Re- It’s a prefix that means to do over again. There are things about “re” that we don’t like. We don’t like having to do things over again. That usually means that we’ve failed the first time.
And so when we hear the word “Reformation” we like to ignore the “re”. We like to think that “Reformation” was something that happened in the 1500’s. We would like to think that we fixed everything back then. But that is not exactly true.
In his most recent book, “Mission is the Shape of Water,” theologian and scholar Michael Frost points out that as Christians, we have selective memory about how the Church works. We may try to emulate Billy Graham but lose the lessons of Francis Xavier.
This is where the “RE” of Christianity comes in. As Christians, we are never enslaved by our memories or by what seems to be the case now. Luther himself said in the 95 Theses that “the Christian life is a life of repentance.” We are brought back to the starting point. That is what the Reformation sought to do – to “RE”Christianize the Church by bringing it back to the basics of Scripture, Faith, and Grace.
For the next few weeks, we are going to be in a sermon series called “RE” as we reimagine, renew, and rejoice in the “re” action that God enacts in our hearts through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Join us as we engage in what any reformation church should do, coming back to do it all over again.