Luther lived in hard times. In Europe during the 14th and 15th centuries, over two thirds of the population had died from plague, the Black Death. Periodic outbreaks followed for 2 more centuries when even Luther lost two children from it. Europe was consumed by petty wars; the boundaries of nations were being established; feudalism was dead; and the aristocracy was beginning to be threatened by a rising merchant-middle class.
Luther thought the end of the world was coming soon. He read the Bible as his story, and, in the book of Revelation, Luther saw all of the things that were going on in his times. He truly believed that the end of the world was at hand.
But in the midst of the chaos, in the midst of the social unrest of his time, Luther found comfort and peace in his garden. He took time, working with his hands, planting and weeding. He planted for his table and that which would be harvested later. He planted flowers, shrubs and trees, caring for his environment. From a theological perspective, we might say that Luther wanted to get us back to the Garden of Eden, or maybe he was thinking of the Theology of the Cross and how the cross is referred to as a tree.
Once asked what he would do if he were told that the world was going to end tomorrow, Luther is reputed to have responded, “I would plant a tree.” Today, because of statements like this, we can say with certainty that Luther addresses his own pessimism and the despair of his time, “In the times when rumors of the end of the world come, it is time to have hope for the future, to think about planting and living; living in a world that is supported by, and dependent on, God’s creating, forgiving presence that comes to us through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit.”
During this 500th anniversary year of Luther’s Reformation we come honoring his understanding of care for the earth, that we are in a relationship with God and God’s creation. Through our relationship with God’s creation, we also are given the gift of relationships with one another and our relationship with a loving God.
Luther is known for having some radical ideas requesting reform. Among them we most clearly remember his 95 Theses. Adoption of his beliefs both separated Luther and his followers from the Roman Catholic Church by choice and also were the cause of their excommunication by the Roman Catholic Church. That chasm led to years of war further devastating Europe’s population until there were finally not enough soldiers to fight anymore. We recognize that exhausted day in 1648, more than one hundred years after Luther’s death, as the Peace of Westphalia.
When we commemorate the beginning of the Reformation we turn to the Bible reading most associated with Luther’s reforming work. In the Gospel of John, we read and hear that to be a disciple (a learner-follower) means to remain in God’s word, and, through that, we will know the Truth and the truth will make us free.
Responding to the Gospel and to Luther, we must acknowledge that some of Luther’s writings were not helpful or hopeful then, and they are not helpful or hopeful today. Some have shaped the way many have thought about and related to not only Roman Catholics but also Jews and Muslims. He referred to the office of the Pope as being the anti-Christ. He used the language of disability as metaphor of false believing and stupidity. These and the many anti-Semitic articles he wrote were used 400 years later by Hitler and the Third Reich to justify their treatment of the Jews and the disabled, the gay, and the politically oppressed. He also said some very hurtful things about Muslims, most often referred to as the Turks.
As we recall all of the good Luther did, we must, at the same time, speak truth in order to be free of the destructive influences of Luther’s writings. We need to recognize both his brilliance and his humanity. He did not always speak responsibly, and he was not always responsive to his times. Then, speaking truth about who Luther was, we can set those writings aside.
In truth, Luther was a man of paradox, contradictions. As much as Luther cared for the poor, when the Peasants’ Revolt came about, Luther sided with power rather than with the poor and the oppressed. He often demanded acceptance and leniency for the workers of the Reformation, but he, himself, was not often accepting or tolerant of others. We need to remember this because Luther would not want to be remembered without these parts of himself. He understood, “We are simultaneously saint and sinner, always needing to be forgiven and always in a state of gracious forgiveness.”
Thus, even in the work of Luther there is a need to reform because, for all of the good things Luther did, there were also many things that he did that were not so good. So, we should not be surprised that we need to continue to be a reforming church.
The invention of the printing press helped to make the Reformation possible. Luther and his followers were able to engage that new technology and were therefore able to change the world. When books were written by hand, burning a book virtually destroyed the work of the writer, but in the day of the printing press, one could burn a book and find another copy of the book being circulated in a matter of days or weeks. The way information was circulated had changed, and that change made all the difference.
As Luther and his colleagues were able to advance the work of the Gospel in their time, using the technology available to them, so today we need to be a people of faith who continue to address the changing technologies and needs of our time. The Church cannot and should not lag behind or shun the technology we have available to us for it is through the technologies of our day that we can find new ways of spreading the Gospel, that is, the Good News of Jesus Christ, to those around us. Scripture is more available to us now than ever before. But, if we are going to benefit from this technology, we have to be willing to learn and use it. We need to use the gifts and the tools available to us in order to express our faith.
As we engage this gift of technology, Luther speaks to us across the years. I am not sure that there has been a more important time for us to hear Luther’s explanation of the Eighth Commandment concerning false witness. “We are to fear and love God so that we do not tell lies about our neighbors, betray or slander them, or destroy their reputations. Instead we are to come to their defense, speak well of them, and interpret everything they do in the best possible light.” In the world of social media and instant news, these words continue to be a cynosure of our concern for our neighbors and ourselves.
500 years: It is an amazing thing. Each year Lutherans tell the story of the Reformation, remembering Luther and the work of his colleagues, but this year, this year in particular, we remember where we have been and dream about where we are going. Lutherans and Roman Catholics are now closer than we have been since 1517. As a matter of fact, we have gotten so close that the Pope recently received a letter charging him with among other things, being too Lutheran. I, personally, say, “Go, Pope Francis!” It is only through radical gracious action not only on the part of the Roman Catholic Church, but on the part of all Christians, that we have the possibility of ever being one Church again. It is only through our united action that true change can take place as there is much to be done to heal the over-scarred rupture of our schismatic, polarized, denominational world.
What does it mean this year, hearing Jesus’ words in John’s Gospel, to remain in Christ’s word, to be disciples, knowing the truth? What is this truth freeing us to do in the next 500 years? Maybe that is too long, maybe we should only be concerned about the next ten years, five years, maybe just one year or even a day? From his writings, I have come to understand that Luther thought that wandering about in the past was to live a life of death. Yet we are prevented from living in the future because it has not yet happened. Therefore, we are to live into the present fully, caring for our neighbors, being little Christ’s to one another. Finding ways to express our faith and hope in our world on a daily basis continues to enrich us and helps us to be a place of Good News proclamation—a relevant, reforming voice of hope to those around us, to our neighborhoods, our village, and our world.
May you know God’s blessings these days, as you go out in the midst of this reforming time, planting seeds of hope in our despairing garden, being a reforming agent of Christ’s peace, embracing that which is coming from the future into our present time. Do this looking forward in the One who is the sure and certain hope of the resurrection, that is Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.
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