THE FIRST LESSON 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12
THE SECOND LESSON Luke 19:1-10
SERMON "Letters of the Reformers"
Worship Notes
Welcome to worship at Westminster on this the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time. Today is Reformation Sunday, in which we celebrate our historical Presbyterian roots and the ways in which the church continues to live out the reformed notion that it was "once reformed, always reforming."
Our sermon this morning is an exercise in imagination where we listen in on correspondence between John Calvin and John Knox. John Calvin, considered the father of Reformed Theology, led the Reformation in Geneva and corresponded frequently with other Reformers on the continent. John Knox, considered the father of Presbyterianism, worked in Scotland for the reformation of the Scottish church. Calvin and Knox did frequently write letters to each other after meeting in Geneva when Knox had to flee persecution in England. The imaginary setting for the sermon is around the forty fifth anniversary of Luther's dramatic nailing of the 95 thesis on the church door. While the sermon is a work of fiction, the issues and theological discussion reflected in the letters could be a reflection of the concerns of these reformers as they wrestle with the legacy of the Reformation.
The music through which we worship today is chosen purposefully to highlight the role of reformers in our hymnody. We begin our worship by singing the great hymn of faith written by the reformer Martin Luther in 1529, "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God." The Choral Prayer Response and Choral Benediction Response are verses taken from a hymn with text attributed to John Calvin and tune drawn from the Genevan Psalter. The Genevan Psalter is a musical collection of psalms created under the supervision of John Calvin. Before the Reformation, the psalms singing in worship was generally done by a select group of performers, not by the congregation. Calvin believed the whole congregation should actively participate in praising God in the worship. It is from this resource that our familiar "Doxology" is also taken.
In addition to the Offertory Anthem, several other music selections used in worship today are settings by J.S. Bach (1685-1750). Bach was the greatest contributor to church music in the reformed tradition. In observance of the Reformation, our service concludes today with an offering of one of the most familiar organ works of Bach. The powerful and dramatic energy of this piece has been widely, and unfortunately, usurped by popular culture for association with Halloween images of fear or fright. However, this piece would have been played by Bach at his church in Arnstadt, Germany, and well demonstrates the style of music through which his reformed congregation would have worshipped.
