We face death every day because of Jesus. Our bodies show what his death was like, so that his life can also be seen in us. This means that death is working in us, but life is working in you. – 2 Corinthians 4:10-12 (CEV)
About twenty years ago, I broke my arm quite badly. At the time, we had a 14-month-old rat terrier puppy, and I was attempting a dog training course with it. The puppy had so much energy, though, that before I could get it to focus on the training I needed to tire it out a bit. To do that, I would take it to the common lawn at our apartment complex and run some sprints with the dog. One day, though, the dog got overly excited and rushed ahead of me and then crossed in front of my path. It was perfectly knee height for me, which meant that it was the perfect stumbling block to send me flying and landing fully spread out. The bulk of the impact was on my right forearm, which broke both bones completely through.
I immediately had surgery on the arm, to have plates and screws inserted to hold it together. They are still there to this day. Once that surgery was done, though, my arm was back together. It was not going to fall apart. Before long, the bone grew back together so that the plates are no longer necessary. That surgery fixed the broken part of my body, but it did not fully heal it. I still needed several months of rehab to regain strength and flexibility. Actually, I was not able to regain full strength or range of motion, but without the rehab it would have been much worse. The full process of healing required both the surgery and the rehab. The two things were different, but they worked together to bring me back from my broken situation.
Reformation Day is on Oct. 31. It is a day to remember the foundational principles of the Lutheran Reformation and the insights into the Good News of Christ that it brought. Central to the Reformation is the concept of justification. It is the gospel promise that we are accepted and made right with God not through our actions, merits, and ability to follow God’s commands, but instead are saved by God’s grace. This is indeed good and right and central to our faith. At the same time, it is one part of a larger story.
Salvation refers to the way that God heals the brokenness in our lives, and that is particularly in the broken relationship that we have with God. God fixes that relationship through grace; we need not do anything to earn it. Yet that justifying act of grace is like the surgery on my arm. It fixes the problem and is essential, but it is not the end of the story. Sanctification is the theological word for our continued life of discipleship. I like to think of it as the rehab portion of the healing process. The Holy Spirit guides us into a life in relationship with God that builds up our capacity to live as a disciple of Christ. While this is different from the surgery it also plays a role in the health of our life of faithful living. The surgery, or the justification, is indeed the chief and central part but that does not mean that it is the only part of the salvation that God brings into our lives. We are then called to live the new life in Christ, even as the marks of the old never fully go away. We are nonetheless slowly rehabbed and transformed into the image of Christ.
Pastor Eric