This week’s devotions are based on Week 1 of Unlikely Heroes – A Monk (CLICK HERE)
So, you’re Lutheran?
Yes. Do you know what that means?
Well, my uncle was a Lutheran pastor but we never went to church.
This brief dialogue occurs periodically as people visit our church. It is a launching point to a discussion not just about theology, but also about history. Christianity has been part of history for 2000 plus years. Different eras affected the focus of Christians and yes even the theology of Christians.
So does it matter?
One often hears that today about denominations and reflections that there is so much division in the church and wondering why churches can’t just all get along. Often in the discussion there is a quotation of Jesus’ words in John 17:20 “I pray that they all may be one.”
Does it matter?
Yes, it does. It would be wonderful to have all Christians united in all aspects of faith based on the teachings of the Bible. It would great if the second half of that verse was true, “I pray that they may be one, just as you are in me and I am in you.”
But this unity only happens when theology matters.
Jesus didn’t agree to the minimal standards of unity with his Father. He and the Father were one…in every aspect. His prayer is that our unity is rooted in a oneness that covers every aspect of his Word and teaching.
When it doesn’t, the opposite of unity happens: division.
Jesus warned us to be on the look out for those that would teach falsely and claim to be of Christ. Mark 13:5 Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 6 Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many.
500 years ago one such division occurred.
It wasn’t arbitrary. It wasn’t a personality conflict or a division over the color of carpet in a new church or the type of music that was being played in worship.
It was over the truth of God’s Word and how someone was certain they were saved.
Martin Luther was the man God used to bring the truth of the Scripture back to the forefront after it was clouded over by erroneous teachings and practices promoted by the church and its leaders.
Like many in Europe in the early 1500s, Martin Luther grew up under the direction of the Catholic Church. His parents were devout Catholics and raised Luther the same. However as Luther grew up an agonizing pit grew in his soul. He knew God as an angry judge ready to pounce on every sin, but yet felt empty after he worked hard to do right to overcome the wrong. Surviving a thunderstorm at the age of 21 he vowed to become a monk…and he did. The monastery was his path to peace…so he thought. Yet the more he tried to obtain a righteousness by his own works, the more he feared the wrath of God.
Grace was covered by a system of earning forgiveness for the temporal punishment your sin deserved. He felt no peace.
Until God revealed his truth in Romans 1:16-17. Righteousness that God demanded was given by God as a gift of grace to all who believe.
The truth had been revealed and the deception became obvious and Luther could do nothing but ensure the message of grace, central to the Bible’s teaching, became at the forefront of the church’s teaching.
The church of Luther’s day would not change and that’s a key reason why I am a Lutheran today.
Apply: As you study the Word of God, what teachings do you notice seem true but are not biblical?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for giving us your righteousness so we can stand before you as fully forgiven because of the perfect life of Jesus. AMEN.