As I was thinking about Reformation Sunday coming up this weekend I decided to skim through Luther’s table talks. His table talks are a collection of writings by his students. Luther would invite them over to his house and they would drink and chat. Some of the students wrote down what he said and turned them into a collection of sayings. I came across one that caught my attention and decided to look no further. Here’s the one that caught my attention:
“The papists, the fanatics, and whoever they may be who set their own opinions against the gospel are already condemned with all their wisdom, holiness, and beliefs. For our wiseacres do nothing except to slander us and say, ‘Luther has indeed destroyed the papacy but he can’t build a new church,’ that is, can’t introduce a new form of worship and new ceremonies. These wretched men think that building up the church consists of the introduction of some sort of new ceremonies. They don’t realize that building up the church means to lead consciences from doubt and murmuring to faith, to knowledge, and to certainty.”
I really appreciated these words from Luther. And to clarify, I don’t believe Luther meant that all structure and worship of a church should be abandoned, but that the simple act of creating things to be large and attractive in the eyes of people is not the way to go. Luther had a strong sense that people wanted and needed the true word of God. In fact he also says elsewhere in his table talks that he wishes that all his writings and the writings of others would disappear and people would simply rely on the Word of God…the Bible.
Luther wanted people to get back to the heart of faith. That is to understand what God did for people and what that means for the world. While classes and ceremonies may help make that happen, we shouldn’t rely on it and put it above the content…the Bible. Luther never intended to form a new denomination which would rely on ‘new ceremonies’. He simply wanted the current ceremonies to be more faithful to scripture.
I say all this to help us understand that the Reformation was about getting the Bible into the hands of people and to focus on what was most important: the life death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus…and what the means for the world. It means love, forgiveness, and salvation. I believe these are all things the world is hungry for and something, we as Lutherans have a rich history of doing. Let’s live into that Lutheran understanding of the Bible, of who Christ is and what he did for the world, and share it. So that we can reach out to our neighbors, not with high lofty words, but with real words that are much needed in our world: grace, love, forgiveness, and hope.
Join me this Reformation in bringing the Word alive to this world. Bring someone to share with them what God is like and please, don’t forget to wear RED this Sunday. It’s a thing. Trust me.
Blessings,
Pastor Brian
