October is the month for Halloween, breast cancer awareness, significantly lower temps, and fading fall colors. October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month. It's National Pizza Month, just in case you needed an excuse to order one. For Lutheran Christians, however, October brings with it the celebration of the Reformation. Using the letters of the month, a brief review...
O is for orthodox. Though the word sounds like a detergent, it simply refers to right teaching. Literally, "straight thinking." Whichever shading of definition you prefer, orthodox teaching is hard to find these days. Itching ears are everywhere...as are the teachers willing to fill them with wrong/unorthodox teaching.
C is for Christian. Martin Luther never wanted a church named after himself; he simply sought to restore the church of his day to the truth of God's Word.
T is for Theses, as in The Ninety-Five Theses, statements posted by Luther on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, on October 31, 1517. This date is considered the beginning of the Lutheran Reformation.
O is for the shape one’s mouth makes when shocked. Question is, are we shocked by anything anymore? Our news feeds are filled with items that, a mere decade ago, would have had us shaking our heads. These days, we just shrug our shoulders at the onslaught.
B is for Bible. Luther translated the Bible into the language of his people, German. The ability to read and understand the Scriptures for themselves transformed people's relationships with God and the church. The relatively recent invention of the printing press put Luther at the forefront of technology at the time, as his Bible translation and other publications spread quickly throughout Europe.
E is for Eternal Life, which is what is at stake in holding to the great truths of Scripture emphasized through Luther's Reformation: we are saved by Grace alone, by Faith alone, by Scripture alone.
R is for Righteousness. This is the concept Luther struggled with mightily. He felt - as we all do, by nature - that he had to make himself right with God by coming up with his own righteousness. In Romans 1:17 he learned otherwise. “For in (the gospel) God’s righteousness is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith."
Go ahead and celebrate all the other things October is known for, and even catch a football game or two, or ten. But the highlight of October is the Lutheran Reformation - don't miss it.
In Jesus,
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand
O is for orthodox. Though the word sounds like a detergent, it simply refers to right teaching. Literally, "straight thinking." Whichever shading of definition you prefer, orthodox teaching is hard to find these days. Itching ears are everywhere...as are the teachers willing to fill them with wrong/unorthodox teaching.
C is for Christian. Martin Luther never wanted a church named after himself; he simply sought to restore the church of his day to the truth of God's Word.
T is for Theses, as in The Ninety-Five Theses, statements posted by Luther on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, on October 31, 1517. This date is considered the beginning of the Lutheran Reformation.
O is for the shape one’s mouth makes when shocked. Question is, are we shocked by anything anymore? Our news feeds are filled with items that, a mere decade ago, would have had us shaking our heads. These days, we just shrug our shoulders at the onslaught.
B is for Bible. Luther translated the Bible into the language of his people, German. The ability to read and understand the Scriptures for themselves transformed people's relationships with God and the church. The relatively recent invention of the printing press put Luther at the forefront of technology at the time, as his Bible translation and other publications spread quickly throughout Europe.
E is for Eternal Life, which is what is at stake in holding to the great truths of Scripture emphasized through Luther's Reformation: we are saved by Grace alone, by Faith alone, by Scripture alone.
R is for Righteousness. This is the concept Luther struggled with mightily. He felt - as we all do, by nature - that he had to make himself right with God by coming up with his own righteousness. In Romans 1:17 he learned otherwise. “For in (the gospel) God’s righteousness is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith."
Go ahead and celebrate all the other things October is known for, and even catch a football game or two, or ten. But the highlight of October is the Lutheran Reformation - don't miss it.
In Jesus,
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand
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