practices of the New Testament – a movement of which we are heirs today. However, I’m going to switch things up a bit, and tell you all that today is actually not about Martin Luther. It’s about Abraham Lincoln.
What? Okay, you’re probably saying, and just like many of you have probably asked every week for the last six and a half years, “Where are you going with things this time, Pastor Jon?” Hear me out. In the 1970s, a historian was traveling around Illinois, recording folk history. Several people in the countryside had told him about a certain farm family who supposedly were in possession of the axe Abraham Lincoln had used as a young man for splitting logs, which he had done for a living before becoming a lawyer, and eventually President. The historian searched, and soon found the family and their farm. He found the farmer in his yard splitting wood for the fireplace, and asked the farmer if he did indeed have Lincoln’s axe. “Yes,” the farmer said. “It’s true. Abe Lincoln lived ‘round these parts as a young man, and he worked for a while splitting wood for my great-grandpa. It happened my great-grandpa bought a new axe from a peddler the day before Abe Lincoln came to work for him, and he gave it to him for free. We’ve kept it ever since.” “Well,” said the historian, “that’s definitely a great historical treasure, and it really ought to be in a museum. Would you mind going into the house and bringing it out so I can see it.” “Oh, we know it’s important,” said the farmer. “I take it to the school from time to time and tell the kids about it and Lincoln. It kinda makes it real for them, you know? But I don’t have to go into the house. I’ve got it right here.” The historian looked horrified, and blurted out, “You mean, you’re actually USING it right now???” “Sure thing!”, the farmer said, “An axe is meant to be used.” The historian looked over the axe carefully. “I must say your family seems to have taken really good care of it.” “Of course!”, the farmer said. “We know we’re protecting history. Why, we’ve replaced the handle twice and the head once!”
In many ways, whether we realize it or not, we may think that the church is like Lincoln’s axe. We tend to assume that the church has always been the way it was when we were growing up, or when we joined. But the reality is, as in the days of Martin Luther and afterwards, the church has always adapted both to meet the needs of the times and culture, as well as to rediscover and reimplement the teachings and practices of the Bible. The times have changed, and we have always changed with the times. In my first parish in Minnesota twenty years ago, many of the older people still remembered when the worship service was in Norwegian. They also remembered when Communion was served only four times a year. Before you took Communion, you had to go to the Parsonage on Saturday night to confess your sins to the pastor, in order to receive Communion. In many other places, going to the Service of Confession and Absolution the night before Communion was the requirement. It was previously normal for the Pastor to do everything in the worship service, even the Readings; and he (because it’s happened to be a “he” so far here) always wore a black robe. The pastor, in many places, was also viewed as being the unchallengeable authority on all matters. Many of the worship services in this area were once in German, and eventually switched over to English – but even then, King James English was used up until the late 70s-early 80s. In some churches, only boys were allowed to serve as Acolytes. It was once considered unthinkable to have any instrument other than the organ in worship, or to use PowerPoint for singing. Furthermore, it was previously unthinkable to use any other music than what was in whatever hymnal was being used at the time. And yet, here we are. We have always adapted to address the times, and, if we are to continue to exist as a church family, it will be necessary for us to continue to do so.
There are, of course certain things which we believe, teach, and practice as a church family which are definitely non-negotiable. We believe that there is only one true God, unashamedly call God “Father,” and refer to God, and each of the persons of the Trinity, with male pronouns. We baptize both infants and adult converts with water in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As mentioned last week, confession of the Apostles’ Creed is our main requirement for both being confirmed and joining the congregation. The ultimate source for all our teaching is the Bible, as explained by the Augsburg Confession and Luther’s Small Catechism; and the Bible and Catechism are our main sources of teaching for First Communion and Confirmation in particular. We believe that regular participation in the Sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion is indispensable and necessary for living a full Christian life and a living, vibrant relationship with God. We further believe that in Holy Communion, we receive the true body and blood of Jesus; we also invite other baptized Christians to receive Communion with us, which is itself a change from previous practice. We practice simple, orderly worship, but are free to use elements which reflect the culture of our time. These are all things which we take as being necessary to maintain our distinct identity. Even so, we hold that our heritage and beliefs do not in any way make us superior to other Christians, but instead provide common ground with other Christians to enable us to work together to carry out our mission faithfully in cooperation with each other. Being part of LCMC also means that we believe that there is no higher spiritual authority in the congregation, or in the wider church, than Jesus Himself. There is no hierarchy over our congregation, and each congregation is meant to be free and independent, to establish its own identity and carry out its mission in its own unique way that is relevant to its local context – which, again, we do in full cooperation with other Christian churches in our community.
On the other hand, being who we are means that we are free to be faithful. But being faithful means more than just simply holding on to certain teachings and practices. It means faithful to being ourselves and who we are, and faithful to what God has called us to be. Being the kind of church family we are also means that we allow for freedom of conscience on many matters, with our goal being living in peace and harmony with each other and maintaining fellowship among ourselves, to be able to welcome many others into our fellowship and family. This also means that we allow each other to be who we are, and at the same time, affirm our own unique and individual identities, while also growing and maturing in our relationship with God, in our own ways, to become more like Him. This is part of what it means to be faithful: not that we are all molded to become exactly the same in belief, thought, action, life, or habit, but that we are faithful to who God has made us to be, and who He is helping us to become. If we allow each other, and encourage each other, to be faithful to the path God is having us walk in order to grow deeper in our relationship with Him, then we are being faithful to who we are to be as a church family. We can also walk with each other in each of our journeys, and learn from each other, especially through Bible study, prayer, and encouraging conversation.
We are also free to think outside the box when it comes to our own personal spirituality, devotions, and relationship with God. This also means we are free to think outside the box when it comes to being faithful to who we really are and what we are really here for: to take what we have, outside of our walls (or our “box”) and out to our friends and neighbors. It is time for us to move beyond simply maintaining our identity and teachings, and like Abe Lincoln’s axe, to actually use what we have: to show God’s love, comfort, help, and assurance to other people. It is also time for us to move beyond simply holding on to what we believe, and using it to proclaim a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior as being the best kind of life, and the promise of eternal life. The moment for us to become faithful again is now: to become faithful once again to our true mission. We are also at a moment where we are free to imagine new ways to reach out to people, both inside and outside of our worship service, beyond what we have traditionally been doing; and to learn from other Christians, even other churches, what can be effective in reaching out. While we cannot, nor should we, compromise on our understanding of the certain things we’ve just talked about, we can still allow ourselves plenty of room to be able to fellowship with other Christians to be able to be encouraged, strengthened, and even enlightened by each other. So now, it’s time for us, like Abe Lincoln’s Axe, no longer simply to try to preserve what we have, but to use it for a practical purpose. And when we do so, we will truly be faithful to what God wants for us.
Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
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