Jesus said, The truth will set you free. But free from what? In our day, I think God is urging us to see that we need to be freed from forms of religion that oppress people, that discount the religious expressions of others as worthless. Certainly here in California it is the case that the variety of Christian denominations, plus other religions--Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam, and native spiritualities--are no longer abstract things learned about in school or smugly discounted in Sunday School classes, but real live next door neighbors, making it highly questionable for us to engage in triumphalism. (Triumphalism means a narrow presentation of Christianity, expressed with an attitude of superiority, assuming that any other viewpoints on the faith are inferior or flat-out wrong.)

A pious Christian was walking across a bridge one day, and saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off. He immediately ran over and said "Stop! Don't do it!" "Why shouldn't I?" the despairing man said. The pious Christian replied, "Well, there's so much to live for!" "Like what?" "Well ... are you religious or atheist?" "Religious." "Me too! Are you Christian or Jewish?" "Christian." "Me too! Are you Catholic or Protestant?" "Protestant." "Me too! Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?" "Baptist." "Wow! Me too! Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?" "Baptist Church of God." "Me too! Are you Original Baptist Church of God, or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?" "Reformed Baptist Church of God." "Me too! Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915?" "Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915!" To which the pious Christian said, "Die, heretic scum!" and pushed him off.

Triumphalistic religion, the faith of zealots and the smugly self-righteous, is bad for humanity. The ongoing trouble in the Middle East is not totally about religion, but triumphalistic religion bears much of the blame. The persistent bloodshed in Northern Ireland is not totally about religion, but triumphalistic religion is very involved. The horrors of Nazi Germany were not totally about religion, but religion, yes even Lutheranism, prepared the soil by centuries of anti-Semitic Christian triumphalism.

We need to be careful, then, on this day which only we Lutherans observe, Reformation Sunday. We really shouldn't be celebrating the Reformation in what I would term a triumphalistic way. I don't think God wants us, "Lutheranism rules". We're not here to push anyone off a bridge simply because they do not agree with us!

We totally misinterpret what our Savior taught, It's the truth that will set us free, if we think he meant, the truth will give us the right to dominate, the right present Christianity as the triumphant religion of the empire. In fact, whenever domination happens, we are no longer living Christ's way, Christ's truth. It is Satan who tempts us to be big deals and set up domination systems in order to rule others, even in our homes, to say nothing of the larger world.

John Scherer is a Lutheran pastor turned consultant to corporations, helping them find ways to better manage their organizations. His life's work is dedicated to showing others a path to greater understanding‹even reconciliation among often hostile and feuding workers. John presents a theory called, "The Three Worlds" He suggests that there is first of all, "The World", in which things happen, facts that fair-minded people can agree on. Then there is "Your World" in which you've done something with a certain intention. And a third world, "My world" in which I interpret what you did in the world. According to this Three World theory, the fundamental mistake we are always making is assuming that what I "made up" about what for example, you did, is in fact the whole truth about what happened. Or, as John puts it, "What is 'out there' is really 'in here.'" And we need to get clear on that.

To illustrate this John tells a story on himself. A busy consultant, he frequently flies all over the world attending corporate training sessions. But he tries his best to be home on weekends and he really tries to make Saturdays his day with the family, dedicated to enjoying time with his wife and two children. So his developed a Saturday morning routine that is to him his gift to his family. He gets up before everyone else and goes down to the kitchen where he prepares a big breakfast for everyone.

Well, one particular Saturday morning he was in the kitchen preparing to make pancakes. As he was stirring the batter the phone rang. He answered it and wouldn't you know, it was a client. A business call. So he had to talk business but he was trying to keep it as short as possible. Having heard the phone ring, his wife came downstairs and saw him talking on the phone, and went over to the bowl on the counter and started stirring the batter. Seeing that, John became angry instantly. When he got off the phone he wanted to rage at his wife. But instead, he applied the "Three World Theory."

First of all, let us notice the facts of "The World": A husband standing in the kitchen, talking on the phone. A wife coming down to the kitchen and walking over to the bowl of batter and stirring it. Then there is the "My World" which he reported to his wife, "You know, when I saw you stirring the pancake batter what I made in my world was this. 'There she goes, taking away my one chance to do something nice for the family. Doesn't she know how important this breakfast thing is for me? How could she be so thoughtless?'" Then he asked her, "When you came down to the kitchen, what did you make up in 'Your World'?" And she said, "When I saw you on the phone and heard that someone called you about business, I thought that you must be frustrated because your breakfast-making is so important to you. I saw the bowl here and I was so filled with love for you because of your love for us that I just wanted to share in it with you." You can be sure that instead of fighting and disaster, a wonderful morning followed.

How about a wonderful morning to the world? We can be a part of making that happen! We have our Christian world-view, and others have their particular worlds, but the fact is the whole world belongs to God and is a mystery greater than any of us. That dawning awareness is the beginning of the truth that will set us free, free to simply live as human beings of faith, seeking to understand and love others, not ram religion down their throats

In the global village God is evolving here on earth (and California is a sign of what this might begin to look like), religious triumphalism and domination needs to go, and in its place, a more humble approach needs to be practiced, and that more humble thing is reconciliation. A reconciler brings people to together as in a family, the human family. The truth is, Christ was not a triumphalist, but a Reconciler who poured out his life for the sake of the world's great need of healing. And God calls his Church do to the same. Amen.