Celebrate Reformation Sunday

I do hope that I find you healthy and in good spirits!

During the past week Elsa Graser sent me a few photos from her garden, amongst others, a succulent called the “Dinner Plate” (Aeonium tabuliforme). It made me think about the Christian faith community: what started with 12 disciples following Jesus, the growth has not stopped circling out; and here we are, 2 000 years later. But there is also another metaphor in this photo: how often do we read about Jesus going to the house of someone to sit at their table and share their food (on a dinner plate).

As the Lutheran faith community in the Southern Cape, we have a wonderful opportunity on Sunday 30th October, to celebrate Reformation Sunday with our brothers and sisters. It was a Wednesday (31 October 1517) that Martin Luther published the so-called “95 Theses.” With these 95 ideas about Christianity, he invited people to debate these controversial ideas. That is precisely what the Reformation still implies: what started as a small movement had an enormous ripple effect. That was precisely what Martin Luther intended with his statements: “Ecclesia semper reformanda est” – The Church must always be reformed. May that be true of the Ev-Lutheran Church of the Southern Cape too!