Reformata Semper

The question that Jesus asks Bartimaeus is poignant. “What do you want me to do for you?” What do you want? Friday one of the other pastors from my Art of Transitional Ministry training posted a cartoon to our Facebook group. It looked to be a church council or session maybe a Pastor Nominating Committee, affectionately termed a PNC in Presbyterian circles, gathered around a conference table with church windows in the background. The caption read, “We’re hoping you’ll lead us on a journey of transformation without requiring any real changes.” Jesus knew the tendency to want transformation without real changes.

I imagine they had some sort of apology like we have, “Be patient with me, God isn’t finished with me yet.” But the truth is, a lot of time we know to offer the apology, but we don’t always allow God to finish…or even to make any real changes.

As we finish our series today on A Closer Look at Church, we turn to the motto of the Reformation. “Ecclesia Reformata, Semper Reformanda.” It’s Latin, but I bet you can help me figure it out – Ecclesia – church, Reformata – Reformed. Semper – Always. Reformanda –Being Reformed.

The Church reformed, is always being reformed. We tend to think of the Reformation as a movement started by Martin Luther in 1517 as he nailed the 95 Thesis to the church in Wittenberg. Maybe we include John Calvin and Zwingli and John Knox…but the reformation didn’t end with the 1500’s. It continues today.

The full Latin phrase was “Ecclesia reformata, sermper reformanda secundum verbi dei.” “The Church reformed and always being reformed according to the Word of God.” We come full circle in our series and around our wagon today. God’s Word is still speaking and reforming the church today.

Remember when we started the series the story of Fred Craddock’s that I told about the pioneer at the General Store in Texas? The clerk asked what he had in his wagon. A church. And when the clerk asked to see it, they went out. The clerk headed back to the back to peek under the tarp, but the driver of the wagon stopped him. “You can’t start back there. If you want to see the church you have to begin here.” And he pulled out a wooden box from underneath the driver’s seat and opened it. There, wrapped in old cloth, was a copy of the Bible. “If you want to see the church, you have to begin here with the Scriptures,” he said, “In fact, without this book, there is no church.” (Fred Craddock, “What is the Church Anyway?” Brown Preaching Series, First Presbyterian Church, Dallas, Texas, 1990)

Well, over the last couple of months, we have circled the wagon. We have taken a closer look at the Bible, our liturgy in worship, the pews, the cross, the Baptismal Font, music, the goodness of God and the evil of our world, Communion, faith and suffering, confession, the offering plates, the visible multitude and the vision of the multitude all gathered in God’s boat (remember we worship in an upside down ark), and the candle lighter. Now we come full circle, back to the Bible.

We are the church reformed, always being reformed according to the Word of God. We are being reformed as a congregation and as individuals. And Jesus asks us, “What do you want me to do for you?”

It’s the central question of our lives. Betty didn’t know how to answer that question. It was an ordinary day. She was washing the breakfast dishes and thought she heard something. She reached over and dried her hands and turned down the radio. She walked toward the front door and saw through the living room windows a man standing on her front stoop holding a bouquet of balloons.

“Well, what in the world?” she muttered to herself. As the man reached for the doorbell, he turned toward her and their eyes locked. He looked familiar. Did she know him? He looked like…like…like that guy from the clearinghouse sweepstakes. She reached up instinctively to catch her spinning thoughts and had the fleeting thought that she hadn’t done her hair! It was too late. She ran to the door and threw it open, “Did I win? Aren’t you the man from TV?” she squealed.

“Betty,” the man smiled and said, “Betty, don’t you recognize me?” She heard herself say “God?” The answer came from her heart, not her head, and as soon as the name was our of her mouth she know it was true. “Yes, Betty, I’m here to give you something. Tell me, what would you like from me?”

Well, she was stunned! “What do I want from you? I thought I was supposed to want whatever you want me to want.” God chuckled, “Well, let’s not answer based on supposed to…what does your heart desire from me?”

Betty wrapped her arms around her body to hold herself up. What did she want? From God? Anything at all? She shifted her weight, “I don’t know. I know what Jimmy would want. ‘Honey,’ he’d say, ‘choose money. Get enough money so I can retire. Get enough so we can buy a boat, maybe an R.V. And enough so we can spend winters in Florida.’”

God responded, “So that’s what you want? Money?”

But Betty quickly shifted, “No, no. That isn’t what I really want. Wait. Wait. Let me think.” She started trimming her nails with her teeth. God waited. “I don’t know. I know what I used to want. When I was a young girl I wanted to be a famous movie star. I wanted to go live in California and wear fancy clothes. I sing a little, you know.” As she finished her thought, her eyes lifted to meet God’s again…”Oh, I guess you do know.”

God smiled. “So you want to be a famous movie star? That’s what you want from me?”

“No. Wait. Wait.” The heat was spreading up her neck and her face flamed. She could feel she was starting to sweat. “Wait. I don’t know what I want. I know what I should want. I should want my children to be safe and healthy. I should want them to find partners to love and to give me lots of grandchildren. And I do want that. But…”

“So you want health and happiness for your children. Is that what you are asking for?”
“Yes. No. I mean, yes, it’s what I want, but it’s not what I want. I mean what I want for me. I mean…I don’t know what I mean.” As she stammered, her heart quivered along with her voice, and the tears started to well up. A deep sob shook her body and she clung to the screen door for support.

God reached out and touched her shoulder. “It’s OK, Betty. I tell you what, why don’t we go inside and have a nice cup of tea. We’ll sit together while you think.” (Pam McGrath in The Storyteller’s Companion to the Bible Vol. 9).

“What do you want me to do for you?” Blind Bartimaeus said, “I want to see.” In the midst of the Roman authorities who were blinded by power, the Temple authorities who were blinded by fear, the disciples who were blinded by ambition, a blind man wanted to dee. He wants his life to change, to be re-formed.

He wanted it so badly that he confessed his faith, he shouted “Son of David, have mercy on me!” even when he was sternly warned to be quiet. He was risking his life. When they tell him that Jesus is calling for him, he throws off his cloak and springs up to run to Jesus. There is so much in that one motion – throwing off his cloak. He sat on a dusty, well-traveled road from Jericho to Jerusalem. It’s a mountain pass – in the desert. There is nothing green. Hot in the sun, cool in the night. The cloak kept him warm through the night like a blanket. He could use it to shade him from the heat of the sun in the day like a tent. It held his few possessions as he tucked them deep into its pockets and sat on them through the day. Most important, though, he spread it out each day as he begged to sit on. Because people didn’t hand money directly to him…they didn’t even want to look at him. Passersby who took pity tossed a coin his way…and he only knew that a coin had been thrown was by the thump of it landing on his cloak, signaling him that if he carefully patted its edges and worked his way in, he would find a bit of grace…maybe a meal or a place to sleep. So when he threw off his cloak, he threw off his security.

What do you want me to do for you? I want to see. It’s not just that he is willing to give up everything…he’s already given it up. He runs to be reformed. And he is transformed. No longer sitting by the roadside as people pass to go to visit God at the Temple, he now sees and follows Jesus.

We all have blindness. We all have cloaks. We all have to answer “What do you want me to do for you?” The good news is God’s promise…we’ll sit together while you think.