From the Pastors Desk

A Mighty Fortress Is Our God!

From the Pastors Desk - October 01, 2023

What if you read your employer’s handbook (in this case the Bible) and discovered that your employer wasn’t interpreting the handbook correctly? So you let everyone know that the interpretation of this handbook should be something different and not what your employer was telling everyone. Chances are very good that you would be fired, and, technically, so was Martin Luther! Exsurge Domine was the papal bull that listed 41 statements of Luther’s that were considered deviations from church doctrine. The remainder of the papal bull called for all of Luther’s books to be burned so no one could be influenced by them. If anyone was caught with his books, they would be excommunicated. Luther was given 60 days to recant. Luther ignored the papal bull and continued to write as if the pope was innocent, as Luther still wanted to remain a part of the church. Eventually, after the 60 days had passed, and after considerable contemplation, Luther gathered a group of students in Wittenberg and burned the papal bull along with the canon law of the church. On January 3, 1521 Pope Leo X issued Decet Romanum Pontificem the papal bull that excommunicated Martin Luther.

Today we view Luther as a serious rebel! Luther, though, took all of his actions quite seriously. He was very serious about his position as a doctor of the church, and his belief was that it was his duty to teach and preach Scripture correctly. Even though he attempted to remain a part of the church, he could not stand idly by without preaching the theological truth. Eventually, relations could not be repaired and the Protestant Reformation was born!

As we celebrate the Reformation in this beautiful month of October, here are some additional facts about Martin Luther that you may not have known.

-Luther was not a monk but a friar. Friars (Dominicans, Franciscans and Augustinians) lived in community in cities and often had responsibilities as university professors of theology or preachers. Monks often lived in isolated areas and focused their lives on work and prayer.

-Although he began preaching at Wittenberg’s city church in 1514, Luther was never its head pastor, but always an assistant. From the early 1520s Wittenberg’s chief pastor and preacher was Johannes Bugenhagen.

-Luther’s chief complaint in the 95 Theses was bad preaching and how it undermined the listeners’ faith in God.

-Luther’s chief concern for the church was how bad the preaching was. Not only did he publish “sermon helps” for the epistle and gospel readings appointed for the church year, but his 1520 tract, Freedom of a Christian, outlined the content of true evangelical preaching.

-During Luther’s lifetime, the 95 Theses were only available in three Latin printings. Only with the publication of the German Sermon on Indulgences and Grace did Luther become the world’s first living best-selling author.

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-In Luther’s defense of the 95 Theses, called the Explanations, Luther first insisted that God’s word, not our decisions or works, creates faith in us and makes us Christians.

-Luther’s “theology of the cross” was not a theory about only the cross but the belief that God always reveals himself in the last place human beings would reasonably look: with the Israelites not the Egyptians; in a manger; on the cross; among mortal sinners in the church.

-Luther probably never said “Here I stand” when appearing at his trial before Emperor Charles V in the city of Worms. Instead he or a compatriot wrote it (in German) in a Latin description of the events of 1521 to emphasize his refusal to recant what he had written.

-However, Luther did say this at the Diet (parliament) held in the imperial city of Worms: “Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason … I am bound by the Scriptures that I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience.”

-Luther lectured at the University of Wittenberg on one book of the Bible (Genesis) for 10 years (1535-1545). The resulting commentary takes up the first eight volumes in the “American Edition” of Luther’s Works. (And you think my Sunday school topics are long!)

-One of Luther’s chief contributions to German society in the 16th century was his consistent concern for the poor. He refused to glorify self-chosen poverty and thought it was a citizen’s duty to help those who were living in poverty, especially through the establishment of the “Community Chest.”

-In Wittenberg, the local “Community Chest,” which received money from individual contributions and other sources, provided welfare for the poor, zero-interest loans to get impoverished artisans back on their feet, and funds for teachers, church workers and even a physician to care for those unable to afford medical care.

Faithfully, Lei Fahrner

Sources: https://www.livinglutheran.org/2017/10/reformation-500-50-things-may-not-know-luther/, https://lutheranreformation.org/history/burning-papal-bull/, Martin Luther excommunicated (history.com)