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10/30/22 – Grace, Generosity & Reformation

GRACE, GENEROSITY, AND REFORMATION

October 30, 2022
Reformation Sunday
Luke 19:1-10
Rev. Denise Clark-Jones

Today we commemorate two historic events, the 16th century Protestant Reformation and the 125th anniversary year of Westminster Presbyterian Church. Reformation Sunday is always the last Sunday in October, marking the occasion in 1517 when Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the church door in Wittenberg, Germany. The day honors the Protestant Movement, which began before Martin Luther and continued after his death.

The Presbyterian Church is a church of the Reformation with strong ties to John Calvin, a French lawyer, theologian and pastor, who was forced to flee to Switzerland from his native France. Calvin introduced new forms of church government and liturgy, which John Knox, a Scottish theologian and pastor, used when he founded the Presbyterian Church in Scotland. The identifying motto of the Reformation was “Ecclesia Reformata, Semper Reformanda:” the church reformed and always reforming.

Presbyterians had a history of getting into what the late congressman and civil rights activist John Lewis called “good trouble.” Even before the American Revolution, Presbyterians supported freedom of religion and the separation of government and ecclesiastical authority. A Presbyterian minister, Francis Makemie, is considered the founder of the Presbyterian Church in the New World. He came to America from Northern Ireland in the 1680’s. In 1707, the colonial governor of New York ordered Makemie be arrested for preaching without a license from the British government. He was jailed for two months before his trial; at which time he presented his license and was acquitted. His case is considered the landmark case for religious freedom in America.

King George III and his supporters referred to the American Revolution as the “Presbyterian Rebellion.” The word, “Presbyterian” was used as a general label for Calvinists, dissenters, and Republicans. At that time a “Republican” referred to those who were anti-monarchy and favored a state in which the supreme power is in the hands of the people, who elect their representatives to the national government, led by an elected president. The president’s power would be checked by the legislative and judicial branches of government.  Of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, 12 were Presbyterian.

Presbyterian polity heavily influenced the original U.S. Constitution with its elected representative government, divided into presbyteries and synods under a General Assembly. Presbyterian polity guided the Founding Fathers in their vision of a representative government for the 13 Colonies. Two of the most influential representatives to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 were James Madison and the Rev. John Witherspoon. Madison, a graduate of the Presbyterian College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) studied under the college’s president, Rev. Witherspoon, a Presbyterian minister from Scotland. Witherspoon served as chaplain to the Continental Congress. (1)

Although Presbyterian polity and our country’s democratic republic system of government are similar in many ways, it is important to note the major difference between the two. The Presbyterian church is a theocracy, the United States is not. The authors and signers of the original U.S. Constitution explicitly stated that there must be a separation of church and state. At the present time, our democracy is being threatened, both from the outside and within, by those who favor a more authoritarian form of government. According to a recent book by American historian, John Meachem, individual state’s rights, when particular issues are favored by the states’ legislative majority, are challenging the union of states just as in the years leading to the Civil War. (2) Those calling themselves “Christian nationalists” spearhead this movement and have condoned and even incited violence to gain control. The Founding Fathers strongly held that a democracy cannot exist where religious groups force national conformity to theological doctrine. As you have heard me say many times: we should let our faith guide our politics, but not let our politics guide our faith.

The famous preacher, Barbara Brown Taylor observed: “Jesus was not killed by atheism and anarchy. He was brought down by law and order allied with religion, which is always a deadly mix. Beware those who claim to know the mind of God and who are prepared to use force, if necessary, to make others conform. Beware those who cannot tell God’s will from their own. Temple police are always a bad sign. When chaplains start wearing guns and hanging out at the sheriff’s office, watch out. Someone is about to have no king but Caesar.” (3)

The Presbyterian Church has not been without its conflicts. The denomination has split and reunited. Churches have left the denomination to create their own denominations. We can still, however, celebrate our part in the Protestant Reformation and the Presbyterians’ leadership in the founding history of the United States. I hope this short review of Presbyterian history is helpful in understanding how we got to where we are today, celebrating Westminster’s 125 years as a place of worship and witness to the gospel of Christ in Peoria.

While Reformation Sunday may prompt us to look back to the great truths and insights articulated by the Reformers more than 500 years ago, it is even more important to look forward. We must continue to be reformed by the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in calling us to serve in a new time – “the church reformed and always reforming.”

Jesus got himself into a lot of “good trouble.” Today we read he is at it again in Jericho, nearing his final destination, Jerusalem. All along his journey he has been drawing people to himself. He empowered people to join his movement to bring forth the kingdom of God on earth. He championed the cause of people living on the margins – the poor, the sick, the oppressed and all those society has labeled “the other.” He waged peaceful protests against oppressive systems, which benefited the wealthy and privileged elite at the expense of the poor. He came to save us from ourselves.  But, as the Jesus movement grew, leaders of the empire and religious officials became wary, fearful of having their own power questioned and diminished.

It is important to note that the story of Jesus and Zacchaeus comes after three stories in which Jesus was criticized for eating with sinners. What was Zacchaeus’ sin? Zacchaeus was a tax collector. The Roman Empire required taxes to support the services it provided – roads, water systems, and Homeland security to name a few of the most critical services. The problem was, in the Jewish province of Judea, the people didn’t want to be a part of the Roman Empire. They viewed themselves as conquered and oppressed people. Any money given to their oppressors was resented.

Unfortunately, the Roman government had a seriously flawed, unjust system of collecting taxes. Instead of paying the tax collectors a salary, they were expected to make their own wages by charging their fellow citizens more than the amount demanded by the government and pocketing the extra. A body has to eat, right? But, with no check on how much more the tax collector could demand, a tax collector could make himself a very rich man. And Zacchaeus wasn’t just a tax collector, he was a chief tax collector. In such a system as this, with no checks in place to prevent “price gouging” for maximum profits, the tax collectors increasingly widened the income gap between themselves and the peasant population. This has always been a fatal flaw that has helped to bring empires down.

Zacchaeus was wealthy man with a position of importance in the Roman Empire. What drove him to climb up a tree to get a glimpse of the man who preached justice, mercy, and love for God and neighbor? What did a poor itinerate rabbi have that Zacchaeus sought? More to the point, what is it about Jesus that has drawn people to him for over 2000 years? What is it about Jesus that has continued to motivate people to give generously of their time, their skills, their wealth, and even their lives to for him?

What Zacchaeus didn’t know was that Jesus was also seeking him. Luke tells us: “As the crowd came passing by, he looked up in the tree, and said Zacchaeus, you come down!” Whoa! How does Jesus know Zacchaeus’ name? Like Peter and the Roman centurion were called to meet each other, God’s Holy Spirit brought together Jesus and Zacchaeus. “Hurry, come down; I must stay at your house today.” Hear the word “must.” Jesus does not even wait to be invited; he invites himself because he is a man on a mission from God.

On this Reformation Sunday, we hear in this gospel story about tbe divine force the reformer John Calvin called God’s “irresistible grace.” Parting from the Medieval Roman Catholic practice of paying for forgiveness – indulgences, these monetary payments were called – the Protestant reformers insisted that salvation was obtained by faith alone with God’s grace alone. We are not the first movers; it is God that seeks us out for salvation.

Listen to Zacchaeus’ response when Jesus calls to him: “half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.”  We miss something in the Greek translation to English. In the original Greek text, the verbs are all active and in the present tense. Zacchaeus is not saying he will do these things in the future as it is translated in the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible.  Zacchaeus is telling Jesus he is doing this now, before witnesses, which makes it more than a fleeting promise. His repentance had already begun. Furthermore, he was doing more than required by law. Imagine! He was giving more than required by law.

It is at the end of this gospel story that Jesus announced that salvation had come to Zacchaeus. What happened to Zacchaeus was not merely a matter of a change of mind or heart; it was a change in the living of his life. When God’s presence and power are welcomed and settle into our lives, we begin to change. We behave differently, not because we are told we ought to, but because this is the way Jesus acts when he moves in and takes over one’s life–when he becomes Lord of our lives.

Luke has done it again – those unexpected reversals. The sinner understood more about the message Jesus was sent to bring than the self-righteous crowd, who set themselves up as less sinful than Zacchaeus.  Zacchaeus understood what Jesus had been saying, the crowd did not. The biblical scholar N.T. Wright said: “If Christians don’t bother to get Jesus right, what chance is there that others will bother with him.” (4) Our salvation is claiming the mission God has given us, following the path Jesus has shown us.

Jesus said: “Today salvation has come to Zacchaeus’ house.” We receive salvation when we recognize that Jesus has given us our purpose and our calling. We come to Christ’s table because he has invited us to come to him. There is nothing required but our willingness to receive the gift God has given us and let it re-form our lives into the image of Christ.

Amen. May it be so!

 

  1. https://www.presbyterianmission.org/what-we-believe/church-history/
  2. https://www.msnbc.com/11th-hour/watch/one-on-one-with-jon-meacham-151117381660
  3. Barbara Brown Taylor, “Truth to Tell,” from “The Perfect Mirror,” copyright 1998, Christian Century Foundation., 89-92.
  4. https://quotefancy.com/quote/870055/N-T-Wright-But-if-Christians-don-t-get-Jesus-right-what-chance-is-there-that-other-people

 

 

© Rev. Denise Clark-Jones, 2022, All Rights Reserved
Westminster Presbyterian Church | 1420 W. Moss Ave. | Peoria, Illinois 61606
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