Dr. Jon Burnham preached this sermon from Romans 5:1-5 at Batesville Presbyterian Church on June 3, 2007
Martin Luther felt a keen attraction to the Biblical phrase "justified by faith." This is the phrase that started the Protestant Reformation. He meditated on that phrase and over time it started to speak to him. "Justified by faith" spoke to Martin Luther about how it is that human beings come to know God. Always before, Martin had been taught that the church is the vehicle for human salvation. We are saved by our relationship to our church. But now, this phrase, "justified by faith" was telling him something different.
We are justified by faith. In theological parlance, "justified" means to be put into right relationship with God. For too long, Martin had felt a sense of alienation from God and other humans. He had been taught the church could cure the itch he felt. The church could bridge the gap between him and God. This notion of the church's power led to great abuses of the church's power. Martin had seen the luxurious dwellings of the religious leaders in Rome. He had been to one of their lavish dinner parties. He had heard of their greed and he was afraid their greed had led them to establish the program that he felt was robbing the people of their money and their best chance for salvation. The new idea out of the church's headquarters was that the more money you gave to the church the better chance you had of freeing your dearly departed loved ones from the confines of purgatory or the fires of hell. Money could buy your salvation. That was the church's teaching about salvation. Martin felt uneasy about it. That phrase, "justified by faith" pointed him in a different direction.
"Justified by faith" would eventually lead Martin to post his 95 thesis on the door of the Whittenberg Cathedral. The thesis' were a list of everything Martin claimed was wrong with the church of his day. It was a very precise and detailed list. Martin's 95 thesis led eventually to Martin's being excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church and lit a fire that would eventually burn all over Europe. New churches would be established based on the groundwork Martin laid. The Lutheran Church in Germany would be named after Martin Luther himself. The Presbyterian Church in Scotland would arise from the Reformation. The Reformed Church in France and the Netherlands would emerge during the Reformation. Even the Church of England would trace it's root to that phrase "justified by faith."
"Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ ..." Our faith comes from God and leads us toward peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the bridge between God and humanity. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, the life. We are not saved through the church. We are saved by faith through our Lord Jesus Christ. This simple idea that we take for granted changed the political and religious landscape of the world. Great suffering would come to the world through Martin's interpretation of that phrase, "justified by faith." Nation would rise up against nation. Protestant would fight Catholic. Catholic would hang Protestant. Protestant would burn Catholic at the stake. Religious warfare is not a pretty sight. Look at Iraq today and you will see a modern version of religious warfare. Shia bombs Sunni mosque. Sunni sends suicide bomber to blow up Shiite standing in line to get groceries. Religious warfare calls forth some of the most brutal violence humans can dish out.
Never think for one minute that the Bible is an impotent book. This book is not dead. It is very much alive. Fortunately, Christianity has passed through the moderating influence of the Age of Reason. We have learned to read and interpret our holy book with some measure of reason. We have learned to tolerate people who interpret the holy book differently than we do. So it is that America was established on the basis of freedom of religion. Our prayer is for our Muslim neighbors is that they too may experience the moderating influence of reason upon their religion. We cannot make this happen. We cannot force it to happen. This moderation must come from within not from without. We cannot bomb them into reason. It will not work. We must pray for our Muslim brothers and sisters and especially for the moderates within their ranks. They need courage to stand up to those who threaten to kill them if they speak their minds. It is not easy to speak up when speaking up means you may pay for what you say with your life.
Martin Luther had a choice. He could take back what he had written in his 95 thesis. He could say he was mistaken in his criticisms of the church. He could repent of what he said. Or he could die the death of a martyr or try to flee his country to save his life. Martin chose to flee his country and live to see another day. Over time his ideas took root. Changes began to occur in his society. People came over to his way of thinking. People began to protest against the church. That is where the name "Protestant" originated. This was a protest movement. The purpose of the protest was not just to complain. The purpose of the protest was to reform the church. This is the meaning of the term "Reformation." The people wanted to reform the church. They protested against the church in order to reform it. This was the intention of the Protestant Reformation.
Throughout the centuries from the Protestant Reformation until now, God has been working through the power of the Holy Spirit for the peace, unity and purity of the church. The recent PUP report at the last General Assembly was named PUP because it was tasked with coming up with a plan for the peace, unity and purity of the church. Throughout their months together, a theologically and politically diverse group, called the PUP Task Force, learned to listen to one another. Conservatives listened to liberals. Liberals heard conservatives. Over time they learned to respect one another even though they disagreed about some things. The gift the PUP Task Force gave the Presbyterian Church was not a report that was written on paper. They gave us the gift of demonstrating how the Holy Spirit can work within a diverse group of Christians in a way that makes them respect one another and listen to one another.
Respect for the other is what our world desperately needs today. We need respect in the Presbyterian Church's debate between liberals and conservatives. We need respect in the dialogue between Christians of different denominations. Presbyterians need to respect Baptists. Protestants need to respect Catholics. We need respect between Muslims and Muslims. Shiites need to respect Shia's. Sunni's need to respect Shiites. We need respect between Christians and Muslims; and between Muslims and Christians. Too much blood has been shed in the name of Christ and Mohammed. We pray that our human societies may move toward a time of renewed respect among people. This respect may only come when God's love has been poured into our hearts.
Every presbytery meeting has an agenda. The agenda begins with the opening prayer. It moves throughout the day with each different committee making their presentation at a certain time on the agenda. For instance, the Committee on Ministry may be scheduled to give their report at 11:30 A.M. The Missions Committee may be listed on the agenda for 3:00 P.M. But at each presbytery meeting, there is also what is known as the "order of the day." Often the order of the day is scheduled at 11:00 A.M. That means that 11:00 A.M. whoever is speaking will stop speaking. Whichever committee is reporting will conclude their report and sit down. Whatever is scheduled to occur at the order of the day takes precedence over everything else on the agenda at that specific time.
My modest proposal is that the order of the day for every religion in the world, and specifically for us, is respect. Now is the time for the order of the day. Now is the time for respect. If we do not honor the order of the day, all bets are off as to how this meeting will conclude. We are treading on dangerous, hallowed ground. Let us turn now to the order of the day. Respect. It may be the key to our salvation.
