Unity, not division - Rector's Rambling for October 29, 2017

Five-hundred years ago this week the Church was damaged, seemingly irreparably.  I don’t mean the Church as in a building, but The Church as the Body of Jesus Christ himself.

On October 31, 1517, a monk nailed his Ninety-Five Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences on the church door in his town, having also sent them to the Archbishop, and thus is marked the beginning of what is called The Reformation.

Many churches of Lutheran and other protestant persuasions will be celebrating this day as a great historical event.  But in light of our Lord’s admonition that we “all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me” (John 17:21), I think that we should give pause to celebration, and think instead about how our sad divisions, which has begat yet more and more divisions, resulting in thousands of denominations or groupings of churches within Protestantism alone, hinders our ability to convince the world that Jesus was sent by the Father and is Lord.

I am not saying the Roman Church was, and in ways is still, without faults.  Rome herself met shortly after this event (the Council of Trent) to evaluate and make many changes, although not all that Martin Luther and other Protestant leaders wanted.  England’s reformation began as a more political act of stopping Rome’s ability to tell Henry VIII he had to stay married to a woman that was previously married to his late brother, a marriage that he had been forced into for political alliance.  This led to the great theological struggle to try to find a balance between reformed principles and catholic (universally accepted) theology and organization.  A “via media”, a middle way, has been the goal of our denomination with varying degrees of success over the years.

Today, rather than celebrating division, we will pray for Christ’s Kingship over all believers.  Rather than divided, may we be brought together to make Christ known to all.