What happens when everyone believes in something, but that crucial thing is completely false? When we find ourselves in these situations, are we supposed to encourage our few close friends back to the truth? Are we supposed to tell the world how wrong they are? Are we supposed to ignore the problem altogether and think of it as alright? But... really, what I talking about? It seems pretty unlikely that any of us would encounter something this drastic. That happens to other people. Then again, Martin Luther probably thought the same thing as a young man. And in his case, the falsehoods of the time were as far from the truth as Hell is from Heaven.
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Martin's struggles growing up were pretty similar to ours. He wanted to do well in his schooling. He wanted to be successful. He wanted, ultimately, to impress his father. Of course, this was and is no easy feat. His father, Hans Luther, required his son to be a lawyer before he would award him with a father's pride.
Much of Martin's young life was centered around this pursuit; he was actively moving towards knowledge and wealth. He wanted to please his parents and he hated school... seems like a pretty regular guy, I suppose.
(Here comes the part of every story where something interesting and crazy and dramatic happens! Ready?)
One dark evening, Martin was riding on a horse [ordinary] on an ordinary trip he decided to take back home from his university [ordinary]. It was raining [ordinary]. He was wet [mind-blowing]. He was ready to be done with this long, wet trip, when all of the sudden, an enormous thunderstorm hit [crazy!] The rain drove his horse crazy [crazy!] He fell off [crazy!] He feared the wrath of God!
[...umm... not super crazy.]
Let me explain; everyone believed in "God" back then. Germany in the 1500's experienced domination by the Catholic Church; and while few knew anything about the character or nature of God, they all feared Him because the Catholic church told them to.
This was a large part of the upbringing of Martin Luther. His family frequently payed money to the church through what was known as "indulgences" in order to supposedly bring eternal peace to their dead relatives. This practice had begun almost 400 years ago because of the belief that man had to face both spiritual and physical suffering to atone for his sin.
The fear of the Church is very different from the fear of God; however, they held a similar weight in Martin's head. On that night, in his incredible fear, Martin shouted to St. Anne that he would become a monk if he was saved from the storm.
St. Anne wasn't listening to his plea, but I'm quite certain God heard it.
Martin survived that awful storm and made good on his promise. He entered the nearest Augustinian monastery and studied the religious texts vigorously. Outwardly, he was a good monk... But inwardly, he was dying. He once said this: "I lost touch with Christ the Savior and Comforter, and made of him the jailer and hangman of my poor soul."
That cry from the soul of Luther expressed the reality that he deeply hated God. In his eyes, God was nothing more than a demon that took pleasure in the torment of humans. This God that the Catholic Church had created was a God of fear and darkness that accepted only outward deeds as expressions of submission and appeasement.
Luther was righteously angry, but not just for his sake. He was angry because it took him months of studying Scripture in a language that was foreign to the people before he got even a glimpse of the truth. This system prevented the people of Germany from ever knowing the one true God. This system meant money instead of meaning and corruption instead of clarity. This system is best explained by an identical situation happening during the time of the prophet Micah, thousands of years before:
"Her heads judge for a bribe,
Her priests teach for pay,And her prophets divine for money.
Yet they lean on the LORD, and say,
“Is not the LORD among us?
No harm can come upon us.” (Micah 3:11)
Luther was ready to prove that the Lord was not among these people.
The devil tortured him during his work, but he knew it was worth it. He believed in the story that Jesus told of the two men; one a religious legalist, the other a tax-collecting sinner. Perhaps Luther knew this account, where the religious man, in front of the whole city, praised God for his own accomplishments and goodness. Perhaps Luther felt like the other man, the one who wouldn't even lift his eyes, but rather beat his chest and pleaded forgiveness for his great sins towards a great God.
Luther's discovery was so simple for us, but so mind-blowing for him: that God in Christ brings about justification by faith provided through the Holy Spirit. It wasn't the church and it wasn't him; it was only Him.
This was the time when he tapped into the words of Jesus: "know the truth and it will set you free." The truth that he found while exploring the Scriptures was slowly setting him free from sin and guilt in a way that the Catholic Church could not. For, his debt was against God, and God had forgiven that debt. Of course it was impossible for the Church to do this. He was determined to share this heavenly freedom with the people of Germany.
Luther got to work. His writing came about as you imagine it would; lots of sleepless nights, lots of sweating palms, and lots of prayer.
"There is no divine authority for preaching that the soul flies out of the purgatory immediately the money clinks in the bottom of the chest... The word of God suffers injury if, in the same sermon, an equal or longer time is devoted to indulgences than to that word... The true treasure of the church is the Holy gospel of the glory and the grace of God... Christians should be exhorted to be zealous to follow Christ, their Head, through penalties, deaths, and hells; And let them thus be more confident of entering heaven through many tribulations rather than through a false assurance of peace."
These are a just a few excerpts from his 95 Theses. On October 31, 1517, he sent a letter containing all of the Theses to his Bishop, Albert of Mainz. You can probably guess what Bishop Albert's response was.
So many things transpired after this, it's hard to keep a clear account. The most important event came on April 18, 1521, when, after years of establishing Sola Fida (Faith Alone), Martin Luther was commanded to appear before the Diet of Worms. Sounds gross, right? Not quite. A Diet was simply a formal, deliberate gathering of Catholic leaders, and this Diet took place in the city of Worms.
This is where Luther faced his decision. Was he going to give up on this stupid ambition? Please; he wanted to change the world against all odds.
Or, was he going to fight for a truth that surpasses earthly knowledge? That surpasses earthly pain? That surpasses earthly peace?
The end of his story is pretty uninteresting. Actually, his whole life is kind of boring! It all pales in comparison with the glory of the Gospel that he helped people to understand.
His answer, however, I'll let you hear.
“Since then your sere Majesty and your Lordships seek a simple answer, I will give it in this manner, neither horned nor toothed. Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen."
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Andrew
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