On Oct. 31, 1517, a fairly obscure professor and monk posted theses for an academic discussion. That action—and Martin Luther’s life of writing, teaching, preaching and standing up to the emperor and pope—sparked a Reformation that changed the world.
Luther asks some of the most basic questions of human existence. He was on a quest for the right relationship between God and people, and how to show love for others in need. This speaks to the basic universal hunger we have to find our ground of being and to find an orientation that helps us to explain, “Why am I here?” and, “Where am I going?” and that then has an impact on how we actually live in this world.
As we mark 500 years, I would like to personally invite you to any or all of three big community events this month hosted at our congregation, Advent Lutheran Church.
• Faith of Our Neighbors: Christianity in the Lutheran Tradition presentation, sponsored by the Interfaith Community of South County, 4 p.m. Oct. 15
• Reformation Hymn Festival, 5:30 p.m. Oct. 22
• Catholic–Lutheran Common Prayer Service, 7 p.m. Oct. 30.
Luther is an example of how one can stand up on the basis of one’s faith against institutions and individuals who are hurting people. When Michael King, Sr., visited Germany in 1934, he was so inspired by how Martin Luther changed society without a call to take up arms, that he changed his name, and his son’s name, to Martin Luther King. Ideas do matter.
We will claim Luther and at the same time we will disagree with Luther. Along with my church denomination, I refute in the strongest terms Luther’s anti-Jewish writing late in his life. Luther himself was a clear example of one of his teachings: that each person is at one time both a saint and a sinner.
He was simultaneously the most loved and most hated person in the Western world. No one in history left behind a more detailed written record—130 volumes—and no one seemed to feel the need to edit him. Nearly 1 billion Protestant Christians in the world today have been influenced by him.
His influence extends far beyond the church. He unleashed new ways of thinking that profoundly shaped the secular world. For example, as a vocal advocate for the universal education of children, including girls, Luther paved the way for the now-ubiquitous public school system.
He was the first to prove the power of the media to amplify the marketplace of ideas and to provide a check on government. He set in motion cultural changes that would lay the groundwork for democracies in the U.S. and Europe.
I joyfully participate in the life of our South County community alongside people of many faiths. In the worship, teaching and life of today’s Lutheran church, we continue to share faith and service from Luther’s insight into the grace of God in Christ Jesus as attested in the scriptures. Five hundred years later, we may well be at another hinge of history. Our time, too, requires deep theological and ethical reflection to lead to courageous living.
Anita R. Warner is the Pastor for Advent Lutheran Church of Morgan Hill, 16870 Murphy Ave. She wrote this guest view for the Morgan Hill Times. For more information about this month’s events and the church, visit advent-lutheran.org.
