Daily Lesson for February 18, 2021

 Today marks the 475th anniversary of the death of Martin Luther, the arch reformer of the Protestant Church -- and even the Catholic one according to some historians.

In fact, I have heard of at least one Catholic Priest who, wishing to avoid controversy by quoting Luther openly, will make reference to "Brother Martin of Erfurt".

Luther's legacy is wide and long. And his protest against the abuses of the papacy and the affirmation of the priesthood of all believers are seminal, not only in Protestant theology, but even in social history. His was a radical movement of reform against the political domination of not only the church, but society as a whole. And the reform goes on.

But like any human, Luther had his shadows. His vehemence towards the Jews is a repugnance which cannot be ignored or overlooked, especially as his writings against them were used to justify so much hatred against them by the Nazis.

Perhaps Luther's dark side proves his central theological point -- that we can never be justified by our own works, but only by God. Indeed that is true; but we can also say his life tells us how our works can condemn us.

When I was a boy, I never heard about the dark side of Luther. He was a saint -- so far as we had them in the Baptist church. He was the good guy. He saved the church from all those, at best misguided and at worst devilish, Catholics.

Praise God I started to read some people who had the courage to tell the truth about Martin Luther and to demonstrate how he could come to embody the evils he was said to deplore. That was sobering; but it also helped me understand the veracity of what someone said: "The truth shall set you free; but first it will piss you off."

We can thank God for people who have dared to piss us off with the truth, that we might know and do better and so that the Church might not only be reformed, but -- in the old words of the Latin -- "sempter reformanda", always reforming.

The Episcopal Church offers this prayer for this day in its Liturgy:

"O God, our refuge and our strength, who didst raise up thy servant Martin Luther to reform and renew thy church in the light of thy word: Defend and purify the church in our own day and grant that, through faith, we may boldly proclaim the riches of thy grace, which thou hast made known in Jesus Christ our Savior, who, with thee and the Holy Spirit, liveth and reigneth, one God, now and for ever."

May God defend and purify the church indeed; and may God also defend those harmed too often by the church in its imperfection.

And may God have mercy on all . . .

Ryon Price is Senior Pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.