Today we celebrate the 495th anniversary of the posting of the 95 Theses on Church door in Wittenberg Germany by Dr. Martin Luther. (check them out at: http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/luther/web/ninetyfive.html ) Even though we will have a Reformation celebration on this Wednesday, October 31 at 6:00pm we are celebrating this important date this Sunday. It was a strange change that happened over a simple academic exercise that was designed to inform the debate that would happen on All Hallows Day or as we call it today "All Saints Day" on November 1st when many would gather around the relics on this high feast day. The theologians would debate doctrinal issues. This was not supposed to change the world of the Holy Roman Empire and the Roman Catholic Church. It was because of the Gutenberg Press (1450) that allowed these statements for debate to be copied and sent out to so many.
Martin Luther was not trying to start a new church but reform the Holy catholic (universal Christian) Church. His points have to do with his understanding of Grace and undeserved mercy that he had been discovering more and more in Holy Scripture and how this was inconsistent with the selling of indulgences etc...
Here is how the History Channel summarized the event:
On this day (October 31st) in 1517, the priest and scholar Martin Luther
approaches the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, and
nails a piece of paper to it containing the 95 revolutionary opinions
that would begin the Protestant Reformation.
In his theses, Luther condemned the excesses and corruption of the
Roman Catholic Church, especially the papal practice of asking
payment—called "indulgences"—for the forgiveness of sins. At the time, a
Dominican priest named Johann Tetzel, commissioned by the Archbishop of
Mainz and Pope Leo X, was in the midst of a major fundraising campaign
in Germany to finance the renovation of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
Though Prince Frederick III the Wise had banned the sale of indulgences
in Wittenberg, many church members traveled to purchase them. When they
returned, they showed the pardons they had bought to Luther, claiming
they no longer had to repent for their sins.
Luther's frustration with this practice led him to write the 95
Theses, which were quickly snapped up, translated from Latin into German
and distributed widely. A copy made its way to Rome, and efforts began
to convince Luther to change his tune. He refused to keep silent,
however, and in 1521 Pope Leo X formally excommunicated Luther from the
Catholic Church. That same year, Luther again refused to recant his
writings before the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V of Germany, who issued
the famous Edict of Worms declaring Luther an outlaw and a heretic and
giving permission for anyone to kill him without consequence. Protected
by Prince Frederick, Luther began working on a German translation of the
Bible, a task that took 10 years to complete.
The term "Protestant" first appeared in 1529, when Charles V revoked a
provision that allowed the ruler of each German state to choose whether
they would enforce the Edict of Worms. A number of princes and other
supporters of Luther issued a protest, declaring that their allegiance
to God trumped their allegiance to the emperor. They became known to
their opponents as Protestants; gradually this name came to apply to all
who believed the Church should be reformed, even those outside Germany.
By the time Luther died, of natural causes, in 1546, his revolutionary
beliefs had formed the basis for the Protestant Reformation, which would
over the next three centuries revolutionize Western civilization.
Today we will look at Jesus' words in John 8:31-36:
To the Jews who had
believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my
disciples. Then you will know
the truth, and the truth will set you free." They answered him,
"We are Abraham's descendants and
have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set
free?" Jesus replied,
"I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no
permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets
you free, you will be free indeed.
These words really summarize what Dr. Martin Luther was discovering. We know that his study of Romans 3:9-28
19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.
Righteousness Through Faith
21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement,[i] through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. 28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.
As well as Ephesians 2:1-10
2 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
It became evident through Dr. Luther's study of these passages and more that we should not need to go through "purgatory or purification" and that we do not have "infused grace" rather as he discovered complete true grace is "total." He used the 95 Theses to jump start the discussion of the love and grace of God "who is rich in mercy" as we see our justification, or "salvation" as a gift not something we pay for or receive from re-sacrificing Christ in the Mass, or buying indulgences to release us or our relatives from Purgatory.
Why is it that we have so much trouble with getting this gift, rather than working for it? Well I have experienced this my whole life. We want to work our way to God. We want to do things our way! This is why the selling of indulgences, the treasury of Merits (bank that the indulgences were drawn on) and the need to do things to please an Angry God made sense to the human nature of mankind in the 16th century as it does in the 21st century. It is that faith or "trust" we have been talking about that is counter to our human sinful understanding. We are called to be known by God and to intimately know (Yada) HIM! Dr. Luther would later say that there are only 2 religions in the world 1) Where we worship a God who we must do things to reach and is only transcendent and we need to appease which summarizes almost the entire human understanding of religion. 2) the true religion that understand God came to us and died for us this is true faith and trust in the GRACE of our Lord.
Martin Luther came to conclusions at the end of his 95 Theses summarizing them in this way:
82. To wit: -- "Why does not
the pope empty purgatory, for the sake of holy love and of the dire need of the
souls that are there, if he redeems an infinite number of souls for the sake of
miserable money with which to build a Church? The former reasons would be most
just; the latter is most trivial."
83. Again: -- "Why are
mortuary and anniversary masses for the dead continued, and why does he not
return or permit the withdrawal of the endowments founded on their behalf,
since it is wrong to pray for the redeemed?"
84. Again: -- "What is this
new piety of God and the pope, that for money they allow a man who is impious
and their enemy to buy out of purgatory the pious soul of a friend of God, and
do not rather, because of that pious and beloved soul's own need, free it for
pure love's sake?"
85. Again: -- "Why are the
penitential canons long since in actual fact and through disuse abrogated and
dead, now satisfied by the granting of indulgences, as though they were still
alive and in force?"
86. Again: -- "Why does not
the pope, whose wealth is to-day greater than the riches of the richest, build
just this one church of St. Peter with his own money, rather than with the money
of poor believers?"
87. Again: -- "What is it
that the pope remits, and what participation does he grant to those who, by
perfect contrition, have a right to full remission and participation?"
88. Again: -- "What greater
blessing could come to the Church than if the pope were to do a hundred times a
day what he now does once, and bestow on every believer these remissions and
participations?"
89. "Since the pope, by his
pardons, seeks the salvation of souls rather than money, why does he suspend
the indulgences and pardons granted heretofore, since these have equal
efficacy?"
90. To repress these arguments
and scruples of the laity by force alone, and not to resolve them by giving
reasons, is to expose the Church and the pope to the ridicule of their enemies,
and to make Christians unhappy.
91. If, therefore, pardons were
preached according to the spirit and mind of the pope, all these doubts would
be readily resolved; nay, they would not exist.
92. Away, then, with all those
prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Peace, peace," and there
is no peace!
93. Blessed be all those prophets
who say to the people of Christ, "Cross, cross," and there is no
cross!
94. Christians are to be exhorted
that they be diligent in following Christ, their Head, through penalties,
deaths, and hell;
95. And thus be confident of
entering into heaven rather through many tribulations, than through the
assurance of peace.
May we understand the truth of GRACE by SCRIPTURE through FAITH the words that define the Reformation and lead us to understand the FREEDOM we have a Kingdom people who KNOW and TRUST our God to give us the gift of salvation (100% Justification) so that we are empowered by this GRACE to live a life worthy of our calling. We will then pursue "the works prepared beforehand for us to do" (Ephesians 2:10)
May you celebrate the anniversary of the Reformation/Transformation of the Christian Church on Wednesday as the rest of the World celebrates Halloween. (All Hallows EVE)
Please remember to bring candy to hand out on Wednesday. We will start our Reformation Celebration at 6:00pm, as usual for our Family of Christ night every Wed, with food. We will worship from 6:45-7:15 and then have the LUTHER movie at 7:20. Please join us for this celebration!
Your brother in Christ,
Pastor Bryan
