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WHY CELEBRATE REFORMATION SUNDAY?

It was on October 31st in1517 that Martin Luther posted his famous theses on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg—an act that led to his excommunication and set in motion the Protestant Reformation. It is now common for Lutheran and Reformed churches throughout the world to celebrate the anniversary of that event each year on the last Sunday of October. But not all congregations do so, which raises the question of why any should. What is the point of celebrating “Reformation Sunday?”

            The simplest answer is this: to give thanks to God for the precious gifts we owe to the Reformation—gifts that include the very existence of the churches of which we are a part. And those gifts also include, of course, the availability of the Bible in translations that make it accessible to the ordinary person. That fact alone is sufficient reason, surely, to pause annually and remind ourselves of what we owe to the efforts of those who have gone before us.
            Reformation Sunday also provides an opportunity to educate the members of our churches about broader themes that help to explain why we practice our faith as we do. To be a Protestant is to follow Jesus Christ in a particular way, but that way is not always well understood, even by people who exemplify it. Most Protestants take for granted that our churches are fallible and always in need of the reforming work of the Holy Spirit, for example. Or that it is right for lay people to participate in the governance of our churches, even on doctrinal matters. Or that it is legitimate—and even desirable—for our clergy to be married and have children of their own. But even when we embrace such practices, we often lack a good understanding of why they exist, much less why they are not shared by the members of other churches. This is not something that can be overcome in a single day, to be sure, but an annual celebration of the Reformation is an excellent way to begin the conversation.
            Living as we do in an ecumenical age, people of faith tend to be sensitive these days to the need to understand—and treat with respect—the beliefs and practices of those who hold faiths that are different from their own. And that is all to the good: all our faith communities have valuable lessons to learn from the others, and the willingness to treat religious differences respectfully is surely one of the great gains of our day. But the promise this development holds is likely to be realized only if we are prepared to treat our own traditions with a comparable respect. If inter-religious dialogue is pursued at all seriously, moreover, it leads naturally in that direction: the better acquainted people are with the beliefs of others, the more aware they tend to be of the distinctiveness of their own beliefs—and the more reason they have to want to understand the grounds for those beliefs. For that reason as well, the celebration of Reformation Sunday can serve as a valuable resource for those who are serious about bringing their faith to bear on the challenges presented by the contemporary world.

                                             R.Bruce Douglass
                                             Director
                                             Reformed Institute of Metropolitan Washington

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