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This Sunday, Lutheran churches the world over will celebrate the reforming movement initiated by Martin Luther (1483 – 1546), a German monk and priest.  On October 31, 1517, he nailed to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg “95 Theses” on church reform.  At the time, Luther saw himself as a good Catholic trying to call the church—root and branch—back to the Gospel.  For Luther, the BIG issue was how we are in a right relationship with God.  Did that begin with us?  With how “good” we were, with how many good deeds we did, and were they enough to earn or merit God’s grace and forgiveness?  Simply put, the church in Luther’s day, said, “Yes.  It IS up to you!”  This led to widespread abuses in late medieval society and especially the church.      

            Luther beat himself up in the monastery trying to be righteous before God until one day, the Gospel of God’s grace in and through Jesus Christ hit him like a ton of bricks.  His experience in the monastery made him very spiritually perceptive and he realized his efforts were a form of “works righteousness”—that my works determine my relationship with God. 

            Do you notice how there’s NO mention of Christ or what Christ has done in “works righteousness”??  Luther’s calls for reform were a call to the Gospel, the good news that our standing before God begins (and ends) with Jesus Christ, and his death and resurrection for us.  “Righteousness” instead is God’s love, mercy, forgiveness, given to us freely on account of Christ!  This was VERY different from the reigning theology of the late-medieval church.  Luther called his reform “evangelical” after the Greek word for “good news.”  Resistance to his message followed, the church split, and as they say, the rest is history.

            The message of “works righteousness” is still out in our culture and society.  So many voices say our worth is up to us and not established or rooted in God’s love.  So many voices say “righteousness” means control—of our world, ourselves, and others, and not receiving the gifts God has given us.  May we Lutherans continue to be “evangelical” messengers of God’s Good News! 

Peace,

Pr. Christian