This morning I begin a brief series of messages based on the Protestant
Reformation. Really, you might ask.
Sounds kind of boring to me. I assure you it is not. Speaking about the Reformation is much,
much more than simply offering a dry history lesson, as it continues to so
profoundly influence us after 500 years, and there are more than a few ways in
which it has shaped and molded how we live today. In fact, most of the time we live our lives without any idea
\of just how profoundly the Reformation shaped our world and our lives. In terms of our lives, here are a few
of the ways the Reformation has made a difference to us – if you brought your
Bible to church today, you can thank the Reformation. Because you have a Bible
you can read every day and because you can read it in English, you can thank
the Reformation. If you believe the Bible is the source of our authority, you
can thank the Reformation. If you
believe you are justified by grace and not by works, that you do not have to
earn your salvation, you can thank the Reformation. If you believe that all people are equal in the eyes of God,
you can thank the Reformation. If
you believe that we are all ministers in some way – that is, if you believe in
what we call the priesthood of all believers – you can thank the
Reformation. If you believe faith
is more about the heart than about the head, that is, that faith is more about
the heart than it is reason and intellect, you can thank the Reformation. The fact you are in this church this
morning, you can thank the Reformation.
If you like to read, you can thank the Reformation, as it stimulated
publishing in a tremendous way and brought about what we might call the earliest
forms of social media. If you
believe it is your right to make a point, that you have an opinion that not
only can, but should, be heard, and if you believe it is your right to question
authority, you can thank the Reformation, and it is that point we will
particularly focus upon this morning.
In the most basic sense, the
Protestant Reformation was a movement that led to the second major schism, or
division, in the church. For the
first millennium of the church there was one church, with only a few minor
exceptions. The Catholic Church
(the word catholic means universal) was the sole church until
1054, when the first major schism in the church took place, dividing the church
into two branches –the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox churches. The Reformation brought the second
major schism and formed the Protestant churches, that is, those churches that
are not Catholic or Orthodox.
I should
add an important note at this point, and that is that I am not
anti-Catholic. I mention this
because it can be difficult to speak or write about the Reformation without
sounding, in some ways, anti-Catholic.
My family has strong ties to the Catholic Church, as my mother’s family
was Irish Catholic. Though they
were not regular churchgoers, their Catholic roots were, nonetheless, strong
throughout the family. Even though
my mother’s side of the family were Catholic, I grew up not understanding much
about the Catholic Church, and it took a lot of time to gain a more detailed
knowledge of their theology and understanding of how and why the Catholic Church
operates and thinks the way that it does.
As Protestants, we often hold to some erroneous information about the
Catholic Church, and I will try and cover some of that in the next few weeks,
if possible.
October
31st is recognized as the 500th anniversary of the
Reformation, as that was the day when a priest by the name of Martin Luther
nailed what became known as his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in
Wittenberg, Germany. I guess today
Luther would tweet his 95 Theses, which seems far less dramatic, doesn’t
it? There is an inherent drama in
taking a piece of parchment, walking up to the big wooden doors of a church,
and nailing that parchment to the door.
Somehow, hitting a button on your phone just doesn’t have the
gravitas!
The official title of the 95 theses was disputation on the power and efficacy of indulgences
out of love and zeal for truth and the desire to bring it to light. That’s not very catchy, is it? That’s like calling Star Wars by the title the possibilities of future space travel in
light of Einstein’s theory of relativity and its presupposed efficacy for the
inhabitants of the known and unknown universe. That wouldn’t get a line at the movie theater on December 15th,
would it?
The 95 Theses were what we might
call today “talking points,” points of contention Luther had with some of the
Church’s practices, specifically the practice of what were called
indulgences. An indulgence was the
granting of forgiveness based upon what was considered to be a surplus of righteousness
of the saints. Indulgences assumed that a person gained entrance to heaven as a
result of their good works. If we
imagine salvation as being on a scale of 1 to 100, the entrance to heaven might
require, say, a score of 75. A
saint, for example, might have a score of 95, which means there are 20 points
in excess that could be used by someone who might be 5 points short. An indulgence could be purchased to
gain the extra 5 points needed.
Obviously, this was a formula for financial abuse to take place, which
did happen, not to mention the fact that no one would know where anyone was on
the scale of righteousness, if such a scale existed. Indulgences, though, were an entrenched practice in the
church and their sale helped to finance the building of St. Peter’s basilica in
Rome.
The title of the message today is Making Your Voice Heard, which Martin
Luther certainly did, and his example of speaking out has become foundational
to our culture. For our Scripture
text we will turn to the book of Acts, where we find a story about the
disciples Peter and John, when they taken before the Sanhedrin after healing a
man who was unable to walk.
Acts 4:13-21 –
13 When
they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled,
ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been
with Jesus.
14 But
since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them,
there was nothing they could say.
15 So
they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together.
16 “What
are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everyone living in Jerusalem
knows they have performed a notable sign, and we cannot deny it.
17 But
to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn
them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.”
18 Then
they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in
the name of Jesus.
19 But
Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to
him? You be the judges!
20 As
for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
21 After further threats they let them go.
They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising
God for what had happened.
I have
two points to share with you today, the first of which is –
1.
There are many who want us to go along, to be quiet, and to accept
things the way that they are.
It is hard for us to fathom what a gift it is
that we have the freedom to express our opinions, our thoughts, and our
beliefs. Martin Luther, like many
people throughout history and even today, did not enjoy that gift. In fact, Luther was, for a time, under
the threat of death because of his beliefs. If not for the protection of one individual, Luther would
most certainly have been put to death.
In 1521, Luther was taken before the Holy Roman
Emperor and leaders of the church to answer a charge of heresy. He was confronted, in that most intimidating
of surroundings, with these questions – Martin,
how can you assume that you are the only one to understand Scripture? Would you put your judgment above that
of so many famous men and claim that you know more than they all? I ask you, Martin, answer candidly…do
you repudiate your books and the errors they contain? Luther gave his response, which ended
with these words, I cannot and I will not
recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither safe nor right. God help me, here I stand. Amen.
(Word of God Across the Ages, Bill J.
Leonard, p. 34)
The world of power often works on threats and
intimidation. That’s why Luther
was brought in to face the emperor and the other powerful leaders, by
himself. That’s why Peter and John
were brought before the Sanhedrin and threatened, and told to speak no longer
to anyone about Jesus. The
apostles were often threatened, and not only threatened but beaten and jailed,
and only because they dared to speak up about what they believed. Power is often threatened by those who
are willing to speak up and not be silent, but we are gifted by God with the
freedom to speak our minds! Martin
Luther actually changed the spelling of his last name from Luder to Luther,
which comes from the Greek word eleutheros,
which means free or freed. Martin Luther King, Jr’s. father changed his name and his
son’s name from Michael to Martin in honor of Luther, and the name change
become prophetic for Dr. King and his willingness to speaking out. Because of the Reformation we are
Protestants – protestors.
Protesting, and raising our voices has become more suspect these days,
unfortunately, and we often feel uncomfortable with raising our voices in
dissent. To raise doubt in our
minds about raising our voices is how people prevent needed change from taking
place. But if we don’t raise our
voices, how will injustice ever stop?
How will things ever get better?
Imagine how different the world would be had
Abraham Lincoln not signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Imagine if he had listened to any
advisors who might have encouraged him to remain quiet, to go along with the
status quo, and to protect what masqueraded as commerce. Imagine the difference in the world if
those opposed to slavery had not raised their voices. Imagine how different the world would be if Rosa Parks had
given up her seat on the bus. Imagine
how different the world would be had Martin Luther King, Jr. not spoken up and
spoken out. Imagine the
impoverishment of our world without his great I Have A Dream speech. Imagine if women had not raised their voices
and declared their God-given right to have a voice and a vote. Imagine if women in business and
industry and Hollywood had not raised their voices to declare it is time for
harassment and abuse to stop.
There are many people who would like us to
remain quiet and not upset the status quo. Just be quiet and go
along with things. Don’t rock the
boat. That’s just the way things
are, just accept it and live with it.
Those are a few of the things we are told in an effort to keep us silent
about the injustices of the world.
That’s one of the ways in which people such as Harvey Weinstein manage
to get away with abuse and harassment for so long. For women to stand up and say no more abuse and harassment takes a great deal of courage. For Martin Luther to stand up and raise
his voice to the Holy Roman Emperor and all the powerful figures of his world
took an immense amount of courage.
To raise our voices is not just a privilege; it
is a necessity. We who are blessed
must become the voices for and the champions of those who are the powerless and
those who are the victims of injustice.
2.
Don’t fear the backlash.
Fear.
That word always haunts us, shapes us, and controls us. Fear whispers in our ears and tells us don’t risk what you have. Don’t put your livelihood at risk. Don’t put your family in a difficult
situation. You’ve got yours; let
others get theirs on their own.
Martin Luther was not the first to feel the
fear that would seek to derail him from his mission. Abraham must have felt fear in leaving his home to set off to
a land that God would show him. Moses
was fearful about facing Pharaoh in order to issue a challenge to let God’s
people go. Peter felt fear after stepping out of the boat and onto the
sea. But each of them also
conquered their fear. The
disciples, who huddled together in the upper room after the crucifixion,
courageously left that room to proclaim the message of Jesus in spite of the
backlash, the resistance, and the persecution they faced. In spite of arrest, imprisonment, and
physical attacks they persevered.
Jesus certainly faced a great deal of backlash,
but it never kept him from his mission and it never rendered him silent. Jesus was followed constantly naysayers,
opponents, and accusers, yet he never, even for a moment, strayed from his
mission. He was not afraid to
challenge the powers of his day and he had strong words for those who preyed
upon others and perpetuated injustice.
He offered grace and forgiveness in spite of those who claimed he had
not the authority to do so. He
spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well, even though his own disciples were
troubled by his doing so. He
challenged the crowd of accusers who brought to him the woman caught in
adultery, and stood in bold love and grace as they one by one dropped the
stones they had intended to use upon her.
He entered the Temple, casting out the moneychangers and others who made
a mockery of that holy place. He
stood without fear or doubt before Pilate, Herod, and the Sanhedrin as they
unjustly arrested and accused him, as they beat him, and as they crucified
him. And on the cross there was no
fear and no bitterness, only love and forgiveness.
I received an interesting piece of mail some
weeks ago. I could tell by the
envelope it was one that was not fan mail and that it was probably anonymous,
as it was marked Personal and
Confidential: To be opened only by
the addressee. I knew it was
not a gift certificate to a nice dinner in that envelope. After enough years you learn to
recognize certain types of correspondence. When I opened the envelope I found it contained no letter, only
one item – one of my columns from the Sentinel-News. Written across the newsprint were some
harsh words – garbage, unpatriotic,
un-American, and other such comments.
My first instinct about anonymous mail has always been to throw it away
and forget about it, but I did not throw this piece of mail away. Instead, I went and purchased a frame,
put it in the frame, and hung it on the basement wall of our home, beside my
desk. I did so not because I enjoy
seeing and being reminded that some people will not like what we have to say,
but to remind me that what others think should not silence us.
I am unashamedly a child of God and a follower
of Jesus. I believe that all
people are children of God, born in his image, and granted the same freedoms as
any other person. I believe in the
right of our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world to worship in
freedom and that they should be able to do so without fear of persecution. I believe that those governments who
desire to punish, persecute, and silence believers are wrong and ought to be
called to account, especially by those of us who enjoy the freedom to worship
without fear of repercussion.
There are people in our world – in our
community – who need a champion.
There are people who need us to speak up and speak out. But there are also people who will not
like it when we do, but we must follow the example of Jesus, who inspired many
across the centuries – like Martin Luther – to speak out and to follow the lead
of the Spirit. Never be afraid to
make your voice heard.
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