sermon for October 30

The reading 1 Kings 7:1-16

Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” The word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Go from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the Wadi Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. You shall drink from the wadi, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” So he went and did according to the word of the Lord; he went and lived by the Wadi Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the wadi. But after a while the wadi dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.”As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth.” She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.

The summary

Happy Reformation Day. This is an unusual reading for the occasion.  In some ways, that is our first lesson.  Luther  saw God’s grace everywhere, all of scripture told the story of God’s saving work through Jesus, every verse, every chapter and every book (expect James, Luther didn’t like that book since it does not clearly proclaim Christ crucified and risen and could be easily manipulated to teach works righteousness. Revelation was also on the not so good list since it was very confusing and could lead people astray).

At church, we are on this journey from creation to Christmas. We are in the time of the prophets, this morning, we meet Elijah, who served the Lord about 8 or 900 years before Jesus birth. Elijah is best known for confronting the prophets of Baal, the god of neighboring people. Elijah is also known for a series of miracles, of feeding many people with a little food and even raising the dead. In each case, Jesus does the same miracle only bigger (Elijah feeds hundreds, Jesus feeds thousands, Elijah raises the newly deceased, Jesus raises someone dead for days and buried).  

This morning, we see what makes Elijah one of the great prophets. He trusts God. God sends Elijah to the middle of nowhere, with the promise that ravens will feed him.  Elijah trusts God’s promise and goes.  After this, God sends him to a small city in the midst of a famine.  Again, he goes, Elijah trusts God’s promise for himself and this widow and her family.  For the prophet Elijah, God’s word is enough, he stakes his very life on it.   

That is what this reading has to do with the protestant reformation. In the early 1500’s the Roman Catholic Church had major issues with corruption, greed and seemed unable or unwilling to share the comfort of the Gospel.  Luther was a monk and professor, a respected part of the church. On October 31, 1517, he posts the 95 theses,  a series of complaints and call to debate church practices.  A majority of the theses are on the process of selling indulgences, certificates that take years off your time in purgatory, an intermittent stage believed to exist between dying and heaven.

The Roman Catholic Church was confusing people, adding things to the faith, creating rules, laws, requirements and policies to the experience of God’s grace and forgiveness.  Like Elijah knew God’s promise of food was enough, Luther knew God’s promise of salvation was enough.  All the other things added were at best, unnecessary and at worst, deceitful, misleading practices that put people’s salvation in jeopardy for human power and profit.

Luther taught that scripture was enough, the word of God, inspired and carried down to us, was enough to know what God says.  

Luther taught that we can know our sins are forgiven because Christ died and rose again.  This was enough. The complicated mess of confession and repentance developed by the church could be done away with.   

Luther taught that Jesus was enough. The growing role of Mary and the saints as intercessors could be done away it.  Christ was our way to God, whether or not saints could intercede for us, it was not necessary.  

Luther taught that Baptism and communion were enough. We are claimed as God’s children, we can come back to our baptism every day if we have to for encouragement. In Holy Communion, we encounter the presence of the risen Christ, that was enough to know God is here with us.  

What I know about the reformation is 500 years ago news.  The Roman Catholic Church has changed. Today, we talk about not celebrating but commemorating or marking the Reformation.  We are looking to ways we can work together and serve God together, caring for the poor, educating others and bringing peace.  As we do these things, we must be mindful of Luther’s concern that the word of God be clearly shared.