Reformation Sunday
This year, our Reformation Sunday celebration and confirmation ceremony lands on October 27. As is our tradition, come show your Lutheran church-spirit by wearing red, and supporting our confirmands, and their families as we celebrate their affirmation of baptism and call to serve Christ’s church and community.
While Reformation Sunday has been mostly a tradition for Lutherans, the recognition of the history of the Evangelical (Lutheran) Reformation and its impact is not solely important to Lutherans and other Protestants, but any and all denominations that formed in the centuries that were accompanied by centuries of wars of religion, and explosion of religious thought that shaped European perspectives and politics to the present day. None can say that a cataclysm such as the Protestant Reformation was without pain or tragedy, but for those of us who believe in the power of God’s grace to us by Christ alone, the victory is in the freedom to consider how grace shapes our sense of identity, our sense of purpose, God’s presence in our world, and how our lives are shaped by wrestling with God’s gift of faith. Our freedom to pursue our values and shared beliefs opens the ways for us to consider how the church is always reforming and being transformed.
It is inspiring how we may find all the ways we can be renewed and seek renewal when our world holds us back from living into the vision God has for us. And, it is comforting knowing that God is never far from us, and gathers with us, wherever we are in Christ’s name. For a world that often sees grace as a reward, we still hold to the truth of the gospel: God is good and righteous, and because God will never break the tie with creation, our lives are bound to the life of the Spirit and by faith, we see Christ among us. God’s grace gives us boundaries to maintain our communities, to ensure that the people of God share a common life and may, together, affirm, comfort, and lift up each other.
As we gather around our confirmands on Reformation Sunday, we are reminded of the Lutheran perspective on grace, and how faith in Christ leads us to see the grace and presence of God in our daily living.
-Pastor Thomas