Last Sunday was a notable anniversary, in1650 a Bishop named James Usher declared that by his estimations and interpretation of Scripture, the Earth was created at 9am, on October 25th, 4004 B.C.
Tomorrow is not just Halloween or the day before All Saint’s Day, or Dia de Los Muertos. Tomorrow is the anniversary of an earth shaking event in social, political, cultural, literary and religious history. It was the day when a small town college professor posted some statements on the town’s bulletin board that he hoped that members of his university’s community would consider for discussion, possibly even debate.
Universities have always been hotbeds of free speech and debate, even in times of strict political-correctness. Be that as it may, the last thing this professor wanted to do was to start a revolution. Reformation maybe.
You see, to revolve (as in revolution) is to suddenly, radically alter your direction. To reform is to, well, to reform. People are always calling for reform right? Like, “welfare reform,” “We need to reform the school systems” or “why don’t they reform the tax code?” or “Our government is in serious need of reforms.” It means that you don’t throw out what you have, but you do try to clean it up or repair it.
Whenever I think of reforming, I think about working with clay. If a student in my ceramics class doesn’t like how their clay pot is turning out they don’t need a whole new hunk of clay. They just need to take the cup they formed out of the clay, mush it back into a ball and re-form a new cup.
So on October 31, 1517 Doctor Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the Disputation of the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences. And if you’ll forgive the metaphor, all Hell broke loose.
An “indulgence” was a get-out-of purgatory card. They were being sold to help pay for the construction of St. Peter’s in Rome. You know St. Peter’s, Michelangelo, Bernini, the Renaissance, a little Baroque, the plaza where you look for black or white smoke when they announce a new pope. Expensive art and architecture
Luther’s argument was that Jesus died to forgive our sins, priests, and even the Pope pretty much just announce that forgiveness to us. No amount of money donated to any church pays for our sins, Jesus’ own blood did that.
Basically, Luther’s hope was to reform a bloated, corrupt bureaucracy, not start his own religion. His point of view was simplify. Drop all the red tape and focus on Jesus. Drop the miles of regulations and traditions and narrow it down to three things; the Bible, Faith and Grace. “Grace alone, Faith alone, Scripture alone.”
We all sin and fall short of God’s glory, rich or poor, well educated or not, prince or pauper (Romans 3:22-24). What saves us is Jesus. Heaven is not for goodie goodies, it’s for people who recognize that they need Jesus’ forgiveness, but that forgiveness is a gift- that’s grace. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Grace doesn’t come from a piece of paper or an official proclamation, it comes through faith. Trusting and believing that Jesus is who He says He is and that He did what He came to do- that’s faith. (Romans 10:17)
Luther implemented some Vatican II style changes too. Like having the congregation sing, not just a choir of monks. The biggest change had to be allowing and encouraging lay-people to read their Bibles. He translated it into their own language and encouraged everyone to be taught to read. During much of the dark ages and the renaissance mainly priests and lawyers could read at all, and very few of them could read Latin, which the Bible was published in.
Reading and Schooling was important so that we could read the Bible for our selves and develop a personal relationship with Jesus. When we do that, God equips us with everything we need to serve Him (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
After all, the name “Christian” means little anointed ones, if our faith is sincere, what we’ll want to be like Jesus and do the things He did; love, pray, help, serve, share. In other words, “minister.” Luther called this “the priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2:9-10). Sure, congregations still need qualified leaders, that’s why you send pastors to seminary to learn how to read Greek and Hebrew and study theology, but every believer is part of the “body of Christ” and the ground at the foot of the cross is level (Galatians 3: 28).
Since Vatican II, most American Catholics put their focus on Jesus. Every Christian denomination and every congregation faces scandals and controversies. None is perfect or has an absolute monopoly on truth, only God Himself has that. We all argue and disagree from time to time even within our own congregations. But if we can agree that Jesus is the son of God, we are brothers and sisters.
The example Luther gave to all of us is to not become overwhelmed by details and doubts. Keep it simple, focus on Jesus (Matthew 6:33), read your Bible. What else do you need to know? Jesus saves (John 3:16). That’s all you need. Grace alone, Faith alone, Scripture alone.
I had grandparents who were Catholic, an aunt and uncle who were Baptist, others who’re Methodist. As amatter of fact just last week I had a Methodist tell me that this list sounds like them too! Here it is; You might be a Lutheran if...
You're watching Star Wars and when they say "May the Force™ be with you" you reply, "and also with you."
You sing "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus" while sitting down
It takes you 10 minutes to say goodbye
Your church library has 3 Jell-O™ cookbooks
You have an uncontrollable urge to sit in the back of any room
During communion you hum the hymns so you can see who's at church that Sunday
A meeting isn't a meeting unless it takes 3 hours
You feel guilty about not feeling guilty
Your church is on fire, and you rush in to save the coffee pot"
Grace alone. Faith alone. Scripture alone. Coffee with other Lutherans. Staley’s Chicken with Catholics and Methodists!
