One biographer wrote “…he saw nothing in himself but wickedness and corruption. God was the minister of wrath and vengeance.” (“Martin Luther” article by Martin Frost on martinfrost.ws.) Because of what the second man had always been taught through scripture he thought the only way to avoid God’s anger was through your own righteousness and good works.  The problem with that theory was never knowing when your righteousness and good works were enough – there was always more good to do, always a way to be better. The door to God that was opened in Christ, felt like it was continually being closed to him – and it was his fault.

The first man was St. Augustine of Hippo in Northern Africa. He lived in the 4^th to 5^th centuries and, because of his very human struggles and subsequent conversion to faith, became one of the most influential teachers and writers of the still young Christian Faith.

The second man was Martin Luther, who was born in Germany in 1483 and who is also known as the Father of the Protestant Reformation.  Although the Reformation itself went in different directions that led to the Lutheran and Reformed Churches as separate movements, his life and work is still very important to how we understand our own faith as Reformed and Presbyterian Christians.

For most of his life Martin Luther was not a happy man having survived a brutal childhood. He was subsequently not happy as a priest nor happy in his faith.  He wrestled with God in scripture all the time.  The scripture we read from Romans is probably the one that he struggled with the most.

¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith…¹⁷For…as it is written, ‘The one who is righteous will live by faith.’ ¹⁸ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who by their wickedness suppress the truth.

In Luther’s own words, this was a scripture that he “anguished over night and day.”  He saw salvation for those with faith as a standard that he had to live up to – having faith was not enough.  He had to prove his faithfulness, his worthiness of salvation.  To do anything less would be to earn God’s wrath which was the only thing Luther felt he deserved.  He was doomed to always be on the other side of the door that led to the peace of Christ’s forgiveness and the joy of God’ love.

I grew up in a Presbyterian Church and never heard much about the Reformation or Martin Luther.  But when I started reading this history in seminary I found Luther to be someone I could relate to because he was a person who struggled with himself and with his faith.  I resonated with his story because he was someone who, despite having faith, never felt like he could live up to it, never felt totally forgiven or accepted by God – simply because there was always room for improvement.  Faith was more of a chore than a joy for him for so much of his life.

That was true for me, too, for many years.  I had my turning point as a young adult while reading the scripture about Jesus’ dying on the cross and crying out to God in anguish. It made me realize that Jesus had experienced the depths of human despair and abandonment. This made Him truly real to me for the first time for me and was a testimony I was able to receive of what faith can both endure and can give.

Martin Luther also had a turning point – a conversion moment – while reading scripture.  For him, it was the same scripture that he had been agonizing over his entire life.  But one night he saw an entirely different meaning in it. The verses that had always caused him to feel so much guilt suddenly spoke in a new way.  He wrote about what happened that night:

I (finally) saw the connection between the ‘righteousness from God’ and the statement that ‘the righteous will live by faith.’ Then I grasped that the righteousness from God is that righteousness by which through grace and sheer mercy God justifies us through faith. All at once I felt myself to have been born again and to have gone through open gates of paradise itself. The whole of Scripture took on a new meaning, and where before the ‘righteousness from God’ had filled me with hate, now it became to me inexpressibly sweet in greater love.

The passage that had made him feel he was eternally shut out of God’s grace now became like a door that had swung wide open to the place he had always wanted to be – the center of Christ’s love.

He had finally realized that it was the grace of God’s love that saved him – nothing that he did or earned or was able to prove about his faith.  It reminds me of how I felt when I had my own conversion moment reading scripture and realized the truth about God’s love for me, for all of us, as it is described in our first scripture from I Corinthians, ^4-6 Love…keeps no record of wrongs;  ⁷ It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.¹³ And now faith, hope, and love remain, these three, and the greatest of these is love.

When Luther’s understanding of scripture changed he was able see not only himself with different eyes, but also the Church that he dearly loved.  He wanted the church to change some of its ways that were focusing on the guilt of people instead of pointing them toward the boundless love and grace of God for them.

He started speaking out about things he thought were wrong in the Church – not to split the Church but to literally re-form it – to help bring it back to proclaiming the Good News of God’s love in Christ, not encouraging guilt and fear based on our own shortcomings. 

The main way Luther would protest what he felt were unjust practices in the Church was to write about them.  Whenever he would finish a set of papers he took them down to the town square and nailed them to the doors of the chapel.  This is where all the scholars put up their important papers so that the townspeople could read them easily – it was kind of like the town bulletin board or blog.

He had done this several times and then on October 31, 1517 he nailed up a new set of 95 theses that spoke against the practice of selling indulgences – a church imposed confession of sin – a way to literally pay the church for the forgiveness of your sins.  He thought this practice was an abuse of power to make money and that it had to be stopped.  I had the privilege of traveling to Wittenburg to see those very doors of the castle church in person, which have all 95 statements memorialized on them.

Even though Luther had written strong messages about other practices previously, it was this set of statements that got everyone’s attention and got him in a lot of trouble with the church.  And, so, October 31^st became known as the birthday of the Protestant Reformation and the Sunday that falls closest to that day in October is known in our tradition as Reformation Sunday.  Many churches mark this Sunday with red cloth, red is our color for the power of the Holy Spirit.

I think my Presbyterian church growing up didn’t recognize or celebrate Reformation because, for one, it was considered to Lutheran rather than Presbyterian, but also perhaps because it was so long-ago and therefore no longer relevant. But I have learned and am living proof that the Reformation much more than one moment in history, it is the on-going activity of God’s re-forming love in our lives and in the church, which often do need change to help keep God’s love at the center of who we are and how we are in the world.

A perfect example is today’s service. If it weren’t for the continuing Re-formation of the Church, I wouldn’t be allowed to preach this sermon, Barbara wouldn’t be allowed to read scripture, and we wouldn’t be installing 9 women today as Deacons, Elders, and Trustees. (which we will do at the 10:30 service)

As Reformed Presbyterian Christians we are called to always be on the lookout for what God will be saying to us next. We are challenged to open ourselves to the work of the Holy Spirit and God’s re-forming love within us – when we study scripture, when we pray and worship, when work on committees and on governing boards, and when we go about our daily lives.

For no matter what comes our way, we stand assured in our faith that we have direct access to God, who is always with us, to Christ, who unconditionally loves us, and to the Holy Spirit who boldly empowers us. If you remember nothing else about what it means to be Reformed after today’s service, I hope you will remember that!

To God be the glory forever and ever! Amen.