²⁴ Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word

 and believes him who sent me has eternal life,

 and does not come under judgment

 but has passed from death to life. (John 5:24)

Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word

will never see death.’ (John 8:51)

²⁵ Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life.

Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live,

²⁶ and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. (John 11:25)

         Today is Halloween when many people will decorate with images related to death: graves, ghosts, witches, scarecrows, spider webs and more.  Children and youth will dress in costumes and collect goodies and party.  An anthropological way to think about reality is to suggest three spheres of reality, the physical world, the spirit world, and God.  Once my son and I were walking in tide pools on the Kenyan reefs.  I saw a water eel hiding in a hole and I quickly jumped out of the pool to the reef where I saw a sea turtle caught in a net as I stood beside my son.  The eel lived in a watery reality.  The turtle could survive in water and air.  We human cannot survive under water.  There were three levels of reality sharing the same universe.

         During the Protestant Reformation, Protestant Christians agreed that once we die, we are with God in eternal life if we are believers.  Hades or hell is a place for those who do not want to be part of the kingdom of heaven and exist under the kingship of God.  Purgatory, a holding place for souls until indulgences or prayers said for sins, was rejected.

         One of the famous stories in the Gospel of John involves the death of Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, Jesus’ friends.  Lazarus became ill and died.  Jesus knew but did not rush to heal him but waited until he had been dead four days and then traveled to the grieving sisters.  Jesus told the sisters that he was the resurrection.  He then called Lazarus from the grave.  He had raised others who were thought dead but this miracle occurred right before his crucifixion and resurrection.  We quibble about just exactly how this will all happen but the one thing we don’t argue about is that there is eternal life in Jesus Christ.  Some day God will work it all out and I do not need to be afraid of evil spirits nor worry about what my eternity will be like.  I do not need to hide behind a mask.  I am safe in his love.  Thank you Lord.

Tomorrow, October 31, was the second largest commercial holiday in the United States, second only to Christmas.  Perhaps Black Friday has ooched into the stats now.  As I flew back to Florida last week from visiting my son’s family, the two ladies in the seats next to me chatted quite animatedly about how their families decorated their houses for Halloween and really did very little for Christmas any more.  In Kenya, one year when my children were young, I chatted with my house workers about our holiday.  She looked at me aghast.  Why would anyone dress up like an evil spirit or like a dead person?  My bubble was burst.  When we were in a remote area previously my friends shared that they had a holiday when milk libations were poured on the ground and bits of food were given to children who came begging.  Where did Halloween originate?  Halloween is a combination of “hallowed meaning holy” and “eve meaning the evening before.”  November 1^st is All Saints Day and tomorrow, October 31^st, is the night before.      

         As the Romans entered the British Isles they met the Celtic celebration of Samhain, which was a New Year’s Day celebration and the beginning of the dark time of the year.  It was considered a “thin place” or time when the boundary between the seen and unseen worlds. It was believed that spirits could cross over.  We might call it the “Twilight Zone.”  The ghosts of dead people could visit the living.  So large bonfires were built and sacrifices offered to appease these spirits.  The Romans had their own celebration for the passing of the dead, Pomona. The apple was their symbol. In 609 CE Pope Boniface IV declared May 19 as the day for the celebration of the lives of martyrs but later this date was moved to November 1.  By the 9^th century All Saints Days was firmly established as November 1.  The “eve of All Saints Day” or Halloween was October 31.  Costumes were worn in these celebrations to hide from the spirits of the dead who were believed to roam around seeking “treats” or threatening “tricks.”

         On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the Wittenberg church door calling for public debate.   He opposed the belief that the dead could return to life and seek help in their after life.  He opposed indulgences as acts of good deeds to help the dead spend fewer years in purgatory.  He opposed the authority of the Pope in selling indulgences. The newly invented printing press spread Luther’s challenges and so the Protestant Reformation is dated to October 31, 1517.

         As Christians, we do not believe we need to wear costumes to hide from evil.  We do not believe deceased ancestors return to play tricks on us.  We do believe evil was defeated on the cross.  And we certainly believe in welcoming the children in our neighborhood and getting to know people.  We need not fear for we know Christ is alive and that is not a trick.  It is a treat!  Blessings.

“A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.”

         Martin Luther is credited for writing the Reformation hymn “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” between 1527 and 1529.  Many churches will sing this song tomorrow on Reformation Sunday.  The hymn was inspired by Psalm 46:1, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Luther paraphrases concepts from this psalm about God being a stronghold and refuge for his people amid life’s trials.  Castles and fortresses were common in Germany and Luther compares God’s protection during the conflicts of the Reformation to such a castle. A fortress provided safety and protection for a town or city from attacking forces.  The metaphor conveys the idea of our God as a strong defense against evil.  Just as people ran to a fortress that shielded a city from harm and prevailed against a siege, God provides an unfailing refuge for His followers amid life’s hardships and trials.

         We might reflect on where people run when they feel life is against them.  Many run to alcohol or drugs, shopping malls or the Internet, and places that distracts from the pain of life.  Let us listen to the song and remember that our God is a mighty fortress, a strong castle, a place of refuge and strength.  We can always run to him.  Thank you, Lord.

⁴ But when the goodness and loving-kindness of God our Savior appeared, ⁵ he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.  (Titus 3:4-5)

³¹ So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.  (1 Corinthians 10:31)

Johann Sebastian Bach wrote SDG at the bottom of every composition.  It means “Soli Deo Gloria.”  To God be the glory for what Bach had written.  Out of the Protestant Reformation gradually this fifth “sola” emerged.  It pulls together the other four as it points to “scripture alone – the Word,” “faith alone,” “Christ alone,” and “Grace alone.”  We acknowledge our helplessness and God’s reaching to us to save us.  We acknowledge him as the creator and savior.  We acknowledge our helplessness and his gift to us, grace.  God deserves the glory and only him.  Not people, or popes, or saints but only God should ultimately be glorified.

         Bach signed his musical compositions SDG.  How do we give God the glory for our lives?  I suspect artists do it in their creations.  Take time to thank God for his gifts and for helping us with our challenges.  In Kenya, they often started church by saying, “Many wanted to live to see today and were unable, so let us thank God for the blessing for today and worship him.”  To him be the glory today.

         One of the major differences between Protestants and Catholics during the Reformation resulted in debates surrounding the role of Mary as a co-redeemer and to what extent good works impact our salvation.  Most Protestants do not believe in Purgatory, a holding place between heaven and hell.  As I understand it, your time there depends on your sins and penance.   The reformers insisted that faith in Christ was the only way of salvation.  To die is to be with Christ for sinners.  They looked to verses like:

• John 14:6 – “Jesus replied: I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
•  1 Timothy 2:5 – “Because there is only one God, and only one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
• Acts 4:10–12 – “May all of you and all the people of Israel know that this happened in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth […] And there is no salvation in anyone else; for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved”

Today we face a pluralistic world where we are exposed to all the major world religions.  Not only that but we value tolerance.  We want to respect other faith systems.  Anyone who insists that Jesus is the only way will be thought narrow, dogmatic, intolerant and just plain wrong.  But our world is not so different from that of the early Christians who were surrounded by Roman and Greek gods as well as the local baals other believed influenced life.  We might talk about Lady Luck or Good Fortune or Carma.

         Gods come in various forms, not just formal religions from around the world.  Let us listen to this worship song that talks about the meaning of Christ as God to Christians.

“In Christ Alone My Hope is Found”

In Christ alone, my hope is found.  He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground.  Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.  What heights of love, what depths of peace.  When fears are stilled, when strivings cease.  My Comforter, my All in All.  Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, who took on flesh,  Fullness of God in helpless babe.
This gift of love and righteousness,  Scorned by the ones He came to save.
‘Til on that cross as Jesus died,  The wrath of God was satisfied.
For every sin on Him was laid.  Here in the death of Christ I live, I live

There in the ground His body lay,  Light of the world by darkness slain.
Then bursting forth in glorious Day,  Up from the grave He rose again.
And as He stands in victory,  Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me.
For I am His and He is mine.  Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,  This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath,  Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man,  Can ever pluck me from His hand.
Till He returns or calls me home,  Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand.

¹⁷ The law indeed was given through Moses;

 grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

  John 1:17

         The third cornerstone of the Protestant Reformation is based on the idea of grace.  We talk about unconditional love when we think of another important person – to us anyway – loving us when our hair is messy, when we flub up, and when we forget.  As I reflect on my years of marriage and that my husband did indeed stick with me on good days and bad, on fat days and thin, during child birth – times when I did not feel “loveable” but ugly, I realize what an undeserved gift that was.  It was unconditional love but it was also an undeserved gift.  Grace, to me, is God reaching out to me while I was yet a sinner.  The thief on the cross had nothing to offer Jesus but the plea, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  Jesus responded, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.”  We are saved because of the cross and not because of our own merit or borrowed merit from some other saint or holy being.

         As I have pondered just how to explain what the cross means, I have come to express it as Jesus walking through death to show me that nothing can separate me from God.  God does not force us to choose the kingdom of heaven but it is there for us as a gift.  It is grace, not works.  It is grace, not merit.  I cannot pay forward enough for the snarky remarks, the periods of doubt, and the selfish deeds I am most likely going to do in the future.  I cannot climb or work my way up some ladder to heaven.  I must humble myself and acknowledge God as creator and myself as creation, needing his help.  I need mercy and grace.

         I love the prayer of the man who brought his son to Jesus’ disciples to be cured of an evil spirit that threw him into the fire.  The disciples were defeated but Jesus came down from the Mount of Transfiguration and prayed for the boy.  The father cried, “I believe, help though my unbelief!”  God gives and saves from a heart of love and I bow my head and receive.

         Perhaps there is an area of your life today where you feel defeated. Let us bow our heads in gratitude for God’s grace that is dealing with our dilemma even as we pray.  Thank you, Lord.

         One of the debates of the Protestant Reformation was between the role of faith and works in the process of salvation.  It is the question of how do I become right with God?  On one hand a rich young ruler came to Jesus and asked what he must do to inherit eternal life and Jesus told him to go and sell all he owned and give to the poor.  The man thought he had kept the Mosaic Law perfectly but he walked away sad for he was wealthy.  The issue was not his lifestyle but his heart.  We do not know the eternal state of his soul but we do know the tension he felt.  He had tried so hard to do things right but was not sure he had paid for his sins.

         We hear the mantra of the Reformation that we are saved by grace and not works but we also know that living congruently with our faith will result in transparency with how we live.  A salty ocean does not give fresh water for drinking.  In Luke 8 a woman who had suffered for 12 years from bleeding, touched the hem of Jesus’ garment and was healed.  Jesus calls her into voice to admit she had touched him and he replies, “‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.’ (Luke 8:48)”  Another time ten lepers come to Jesus for healing.  He heals them and sends them to the priest to be declared clean.  One returns to say thank you.  Jesus says, “‘Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.’ (Luke 17:18)”  A third example from Luke tells of a blind man who asks to see.  Jesus heals him and says, “‘Receive your sight; your faith has saved you.’ (Luke 18:42)”  Faith and actions are so closely related.

         As the Reformation grappled with this in a context where indulgences were sold to remove years in pergatory and where acts of penance were done to appease an angry God, focus on faith in a God who freely healed and loved people in the Gospels and did not require acts of good deeds presented a more “user-friendly” diety that was more approachable.  Today the tendency is to connect our bad days with feelings of guilt about what we might have done wrong to anger God.  For many it is hard to believe in a God who understands our weaknesses and responds to our cry for help.

         May I suggest that we focus on the privilege we have in prayer to bring our sins, our burdens, and our fears of rejection to him in honest relationship.  We may not be able to touch his hem but we can approach him in prayer and that is a blessing.  Faith in a God who hears me even when I am not perfect is a tenant I can get behind.  Blessings as you integrate your faith with your life.

⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.

John 6:68

         Next Sunday we remember the Protestant Reformation when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg, Germany.  He publicly called the dominant Catholic Church to debate certain foundational beliefs he disagreed with.  The newly invented printing press was able to spread this public challenge for the ordinary person to read in the vernacular.  As the Reformation unfolded, Luther became famous for Five Solae or “alone” statements that summarized the basics of his beliefs.  This week we will look at those statements.  So first was “Scripture Alone,” Sola Scriptura.  Luther maintained that Scripture had more authority than church tradition.

         In the Gospel of John, John shares an incident when Jesus offends the masses listening.  Jesus makes one of his famous “I am” statements when he says, “I am the bread of life” and continues to talk about the manna that was given to the Jewish ancestors in the wilderness at the time of Moses.  He compares himself to that manna and says his followers must eat his body and drink his blood to live.  It sounded like cannibalism and many were offended and stopped following him.  Even today Christians differ on their understanding of the sacrament or ritual they call Communion.  At the time of the Reformation many of these splits originated as people sought to define church beliefs.  In the Bible text, though, Jesus then turns to his disciples and asks if they too are going to leave him.  Peter turns and says to Jesus, “To whom can we go?  You have the words of eternal life.”

         Luther maintained that Scripture is foundational to any belief and not church traditions that have often disagreed and contradicted each other.  We may not agree on exactly what Communion means but we do agree that Scripture is the basis.  A rule of thumb is that a principle must be presented more than once in Scripture and not just a single verse.

         Our reflection today is to ponder the role of Scripture in our lives.   Are we content to eat spiritual food regurgitated by the pastor like a mother bird feeding her little ones or are we too reading and pondering and praying over the Word ourselves.  Luther and many reformers fought for the Bible to be translated into common language so we can read it today.  Luther translated it into German.  William Tyndale translated it into English.  Calvin preached in French.  The Reformation deserves credit for the gift of having the Word of God to read.  Thank you, Lord.  Help me dust off any sloppy scripture reading habits I might have.

⁵ Lead me in your truth, and teach me,
    for you are the God of my salvation;
    for you I wait all day long.

  Psalm 25:5

         Today I am visiting my son and looking out his dining room window towards Lake Michigan or Superior – I get them mixed up.  It is overcast but I would like to think I see blue on the horizon.  Some days are like this.  We look at the challenges facing us and it is a bit of a haze and we are not quite sure what we are seeing or how to proceed.  For me it is the adventure of stepping into widowhood. What doors are going to open now and how do I reinvent myself after 47.5 years of journeying in a partnership in the bush of Africa, raising kids, administering programs and aging together.  What does forward look like?  I think all of us face transitioning challenges – high school graduation, marriage, new jobs, new babies, maybe divorce, maybe illness or disability.  The unexpected or unknown of each day is always there.

         Psalm 25 by King David pleads with God to lead, not just for direction but also for guidance into God’s truth.  He asks God to be his teacher.  I guess we might ask, who teaches the king?  Then we have to ask, who teaches me?  Perhaps a good question to reflect on, Am I teachable?  “Truth” is a slippery slope.  News broadcasters would like us to think that they are presenting truth from whichever “professional” they interview on any given evening.

         At his trial, another leader questions Jesus: 

³⁷ Pilate asked him, ‘So you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’ ³⁸ Pilate asked him, ‘What is truth?’ (John 18:37-39)

         Let’s ponder the challenges we face today.  Are we looking for answers that are mechanical solutions, how to do a task, or are we looking for truth, for God’s perspective on our situation?  Blessings as you step into your future!