Semper Reformandum or Always Reforming is one of the vestiges of the Reformation, which we will observe this Sunday. (Actually, one may more appropriately refer to the theological and ecclesialogical changes of the 16th century in the plural--reformations--than as a monolithic Reformation. Indeed, there were many types of reforms and reformers.) The dictum Semper Reformandum was adopted by a group of Lutheran clergy regarding, in part, their relationship to the Roman Catholic Church. While many reformers--Martin Luther himself included--saw the end of the Reformations as a reunion with a reformed Roman church, the Semper Reformandum group, at a critical point, saw the movement as making a break with Rome, and they would never look back. The very nature of the Church, in their mind, was to always reflect upon what we do and constantly reform ourselves so that we remain faithful to the Gospel.
The Gospel, interestingly, was the cause for the Reformations. Well, actually, it was all the abuses in the name of the Gospel that led to the Reformations. Yet, the heart of the Gospel is what spurred this movement on. That is: Sola Gratia. We are save by grace. And while there were a few other Solas (Fide--Faith, Scriptura--Scripture) that followed, this understanding that the Godhead reconciles us with God's self and calls us into new life freely and without our effort--by grace-- is quite radical.
There would be--and continue to be--all sorts of individuals who would want to qualify this grace. The grace, they argue, comes through faith. Faith involves a certain assent to various truths and can quickly become yet another "work" that we do to gain God's favor. So much for enjoying the gift!
Luther and other reformers would have nothing to do with this system of "works". Grace--God's unconditional love, particularly and fully expressed in the person of Jesus Christ--is the beginning, middle, end, height, depth, and breadth of everything. We have not done anything to earn it, and we are invited to participate in the divine life freely and fully aware that we are considered the beloved of God. (I often wonder what the world would look like if we truly believed and were able to internalize this profound promise.)
Of course, with all the political posturing and upheaval at the time of the Reformations, the idea that grace extended also to those who didn't quite believe in the same way as we might led to the slaughter of thousands during the religious wars of the 16th century. Seemingly, we have an endless ability to corrupt even the most grace-filled concepts of the tradition.
Yet, grace and its promise have endured, and we, as Lutherans and Episcopalians, are the inheritors of this wonderful assurance. (The great Anglican Thomas Cranmer studied with Luther and other European reformers and brought incorporated these ideas into the Anglican tradition.) However, I suspect that this concept remains foreign to many and baffling to most. The posture of grace certainly is not what we experience in the world at large. In the world, we must produce. We must be active and proactive. We need to be able to point to all that we have accomplished so as to hold onto our job if not also justify our existence. At a point, this is unavoidable. At another point, it is sad if it is the only way we understand our life and our being.
A story of Luther that I love, perhaps, gets at the serendipity and reality of grace. Many psychologists have interpreted Luther's conflict with the Roman Catholic Church as a byproduct of his terrible relationship with his father. Luther was Hector Projector! The Roman Church became the father figure against which he rebelled.
However, some work has been done on the letters that Luther and his father were exchanging prior to Luther nailing the 95 theses on the Castle Church door at Wittenberg, ostensibly beginning the Reformations. What these scholars have found is that Luther and his father had reconciled. Far from a rebellion against an ecclesiastical father figure, Luther's actions were empowered because of the confidence and love that he realized from his own father. Some might even say this was grace in action!
And, perhaps, that is how it is with us as well. The very real relationships that we experience are the ones that either express or reject the grace that God showers upon us unconditionally. When we encounter love that is unconditional and freely given from those closest and most important to us, it is transformative. When we encounter such love, we often want to replicate it, share it, give it away. . .freely! When we encounter such love, we are glimpsing--or better yet, we are glimpsed by--God.
Happy Reformation.
Blessings.
Mark
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