Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - Sept/83

Contributor - Cor G. Bons

Title - Martin Luther 1483-1983

Topic - Martin Luther

The 500th anniversary of the birth of Martin Luther, who is known as one of the great Reformers of the Church in the 16th Century, is being commemorated in many parts of East Germany this year.

In this article you will find a short story of his life and the struggles he went through before the Reformation in Europe took place. I believe that it will help you to better understand what our own place and task is in the Church Of Jesus Christ.

Martin Luther was born on November 10, 148 3 in a small and unattractive house at Eisleben, Germany. His father, Hans, after marrying Margaretha Lindeman, left the farm of his parents at Moehra in order to make a living as a miner in the copper mines of Eisleben. His mother, Margaretha, was very superstitious and always telling fantastic stories about witches and devils.

Martin was the second child in the family; the first one died soon after birth. Therefore his parents were very happy when Martin arrived and proved to be healthy and well. He was baptized in St. Peter's Church on November 1 1, and named after the saint of that day, Martinus Von Tours.

His father had decided that Martin would become a lawyer, and therefore sent him to school at Mansfeld, Magde burg and Eisenbach. Not only did he have to study hard, but we learn that he was also starved and bullied and, like so many school children in his day, was forced to earn his own living by singing in the streets, begging from door to door for alms and bread.

At the age of seventeen he left school and went to the University of Erfurt where he earned his bachelor's degree in 1503 and his master's degree in 1505.

In those days Martin Luther was plagued by a certain sadness. Some people thought it was caused by the sudden death of one of his best friends, but Martin himself had mentioned another reason: he was frightened because of his sins and the coming judgement. This knowledge worried him as a child, as a teenager and as a young adult. Deep in his heart he found no peace. In his childhood already he had learned that Christ paid for all our sins by His sacrificial death on the cross However, he had also learned that the eternal Judge wanted the sinful Christian to give Him satisfaction. He knew that Christ was perfectly righteous, but he also knew that he himself was a sinner. Therefore, he was afraid of death and judgement.

The turning point in his life came in July 1505, when he violated his father's wishes and chose a different course for his life. In a forest near the village of Stottemheim he found himself in a severe thunderstorm. A bolt of lightening struck right beside him causing him to fall. Terror stricken by fear, he prayed and called upon Saint Anna, who was believed to give protection in such circumstances. At the same time he made a solemn vow, "Help me, holy Anna, and I will become a monk!". Constrained to devote himself to a monastic life, he entered the Augustinian monastery at Erfurt.

He knew how much pain he had caused his father by this decision. This was made clear in a letter he wrote to his father later in 1521. After he discovered the foolishness of a monastic life, he wrote to his father:

"It is now 16 years ago since I entered the monastery without your knowledge and against your will .... You were afraid, worried and very angry with me, not willing to forgive even when your friends advised you that one must be willing to sacrifice the dearest and the best to God.... I did not become a monk of my own free will, and even less for good food and drink, but I was driven to it, bound by a vow I made when overcome by horror and fear of death."

During the three years as a monk an overwhelming sense of sin and the hopelessness of ever obtaining forgiveness troubled him constantly. "Oh, my sins, oh, my sins!", was the cry of his heart. He saw the dazzling holiness and justice of God over against his own sinfulness, and knew no way to close that gap. Very obediently he carried out everything he was told to do; he repented and repented again. He followed diligently the rules of his order. "If a monk ever reached heaven by monkery," he said, "I would have found my way there also." He spent long nights on his knees before the altar, but he never found peace of mind and soul.

The big question for Luther was, "What is the value of the message of God's Grace, if I have no assurance that is applies to me?" He had no need to worry about any sinful acts he committed, only about the fact that he could not trust in God and be at peace. This became such an obsession that he cried out, "Thou art no God, but a devil! I wish God did not exist"'

What was probably the greatest surprise of his life came in the year 1513, when Martin Luther began to study the letter to the Romans very intensely. He had to prepare a lecture on one of the Psalms, and in his cell at the monastery he read again and again Romans 1:17 - "For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, 'He who through faith is righteous shall live'."

Never before had he understood those words, for he had been taught that the word "righteousness" in the Scpritures meant that God always gives everybody their just reward. Therefore, the sinner receives punishment. But why then does it say, "he who through faith is righteous shall live", and what is the connection between God's righteousness and our faith?

Suddenly it dawned on him what Paul meant This righteousness is not the threatening, punishing hand of God, but t is a free gift awarded to the believer, it God's grace! At this discovery, Martin Luther knew that he was born again, and with this great treasure he was going to enrich the Church.

It was not his intention to bring out a revolution or a Reformation of the Church. All he desired to do was proclaim this good news to his fellow scholars and his fellow-believers. Thus, Luther was used by the Lord of the Church to do the work of Reformation, which would turn the darkness into light for many a Christian.

You and I, in the 20th Century, live in entirely different circumstances. In a time which has been called the "post-Christian era", many people don't worry about their sins any more, and even less about God and His righteous judgement. Outside the church, and yes, even inside the church, many people live in spiritual darkness. The Scriptures are read and interpreted to accommodate people's self-centred desires and actions. I should !ay, we need men and women like Martin Luther, whose eyes have been opened to read and interpret the Scriptures properly, in order that the Church will be Reformed according to the Word of God.

Will the 20th Century go down in history to be remembered and appreciated as such?

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