As the last few blog posts have noted, this year is the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, the work that in many ways sparked the movement we know as the Reformation. Today is the actual anniversary week of the publication of the Theses, as it happened on October 31, 1517, on All Saints Eve (as November 1 was a feast day in the Catholic Church known as All Saints Day). I thought it would be good for myself (and for you) to reflect a little bit more on what Luther was trying to do and what we can learn from it.

One thing to know is that Luther was trying to spark a debate and a discussion. Here is the introduction to the 95 Theses: “Out of love for the truth and from desire to elucidate it, the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and Sacred Theology, and ordinary lecturer therein at Wittenberg, intends to defend the following statements and to dispute on them in that place. Therefore he asks that those who cannot be present and dispute with him orally shall do so in their absence by letter.” Rather than just proclaiming his opinion or learnings, he wanted to dialogue and discuss things. I think this is a great model for us today when there is often talking past each other and not with each other; it is also a reminder for Christians to be open to discussion, as we are always in pursuit of the truth and believe that we have it in God’s Word.

Another thing to realize about the 95 Theses is that they were written out of both pastoral and theological concerns about the sale of indulgences in the region in which Luther lived. Often we will separate theology and pastoral (or practical issues), but it is important to recognize that they are connected. Theology – the why behind the sale of indulgences by the church of the time – impacts our lives and practices; what we believe and are taught is important. Pastoral issues have theological roots.

When you read the theses (if you never have, you can find them all over the internet; here is one place you can find them: http://www.luther.de/en/95thesen.html), they might seem like an unorganized list of thoughts and ideas (at least they seem like that in some ways to me, but I am not a Martin Luther scholar!) related to the issue of indulgences, but there are some key ideas that stand out in them. These ideas might surprise you in that they are not explicitly the ideas that we often associate with the Reformation (Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide, Sola Gratia: Scripture Alone, Faith Alone, Grace Alone).  Does that mean that it is false to talk about those Reformation principles on this occasion? Absolutely not, as these three ideas undergird the discussion; just as sometimes we have an argument with someone over a particular issue but it really is not about that issue but something deeper, so the precipitating cause was the sale and practices concerning indulgences but the issue was where authority resides (Bible or tradition) and how we are made right with God (by grace through faith or some other way).

There are two overarching ideas from the 95 Theses I wanted to highlight that I think have relevancy for today. The first is one that all Christians need to recognize, which is that we often look to find security and even forgiveness in things outside of Jesus Christ himself and need to be warned against that. I have mentioned indulgences over and over again but have not explained what they are – they were things that could be bought that would offer forgiveness of particular sins. Luther points out that selling things makes people trust in them and therefore they are dangerous. For example, see Thesis 32: “Those who believe that they can be certain of their salvation because they have indulgence letters will be eternally damned, together with their teachers,” Thesis 52. “It is vain to trust in salvation by indulgence letters, even though the indulgence commissary, or even the pope, were to offer his soul as security,” and 76. “We say on the contrary that papal indulgences cannot remove the very least of venial sins as far as guilt is concerned.”  In contrast, we need to find forgiveness in faith in Christ, as discussed in Theses 36 and 37: “36. Any truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without indulgence letters. 37. Any true Christian, whether living or dead, participates in all the blessings of Christ and the church; and this is granted him by God, even without indulgence letters.” The sign of true repentance is not buying indulgences or acts of pious contrition (which really is the key issue, as Luther begins the 95 Theses by talking about what repentance means), but rather a life of love that loves God and loves others. See Theses 43-45: “43. Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better deed than he who buys indulgences. 44. Because love grows by works of love, man thereby becomes better. Man does not, however, become better by means of indulgences but is merely freed from penalties. 45. Christians are to be taught that he who sees a needy man and passes him by, yet gives his money for indulgences, does not buy papal indulgences but God’s wrath.” May we trust Christ and live as people who love others in light of his forgiveness.

The second overarching idea is one for church leaders in particular. This idea is that it can be easy for church leaders to teach things or call for practices that are more about benefiting the church or leaders than the people. The sale of indulgences was happening to help finance the building of St. Peter; in the process, people who were vulnerable in their spirit and with their money were being taken advantage of. This is not all that different from the religious leaders of Jesus’ time, as we see in Luke 20:46-47: “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.” It is easy to spot this practice in others, when we see preachers on TV asking for money and then having their own personal jets and mansions. However, leaders should always search their hearts to make sure they are not teaching things or advocating things just for their own benefit. We need to make sure that we are not teaching human tradition rather than the Word of God; here are the words of Luther in Theses 27 and 28: “27. They preach only human doctrines who say that as soon as the money clinks into the money chest, the soul flies out of purgatory. 28. It is certain that when money clinks in the money chest, greed and avarice can be increased; but when the church intercedes, the result is in the hands of God alone.” It can be easy for these human traditions that benefit the leaders to take the place of the Word of God in ministry, which is what was happening at the time, see Theses 53-55: “53. They are the enemies of Christ and the pope who forbid altogether the preaching of the Word of God in some churches in order that indulgences may be preached in others. 54. Injury is done to the Word of God when, in the same sermon, an equal or larger amount of time is devoted to indulgences than to the Word. 55. It is certainly the pope’s sentiment that if indulgences, which are a very insignificant thing, are celebrated with one bell, one procession, and one ceremony, then the gospel, which is the very greatest thing, should be preached with a hundred bells, a hundred processions, a hundred ceremonies.”

We cannot trust in the merits and works of Christians who have gone before us (which is part of the belief that allowed for indulgences to be sold), but need to find the true treasure in the gospel of Jesus Christ: “62. The true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God.” I’ll conclude with Luther’s own word in his last two Theses: “94. Christians should be exhorted to be diligent in following Christ, their Head, through penalties, death and hell. 95. And thus be confident of entering into heaven through many tribulations rather than through the false security of peace (Acts 14:22).”

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