Commemorating Martin Luther’s 95 Theses

Was it prophetic, or just plain coincidence, that when the sign up sheet for Parson to Person was passed around at the meeting of the Henry County Ministerial Alliance, that the date of October 31st was open when the sheet was dropped in front of the Lutheran Pastor? Perhaps some might think of All Hallow’s Eve (Halloween) on October 31st, but something much more important is celebrated.

It was on October 31, 1517 that Martin Luther first posted his 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. Those sentences marked the beginning of the Reformation, that time when Luther strove to reform the Church from the errors of doctrine that had crept in. And Luther wanted peaceful reform above all else! He never intended to break away from the Church of Rome or establish a new church. Unfortunately, though, that is exactly what happened.

But what does the Reformation mean for us today – for us Christians who live some 500-plus years later? Is it simply interesting history? No! It is much more than that, for in the Reformation, Luther was fighting for the Gospel, the Good News that Jesus died for us and that we are saved by grace through faith in Him alone. If we lose that, we have lost everything! That is what Luther speaks about in his great hymn “A Mighty Fortress” when he writes,

“And take they our life

Goods, fame, child, and wife,

Let these all be gone,

They yet have nothing won;

The Kingdom ours remaineth!”

Johann Sebastian Bach, who lived in the 18th century, wrote many choral pieces based on Lutheran hymns. And as he wrote and considered the meaning of “A Mighty Fortress,” he included the following lines in a solo:

“Consider well, O child of God, this love so mighty,

That Jesus gives Himself, His blood for thee outpouring,

With which for thee He fights the devil and against the

World’s temptations, thy Warrior!

Yield not in thine own spirit to Satan and his wickedness!

Let not thy heart, which God doth claim now here on earth,

Become a wasteland.

Repent of thine own guilt with anguish

For Christ’s own Spirit with thine is firmly bonded.

What “Mighty” love was shown for us by God that the Father would send His Son, and the Son of God would gladly come, to be the sacrifice for our sins! He indeed is our Warrior! Our protector! And our Savior! To Him we are bonded through faith alone, and in Him we have eternal life. That is the Good News that Luther fought for. That is the message of the Church today. And it is indeed a message that has meaning for us today and is still worth fighting for!