Wear ‘Em If You’ve Got ‘Em!
I’m not satisfied with Sunday School answers. I come by this quality honestly as I’m sure I inherited at least part of my inquiring mind from my mother. She “graduated” early from Confirmation classes because the Pastor couldn’t deal with her challenging questions for another year. Not that she quit asking them, mind you.
I guess Martin Luther wasn’t satisfied with the answers the church was giving him, either. Rather than continuing to drink their Kool-Aid, he chose to boldly go where (practically) no one had gone before. He pounded his challenges to the wooden Wittenberg door and took a stand on the irrational grace of God. Many faith traditions will celebrate his boldness this Sunday, on Reformation Day, claiming for ourselves the inheritance of this Gospel of grace.
Tradition suggests the wearing of the color RED on Reformation Day. Red for the fiery flames of God’s Holy Spirit, which came down to rest upon the heads of Jesus’ followers at Pentecost and which burn true and steady in believers all around us to this day. Red for the blood shed by the faithful whose lives were given in the name of the God of love – martyrs who risked all for the One whose body was pounded to a wooden cross in the ultimate stand for the irrational grace of our radical God.
Unfortunately, tradition can get tired and result in mindless repetition. Too often we freeze in time the reformation that happened centuries ago, failing to realize that reformation HAPPENS – even today.
I don’t know about you, but I’m itching to do some pounding of my own! The Spirit in me is being stirred up at the prospect of continuing the Reformation in THIS DAY, in OUR WORLD and in TODAY’S CHURCH; actively participating rather than passively celebrating something that someone did somewhere else a long time ago…
So, here’s the challenge: I’ve got a pair of pink shoes that are ready to pound some pavement on Sunday morning! These shoes represent to me the unique imprint of the Spirit of God on my life, showing up in counter-cultural (and sometimes very ODD) ways as I walk the path of my faith journey with Him. I suspect that YOU have a PAIR of PINK SHOES, too, and in recognition of God’s reforming work among us, I ask you to…
Wear ‘em if you’ve got ‘em this Sunday, October 31st!
Wear ‘em to worship.
Wear ‘em to the grocery store.
Wear ‘em to the movies.
Wear ‘em to family dinner.
Wear ‘em as a physical sign of the spiritual truth that God is alive, active and OBVIOUS in those who choose to let Him make His home within.
You’re sure to stand out if you take up the challenge (especially if you pair the pink shoes with Reformation red), but you’ll be in good company! I’ll be watching for you, my friends in the faith, and I can’t wait to see where YOUR pink shoes will take YOU!
Wear 'em this Sunday - the BRIGHTER the BETTER!
Each person’s pink shoes may not be “pink shoes”. My pink shoes might be my leopard print cowboy hat or something else I like that may not be the standard mode of dress expected of me. 1st Corinthians 4:10 “We are fools for Christ’s sake”(King James Version) comes to my mind as well. The early apostles didn’t conform to the accepted ways of their society, so people thought them fools. So we too can be non-conformists and show our own uniqueness in the walking of our faith. We don’t need to all wear the same “pink shoes”, but we can wear our own “pink shoes”, whatever makes each of us feel unique and empowered and willing to stand out as one who follows their faith in their own individual way.
Go, Mom! See – I KNEW you were still issuing challenges!
I’ll be wearing my pink shoes to the voting polls,tuesday,Nov, 2nd!!!!!