Great Minds – Martin Luther 30 October 2022

Psalm 90.1-6 & 16-17; Romans 1.14-17

In our recent services we’ve been looking at some “great minds”. This is largely in recognition of the fact that our story is part of the bigger story of how our values and culture have developed through history and are developing into the future. I want to continue in this vein and tell you about Martin Luther.

Luther lived in quite a different age to our own. In sixteenth century Europe people were acutely aware that their lives on earth were lived in the shadow of eternity and the judgement of God which was to come. And Martin particularly had a heightened sense of the fear of God and of his own sinfulness. When, as a 21-year-old, a lightning strike threw him to the ground, he took it as a sign from God and vowed to become a monk. Two weeks later he broke off studying law to enter an Augustinian monastery. He was terrified of the holy God.

This fear came to the fore when he celebrated his first mass. His understanding of the sacrament was that the bread and wine were to literally become the body and blood of Christ. He was burdened by the responsibility of handling such holy things. In his own words: “I was utterly stupefied and terror stricken. I thought to myself, ‘with what tongue shall I address such Majesty?’ Who am I that I should lift my eyes or raise my hands to the divine Majesty?’”

As an Augustinian priest, Martin earned a doctorate in theology and became a Professor at the University of Wittenberg, Germany. He was lecturing in the Psalms, Romans and Galatians and studying in the tower of the Augustinian monastery. When he read of ‘the justice of God’ he was deeply troubled by the concept. He knew that God’s justice demanded that the unjust be punished.

But his own conscience told him of his faults, so he had no confidence at all in facing a holy God.

In his own words again: “I greatly longed to understand Paul’s epistle to the Romans and nothing stood in the way but the expression ‘the justice of God’… I did not love a just and angry God, but rather hated and murmured against him… Night and day I pondered until I saw the connection between the justice of God and the statement that ‘the just shall live by faith.’ Then I grasped that… through grace and sheer mercy God justifies us by faith. Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise.”

Martin had come to a new view of God. He arrived at the belief that we are put right with him simply by trusting in Christ. This belief was to change his life, and change history! At that time, the church used the selling of indulgences as a means of raising money. The idea was that you paid money (the amount depended on your station in life) for a letter, freeing your loved ones who had died, from the pains of purgatory, or to have your own sins taken away and your state of innocence restored before God. There was a little advertising jingle that was used to sell the idea to the masses:

“The moment the coin in the coffers rings

the soul from purgatory springs.”

To Martin, who was now carrying the wonderful news that faith in Christ alone puts us right with God, the selling of indulgences was reprehensible! In those days the church door was the community notice board, so Martin nailed 95 points of debate (his famous 95 theses) to the church door in Wittenberg. His intention at this stage was to have a debate (not to reform the church) but the recent invention of the printing press meant that within a fortnight his 95 theses had gone viral and people all over Germany had read them. Here is a taste of their content:

52. The assurance of salvation by letters of pardon is vain, even though the commissary, nay, even though the pope himself, were to stake his soul upon it.

62. The true treasure of the Church is the Most Holy Gospel of the glory and the grace of God.

66. The treasures of the indulgences are nets with which they now fish for the riches of men.

This was incendiary stuff and these were dangerous times to enter a dispute with the Pope or the Emperor. Martin would have been dealt to and silenced quickly, but Germany had some powerful territorial rulers. His one, Prince Frederick (the wise), took it upon himself to protect Martin. That didn’t stop him being condemned by the Pope. He was summoned to appear before the Emperor at Worms. There, a row of his books was pointed out to him. He was asked whether or not he would recant them (under threat of excommunication and death). He was given a day to think about it, the following afternoon he appeared before the Assembly. He acknowledged that in the heat of controversy he had expressed himself too strongly, but the substance of what he had written he would not retract. His words have been reported as: “My conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot… I will not recant. Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen.”

Prince Frederick thought Martin had been a bit too bold, but nevertheless was determined to protect him, and had him whisked away to safety. Luther then embarked on a process of re-examining and reforming the church. His work was enormous. He translated the whole of the Scriptures into the common German language, he wrote the prayer book, the catechism, the hymnbook and inspired the nation with his preaching. (Later, in England it took several centuries and the work of Tyndale, Cramner, the Westminster divines, Latimer and Watts to accomplish the same things.)

But Martin was no plaster saint. Like the rest of us, his character contained good and bad. On the one hand he had insight, faith and courage; on the other he was coarse and savage. He was party to the vicious attack on the radical reformers who proposed a separation between church and state. While he said that one should not oppose them unless they proposed sedition, he defined their disintegration of his church and marriages outside of it as sedition. So he signed memoranda that saw them tortured and martyred. He also persecuted the Jews. He wrote that they should be all deported back to Palestine, or failing that, their synagogues should be burned and their books taken away from them. Throughout his life Martin suffered much from depression. He felt that he was under attack by both God and the Devil. His faulty humanity, however, should not detract from us viewing Luther as an inspirational major historical figure whose Christian thinking continues to inspire the church in our own day.

What would Luther want us to hear today?Luther emphasised:

-          Scripture over tradition

-          Faith over works

-          Grace over merit

These ideas were later to be coined in the mantra was: sola fide, sola gratia, sola Scriptura - Faith alone, grace alone, and the Bible alone.

1)  Have faith

Martin proclaimed this message everywhere and every time he could because this truth is what transformed his life. It set him free from religious bondage and introduced him to freedom in Christ.

The Lord told him, “Martin it’s by faith alone that you stand secure before God. It’s not by your good works. You can never be good enough for God.” We also need to hear this message. It is faith; simply trusting in Christ that makes us right with God. Believe it or not, 500 years after Luther, some people still think that they get right with God by works: Doing good deeds; giving money (especially to the church); penance; being devout and saying prayers; following a list of rules and regulations. While all those things may be good, Martin would want us to hear that we become Christians not because of what we may have done or not done, but because we believe in Jesus Christ so much that we have surrendered our lives to him. We simply trust in what God has done for us, because in our own strength we will always come up short. So have faith… and…

2)  Receive God’s grace

God spoke to Martin about grace. Grace alone is what opens up a relationship between God and people. God loves us and extends his favour to us when we don’t merit it. Author Philip Yancey puts it this way “Grace means there is nothing we can do to make God love us more”. No amount of spiritual exercises, no amount of knowledge, no amount of working for just and good causes can make God love us more. And grace means there is nothing we can do to make God love us less - no amount of selfishness, or pride, or greed, or even murder will cause God to love us less. Grace means that God already loves us as much as an infinite God can possibly love.

Grace is what makes the gospel good news of freedom rather than a message that ties us in knots.

Martin had endured years of self-torture because he didn’t know the experience of the grace and love of God. He thought God was out to get him. The realisation of God’s grace transformed him from a man of fear into a man of faith. Prior to this revelation he was always confessing his sins and thinking that God was going to strike him down. And Martin would want us to trust in God’s grace alone. The Sunday School acronym is apt - GRACE: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. Christ has done it all. Martin Luther had a deep awareness of his own sinfulness and shortcomings before God. So the discovery of God’s grace, the experience of God’s grace, was for him wonderful. Wonderful! 

And he would want us to be sure that we receive God’s grace. And finally…

3) Read the scripturesMartin studied the Scriptures, he loved the Scriptures. In them be found life. In a day when, for many people, the gospel had become hidden by people wanting power and money, Martin argued that Scripture alone is the guide for the Christian church. He was saying that it is not the traditions of the church that should guide our practice – but Scripture. Of course, he was living in a time of tremendous religious upheaval and ferment… and he was a reactionary. It is true that today some branches of the church see tradition as their main guide, some see the present leading of the Holy Spirit as being the main guide and some see Scripture.

However, I don’t think it is strictly true to say that Scripture alone is the guide for the Christian church. We are guided by Scripture, as well as the present leading of the Holy Spirit, and by our experiences in the past (or traditions) - but Luther would want our focus placed on the authority of Scripture. He is quoted as saying: "A simple layman armed with Scripture is to be believed above the pope or a cardinal without it." What do we learn from the example of Martin Luther in regards to Scripture? The Scripture is to a dynamic guide that helps us to live a fulfilling life that is pleasing to God. At one point Martin became so frustrated with his own congregation for not studying the Bible on their own that, to make them study for themselves, he went on strike and refused to preach! He was excited about the Bible. He once said: "The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold of me.¨ Martin is still preaching to us today! His message is, "Read the word of God for yourself. Allow it to speak to you!”

ConclusionThe result of Martin Luther’s transformation was astounding. His divine call and his acceptance of that call changed the church forever. He challenges us to have faith in Christ – To get our lives back on track with Jesus. Millions have been affected by this monk’s spiritual transformation. He stressed that as the body of Christ we need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus Christ! We need to understand that good works will not make us right with God. It is by faith alone that is achieved! He challenges us to receive God’s grace – Our relationship with the Lord is because of grace alone. The Lord God chose to give us the gift of eternal life out of love and mercy. None of us ever deserved the gift, but it was given to us anyway from a heart of love. And he challenges us to read the Scriptures – The Scriptures have been given to us by God to direct and guide our lives. We neglect them at our own peril.