Category: Articles

Looking for past articles from our website? Find them here categorized.

Categories
Higher History

Who Was Martin Luther? Part 17

An Indulgence from Johan Tetzel

by Rev. Donavon Riley

Despite Martin Luther’s provocative teachings at Wittenberg University—and their influence on students, faculty, local monks and priests, and earthly rulers—the theology and practices of late Medieval Roman Catholicism continued relatively undisturbed.

One such practice was the sale of indulgences. Indulgence sales were the medieval equivalent of a modern “big tent revival meeting.” An indulgence salesman would roll into town with a theater troupe, clowns, public orators, musicians, and the like. It was quite the scene when everything was set up and the show began, like a circus and stage play and concert combined!

And even though indulgence sales were a spectacle to see, their purpose was very serious. Theologians of the church had concluded that although baptism washed away the stain and penalty of original sin, Christians still had to “do what was in them” in order to be saved at the Last Judgment. However, if a Christian lived a life that was neither too wicked or too holy, they died they were sent to purgatory when they died. As a consequence, any sin that remained on their record had to be worked off (or paid off, thus the sale of indulgences) before they could be set free to enter into heavenly peace (after presenting themselves to St. Peter and Jesus at the gates of heaven). So an “indulgence” was simply how the church “indulged” a sin by absolving it of all penalty. All that was necessary to procure an indulgence was proof that the Christian was sincerely repentant over his sin. Or, if he was dead, his family or friends had to provide proof in his place.

In purgatory, the dead could not do anything to work off their sin. On the other hand, since they were in purgatory they could not commit any more sin. So, if someone could purchase an indulgence in their name, for them specifically, showing that the dead truly was repentant over the sin committed after baptism, the dead could escape purgatory. If no one came forward on their behalf, they were essentially doomed to remain in purgatory, because they could not square accounts with God.

When one did buy an indulgence, the money that exchanged hands was proof of penitence, because this was another example of self-sacrifice on the part of the one seeking an indulgence, whether while they were still alive or on behalf of the dead. And, as always, it was said by every indulgence salesman that the money which purchased an indulgence was for “the work of the church.”

In the end, indulgence sales were held in the same esteem by the church as confession, penance, and other spiritual exercises that demonstrated a Christian was truly committed to “doing what was in him” to faithfully guarantee God was pleased with him.

Next week, we will turn our attention to John Tetzel, who became the target of Luther’s anger when the young professor finally broke from his support of the Church’s practice of selling indulgences.

Rev. Donavon Riley is the pastor of St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Webster, Minnesota.

Categories
Higher History

Who Was Martin Luther? Part 16

Boy at baptismal font

by Rev. Donavon Riley

When Luther moved to correct the long-held teaching that a Christian was partly sinner and partly righteous (and this in varying degrees depending on his humility, penance, charity, and so on) he attacked head-on the medieval teaching about holiness.

Luther taught that a Christian is totally sinful in himself, but totally righteous in Christ through faith, and this was constant throughout life. That meant holiness was not something to be sought after on a progressive scale of works, but something to be enjoyed through faith in Christ. In fact, for Luther, especially based on his reading of the Old Testament, wherever God is He makes sinners holy by His presence among them. God is holy and those whom He calls into relationship with Him are thereby holy, by virtue of His coming near to them. Personal experience, spirituality, success or failure at living a god-pleasing life were irrelevant regarding holiness. One was either “in Christ” or not. And, in Christ, a Christian is totally holy, because God declares him righteous for Christ’s sake.

Luther knew that his teaching was theological dynamite. But he pushed on preaching and teaching that only someone who’d given up trying to achieve holiness for himself was prepared to receive God’s grace, which came from being in Christ Jesus.

As Luther wrote, “it cannot be that a soul filled with its own righteousness can be replenished with the righteousness of God, who fills up only those who hunger and are thirsty. Therefore, whoever is full of his own truth and wisdom is not capable of the truth and wisdom of God, which cannot be received save by those who are empty and destitute.”

Luther denied that a Christian can become better in the presence of God. All his works and doings are exposed as sinful and damned in relation to a holy God. Only the righteousness of God in Christ makes a Christian “holy.” Therefore, faith empties a person of his own desire to become holy and instead focuses him more and more on Christ Jesus. This is a Christian’s one sure and certain hope in life.

“The wounds of Jesus,” Luther wrote, “are safe enough for us…This, if anyone is too much afraid that he is not one of the elect…let him give thanks for such fear, and rejoice to be afraid, knowing with confidence that the God who says, ‘the sacrifice of God is a broken, that is a desperate, heart’ cannot lie.”

Not a single work we call “holy” impresses God in the least. Only Christ makes Christians holy. Likewise, then, only Christ can make a person “whole in hope,” as Luther noted.

Luther followed Scripture where it led him, where his questions were answered by God’s solid words about Jesus. But Luther’s whole world was populated by people who’d been taught that faith and good works led to salvation, not faith alone in Christ alone. The push back against Luther’s teaching, especially as he wrapped up his Romans lectures, was about to escalate. When Luther had taken his vows as a professor he’d sworn to uphold the truth and condemn false teaching.

By 1518, there were many who’d become convinced by what they heard coming out of Wittenberg that Martin Luther may have become confused about true and false teaching. They felt that young Luther was in need of severe correction before he misled too many priests, professors, students, and laity into damnable unbelief.

Next time we will examine the explosion that occurred when Luther publicly opposed the sale of indulgences.

Rev. Donavon Riley is the pastor of St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Webster, Minnesota.

Categories
Higher History

Who Was Martin Luther? Part 12

Wood carving of Luther rose
Saved by Christ alone

Rev. Donavon Riley

During his lectures on the Psalms and Romans, the Righteousness of God had finally gotten hold of Luther—and it wouldn’t let him loose. Like two sheepdogs, God’s righteousness in Christ, freely given in the preaching of the Gospel, pursued and herded Martin Luther day and night. It was all he could focus on. The old wineskins of Medieval theology, which taught righteousness is what we achieve in ourselves in pursuit of godly obedience burst at the seams from the new wine of Christ’s righteousness, for that righteousness is completely outside sinners, bestowed only by God’s declaration of the sinner as righteous for Christ’s sake.

Even though Luther didn’t know it at the time, he had become God’s instrument—bulldozing anything that obstructed God’s Jesus-way of salvation. No more would Christian hope and love be considered the primary signs of Christian life. Instead, grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone distinguished true Christians from the pretenders.

Now, when Luther said “grace alone” and “faith alone” he meant “Christ alone.” For him, there could be no talk of grace or faith apart from talk about Jesus crucified for sinners. To talk about grace and faith apart from Jesus, to locate grace and faith inside the individual Christian, was simply old Adam’s attempt to get to God (to be God in God’s place) and become righteous in himself. Old Adam wants to save himself, believing in the power of his own belief, and he imagines he can become his own savior with just enough effort, enough knowledge, enough obedience to the God’s commands.

Luther finally saw how faith in one’s ability to believe and obey was nothing more than a denial of Jesus’ suffering and death for the sin of the world, and a sure path to torment for troubled souls. His focus was now wholly on Christ crucified for sinners. Christ sacrificed on Calvary was God’s gift of salvation and Christ’s faithfulness to His Father’s will and to each individual sinner for whom he suffered and died, was the comfort and certainty he’d always yearned for. And, as it turned out, so had many people who heard his lectures and sermons, or read his early theses. That is, many people except Roman Catholic bishops, like Albrecht of Mainz, and others in positions of authority in Saxony and at Rome.

But, despite some grumbling and attempts to tame him early on, Luther pushed his students and others to focus on Christ instead of themselves. As he wrote in a letter to a friend in 1516, “Therefore, my sweet brother, learn Christ and Him crucified’ despairing of yourself, learn to pray to him, saying, ‘You, Lord Jesus, are my righteousness, but I am your sin; you have taken on yourself what you were not and have given me what I was not.’ Beware of aspiring to such purity that you no longer wish to appear to yourself, or to be, a sinner.”

Luther’s dogged attention to the Gospel, of Jesus alone being the sinner’s righteousness, won him many supporters and allies, but also began to attract critics and opponents.

Next time, we will look at what happened when Luther’s teaching collided with Johann Tetzel, and the explosion that resulted in Luther’s eventual excommunication.

If you’d like to learn more about Martin Luther, check out: The Cambridge Companion to Martin Luther (Cambridge Companions to Religion).

Rev. Donavon Riley is the pastor of St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Webster, Minnesota.

Categories
Higher History

Who Was Martin Luther? Part 13

Martin Luther

Rev. Donavon Riley

Martin Luther received his license to enter doctoral studies in 1512. He swore on oath on the Bible to teach true doctrine and stand strong against false teaching. Then a wool cap was set on his head and a silver ring was slid onto his finger. Luther began lectures on Genesis three days later.

Outside his responsibilities as a teacher (which began at 7:00 a.m.), Luther was also busy writing letters to friends and colleagues, preaching at the monastery, reading Bible devotions at meals, preaching in parishes around Wittenberg, serving as a student advisor, supervising eleven monasteries, lecturing on St. Paul’s letters, and preparing a commentary on the Psalms. At that time, Luther said to a friend that he was so tired by the end of the day he would collapse on his bed and immediately go to sleep.

But, for all that, Martin was still focused on reviewing and revising everything he had been taught about the righteousness of God. He said, “I did not learn my theology all at once, but had to search deeper for it, where my temptations took me.” Everything Luther did was in service to eliminating anything and everyone who stood between him and Jesus crucified for sinners.

Luther’s turn away from the theology he had learned while a boy, that was instilled in him at university and as a young monk, did not happen all at once. Instead, he grew slowly and through much temptation and struggle. Then, finally, it was during Martin’s biblical lectures that things began to lock into place for him. It was in the classroom, as a lecturer, that Luther worked out his questions. Though nothing remains of his first Genesis lectures, one can read his evolution as a theologian from the first Psalms lectures, through Romans, Galatians, Hebrews, then through another go ’round in the Psalms.

Through his lectures on the Psalms, Luther came to a startling conclusion almost unheard of in former commentaries and lecture halls. From Psalm 72, he taught the students that God did not have one, but two kinds of righteousness. Martin had only been taught the second one. God’s righteousness on the one hand was a righteousness by which He found sinners guilty of disobeying the commandments. Then, and here is where Luther began to break free of Late Medieval theology, God’s other kind of righteousness—God’s primary righteousness—was a righteousness by which He declared believers righteousness for Christ’s sake, that made them acceptable in His presence. This was a new teaching, unheard of by anyone at that time. Luther was beginning to tear down—one theological brick at a time—the wall that separated sinners from God’s grace and mercy in Christ Jesus.

Next time, we will look again at Luther’s time as a lecturer and the personal and professional consequences of his teaching.

Rev. Donavon Riley is the pastor of St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Webster, Minnesota.

Categories
Lectionary Meditations

God Gives What He Promises – A Meditation on Matthew 20:1-16

Rev. Eric Brown

God gives what He promises, and He gives generously. That's the major theme of the parable of the Workers in the Vineyard. The owner of the vineyard keeps his generous promises. When he finds the day workers, he doesn't low-ball them. Instead it's come and I'll pay you a denarius—a good and solid wage. In fact, that's what he gives everyone who works, even those who only work an hour. He's generous. You could have a decent life earning a denarius a day. The only problem in the whole story is when people think that the master owes them more than he has promised. Then they pout and grouse and, as a result, even their good wage turns sour.

This is the danger for us. We know the promises of God. He's promised life and salvation in Christ. He's said that He will give us our daily bread, forgive us our trespasses, lead us not into temptation, and deliver us from evil. The problem comes when we think we deserve more or when we think God owes us more. Daily bread isn't enough—I want better and more bread. I want neighbors who are less annoying so I don't have to forgive them as often. I shouldn't have struggles and trials at all in this world. And why? Because I'm a good little Christian. See all my good deeds?

Whenever we focus on what our sinful flesh tells us we deserve, we miss the point. We forget that everything is a generous gift from God—one that we do not deserve. He gives us our daily bread, even though we are sinners and the proper wages for sin is death. Instead of death, He gives the forgiveness that Christ has won and makes our lives to be ones of forgiveness as well. These are mind-blowing gifts of body and soul. They are Christ's own victory over temptation and evil, and they are richly given to you by Christ over and over in His Word.

Your sinful flesh will try to tell you that all its wants are things that you really deserve, but your flesh is foolish, and it doesn't call the shots. Rather, remember all that Christ Jesus gives you freely by grace, and delight in them because He really is generous to you, and He keeps His Word.

Rev. Eric Brown is pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Herscher, Illinois.

Categories
Lectionary Meditations

How Do You See the World? – Meditation for the Transfiguration

Rev. Eric Brown

“And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only” (Matthew 17:18)

How do you see the world? How do you view your life, your job, your friends and neighbors? There’s a lot of different ways we can view all these things. We can look at them in terms of how useful they are to us, or perhaps how they make us feel. We can look at things in terms of what we do or how we get validated from them. We can look at things in terms of what we fear, what we hate, what we despise.

There was a lot to see at the Transfiguration. There was glory and might. There were heroes from Israel’s history: Moses and Elijah. There was Peter’s attempt to keep busy and build some booths. There was even fear when they were overshadowed by the cloud. (There’s some more Old Testament history for you, Peter!) And yet, when it was all done, the disciples saw no one, but Jesus only.

Jesus makes us to see everything through Him. When you look at your life, you see the vocations that Jesus has given to you. When you see your neighbors, you see the people Jesus has placed into your life for you to serve. When you see your neighbor and their sin, you see someone for whom Christ Jesus died, and you see sins He was crucified and put to death for on the cross. When you see yourself, whether it is good or bad, you see Christ Jesus. You see the sin that He took up, and you see the love that He graciously works in and through you. Whatever you see, as a Christian, you see Christ Jesus. You see His love and forgiveness for you.

And Christ Jesus and His love for you is with you always, even to the end of the age.

Rev. Eric Brown is pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Herscher, Illinois.

Categories
Lectionary Meditations

What Sort of Man Is This – Meditation for Epiphany 4

Rev. Eric Brown

“What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey Him?” The disciples were certainly impressed with Jesus. He had just stood up and rebuked the winds that were roaring on the Sea of Galilee… and they stopped. Things went still. And so they ask, “What sort of man is Jesus?”

And the first answer is somewhat obvious. He is true God and true Man, the Creator of both wind and wave. He is and also their Master. The disciples were awed by Christ’s power. However, while it’s good to note that Jesus has power, the more important thing is what is He does with that power. Jesus having power doesn’t do me much good if He’s the sort of man who will give me noogies for all eternity.

What sort of Man is Jesus? Well, at the start of the lesson in Matthew 8, He’s a tired and worn out man. He’s preached all day, then spent all that evening healing people and then he finally He has the disciples row Him out on the boat so He can rest, away from the crowd. And there, He sleeps. Yet, a storm rises, and after the disciples beg Him, He gets up and calms the sea for them.

What sort of Man is Jesus? The sort who becomes tired and worn for our sake. The sort who will never hesitate to save us (even when we’re acting all fearful like the disciples). The sort who will rise to put an end to death anger and give us life—indeed everlasting life. He’s the sort who would go to the Cross to win us salvation. And that is a wondrous thing.

Rev. Eric Brown is pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Herscher, Illinois.

Categories
Current Events

Inauguration: A New Day?

By Ann Osburn

Oaths. Traditions. Formalities. Ceremonies. Parades.

Today we witnessed a new president taking the oath of office, and the peaceful transition between two presidents, two vice-presidents, and two political parties.

Maybe you aren’t old enough to vote yet. But perhaps you have political leanings already—whether you think along Democrat, Independent, or Republican lines, you were able to watch history in the making today. It’s only happened 45 times, after all.

Did you notice the ceremony today? Without going into too many specifics, it began with an invocation and closed with a benediction. The House and Senate chaplains prayed before and after the inaugural luncheon in the Capitol. The name of God was definitely invoked several times.

It’s important to maintain some church and state separation, and it’s prudent for us to be responsible citizens in both realms. Just as we take the time to learn the Ten Commandments and God’s Word, we should also read how the United States Constitution establishes the executive branch and learn how the Bill of Rights safeguards our freedom of religion, right to vote, and reserves rights to the states and people.

As this day comes to a close, what really changed at noon today? Emotions may have run high as you watched a helicopter take a former president away, heard about rioters, and saw a motorcade with significant security escort families who walked together and waved to onlookers. As easy as it can be to come down on one side of the fence or the other, our places in life remain largely unchanged.

Let’s get a little perspective from the Small Catechism’s Table of Duties:

Of Civil Government:
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. (Romans 13:1)

Of Citizens:
It is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. (Romans 13:5-6)

So, we continue to respect governing authorities, pray for our president and leaders, and love and serve our neighbors.

A lot of people fulfilling their vocations made today’s events possible: law enforcement, moving teams, members of the military, pilots, chefs, elected officials, cleaning crews, photographers, and more. Whether they recognized it or not, all were using their God-given talents to ensure the day and this time of transition of responsibility went as smoothly as possible.

We are blessed to live in this country, where we can celebrate inaugurations with all the oaths, traditions, formalities, ceremonies, and parades, as one nation under God.

It’s a good time to pray for our nation (LSB page 313):

Almighty God, You have given us this good land as our heritage. Grant that we remember Your generosity and constantly do Your will. Bless our land with honest industry, truthful education, and an honorable way of life. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion, from pride and arrogance, and from every evil course of action. Grant that we, who came from many nations with many different languages, may become a united people. Support us in defending our liberties, and give those to whom we have entrusted the authority of government the spirit of wisdom, that there may be justice and peace in our land. When times are prosperous, may our hearts be thankful, and in troubled times do not let our trust in You fail; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen

Ann Osburn has Political Science, Public Relations, and Education majors, and serves as the Marketing Executive for Higher Things.

Categories
Higher History

Who Was Martin Luther? Part 15

Rev. Donavon Riley

By 1517, Luther was turning late medieval theology on its head. As students and guests at his dinner table trickled out from Wittenberg and took home with them what they’d learned, Luther’s teaching also began to change the day-to-day religious practices of ordinary Christians.

Luther wasn’t just attempting to tweak the system he had grown up with, he was putting an axe to the roots of late medieval Roman Catholic theology. Monasticism, a life of self-denial, spiritual exercises intended to earn God’s favor, and the life gained a Christian nothing, Luther taught. Only the Gospel, the teachings and life of Jesus Christ, could save sinners from judgment and eternal death.

As Luther said during the Romans lectures: “We must know we are sinners by faith alone, for it is not manifest to us; rather we are more often not conscious of the fact. Thus, we must stand under the judgment of God and believe his words with which he has declared us unjust, for he himself cannot lie.”

Before this, Luther had been shown by his teachers to find the law in the Gospel. Now, as one Luther scholar wrote, Martin was shown by the teaching of St. Paul that “the purpose of the law was to drive Christians to Christ alone.”

The point Luther drew out from this was that since we are shown to always be sinners, we are always called to repent of our sin. Therefore, since we are always repenting, since we are always sinners, we are always justified by faith in Christ to whom we look for forgiveness of sin. Thus, a Christian is always a sinner, always repentant, and therefore always declared righteous on account of Christ.

This paradox confused many. Where others had tried to smooth over and systematize such (seeming) contradictions, Luther plunged into the tension. He stood as sinner and righteous at the same time, and he rejoiced because he was shown that there is where a Christian hears Law and Gospel, is put to death and raised to new life, is condemned to hell and yet is lifted up into heaven with Christ.

As Luther said in the Romans lectures: “It is not he who possesses a certain quality who possesses righteousness; rather, this one is altogether a sinner and unrighteous; but he has righteousness to whom God mercifully imputes it and wills to regard as righteous before him on account of his confessing his unrighteousness and his imploring of God’s righteousness. This we are all born and die in iniquity, that is, unrighteousness. We are just solely by what the merciful God imputes to us through faith in his Word.”

Next time we will examine how Luther’s pastoral concerns drove his teaching and preaching in the face of growing opposition.

Rev. Donavon Riley is the pastor of St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Webster, Minnesota.

Categories
Higher History

Who Was Martin Luther? Part 14

Rev. Donavon Riley

One topic Luther engaged as a lecturer was the place of humility in a Christian’s life. In the Late Middle Ages humility was central to a person’s faith and life. It was taught that if a Christian wasn’t devastated by his sin, then he wasn’t ready to receive God’s grace. To help a person arrive at this state, the church came up with various spiritual exercises for him. Confession, penance, and other spiritual exercises were taught as necessary to achieve the proper mental and physical condition to receive God’s grace.

For Luther the monk, judging oneself in order to be in harmony with God, was necessary to salvation. Only the meekest would be blessed. Only a person in a state of true penance, who has made a genuine confession of his sin, can be raised up by God. However, for Luther the lecturer who taught the Psalms day after day, this belief began to lose traction. Martin concluded that either humility was a human work, which then led to self-righteousness, or a work of God, which led to pride. By the end of his first psalms lectures, Luther concluded that either way there was no comfort for a Christian who worked to become truly humble.

Of course, critics point out that Luther was always troubled by his inability to stand before God in true, genuine humility. His sin and lack of righteousness weighed heavy on him. His inability to work with God’s grace to achieve a state of genuine humility that led to salvation gnawed at him. Luther was always crying out to God for mercy, but didn’t believe himself worthy to of being heard by the Lord.

This all changed as Martin worked his way through the psalms and St. Paul’s letter to the Romans. By the end of his Romans lectures, Luther was convinced that human beings were only capable of living themselves. Even their profession of love for God was a confession of self-love, of loving a god formed in the image of man. Self-love was “the sum of all vices” for Luther.

Therefore, the underlying motive for striving after humility wasn’t a desire to enter into God’s grace, but the urgency of a sinner to put himself first, last, and always. Luther said it was “plainly insane” what he’d been taught: that a man had the ability to love God above all things and with the help of grace, obey the commands. He referred to his teachers and those who believed such things as “fools” and “pig theologians.”

What Luther taught shocked his students, that, “The term ‘old Adam’ describes what sort of person is born of Adam…the term ‘old Adam’ is used not only because he performs the works of the flesh but more especially when he acts righteously and practices wisdom and exercises himself in all spiritual works, even to the point of loving and worshipping God himself.” Because the old Adam always hangs round our necks, Luther taught, human beings not only “enjoy the gifts of God,” but also, “seek to use God.”

Just at that point when he believes he is most humble, most spiritual, most in harmony with God’s grace, human beings because they are “in the flesh” seek to use God to their advantage.

Next time we will look some more at how Luther changed what the Church taught about humility, but how this led him to proclaim Christ alone and cleared the way to a proper understanding of the Gospel.

Rev. Donavon Riley is the pastor of St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Webster, Minnesota.

Woodcut (“Sauritt des Papsts”) after Lucas Cranach the Elder, used by Christian Roedinger the Elder of Magdeburg. According to I. Gobry, it is a reproduction of a Cranach woodcut (no. 6) in Martin Luther’s 1545 polemic Abbildung des Bapstum (cf. Image de la papaute (Grenoble: Millon, 1997), p. 118).