100 years ago, in 1917, any celebration in the United States of the 400th anniversary of the Reformation was tinged with questions about Martin Luther's German-ness, given that we had just entered into World War I against the Prussian Kaiser. That year East Coast Lutherans collected money to erect a statue in a Philadelphia city park commemorating not Luther but Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, the founder of the first pan-Lutheran church organization in the United States, only to be turned away by the city fathers, who wanted nothing to do with honoring any German.
True, the Philadelphia Orchestra played Mendelssohn's "Reformation" symphony in the fall, but other attempts to commemorate the Reformation were swallowed up by the war. Today, the country has replaced anti-German sentiment with other bugbears, and yet the question of how to remember the Reformation after 500 years still puzzles U.S. Lutherans.
The image of Luther nailing a piece of paper to a church door continues to attract attention, even by those who have never read his "Ninety-five Theses." As interested people prepare to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, it would serve them well to pierce the cloud (or halo) surrounding Luther and his "Ninety-five Theses" and learn what Luther was saying and why that still matters today. In doing so, we may discover how much Luther still has to offer Christianity, as challenging as his thought may be.
On Oct. 31, 1517, Luther wrote a letter to Archbishop Albrecht of Mainz complaining about the sale of indulgences in Albrecht's territories. To this letter, now housed in a Swedish archive, he appended a copy of 95 statements designed to show how uncertain the practices surrounding indulgences were and how the exaggerations by these preachers hurt Christian piety and practice. A letter of indulgence reduced or eliminated the amount of discipline or chastisement a Christian needed to undergo either in this life or in purgatory to eliminate the effects of his or her sins and purify them before God.
By purchasing such a letter, where the money supported some good work (in 1517 to continue work on the new basilica for St. Peter's in Rome), and the repentant sinner participated in the endless merits of Christ, Mary and the saints. The chief spokesman for this "Peter's indulgence" was Johann Tetzel, and his sermons doubtless overstepped the bounds of his official instructions in his attempts to interest people in purchasing this blessing. Luther famously mentions, in both his letter to Albrecht and in the "Ninety-five Theses" two such exaggerations: pardon even for raping the Virgin Mary and the springing of souls from purgatory when the money clinked in the chest.
Luther questioned whether purchasing a way around the discipline of the flesh with an indulgence did not, in the final analysis, undermine true sorrow for sin. How could one preach true sorrow for sin and also promote an indulgence avoiding that sorrow? Thus, his worry was not so much whether God's saving grace was for sale (as many of us were taught) but rather whether a way around God's righteous punishment for sin could be bought. In sum, Luther's problem was a pastoral one, and his deepest concern centered on bad preaching. His solution, still relevant for today's preachers, rested upon three co-equal legs: justification by faith, the distinction between law and gospel, and the theology of the cross.
He says, "Here in it," in the gospel, "the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, "the just shall live by faith."
A verse taken from the book of Habakkuk in the Old Testament that is cited three times in the New Testament. As Luther would stop short and say, "What does this mean, that there's this righteousness that is by faith, and from faith to faith? What does it mean that the righteous shall live by faith?" Which again was the thematic verse for the whole exposition of the gospel that Paul sets forth here in the book of Romans.
And so, the lights came on for Luther. And he began to understand that what Paul was speaking of here was a righteousness that God in His grace was making available to those who would receive it passively, not those who would achieve it actively, but that would receive it by faith, and by which a person could be reconciled to a holy and righteous God. who are in same-sex relationships. Martin would turn over in his grave if he knew what was going on today. However, we can be thankful for the great truths he has left us.
As we reflect on Luther's five hundred year anniversary of the reformation we can see that any work of God will be met with hostility and opposition.
John 16:1 1These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.2They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. 3And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.
Religion has its way to look good on the outside however the onside is full of the works of the flesh.
Romans 3:21-25 21But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
The word "by" in verse 22 is the Greek word dia, a primary preposition denoting the channel of an act. Our righteousness is wholly dependent on what Jesus Christ accomplished at Calvary. It through or by reason of or account of Christ's accomplishments we receive God's righteousness. This is why Ephesians tells us we are saved by grace.
Ephesians 2:8-9 8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast.
It's God's gift it's not of ourselves " not of works lest any man should boast. The New Jerusalem translation puts it this way.
Ephesians 2:9 not by anything that you have done, so that nobody can claim the credit.
When a multi-million dollar business is disrupted and exposed as a hoax people get upset. No wonder they wanted to kill Luther.
Acts 19:24-28 24For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen; 25Whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth. 26Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands: 27So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth. 28And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.
Nothing new under the sun, but praise God for men like Luther. God bless you and happy anniversary.ÿ
Note: Image fromhttps://gohighbrow.com/philosophy-of-martin-luther-and-the-reformation. All scripture is from the King James Version unless otherwise noted. NIV indicates The New International Version, NKJV indicates the New King James Version, ASV means the American Standard Version, BBE means the Bible in Basic English, DBY means the Darby translation, NAU means the American Standard Version, 1995 Edition, and NAB means the New American Bible translation. For more information, go to the Works Cited page.