We are not alone, and it’s not all up to us

By Deacon Timothy Siburg

Revised Common Lectionary reflection for Reformation Sunday, Year C
October 26, 2025

Key Verse: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).

We are not alone, and it’s not all up to us. As God’s people, we always need to hear this message, and we do each year on Reformation Sunday. The psalmist reminds us, “God is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea” (Psalm 46:1-2). If the world feels topsy-turvy to you right now and further from the vision of God’s welcome for all, you are not alone. Yet we are reminded, “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge” (Psalm 46:7, 11). God is with you. God is for you. God loves you.

It can sometimes be challenging to find a new perspective on lessons assigned year after year on the same Sunday. This year, in thinking about stewardship and the stories we hear on Reformation Sunday, we might need the reminder that we are not alone and it’s not all up to us. Paul writes, “For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:22-24). On our own, we would never measure up. We would never be enough. We would never have enough. We would be without hope. But it’s not all up to us. For grace is a gift of God through Christ Jesus.

This gift frees us to live fully. It frees us to serve and respond as stewards. It frees us to learn and follow as disciples. And it frees us to live fully as the beloved children of God that we each are. This is good news. We are made free because of God’s work, not our own. As the gospel of John declares, “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). We are free. Not because of anything we can do or have done ourselves, but because of what God has done for us.

This freedom provides the gift of life. But it also invites us into living fully in relationship with our neighbors here and now. As we do, we might look out and see a world that is seemingly on fire with thirsts for power and control, injustice, brokenness, sin and greed. As the psalmist remarks, “The nations are in an uproar; the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice; the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge” (Psalm 46:6-7). If our hope resided in the world or ourselves, all might be lost. We might lose sight of the beauty of creation that surrounds us. We might miss the signs of God’s kin-dom building work happening all around us, for us, in us, through us, and with us. But as the psalmist reminds, God is with us. We are not alone, and it’s not all up to us.

What, in the midst of this, will our stewardship be? As things do not feel as they ought. As the ground seems to shake and not be settled. As the world of daily life seems to be out of control.

Perhaps our stewardship starts with a re-grounding. To be reminded of who we are, and whose we are. The prophet Jeremiah declares, “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jeremiah 31:33). We are God’s own. We are in relationship with God, and God is in relationship with us. When we remember this, we indeed might know that we are not alone and it’s not all up to us.

When re-grounded, we can remember. We can remember the words of Psalm 46, a psalm close to the heart of the Martin Luther that carried him forward during his time of wrestling, discerning, and doing the Spirit led work of the Reformation. And we can remember the promises and gifts of faith and grace that the Apostle Paul explains in his letter to the Romans.

Remembering, we then might be clear that this work of daily life that we are called to is not all up to us, but we have a role to play through our various vocations. We are part of God’s work in the world today. That’s never clearer than through our work and response of stewardship. It’s a way that we lean into and grow into as a gift. So, we commit and recommit to see our neighbors in need and meet them where they are. We do this with words of good news, love, and grace. We do this through providing food, water, clothing and shelter. We do this through open hearts and open minds, through open hands and listening ears. We can’t do it all. But with God who is with us, we have what we need.

In Worship and Congregational Life

One of my favorite things about the Reformation is the opportunity it creates to wonder about how the Spirit might be moving, forming, and reforming God’s people. Martin Luther is said to have nailed his 95 Theses to the Wittenberg church doors and really started the debate which opened the doors for a reformation of the church. In our time, might the Spirit be inviting us to take stock, ponder, and imagine. What are the central claims as God’s people that we need to be clear about today? What are the ways that we see and sense God at work? What are the ways we feel God is inviting us now to serve and respond as stewards of God’s love? These questions might not lead to our own 95 theses, but they might make for fun and deep discernment for disciples and stewards in the faith community.

If you’re intrigued by this, take a spare, unused door that is not being used and prop it up outside the worship space, or have Sunday School kids fashion a door out of cardboard or butcher paper. Then pass out Post-It Notes or pieces of paper. Ask these hard questions and invite congregants to post their responses on the door. The exercise would be fun, and it also prompt deep reflection, discernment – and even start a Spirit-led discussion about what God is up to and inviting you to do next. If that happens, what a perfect example of the spirit of the Reformation happening in your midst, as God’s people are continually formed and reformed together. 

With Youth and Children

Sometimes the best preaching moments happen through sharing a story, perhaps even during a children’s message. If your context is remembering the Reformation this week, consider a story for a younger audience that speaks of the key events and people. I recommend The Life of Martin Luther by Agostino Traini, published by Spark House Family (2017). What makes this one fun is that it’s a more-modern twist on an old-fashioned pop-up book. Using it with the younger saints always seems to engage them as they see anew what literally pops out at them. A story time during a children’s message might be a timely way to paint a picture and prompt big questions of the faith today.

Previous reflections for Reformation Sunday, Year C:
2019 – Why Reformation is good stewardship
2016 – Freedom? What freedom?
2013 – Reformers’ mashup
2010 – Celebrating our freedom in Christ to be good stewards