A Reformed People

First Congregational Church – Wauwatosa, Wisconsin
22nd Sunday after Pentecost – October 30, 2005
Rev. Steven A. Peay, Ph.D.
[Texts: 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13 /Matthew 23:1-12]

Congregationalists are part of ‘reformed church,’ we’re engaged — or at least should be — in the task of reformation. So we come out of the roots of classical Christian faith as it was articulated by the historic event called the Reformation in the sixteenth century. We thus count as our ancestors John Calvin, Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, and Heinrich Bullinger. But we are the true direct descendants of William Fitz, Robert Browne, John Penry, Henry Barrow, John Greenwood, William Ames, John Owen, John Robinson and William Brewster, to name a few of the great ‘stars’ of the English Puritan Reformation. These great leaders heard the words of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel, “you have one teacher and you are all students” and took it to heart.

The Reformation which spawned us is the ‘magisterial’ or teaching Reformation. It looked to the words of Cyprian of Carthage, “ecclesia semper reformanda” — the church is always reforming itself — and sought to make them come true. In short, they saw that the church is always growing, changing, becoming more and more what God wants it to be, rather than being what we want it to be.

I can only imagine what these reformers would think of the churches which claim this tradition, but treat the church and the faith it holds like any other consumer product. I know that the argument is that we’ve got to get the message out to a great number of people. I don’t disagree with that at all, neither did the Reformers. They were concerned about reaching people, but it was more important that the faith be presented authentically and lived authentically, rather than to reduce it to the lowest common denominator. In other words, the Congregational Way of church life doesn’t do well when “dumbed down.”

 One of the Puritan authors, Thomas Manton, put it this way: “Salvian observeth that the church, like a river, loseth in depth what it gaineth in breadth.” Manton, I think, echoes Paul’s words to the church at Thessalonica which received the word of God as it really was, not a human word, but God’s word at work in the hearts of those who believe. That’s why the Congregational understanding of the church has always been built around the idea of ‘visible saints’ (i.e., believers) who come together in covenant relationship as “God’s free and gathered people.”

The Reformers had grown up in the Roman Church hearing that there were really two churches. There was the ecclesia docens (the teaching church) made up of the clergy and the ecclesia discens (the learning church) made up of the laity. They didn’t see this idea reflected in the Scripture where Jesus said there was only one teacher, one instructor, one rabbi and that is Jesus himself. As a consequence, they taught that everyone was a part of the church which learned and taught together. This is the notion of the “priesthood of all believers.”

The minister, then, was set apart by the community to insure good order — the preaching of the Word and the right administration of the Sacraments — not as a bridge between God and humanity. There is only one priest, one mediator between humanity and God: Jesus Christ. All of us, regardless of our calling, are able to come to God because we go to Jesus Christ. It’s almost like what Israel learned at the death of Moses — that the one who gets us through the wilderness and over Jordan into the Promised Land is God. It is God who raised up Moses, and then Joshua, and still later Paul, Luther, Calvin, John Robinson, Jonathan Edward, and on-and-on; what matters isn’t who is raised up, but to whom they point. Pastor Robinson told the Pilgrims as they boarded the Mayflower, “follow me only insofar as I follow Christ.” And he reminded them not to close their minds and hearts to truth that might be new or different, “for God hath yet more light and truth to break forth out of his Holy Word.”

Thus, the Reformers were out to preach “Good News.” So to be reformed doesn’t mean to be narrow or closed minded. As one writer says about Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, “The Good News comes from God, is about God, and finds its transforming force in the lives of believers as God works among them to receive the Good News. Second, as the Gospel transforms lives, it reshapes them into uniformity with the very life of Christ.”

For our part, as inheritors of this great tradition, we are to continue to grow in the knowledge of our faith, to deepen in our spiritual understanding. Quite frankly, transformation won’t happen if all we do is devote one hour a week to it. We wouldn’t ever expect that we could advance in our professional lives by just preparing an hour a week, but most contemporary Christians do just that — and then wonder why they don’t have the stamina to deal with the situations they encounter every day. We come out of a tradition which emphasizes the employment of the intellect in the service of the soul . . . so why isn’t every Bible study, every class, every prayer, reading, and study group full to overflowing?

The church must always be reforming itself so that we gain in depth, but it also shows itself on the outside as well. Our faith is to have made a difference in the way that we live so that we don’t end up like the Pharisees, not practicing what we teach. Being reformed, then, is more than just a historical or even a doctrinal stance — it’s a way of living. I think that’s why our Congregational forebears didn’t want to be a denomination. They wanted to be known as followers after Christ, as walkers in the Congregational Way.

Walking in this Way opens us to really being reformed — that is having the Good News take root in us and become more and more like Christ in our life, our attitude, and our conduct. We thus become witnesses to the difference God can make in everyday living. This is another point that the early Congregationalists pushed, that one is to be every bit as holy in the workshop as one is in the meeting house. William Perkins said, “The action of a shepherd in keeping sheep. . . . is as good a work before God as is the action of a judge in giving sentence, or a magistrate in ruling, or a minister in preaching.” So Richard Steele would write that it was in the shop “where you may most confidently expect the presence and blessing of God,” because “every step and stroke in your trade is sanctified.” To be reformed is to know that ALL of life is blessed! Or, as the poem of Elizabeth Barrett Browning goes, “Earth's crammed with heaven,/And every common bush afire with God;/But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,/The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries,/And daub their natural faces unaware..." A truly reformed people are never unaware of the presence of God.

As a reformed people we know, too, that we’ve been given a gift and we are to be generous in sharing it. I was sent this quote from the late Arthur Ashe this week, and while he was neither Puritan nor Reformer, the message fits: “From what we get, we can make a living; what we give however, makes a life.” If we’re reformed, then people should feel the difference in being with us whether at home, or at work, or at school, or here in worship and fellowship. The giving of the gifts we received makes our life – and our life together. We’re reformed . . . and we’re reforming – the process is ongoing and is something we must enter into every day. We’re people on a journey, we’re still pilgrims walking the way of faith (whether we can trace our ancestors to the Mayflower or not!).

Today we’re gathered to celebrate our heritage and to celebrate the working of God here-and-now in our midst. This congregation of God’s free and gathered people has reasons to rejoice. Many of us have spent six weeks learning about our faith and life together and, I pray, growing closer to God and to each other. Today we come to “own” the covenant anew and re-dedicate ourselves to the service of God, offering God worship that is joyful, reverent and pure. Our worship speaks forth who we are, what we believe, and what we’re about. Our worship say we’re reformed, gathered around Christ, his Word and Sacraments, a pilgrim people journeying together toward God, walking, and living in God’s love.

As a reformed people we understand ourselves to be a priestly people, so we take our worship out of the meeting house and into our homes, our work, our schools, wherever we go. We seek to bring God’s love and God’s presence to all those we meet each day and we seek to make a difference, to make this world a bit better because we have been through it. Thus, we’re reformed and reforming, people on the way who know that “nothing is more diligently sought” than the reformation of God’s church and that “God hath yet more light and truth to break forth out of his holy Word.” We’re a reformed people; we realize that our church has a rich heritage and a promising future as well – if we live toward God and toward each other – if we make a life.