REFORMATION
From Pastor Megan Torgerson
…like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. – 1 Peter 2:5
This Sunday, the church celebrates Reformation Sunday. Traditionally, the date marks when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Church and initiated the Protestant Reformation. While many of those specific details may now be contested, the fact remains: from that moment on, the shape of the church and the life of Christians changed. Our own Lutheran tradition, named for Martin Luther himself, finds its origins in this movement.
However, the Reformation did not happen only 500 years ago in Northern Europe. The church continues to reform to this day. Because we trust that the Holy Spirit guides our work and calls us together in Jesus’ name, we know that the work of the church will constantly evolve and adapt to God’s call and the world’s need. Tradition supports and informs us but does not contain us. We are always reforming, always listening, always paying attention to God’s call in our lives.
These days, that reformation happens all around us. To keep our neighbors safe, we have to avoid gathering in large groups; this has made it difficult to worship as we used to know it. Instead, God calls us to ask: what is most important about worship? Is it hearing a particular song, or being in a specific room, or showing up at a particular time? Or could it be about being called into praise of a God who is other than us, an act that reminds us that God is our one true God, about being united in community through this act even when we can’t be physically together?
As our staff and volunteers begin the work of offering indoor, in person worship experiences safely and responsibly, we welcome the reforming work of God’s Spirit. We know that worship might not look like what we’re used to, but we prepare our hearts to engage in acts of praise in a new way. I continue to pray that this time of reformation brings us back to what is most important about being church, most vital about worship, most essential about a faith community: that we might be prepared and challenged to love God with everything we have, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
Let us pray:
Reform my heart, God. Remove anything that keeps me from being focused on you alone. Turn me again to true worship, devoted praise, and faithful service. Make me open to your Spirit’s call. I entrust my full self to you. Amen.