Reformation Sunday has rolled around again and this year we really see reasons for reformation, in church, in society and also our personal lives.  An election year forces us to think of change, and we wonder if it will be for the better.  Campaign promises, annoying political ads, mudslinging point out the need for reform, in politics and in our personal lives.  We all need the strong Word of God to show us the right way.

          There is a little children's chant familiar to all of us.  We may know its words, but few know its meaning:  "Ring around the rosies, pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes, we all fall down."  To most, this chant envisions cheerful children playing in flower gardens, a carefree picture of a perfect world of which we all dream.  But actually the chant was born in a world of pain and death.  Three and a quarter centuries ago, the bubonic plague was sweeping through London and would kill over 150,000 in a matter of weeks.  It was called "black death" because it left black splotches on the body.  People thought it was caused by polluted air, though we know today it is caused by fleas on rats.

          Because they thought it was caused by polluted air, London's people adopted a strange ritual.  Plague victims were taken to flower gardens where they stood around a bed of roses.  By breathing in the fragrant scent of flowers, they thought bad air would be replaced by good.  Those too sick to go outside were taken petals of roses and posies to sprinkle in the rooms as a cure.  Some even thought burning petals would flush out the bad air, but always the victims died.  What we often hear our children sing is the chant of men given the gruesome task of hauling out bodies for burial.  As they pushed their carts, they often sang, "Ring around the rosies, pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes, we all fall down."

          It's strange that a poem from such morbid circumstances would survive to this day.  London's Black Plague and was followed by London's Great Fire, prompting many Christians to believe that the end of the world had come, especially since it was the year 1666.  But the end did not come, and ironically the Great Fire stopped the Black Plague in its tracks.  Though the plague of years ago do not threaten us today, we all still face a form of black death.  Because of the plague of our sin, it's still true:  "We all fall down!"

          Martin Luther lived in Germany 40 years before England's Black Plague and Great Fire.  As a priest, his purpose was never to burn the church, but to cleanse it by the strong Word of God.  His world was filled with squalor, superstition, and ignorance.  Few people, even priests, could read, and those who could had little access to books.  Rumors were usually considered true.  No ordinary people had a Bible.  The church of Rome thrived on a poverty of the mind and demanded unquestioned obedience.  Those who dared to object to her teachings were met with the "rack" and often death by torture.  People of Luther's day dreamed of the perfection of heaven, and longed to get there soon.  With so much disease, many of them did, much earlier than they expected.

          Throughout history people have envisioned paradise.  People longed for the day when the world would become perfect.  In the 18th and 19th centuries philosophers, scientists, politicians and even theologians became optimistic that the future would bring such a life.  They believed that wars and diseases would be eliminated.  With Darwin's theories they believed humanity would evolve into perfection.  As Voltaire wrote in his Candide, "In this best of all worlds, all is for the best."

          But then the Twentieth Century arrived, and its two World Wars changed everything.  Instead of the "best of all worlds," the world became its worst.  Science and technology became accomplices in destruction and terror.  Tens of millions were subjected to battle, firing squads, gas chambers, starvation and new disease.  The blackness of death hung over all of Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Pacific.  Even here in America over a million and a quarter of our GI's never made it back home.  Then came the despair of Korea and Viet Nam.  And there was Desert Storm and soon Iraq.  It just never seems to end.

          So here we are at the beginning of the Twenty-first Century and fewer than ever would believe the illusion that this is the best of all worlds.  Hitler, Stalin and Mao may be gone, but they've been replaced by Osama and Saddam and suicide bombers.  As snipers kill without warning, people live in the fear.  As corruption is revealed in corporate America, Wall Street shudders.  Each year a million unborn babies never take their first breath.  And despite all our efforts, the potential of nuclear retaliation now exists in countries who don't have the wisdom to use it rightly.

          Personally, we all know this is not the best of all worlds.  Turmoil, domestic battles and bitterness fill not just our homes or offices but even our churches.  The uninvited guest of new disease is not that far away, for today still, "We all fall down."  St. Paul tells us in Romans that "Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all have sinned." (Romans 5:12)

          But despite all this gloom and doom, Jesus Christ is alive and well.  Because of His death and His resurrection, so are we!  He has broken the chains that hold us captive.  Death may take us down, but it cannot keep us down.  All who trust in Christ are raised up again, to live in the paradise that is to come.

          John's Revelation gives us hope of the new world to come.  In his vision, he saw "The Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.  It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal."

          Revelation may mystify us about some things, but here the message is crystal clear - "The time is coming," said Jeremiah 400 years before, "when God will make a new covenant with us, and in this new relationship, we all will know God and His will perfectly." (Jeremiah 31:31)   We will be carried away to the New Jerusalem to live with God in glory.  And there will be no more black death or white racism or yellow journalism or red communism or dirty politics, and all will be crystal clear.  There the best of all worlds will be made perfect by the presence of God Himself.

          But meanwhile, Christianity will always be imperfect.  The existence of pain, suffering and death has caused many to reject its message.  But the Bible does not ignore the reality of sorrow.  Nowhere in God's strong Word will you find His people looking reality in the face and denying it!  Talk of sin is not mere pessimism.  Truth is not relative.  There is a standard of right and wrong that does not depend on opinion polls.  Christians have now always been the best examples of God's love.  Some of our history is a miserable witness to God.  But the Holy Spirit has inspired God's people to do far more good than Satan has ever made them do bad.

          When Christ hung from the cross of Calvary, some of His people lost faith.  Bad things can make us wonder if God knows what He's doing.  But although Jesus died, death never consumed Him.  Troubles may come upon us, but they need not defeat us.  And because Jesus fulfilled God's law perfectly, He now forgives us and has earned for us eternal life.  The best of all worlds is ours, free and clear - we only need receive it by faith.

          To Martin Luther, the greatest reformation needed was in the human heart.  Despite all our sins, God still loves us.  Despite our failure, eternal joy can still be ours.  Luther wanted the church to know just one thing - Christ has set us free!  Guilt need not control us, threats need not harm us, and rules no longer need oppress us.  By faith in Christ, we are free, because "The truth shall set you free." (John 8:32)

          Ours can never be a perfect world.  And ours will certainly not be a perfect church.  If it were, we'd no longer be here, because perfection belongs in heaven.  But because of Jesus, we know our future will be far better than we humans could ever make it.

          Recently the comic strip "B.C." depicted two women sitting on a hill.  One of them is reading the Bible and as she reads, she exclaims, "Oh, my goodness!  It says here Jesus descended into hell!"  The other woman reacts, "You're kidding!"  But then the first woman says, "Oh no, not to stay.  He just dropped in to cancel our reservations!"

          Where are your reservations today?  Some of us want to keep this world and all that's in it.  We want heaven, but we don't want to let go of earth.  In Jesus we have the best of all worlds, down here and up there.  Don't miss the best life of all because of your pride.  You and I can't dictate our own terms.  Don't hold on to what can only hurt you.

          Leo Buscaglia, author of books on life and love, told of the day when his mother died.  He was desperate that she stay alive a little longer, so he held her hand so very tightly.  She must have known his struggles, because just before her last breath, she smiled at him and said, "Leonardo, what are you holding on to?"

          What are we holding on to today?  Family, money, pride or just another day?  As bad as it is, this world can still be hard to let go of.  Maybe it's because we're not sure what will follow this one.  God's Word says it will be the best of all worlds because He will be there.  So let go and let God take over in your life.  Move out of the way and let Him lead you.  Let the Spirit reform the church today by reforming you and every other member out there.  In Jesus' name, amen!

Copyright © 2002 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.