Here is the sermon I preached at Luther Seminary on Reformation Day Eve (October 30) for our Tuesday Daily Chapel service. I reference the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's 1994 Declaration to the Jewish Community. That document can be viewed here: http://download.elca.org/ELCA%20Resource%20Repository/Declaration_Of_The_ELCA_To_The_Jewish_Community.pdf.
May the love of God hold all in these days of national unrest and horrific violence as we mourn for our Jewish sisters and brothers and all who suffer from the words and actions borne of out hate.
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Text: Deuteronomy 6:4-9
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."
Sermon
Word alone. Faith alone. Grace alone. Christ alone. To the glory to God alone. Each of the five “solas” are a hallmark of the Reformation, each phrase pointing to the deep well of apostolic faith that has sustained the church over the past 500 years. Well, 500 years and 364 days, but who’s counting? A lot of good “alones” to ponder, to be sure. But today, on this eve of the Reformation, I am drawn to scripture alone, the Word of God alone...
…or, more accurately stated, I am drawn the Word of God in Deuteronomy 6, traditionally known as the Shema: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.” This is the opening verse to the God-given command bestowed upon the Israelite people shaping God’s faithful for millennia.
Hear! Shema! Listen! Take note!
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and with all your might.”
This is the word alone given by the Lord our God alone:
the precious word to keep and treasure in our hearts…the holy word we are to recite to our children and talk about wherever and whenever we go…the life-giving word we bind on our hands, fix upon our foreheads, and write on the doorposts so to guide our ways. The word alone commanded solely by God.
It is this opening verse of the Shema – Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone—that is best known in all of Jewish liturgy. Recited in the morning and evening at daily prayer, in Shabbat services, and on high holy days, the Shema is also traditionally a Jew’s last word spoken on earth. I wonder if, at 9:45 am this past Saturday morning at Tree of Life Synagogue, the Shema had been uttered by the congregation before Robert Bowers murdered 11 congregants with his AR-15-style assault rifle? This Jewish community situated in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburg gathered to hear the word of God, to love the Lord alone and keep this holy word of God, and they were met with words of hatred and an act of evil beyond comprehension. Another mass shooting in our country…another community broken by terror…another time to weep for brothers and sisters senselessly murdered by gun violence.
This time anti-Semitism was at the root of the atrocity. As a Lutheran pastor serving at Luther Seminary on the eve of Reformation Day, I believe we must acknowledge and repudiate (again!) the anti-Jewish writings of Martin Luther. I believe we must, in accordance with the 1994 Declaration of ELCA to the Jewish Community, “express our deep and abiding sorrow over the tragic effects [Luther’s writings] have had on subsequent generations,” on this generation. This is why today, in the wake of the Tree of Life tragedy, we borrowed language from this declaration to confess the Christian church’s past (and present) wrongful treatment of our Jewish sisters and brothers, to seek forgiveness that comes from God alone, pray for all who suffer at hands of hate and violence, for the families and circle of loved ones of the 11 victims killed in worship, and seek a way forward in the gospel of reconciliation and neighborly love.
Let me tell you, this is not the Reformation Eve sermon I had planned prior to this weekend’s Sabbath. But I am convinced it is the word we at Luther Seminary need to hear in these days. You see, I believe with all my heart that words matter. The words we speak to each other and generate out into the world—they matter! Our words shape those around us even while they shape ourselves. Like God’s words in Genesis, our own words have the power to create, to bring thoughts, feelings, ideas, actions, and even things into being. Words have influence and power. Even in our culture were we are bombarded by words, they still have power.
And when the words we speak turn us against one another…when the power of words is used to “other” people…when words are spoken that distance, disregard, and devalue others…we find ourselves on the pathway toward the dehumanization of one another. And history shows us what happens when whole groups of people are dehumanized. It all begins with words.
The Anti-Defamation League reported that anti-Semitic incidents in the United States increased 57% in 2017. Why? I believe it begins with words…The words by our leaders, our politicians, our preachers, our neighbors – they matter. And I will tell you, putting armed guards at the doorway to every house of worship is not the answer to violence. Our words are the answer! We are accountable for our words. The church is accountable for our words. God calls us to account. Which is why, with our words together, we confess the ways our words have harmed others…what we have done in thought, word, and deed. And why we need to hear the word from God alone! For it is God’s word that calls us back to the truth…to who we are called to be and for whom we are called to be!
Hear! Shema! Listen! Take Note! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might! Keep these words – God’s word! –written on your hearts. Recite God’s word to your children. Teach them the way of God, the word of God alone…when you are home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind, fix, and write God’s word on our doorways. Armed guards do not belong at our doorways, only God's word!
The sinner-saint Martin Luther said and wrote terrible things that we repudiate, words not from God. We continue to confess and repudiate this history even as we turn toward the 501st Anniversary of the Reformation. The sinner-saint Martin Luther also said and wrote powerful words, God-inspired words, life-giving words, as he faithfully proclaimed the Word alone, God’s holy word, the gospel of love that we experience in the embodiment of the Word, Christ Jesus our saving word. This the word written onto our hearts, a word that calls us to love God and love the neighbors, all our neighbors, without exception. This is the word that matters -- the Word of God. Word alone. Faith alone. Grace along. Christ alone. To the glory of God alone.
In the spirit of the Reformation, let me add another "sola" to the list, another "alone."
Love alone.
May the Spirit open our hearts anew to receive the love of God in Christ Jesus, the divine love that calls us to speak this word of love into the world; to be this word of love for sake of others. For we, our neighbors, our world need love -- love alone.