The grace offered through Reformation

On a blue gray day in 1517, a German Augustinian monk, pastor and university professor nailed a document on the castle church door in Wittenberg, Saxony. The day was Oct. 31. The occasion was the eve of All Saint's.

The Nov. 1 celebration was a community event. Town's people would gather at St. Mary's church, where the pastor preached, to remember and celebrate the lives of the Christian martyrs who died confessing their faith. University professors and students would gather to celebrate at the Castle Church. Church doors, in the medieval period, were the depository of community messages. For those who could read, community announcements were accessible.

However, the document was written in Latin. It was not intended for the community at large but for the university community. Posting a document in this manner was a common scholastic technique whereby university professors would invite debate over the "thesis" or propositions posted. Hence, this freshly minted "doctor" of the Church posted 95 Thesis for scholastic debate. Martin Luther, Augustinian, found the freedom for which he longed, and was inviting debate on the theological chains that bound him in fear.

Martin Luther was a Professor of Sacred Scripture. His first lectures were on the Psalms.

He was tormented by fear of his unworthiness and longed to be embraced by a loving God. But the God he encountered in scholastic theology was an angry vengeful God who demanded satisfaction. In other words, "works."

The purpose of "works" was to attain "righteousness." A righteousness of our own that makes us acceptable to God. Prayers, pilgrimages, alms giving, the reverence of relics, acts of repentance, most of which were for a price. The most offensive to Luther was Penitence in the form of Indulgences. Indulgences, the forgiveness of sins by purchase. For with an indulgence, you can free a loved one from purgatory. As John Tetzel the Dominican friar pitched: "As soon as the gold in the casket rings; the rescued soul to heaven springs."

When lecturing on Paul he encountered the Gospel: "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile." (Romans 1:16) and 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, 'The one who is righteous through faith will live.' (Romans 1:17)

On Sunday, Oct. 31 we will celebrate the 504th anniversary of the Reformation, the most transformative event in Western Civilization. The message of the Reformation is quite clear and simple. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing it is the gift of God, not the result of works, so that no one may boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)

God's love and salvation is not earned, it is a gift. There is nothing we can do to earn God's love for us. Our "good works" is a result of God's work in us. We live by faith. Trusting in the promise of God that come to us in the Gospel and embodied in Jesus Christ. That's it. Gloria Deo!