Tag: Martin Luther

February 2019

On: By: Rev. G. Michael Rose

“A light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” Luke 2:32

Dear Redeemer Family:
The Season of Epiphany is the “Season of Light.” God’s light breaks into our world in His Son Jesus Christ. And now, we are to bear that light into the world. So, this month, let’s look at some of those light bearers who are commemorated this month, so that we may see what that might entail.

First, St. Ansgar, Bishop of Hamburg, missionary to Denmark and Sweden, he died on February 3rd, 865. Where I grew up, one of the Lutheran churches (there were three) was St. Ansgar’s Lutheran Church. So, he has always been of interest to me. Ansgar was a monk who led a mission to Denmark and later to Sweden, where he built the first church. His work ran into difficulties with the rulers of the day, and he was forced to withdraw into Germany, where he served as a bishop in Hamburg. Despite his difficulties in Sweden, he persisted in his mission work and later helped consecrate Gothbert as the first bishop of Sweden. Ansgar had a deep love for the poor. He would wash their feet and serve them food provided by the parish.

On February 14th, we commemorate St. Valentine (who I won’t go into), but also St. Cyril, monk; and St. Methodius, bishop and missionaries to the Slavs. St. Cyril died on this date in the year 869, St. Methodius in 885. These two brothers (yes, they were brothers) were from a noble family in Thessalonika, a province of Greece. Both were priests, as well as missionaries. After some early initial missionary work by Cyril among the Arabs, the brothers retired to a monastery. They were later sent to work among the Slavs, the missionary work for which they are most known. Since Slavonic had no written form at the time, the brothers established a written language with the Greek alphabet as its basis. It is still in use, known as the Cyrillic Alphabet. They translated the scriptures and the liturgy using this Cyrillic alphabet. The Czechs, Serbs, Croats, Slovaks and Bulgars regard the brothers as the founders of Slavic literature. The brothers’ work in preaching and worshiping in the language of the people are honored by Christians in both East and West.

And finally, some guy named Martin Luther, Renewer of the Church. On February 18th in the year of 1546, Martin Luther died at the age of 62. For a time, he was an Augustinian monk (of the Minor Order), but it is his work as a biblical scholar, translator of the Bible, public confessor of the faith, reformer of the liturgy, theologian, educator, and father of German vernacular literature that holds him in our remembrance. In Luther’s own judgment, the greatest of all of his works was his catechism, written to instruct people in the basics of faith. And it was his baptism that sustained him in his trials as a reformer.

These are but a few whom the Church remember in February. May we learn from their lives and examples, and carry on their work in our lives, in our ways, to the glory of God. Share the light of Christ.

In Christ,
Pastor Rose

October 2017

On: By: Rev. G. Michael Rose

“For we hold that a man is justified by faith apart from works of law.” Romans 3:28

 

Dear Redeemer Family:

This is it! This is the month! We will be celebrating the 500th Anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation. Inspired by the verse above, and other verses is St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, an obscure German monk of the Order of Augustinian Minors, Martin Luther, will begin a new way of viewing our salvation. Well, actually, it was the oldest way, but one that had become lost. Namely, in what will become the Lutheran Slogan, or Banner (they literally sewed this onto banners); “We are saved by God’s grace through our faith in Jesus Christ.”

 

It will begin innocently enough. Luther will nail his “95 Theses” to the door of the Castle Church at Wittenberg. This Spring, while on vacation, we got to see these doors. Well not the original doors. They burned down in the early 1800’s. But in a way, something better. When they replaced the original doors, the people had bronze casts of the 95 Theses in the form of six tablets, mounted on the new doors. Don and Ann Linhorst, Ruth and I, got to stand at these doors (indeed, they were right across the street from our hotel room). As I looked at them in wonder, all that I could think of was, “It started here.” And literally, the world changed from that point on.

 

The “95 Theses” weren’t what most people think. They were really just 95 points that Luther wanted to debate, publicly. They are concerned with salvation, and against the selling of the famous Letters of Indulgence (which I call get out of Purgatory free cards – see the game Monopoly). That is all that Luther wanted, a debate. That isn’t unusual. Besides being a monk, Luther was a University professor. Professors like debates. However, Luther got a very unexpected result. The Christian Church was turned upside down, and took Western Civilization with it. But the most important result was that the understanding of the Gospel itself was changed. God’s Law was pushed back, and God’s Grace was pushed to the fore, as it should be. With that, everything ultimately changed.

 

To celebrate this we are doing a couple of things. We are making new banners for the sanctuary, carrying slogans from the Reformation. We are hosting the Singspiration Service for the De Soto Ministerial Alliance on Oct. 29th at 6pm (just two days shy of the actual 500th Anniversary). We have invited people from all of the different Christian communities in our area to join with us in song to the praise of God. Singspirations are always inspiring celebrations. But to make this one special, we have invited all attend to come at 4pm on that Sunday. And in a show of hospitality, we are feeding them a special, and free, meal reflecting our German heritage, with dessert following the service, and a couple of surprises. I invite all of you attend. I also ask you to volunteer to assist in this event. We will need help. There will be work to do with the meal and with the service. But, all things worth celebrating also require some effort. I hope to see all of you there.

 

In Christ,

Pastor Rose