Monthly Archives: May 2015

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on May 11, 2015
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The Reformation – Rev. David J. Schreffler

May 11, 2015 – “R” is for Reformation

The Protestant Reformation is a big deal for the Lutheran Church. We celebrate Reformation Sunday every year, yet it continues to lose its power and significance the further we get from October 31, 1517. The Protestant Reformation has been called a “16th century religious, political, intellectual and cultural upheaval that splintered Catholic Europe.” Other sites refer to it simply as “…the schism within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin, Huldrych Zwingli and other early Protestant Reformers.”

So what sparked this “Reformation”? Some say it was the nailing of the 95 Theses and their consequent distribution (thanks to Gutenberg’s Printing Press) that began the movement that would splinter the Catholic Church, eventually sparking denominations such as the Presbyterian Church, the Methodist Church, and the Radical Reformation that gave us leaders like Menno Simons,Thomas Müntzer, Andreas Karlstadt; and other groups like the Zwickau prophets and Anabaptist groups like the Hutterites and Mennonites.

Luther loved the church he was a part of, but he did not love some of their practices – especially the selling of indulgences. He posted the list of 95 complaints hoping to start a conversation – instead he began a time of real upheaval and conversation. He even had a contract out on him which drove him “underground” to live for a time at the castle at Wartburg when he refused to recant at the Diet of Worms.

As I said earlier, the celebration of Reformation Sunday has been losing its power and significance over the last 30 years. However, in the year 2017, we will celebrate the 500th anniversary of this significant social, political, and religious event. My hope is we will once again reclaim the significance of this event, which may lead us to reclaim a hunger for the Word of G*d.

Pastor Dave

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on May 10, 2015
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I Chose You – Rev. David J. Schreffler

May 10, 2015
Sunday

“You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.” John 15:16 – 17

“One of the most unnerving parts of this passage is Jesus’ assertion that he has chosen the disciples to do the work of God, to bear fruit. He is clear about this: “you did not choose me but I chose you”. There is a giftedness about this verse. We received something we did not create, go searching for, or earn on our own. It resembles the glorious feeling of being asked to be someone’s spouse, best friend, beloved; the chosen-above-all-others. If we ask, “Whose name is on this gift?,” the answer is, “mine!” But there is also responsibility attached to this election of the works of fruit bearing. Not only are we to do it, but we are to bear “fruit that will last.”

What does that mean? Obviously, some ‘fruit’ does not last. Short-sightedness, impetuosity, selfish interests masked as the work of the Church, raw ambition disguised as false humility in the service of God: the list is long and everyone can knowingly add to it through observation of the fruits that rot rather than last.”
Susan Hedahl (commentary on John 15 — Workingpreacher.org)

“Fruit that rots rather than lasts.” Can you imagine that there is fruit in the church that stinks? Could people actually look to do things in the church that are not really fruity, but rots from the inside out – rotten from the core? I have seen and smelled the good things of the church, I have seen and smelled the rotten. And just like one rotten apple can spoil the whole barrel, so can one member, who is rotting because of disbelief, pride, anger, revenge, or coveting………. can cause their own rot, and pass that rot onto others. I have spoken of the relationship that Paul speaks to that the followers of Christ must function – as the body of Christ. If one part of the body has become sick, or dysfunctional, it will affect the entire body. We can use the barrel of fruit and one rotten one in the same analogy. There is nothing we can do to be fruity – the fruits of the spirit come in the relationship we have in Christ. But there is a lot we can do to become rotten to the core.

Through Jesus Christ, by being baptized into Christ, G*d has chosen us – we have not chosen Christ — and just knowing that we have such a gift should bring us joy. Therefore, the fruit that we have is not our own as well – they are gifts from G*d. When this reality becomes fully known, then we strive to live in the manner of the state of Grace that defines our lives – sharing that fruit with others — and that, as Jesus says, will make our joy complete.

Pastor Dave