By grace are we saved through faith

Ephesians 2:8
There are two things that we recognise in the church this Sunday. Firstly, the signing of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification on Reformation Day (31 October 1999) in Augsburg, Germany. The message of God’s liberating grace and hope for this world did not stop there, but has brought together not only Catholics and Lutherans, but also Methodists, Anglicans and Reformed. Representatives from these five communions met in Notre Dame University (Indiana, USA) in March 2019 and committed to strengthen their common witness in worship and service.

Secondly, we commemorate the Reformation which had its beginnings on 31 October 1517 when Martin Luther wrote to Albrecht, Archbishop of Mainz and Magdeburg, protesting against the sale of indulgences. Enclosed in his letter was a copy of his “Disputation of Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences” which came to known as the Ninety Five Theses.

October 31st 1517 was a long time ago. We all have a family story describing how we got to this point in history, things that have shaped our families over the years. On Reformation Sunday we return to the core of our faith: God loved us first and God continues to shower us with grace and mercy. Reformation Sunday is a reminder of bedrock of our faith – justification by the grace and mercy given to us in Jesus Christ accepted in faith. We are called to remember that all that we are is a gift from God.

Though we celebrate that God worked through Luther and the other
reformers, we also acknowledge that God’s desire is for us all to work together and as we profess in the creeds, that we will once again be one Holy catholic (universal), and Apostolic church. Church reform will continue, but only biblical truth will renew the church, because it is Jesus’ church and he loves it more than we do.

Pastor Darryl