Charged and Discharged by Grace

yikigai2021
19 hours ago
4 min read

Reformation Sunday Texts:

Jeremiah 31:31–34 | Psalm 46 | Romans 3:19–28 | John 8:31–36

Happy Reformation Sunday, beloved Church!

Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, our Reformer, and the One who marks us not by imperfection but by God’s grace.

Last Sunday, we wrestled with justice and prayer through Jacob’s midnight struggle and Jesus’ parable of the persistent widow. Isn’t that how prayer often feels in our daily lives? A wrestle, a cry for justice. A witness, a call to trust.

Today, on Reformation Sunday, we gather around another set of powerful texts. Each one invites us into a different kind of wrestling—between rebellion and renewal in our own lives.

[The questions below might not be preached live.]

How have you noticed God reshaping you over time through joy, struggle, or quiet change?
Where in your life might God be inviting you to grow or be re-formed today?
What does a faithful life in Christ look like for you right now?
Where do you sense Christ inviting you to trust more deeply or love more freely?
What does it feel like to be marked by grace rather than by guilt, fear, or performance?
How does costly grace, grace that transforms, show up in your daily choices or relationships?
When are you tempted to compare your faith journey to someone else’s? What happens in your heart when you do?
How might humility and grace reshape the way we see others and ourselves in prayer?

Over 500 years ago, the Reformation shook the foundations of the Church. To some, it looked like rebellion. To others, it was a return to God. It was a re-grounding in the truth of the gospel. But beyond the labels either rebellion or renewal, the heart of the Reformation was this: A longing to be aligned with Christ. To be justified not by works or status, but by grace alone.

That longing has been woven into our Lutheran DNA ever since. And it speaks to the world we live in, a world that marks us constantly. Marked by stereotypes. Marked by performance. Marked not only by the Ten Commandments or the Great Commandment we strive to follow perfectly, but also by many church traditions that have developed over decades and centuries.

So it’s no wonder we hear so many interpretations of what it means to be a faithful believer 24/7, and feel the guilt when we fall short.

It’s as if we’re walking through a forest where every tree is tagged, some for cutting, some for study, some for protection. Or like animals marked by experiments, by timelines, by the need to survive.

The world labels us constantly. But God marks us differently.

And here’s the good news:

We are not marked by the condemnation of the world.
We are marked by the grace of God.

It’s a reminder of how we need to charge our souls.

Think about it: we wouldn’t leave the house with a dead phone battery. We check it. We plug it in. We make sure it’s ready.

We plug in our devices daily.

What would it look like to plug in our hearts to grace daily?

Grace is not a one-time gift. It’s a daily rhythm.

Reformation isn’t just something we remember. It’s something we live.

We are charged by grace each morning through prayer, scripture, silence, and song. We are discharged by grace each evening releasing shame, releasing fear, releasing the need to prove ourselves.

Let’s walk through today’s readings and see how they speak to the marks of daily renewal:

This prophetic promise in Jeremiah 31:31–34 is the heartbeat of reformation. God gives us a fresh start, not by writing rules on the stone tablets Moses received, but by writing love on our hearts. God doesn’t hold onto our mistakes. In Jeremiah 31, we are charged with forgiveness and discharged from shame.

Psalm 46 reminds us that God is our refuge in good and bad times. The Reformation was more than theology; it was a cry for truth and safety. Even when the earth trembles, God is present. We are charged with courage and discharged from fear.

In Romans 3:19-28, Paul dismantles the illusion of earning righteousness. We are justified by grace, not effort, that is the ultimate message of reformation. We are discharged from guilt and striving, and charged to live in the freedom of faith, boasting only in Christ.

In John 8:31-36, Jesus says, “Continue in my word… and the truth will make you free.” Reformation is not just history. It’s a daily rhythm. We are charged with truth and discharged from fear, shame, and the need to pretend.

Each of us walks into a mission field every day. A living room. A classroom. An office. A hospital. A Zoom call. A neighborhood. A sanctuary.

In every mission field we enter, we are marked by grace. Not by perfection. Not by comparison. But by the One who calls us by name and says, “You are mine” (Isaiah 43:1).

So today, beloved Church, I invite you:

Let yourself be re-formed.

Let yourself be re-marked.

Let yourself be re-charged.

Not by the world’s standards.

Not by your own striving.

But by the grace of God who writes love on your heart.

This is the rhythm of grace:

receiving and releasing,

being filled and being sent,

being charged and being discharged.

Each morning, ask: “What am I charged with today?”