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Martin Luther and Reformation Day
October 31st is called Reformation Day - the day that marks the start of the Great Protestant Reformation. Today, most people think of October 31st as Halloween. the celebration of All Saint's Day - but long before ghosts, goblins and goodies a little monk in a country far, far away was hammering something very important to a large wooden door. Tonight we want to look at the life of one Marin Luther - a name many people are familiar with, but a life that many know little about!
The Early Years Martin Luther was a German, born in 1483 in Eisleben. His father had been born a peasant, but worked his way into the middle class, eventually becoming a successful business owner. Resolute that his son would continue this upwardly mobile trek, he determined Martin would become a lawyer and from an early age had him schooled with this in mind. The senior Luther was a strict father - perhaps even severe. Martin would recount in later life cruel beatings from his father's hand during an unhappy childhood. Some believe that the depression and anxiety that he struggled with as an adult were rooted in this difficult upbringing. In the summer of 1505, Martin got caught in a severe thunderstorm with crashes of thunder and lightening all about him. His greatest fear was that he would die and go to hell, so in desperation, he prayed to St. Anne (as Catholics were prone to do in such circumstances) telling her that he would become a monk if she would deliver him from the storm. Delivered he was, and being a man of his word, Luther joined an Augustinian monastery at Erfurt two weeks later. His great hope was that the monastic life would ensure his eternal salvation. His hopes quickly began to dim, however. Roman Catholicism teaches that in order for any sin to be forgiven, it must be confessed to a priest and then paid for by some form of penance. [1] This is what you may have heard called "the confessional." Martin was very intent on being forgiven for all of his sins, so he would go to the little booth every day, often for several hours at a time, confessing every sin he could bring to mind. But, "Luther had an overpowering sense of his own sinfulness and the more he sought to overcome it the more he became aware of sin's sway over him." [2] Why was this? Because the more he studied his own heart, the more evil he found there. Luther was learning experientially what we call the doctrine of the sinful nature. He was discovering his own heart described in the Bible in these ways:
We sin because we are sinners. Sin is not the result of our environment, childhood or socio-economic status.
The Roman church taught that man was able to deal with his own sin by doing certain things - keeping the sacraments (baptism, confirmation, Eucharist/communion, penance, extreme (final) unction, holy orders). They taught that saving grace was conferred via these actions, without any view to the heart condition of priest or person (recipient). Luther kept jumping through all these hoops waiting for some sense of sin forgiven - but it never came. Even when he dabbled in mysticism which elevated a sort of felt "love for God" above everything else - he discovered that what was really in his heart was hate. He hated God!
The Monk is Saved! Martin Luther was beginning to despair! The more he tried to please God, the more his anger toward God grew - his inner turmoil was intense. It was just at this time, having received his doctorate in theology the year before that Luther was appointed to the new University of Wittenburg in 1513. Here he was given ample hours to study the text of the Bible in Hebrew and Greek - and two years later something incredible took place:
Two years later, Luther was in full swing, teaching the book of Romans to the other monks and students at the seminary. Most were receiving his teaching with open arms. Now there were many things going on the world of politics and government while Luther was growing in Christ in Wittenburg. The Pope (Leo X - one of the most vile and money-hungry popes ever!) was trying to gain more political power. The Kings of France and Spain were jockeying for supremacy as well. Sometimes, the political leaders would use the evils found in the church to weaken Pope Leo X's position and strengthen theirs. Now, kids. Have you ever done something like this? There you are in the classroom and your teacher leaves for a few seconds and you stand up in front of the class and say something funny about the teacher? Everyone laughs and you go on your way. The next day, you decide to do the same thing - but this time, the teacher walks in and hears everything you say! Oh no!!! Well, a similar kind of thing happened to Luther - only we shouldn't say, "Oh no!" but "All right!" Luther did what was common in that day and decided to open a topic for debate by writing out his complaints and nailing them to a door. He had 97 of them. He wrote them, nailed them - and.. nothing happened. No one noticed! So, not long after, Luther wrote out some more abuses he saw in the church, and nailed them to the door. and the whole world stood up and took notice!!! The Reformation had begun!
The Problem with Indulgences What Luther was wanting to debate was the use of Indulgences. An Indulgence is a way to buy, with money, your salvation. or the salvation of someone you love who already died! John Tetzel, a Dominican priest, was travelling the world selling Papal Indulgences.. so that the greedy Leo could raise enough money to build a huge white building in Vatican City called St. Peter's Bascillica. He was a rather crude salesman and even wrote a little jingle for his workers that said, "As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, The soul from purgatory springs!"
Such nonsense was not to be tolerated even in the Roman church, and Luther wrote his 95 theses to address it. They included statements like these:
Luther had just spoken against the elaborate plans of the Pope - possibly the single most powerful man in the world at that time!
Now, we should note that another factor in the providence of God throwing barrels of fuel on this fire was the printing press. For the first time in the history of the world, multiple copies of one document could be printed off in a very short time. Luther's 95 theses were published on October 31 st , 1517 and they quickly spread across Europe and were translated into different languages. Part of the reason for this instant success, was the fact that the general populace was already quite disillusioned with the church. Here now was someone putting into words what they already felt. The Pope was furious and demanded the Augustinian monks deal with Luther. They met together in Heidelberg soon after and to his great surprise (for Luther thought they would condemn him to die) he found the majority of the order agreed with him. And those who did not agree were (for other reasons) [4] going to stick with one of their own. Luther was called to other councils and meetings, [5] but the greatest test in his life came at the Diet of Worms.
The Diet of Worms A diet of worms is what a happy robin eats. It is also a church meeting or council in a city in Germany called Worms. Here, all the great rulers and dignitaries of the day assembled to question the little German monk. Luther was very afraid! Imagine what it would be like to stand before men who could condemn you to death at any moment. There you are in your little monk habit and there they are in all their glory and robes and jewelry and power and authority! There was no debate or questioning or study - Luther was simply asked to renounce his writings (piled on a table in front of him) - including the 95 theses. This was a critical moment - not so much because Luther was unconvinced of his writings, but because he believed in the authority of the church! To go against the church was, in Roman Catholic theology, to go against God. Luther asked for one day to consider what he ought to do. The next day came and the whole assembly was buzzing with anticipation. The same demand to recant and renounce his works was made. Luther abandoned the Latin used in official debates and with a loud voice in German said: "My conscience is a prisoner of God's Word. I cannot and will not recant, for to disobey one's conscience is neither just nor safe. God help me. Amen." He then left the proceedings and returned to his room!
What Happened Next? The Emporer was not about to let a monk defy his authority. He quickly published the Edict of Worms on May 21, 1521 . It said in part,
Among other things, this ruling permitted anyone to kill Luther without suffering legal consequence, and the property of Luther's followers and supporters could be seized by force. It is worth noting that Luther lived under this edict for the rest of his life. While everyone was waiting for this Edict to be written, however, Martin Luther was kidnapped by soldiers of Frederick the Wise. Frederick was a friend of Luther and had arranged for his soldiers to steal him away to a place that not even he knew of! That place was the Wartburg Castle and there Luther grew a beard and began to translate the Bible into German. Before that time, the people would only hear the Word of God in Latin - a language that very few of them understood. Luther gave his people the Bible in their native tongue and the printing press gave them the Bible in their homes! Luther remained in Wartburg until the burgeoning Reformation needed his direct help again. Like many such seasons in the history of the church, God often appoints one man with his own unique strengths and weaknesses to lead His people. Melancthon and Karlstadt had neither the mind nor the fortitude of Martin Luther - so at great personal risk he came out of hiding and returned to Wittenburg. He would spend the majority of the rest of his life there, writing, debating, teaching, marrying, having children, mentoring students and seeking to apply the Bible to all that the church was and did. He was no great friend of Baptists. which ought to be the subject of another night. but we can thank God the massive doctrinal and practical and political reform brought about through the life of the German monk.
Why Does it Matter? Martin Luther's life teaches us many lessons:
Luther
in many ways became a living legend in his own day. And the common
people, freed from the oppression of Rome and brought into the
gospel of grace could heartily sing with the converted monk: Dear
Christian people all, rejoice, Nun
freut euch, lieben Christen g'mein,
[1] Roman Catholicisim defines penance in this way: " Penance is a sacrament of the New Law instituted by Christ in which forgiveness of sins committed after baptism is granted through the priest's absolution to those who with true sorrow confess their sins and promise to satisfy for the same. It is called a "sacrament" not simply a function or ceremony, because it is an outward sign instituted by Christ to impart grace to the soul. As an outward sign it comprises the actions of the penitent in presenting himself to the priest and accusing himself of his sins, and the actions of the priest in pronouncing absolution and imposing satisfaction. This whole procedure is usually called, from one of its parts, "confession", and it is said to take place in the "tribunal of penance", because it is a judicial process in which the penitent is at once the accuser, the person accused, and the witness, while the priest pronounces judgment and sentence. The grace conferred is deliverance from the guilt of sin and, in the case of mortal sin, from its eternal punishment; hence also reconciliation with God , justification. Finally, the confession is made not in the secrecy of the penitent's heart nor to a layman as friend and advocate, nor to a representative of human authority, but to a duly ordained priest with requisite jurisdiction and with the "power of the keys", i.e., the power to forgive sins which Christ granted to His Church." Accessed on October 28, 2004 from http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11618c.htm. [2] Justo Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity, Volume II: The Reformation to the Present Day (San Francisco, CA: Harper and Row, 1985),16. [3] Gonzalez, p. 19-20. Emphasis mine. [4] The primary "other reason" was the fact that Tetzel was a Dominican and they were Augustinians. Their mutual distrust went back generations! [5] The Diet of the Empire at Augsburg , the meeting with Miltitz and finally the debate with John Eck. It was at the debate with Eck that Luther admitted he felt the Council of Constance had erred in condemning John Huss and that Huss had not deserved to die. By siding with a condemned heretic, Luther gave his enemies the ability to call him a heretic! See Gonzalez, p. 25-27. [6] The Bondage of the Will , 14. [7] Words: Martin Luther , 1523 ( Nun freut euch ); translated from German to English by Christian G. Haas , 1897. |
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