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(This is the third of three sermons on this day.) This worldview, like most worldviews, was born out of a particular time and place in history. Sometimes, that origin gives us some clues as to why people began to think and feel differently. Thanks to Jack Rogers meticulous research about the historic Confessions of our church, access to this information is relatively easy to come by. The doctrine of election began to gain in importance, not so much so with Calvin, but with John Knox and the Scottish Reformers of the 16th Century. They were responding to the corruptions of Medieval Catholicism. The priests then were known to have unwieldy power over their parishes. You had to "buy" your salvation with attendance at Mass, monetary gifts, and unquestionable loyalty to the teachings of the church. Salvation was not free. The Reformers preached against this picture of salvation. They believed that salvation was God's gift alone to give. Rogers says that "election" was the Reformed way of saying "grace alone." Though Knox was not joined by his peers, at several points he even tried to get rid of the "Mass" altogether seeing that the celebration of Communion had become so tied in to receiving salvation through what transpired at the table rather than through the grace of God. Yes, it was a reaction to the times, more than 400 years ago, and today we can decide for ourselves if this way of thinking and believing really suits our own time and place. Perhaps it needs some dusting off and some tweaking in places, but I trust that when put together that we are elected both for service and salvation, we begin to attain a spiritual balance that does work for God's people in this time and place. Rogers notes in his discussion of the Scots Confession that "Someone has jokingly said that all people should be Methodists before they are converted and Presbyterians afterward. Before conversion, all we need to know is that if we are willing to trust God in Christ, we can be saved. The Methodist stress on free will is appropriate here. But after we are converted, we should fall on our knees and say, 'Thank you, God, that you were merciful to me, a sinner!' A Presbyterian stress on God's gracious action before we acted is appropriate here. Presbyterians believe that, from God's perspective, both these appropriate affirmations fit together harmoniously. When we try to rationalize their relationship, however, we usually end up distorting one reality or another." (Rogers, 89) The free choice to choose God and knowing that before time began God chose us do somehow work together - even if you have to borrow from more than one tradition to get there. I have always been glad that this way is a middle way in which faith and works, service and salvation all have their place - though as Rogers says, it is hard to rationalize those balances without distorting the reality, without tipping the balance to our own preferences and human understandings. My hope is placed again, not in what I do through my service, nor in what I say I believe, but in God's grace alone. God may work through me, and I hope God does - but I am sure glad God's plan is not compromised on the days I haven't had enough coffee and get 10 things wrong before 10 a.m. It is the assurance that God chooses us that makes me want to choose God over and over again - especially when times are hard and there's no explanation as to why God isn't saving me from whatever situation I happen to be in. The "invisible church" that springs out of this doctrine of election has always been a comfort to me. Though we may know our own rosters, and can look around and see who's here and who's not on Sunday morning - this is not the sum total of God's church. The invisible church includes those we may not expect and chastises those who have grown a little too comfortable in claiming to be among God's chosen. That's the church I want to grow into - always. Amen.
Bibliography:
Rogers, Jack. Presbyterian Creeds: A Guide to the Book of Confessions. The Westminster Press: 1991. |