Message: Back to the Root / Luke 18:9-14

Today we remember the 508th anniversary of the Reformation. On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther spoke out against the church’s corruption and misuse of power. He posted his 95 Theses on the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany. That brave act began the Reformation.

It was not safe or simple. To speak against the powerful church could mean exile or even death. But Luther did not give up. He believed that when the church forgets the root of Christian faith, it is no longer a sign of God’s love but becomes a tool of oppression.

Ecclesia semper reformanda est. This Latin phrase means “The Church must always be reformed.” A faith community stays healthy when it keeps reflecting on itself and seeking God’s will. No house remains clean forever. After a few days, dust begins to gather, and we need to sweep, wipe, and repair it from time to time. In the same way, the church also needs renewal. If we want to keep the root of faith alive, we need to keep cleansing our hearts and our community again and again.

The French thinker Simone Weil (1909–1943) said that life moves between two forces: grace and gravity. By gravity, she meant the power that pulls us down: selfishness, excuses, comparisons, pride, anger, and laziness. These forces work quietly but strongly. The church is not free from this gravity. When we care too much about numbers, size, or success, we are no longer moved by the light of the gospel but by the weight of the world.

Grace, on the other hand, comes from above. According to Weil, it is not something we create or earn. It is a gift poured into us when we make space within ourselves. Grace does not ignore pain or take away our problems right away, but it keeps us from sinking down. It slows us, helps us see our true selves, and teaches us to see others not as problems but as people who carry the image of God. Grace helps us respond with love and hope.

For Weil, grace comes when we clean and empty ourselves. But how? She reminds us to train our attention by setting aside judgment. We take time simply to look at God and our neighbours as they are, allowing grace to enter through stillness and listening. It is also important to stay faithful in small tasks, doing the good that is given to us today, where grace shows its quiet power. In addition, Weil encourages us to stay near to wounds with listening and presence, for grace never forces but invites and gently leads.

The reformers emphasized grace rather than works. They found in the Bible a living witness to the good news of grace. They saw that the heart of Christian faith is not fear or control, but the assurance that every person is a beloved child of God. We are not made worthy by works enforced through religious power, but by grace that frees us to love. When the church remembers this, it moves from the weight of gravity to the gift of grace. Then our words become the language of compassion, not the language of judgment. We look for the fruit of love rather than the measure of success. We treat one another not as means to an end but as people who carry the image of God.

However, many have turned away from renewal and failed to receive divine grace. Even the Israelites, who once experienced freedom through the Exodus, grew comfortable in their new land and began to oppress others. They wanted to become a new Egyptian empire. They asked for a king to make them strong, but God warned them that kings would bring oppression. And so it happened. Their rulers built palaces and temples through forced labour, and religion became a servant of power.

In today’s gospel reading, Jesus tells a story that reveals what true faith looks like. A Pharisee and a tax collector went up to the temple to pray. The Pharisee, who carefully kept every law, prayed proudly, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people.” He used the law as a way to display his righteousness and gain religious power. His prayer was filled with himself, not with God.

The tax collector was different. People saw him as a sinner. Tax collectors worked for the Romans and often took more money than they should, so everyone looked down on them. But, Jesus said that even someone like this could be closer to God than the Pharisee, when they returned to the root of faith.

The tax collector stood far away. He did not even dare to look up to heaven. He beat his chest and said, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” He had no good deeds to show, only an empty heart ready to receive grace. Jesus said that this man went home right with God. Through this parable, Jesus taught that when we clean and empty our hearts before God, even those who seem unworthy may be filled with grace.

This story is not only about two people. It is also about the church. When faith turns into a competition about who is better, and keeping rules becomes a source of pride, the church loses its root. That is what happened in Luther’s time, when the church tried to control people by focusing on works instead of grace.

At the gate of the Auschwitz camp, there was a sign, Arbeit macht frei, which means “Work sets you free.” The Nazis forced the Jews into the camps to control their behaviour through work. By judging a person's worth by the intensity and amount of work, they destroyed human dignity.

In the same way, during Luther’s time, the church emphasized works to control people and take advantage of them. It sold indulgences, claiming that when people paid for them, their loved ones in purgatory would be saved. Church positions were traded for money. Through endless ceremonies and rituals, the church tried to collect as many offerings as possible. The Word of God was locked away in Latin, and ordinary people could not read it for themselves. Church decrees held more authority than compassion, and religion became a burden instead of a gift. A church that loses the root of faith becomes an idol. Religion without grace enslaves people. 

Against this, the reformers stressed Ad fontes, meaning “back to the sources.” The Reformation was not about breaking or destroying. It was about returning to the root of the gospel. The reformers found that grace makes all people free and equal before God. Grace opens our eyes to see that no one stands above another, and no one stands outside of God’s mercy. We are justified not by performance, but by the trust that comes from knowing we are loved.

The Reformation is not a single event in history but a way of life. Today we are called to return to the root and receive the gift of grace. We return to the heart of Jesus Christ, who showed us how to love God and our neighbours and crossed every barrier to bring people together. No matter how small a church is, if the heart of Jesus is alive there, that church is alive. No matter how large a church is, if the heart of Jesus is gone, that church is dead. Churches are not divided into big and small, but into living and dead.

The Reformation calls us to return to what truly gives life, the grace of God revealed in Jesus Christ. When we make space for grace, God renews our hearts and our community. True reformation does not begin with power or success but with humble hearts that seek God's truth and love.

May the Spirit lead us back to the root, so that our faith shines with the hope of Christ.

Rev. Min Hwang