Sermon on the letter to the Galater 5, 1-6 * Reformation Day 25th October 2020 in KUC by Rev. Martin Sommer.
The bible reading for our sermon today is from the letter to the Galatians Chapter 5, Verse 1-6:
I
Renew the Reformation memorial
Brothers and sisters,
on a day trip to the German town of Worms
we saw the reformation memorial there, where Jan Hus is sculptured
and John Wiclif, Girolamo Savonarola and Peter Waldes,
the so called pre-reformers: With sad faces they were seated
at the feet of Martin Luther in the center of the memorial.
All four persons experienced persecution.
The reformation memorial in Worms was made in 1868 (by Ernst Rietschl).
Last time, I was there, it was scaffolded all over with tarpaulins.
Not the earls of 15th century Germany protect him nowadays,
but covers keep away dirt from the hero’s memorial.
The monument office had to take measures to clean it.
A metaphor.
Access forbidden.
Tourists are forced to keep their distance.
They can watch the reformers only from a distance.
Surrounded by a protective roof
the memorial needs renewal.
Thinking of the Reformation means
freeing the memory from dusty slumber.
II
Freedom from GOD
Churches are shelters on the path of life.
We Christians are on our way,
stopping here and there.
That is what churches are for:
To hold on, to stop and contemplate,
and then go further.
Churches must be open.
We have to generate inspiration
on our way to freedom.
Freedom then means
freedom from old conventions that no longer fit.
Whenever churches seem like a museum
where you are not allowed to touch anything,
church has missed meaning.
When the roof presses us down,
the mighty fortress becomes a prison
then we have to start renovation – or at last reformation.
If we miss out here, we will stay inside and experience
the holy spirit passing by.
III
Find Your place as a real Protestant
Without a place we belong to
without a dwelling we cannot exist.
Whenever you walk through your door
you need the feeling of being home.
We need shelters behind the doors.
We need refuge in a cold and rough world.
And at the same time we feel restricted.
Martin Luther in his time felt the urge
to step out of his church and leave his spiritual home,
since he did not find space for himself,
did not have enough room to breathe.
The freedom to leave behind what is obviously wrongalso means to step into uncertainty.So, when the time came, Martin Luther,the Roman Catholic scholar and church priest,stepped out into the wide open.
Whenever a door to freedom
opens after you were imprisoned,
You will become full of joy.
The Reformers opened doors,
but consequently they had to leave their house.
So, they became defenseless and vulnerable.
Now they were forced to be creative, responsible
and prudent enough to build a new house.
This defenselessness is outstandingly depicted
by the monument in Worms, where
John Wiclif and Jan Hus are shown,
Girolamo Savonarola and Peter Waldes:
All four sitting to the feet, of the great, government protegee.
Martin Luther had never tended to be a hero;
but three centuries later in 1886, when the Worms monument was erected he had become a German idol of the 19th century.
The nationalism of that time used him for some popular virtues
such as steadfastness, purposefulness,
assertiveness, or at least “to do things right”.
IV
Commemorate GODs liberation
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.
Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves
be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
St. Paul had been a Jewish scribe and student of the pharisees.
He knew the old testaments psalms and the scriptures of the prophets.
And in those scriptures, again and again,
there You can read the warning of a relapse
into a slavish, a pre-emancipative behavior.
The Old Testament refers to the experience of the Exodus from Egypt,
On their way through the desert
the majority of the children of Israel
longed to return to the meat pots
they had enjoyed in Egypt
although they had been slaves:
“Security did we have!”
“Social networks!”
“Regardless of the conditions we live in, at least we were fine.”
They ‘dreamed of leek and onion’ (Numeri 11, 5),
the scanty but nourishing smell in their huts in Egypt.
When centuries later in the kingdom of Israel and Judah
widows and orphans were neglected,
the poor were made slaves by their own people
- the old testament prophet point this out time and again - then
this impact of freedom comes to their mind:
“Commemorate where You have come from.”
“Do not let yourselves be burdened again.”
Freedom is an ambiguous issue.
It can always turn to the reverse.
Former slaves may become slaveholders!
Living freedom can be too great a challenge.
We risk do fall back when we feel vulnerable
and no longer master of the situation.
V
Sisterhood is solidarity
So, stand firm, and do not let yourselves
be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
In this chapter of the letter to the Galatians
St Paul deals with a kind of loyalty conflict.
Christians in their area had experienced
the freedom of living together
far away from Palestine
as God’s new family.
They got used to one another,
found a new way of life
having given up some habits from the Palestine context.
And then, old friends appear
from earlier times: How to behave!?
There is some fear:
What will they say about me
when they find me here!?
“Stand firm” means:Follow the new behavior that has been blessed by God.You have found a new way of livingtogether with Your new friends,who are (as well as the others)Your sisters and brothers in faith.Do not fall backto the behavior of former timesnor of your childhood,whenever you have developeda new way to live.
It may not be a big issue, when you talk about table manners.
Maybe there is no problem when eating with knife and fork
or with chopsticks - or with our fingers.
There you may say: “Excuse me, I am still a bit clumsy.”
You can always learn; and the others will not mind.
However: Matters will become more serious,
when a conflict concerns community and fellowship.
For St. Paul and his friends in Galatia
the point of discussion was pretty random:
“Circumcision for everyone – Yes or No?”
On a theoretical level a solution would have been quite easy.
The scandal however was the personal failure in practice:
Hypocrisy – as St. Paul called it – comes up,
when we do not use our own brain,
do not follow our conscience,
but squint at the other:
“What will they say, if I will stay?”
False fears and considerations, that is hypocrisy.
The fault is, when You do not stand with the people,
God has made important as brothers and sisters to you.
That is, what St. Paul means, when talking about the new freedom:
It is the freedom of choosing brotherhood and friendship
without considering outdated patterns of life
no matter whether they have once been founded in faith.
Stand firm, and do not let yourselves be
burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Σ
Reformation provides us an open Space
The Church of the Reformation is an open church:
As have seen in the reformation memorial in Worms:
Five human beings stand in an open space
accessible for everyone, even for the birds from heaven.
This slide shows the marketplace in Wittenberg
For the 500th jubilee of Reformation a globe is shaped on an open space.
The church is open, not only for those who are inside,
but also for those, who are standing outside.
For those who find no joy in her the doors will open wide!
Open for all people, who dare
feel the scent of freedom, whenever they pray.
So, Martin Luther reveals the freedom of God’s love:
Without any condition all human beings are included.
And we are set free to abundant love. Amen.
Rev. Martin Sommer17/A Yukon Heights21 Tai Hang RoadTai Hang\Causeway Bay\Hongkong SARPhone 9551 7243Mail MartinSommer@posteo.net
