“In the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“Good morning my friends of the
Twenty-first century! First, may I say that I am humbled that you still choose
to commemorate this day when I posted my Disputation
on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences (I believe you call it The 95
Theses) in Wittenberg. I must be honest with you, however, and say that I had
already prepared the Disputation for
publication long before that All Hollow’s Eve when it made its appearance on
the door of our Castle Church. But that is no matter. I am honored to know it
is still read these many centuries later. (I am a bit embarrassed, however, that
you choose to use my name for your
church—please remember that you belong to Christ, not to Luther!)
“I composed the Disputation which you honor today in an attempt to call the learned
men of my time into a discussion of God’s grace and the means by which we are
forgiven and reconciled to our Maker. But for you to understand my thinking, I
think it might be best that I first tell you how I arrived at my theology.
“When I was a young man of eighteen I enrolled
at the University of Erfurt as it was my parents’ wish that I study the law.
One summer, when I was twenty-one, I was returning to Erfurt from a visit to my
parents’ home when a terrible storm blew up. Perhaps in your world you would not
be frightened by such a thing, but in my
time a thunderstorm was a horrifying portent of death and damnation. You see, I
had been brought up to believe in witches and devils and all manner of evil
spirits. I feared the devil himself was prowling around in that dark rain and
wind and lightening like a hungry wolf ready to snatch my soul. I’d been told
that only the holy church could prepare a man to die—that a man must make
confession and do penance. To die with sins left unconfessed before the priest
meant torment in Purgatory or the loss of Heaven itself. As lightening crashed
around me, I feared for my life and my soul. I made a rash promise to God (I
spoke to St. Ann, the mother of Mary, fearing that my impertinence in
addressing God directly would be offensive) and asked that, should he spare my
life, I would renounce all earthly pleasures and become a monk.
“So I became a monk.
“And yet the fear of God’s wrath did not
leave me. For years I prayed in the monastery. I went to chapel and confession.
I was ordained as a priest—a terrifying experience since one should tremble
even before earthly royalty. How much more
should I tremble before the body of Christ! I tried to distract myself by
pursuing academic scholarship and teaching, yet the fear of my sins still
haunted me. I mortified my flesh with fasting, sleeplessness, endless prayer,
and scourging. Once I locked myself in my cell as a punishment and my brother
monks had to knock down the door to rescue me. You see, I had fallen unconscious
from hunger and thirst.
“The Augustinians, my order, sent me on a
journey to Rome in 1510 when I was twenty-six. I hoped a pilgrimage to the city
where Saints Peter and Paul had been martyred would be an indulgence to ease my
eternal fear of God’s judgment, but Rome turned my stomach. It was a sewer in
which religious expression was openly for sale. I visited church after church
and heard masses said with careless indifference. I heard ghastly stories of
the crimes of past popes. I saw holy relics by the thousand—a thorn from Christ’s
crown, a twig from the burning bush, the stone which sealed the tomb of Jesus,
a lock of the Virgin’s hair—all on display for a price. I even tried to rescue
the soul of my grandfather by climbing the 28 steps of Pilate’s palace on my
knees and saying an Our Father on each step. As I reached the top, I wondered
if it were really true.
“I returned to take up a position as
professor of Bible studies at the University of Wittenberg, but my faith in my
church was shaken. Was I doomed to Hell for this?
“For the next few years I determined to
devote myself to the Holy Scriptures and less to church dogma. I had a heavy
burden of work to do. In addition to lecturing at the University I also was
called to supervise younger monks in eleven Augustinian communities. I was
given a room on the second floor of the monastery in Wittenberg which served as
my office and study. I was studying Saint Paul’s letter to the Romans when I
suddenly recognized the answer to the problem of sin and forgiveness: Romans
1:16-17
“’For
I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to
EVERYONE who has faith…For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through
faith for faith; as it is written, the one who is righteous will live by faith.’
“You see, my friends, I had fallen for a trick
of the devil. He was telling me that only God is righteous and man is sinful. A
sinful man cannot stand before a holy God, no matter how he tries. So the man
must either live in fear all his life, become a slave to despair, or try to
escape by renouncing faith in God and becoming a slave to something else which
his own sinful ego embraces.
“But we know that the just live by faith, and
that it is faith in God’s love which holds us fast—apart from works of the law.
God does all the work, you see. God in Christ becomes human and joins with us to
endure our suffering while we join with him and receive his everlasting life.
“So now—in your time—our old friend the
devil tries a new trick. You no longer fear God’s wrath, you say? You have confessed
Jesus and now you are ‘saved?’ So now there is no need to hunger for God’s
righteousness. You have bought your indulgence for free—you have said the right
confession.
“But the one who is righteous shall LIVE
by faith—not just confess it and forget it. LIVE by faith. In everything you do
you search for the gracious love of God. You have become the priest now. Once a
priest was the mediator between God and humanity, but now, because God in
Christ dwells in you, YOU have become that mediator, that conduit of God’s
love. You can show it in your work, in your home life with your family, in your
community. No longer do you need a saint to intercede, YOU can make the intercession
for those around you. And YOU can let your light shine that other may see your
good works and glorify your Father in Heaven.
“Isn’t this wonderful? God is calling you,
sinful as you are and beloved of him as you also are, to a holy vocation. It’s
not one of mumbling prayers and observing fasts, but a vocation to rediscover
the joy of your freedom. Be glad, people of the Twenty-first Century! There is
much Godly work for you to do! Amen.”
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