In honor of the Festival of the Reformation, the November issue of The Lutheran highlights the 95 Theses focusing on our defining Lutheran theme with a series of reflections entitled It’s All About Grace. There is even a centerfold in this special edition, but you’d better take out your binoculars if you’re not in the front pew, since it’s a small print copy of … all 95 theses: Ninety-five Theses or Disputations on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences. It begins as follows: “Out of love and zeal for truth and the desire to bring it to light, the following theses will be publicly discussed at Wittenberg under the chairmanship of the Rev. Fr. Martin Luther, Masters of Arts and Sacred Theology and regularly appointed Lecturer on these subjects at that place. He requests that those who cannot be present to debate orally with us do so by letter … in the Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen”

Lutheranism sprung into existence almost five-hundred years ago, four-hundred and ninety, to be exact, when on All Hollow’s Eve, otherwise know as Halloween, in 1517, Martin Luther, the wild boar, as he was disparagingly known, nailed 95 theses to the doors of Castle Church in Wittenberg, leaving his mark on the church he loved, a divisive mark according to some, but to those who heard God’s Word of grace, Luther’s lead led the way to freedom – the freedom to love God’s gifts, the freedom to celebrate the joy of salvation freely given, the freedom to live God’s call boldly, trusting God’s grace more boldly still. Actually, that quote for which Luther was well known called us to sin boldly, trusting God’s grace more boldly still. It was talk like that that worried bureaucratic high-ups; but talk like that was precisely what Luther meant. Trust God’s grace, not your works. Be Christ-centered not self-centered. Don’t obscure the Good News of the Gospel through bureaucratic double-talk or fundraising gobble gook.

It was this latter item that led the way to the Reformation, since all ninety-five theses were directed to fundraising abuse associated with the selling of indulgences, the issuance of papal paper, so to speak, promising the bearer full faith forgiveness upon approaching the pearly gates. It might come as a surprise to some, but these famous (or infamous) 95 theses did not constitute a laundry list of complaints about what’s wrong with the church. They were focused on a single issue, the practice of selling indulgences, and the misguided, wrong-headed, and shortsighted assumptions, presumptions, and principles that grounded them. Listen to some of Luther’s ninety-five theses.

Theses 43 and 44: “Christians are to be taught that they who give to the poor and lend to the needy do better than they who buy indulgence certificates. This is so because love grows through works of love, which makes us better persons. We do not become better simply by buying indulgence certificates.” But, in fact, people bought these certificates, Christians and non-Christians, for themselves or loved ones. It was an ingenious and effective fundraising device, and not disallowed nor unrelated to the elaborate labyrinth that had come to be known as the Roman Catholic Church. But, according to Luther and the Reformers, this practice perverted fundamental aspects of the truth of the gospel, which proclaims that it is the grace of God that makes us free, bestowing on all the gift of salvation, freely given through Christ, freely grasped through faith. Theses 62, 65 and 66 are equally direct and interesting. “The true treasure of the church is the holy gospel of the glory and grace of God. Therefore, the treasures of the gospel are the nets with which simple fishermen became fishers of men, bestowing true wealth. In contrast, the treasures of indulgences are nets that turn us into fishers of men’s wealth” – causing the church to focus on the wealth of men rather that the riches of God.

It is truly surprising to discover that Luther was laser-focused on how this practice of selling indulgences corrupted the discipline of confession. It might seem peripheral to some, but this focus helped to clarify the centrality of God’s grace in Luther’s understanding of the gospel. Thesis 52 hits the nail on the head. “It is vain to trust salvation by a certified letter of indulgence,” even though these certificates sought to assure us of forgiveness, which is a good thing. Thesis 54 contends that “injury is done the Word of God when, in the same sermon, an equal or larger amount of time is devoted to explaining and selling indulgences than to the Word.” This is the origin of Luther’s insistence that Lutheran pulpits are reserved for preaching the gospel not the law. It is less a matter of who does the preaching as what is preached. That’s the key. Preach the gospel, the priority of God’s grace, the free gift of salvation, based not on us – what we’ve done, how much we’ve given – but on Christ – what Christ has done, how much Christ has given. That’s the key to it all – the keys to the kingdom of heaven, the key to true life right here on earth.

We have been talking a lot about our distinctive Lutheran heritage in the Adult Sunday School class ever since we opened Martin Marty’s book Lutheran Questions and Lutheran Answers this past summer. More recently, we’ve been wondering about the connection between Lutheran churches and Easter chickens. What is it that makes us different as Lutherans? One of us used the word unwavering, referring to Luther’s famous retort, “Here I stand,” a phrase that has come to identify Luther’s unwavering commitment to standing with the gospel as the very heart of the Word of God and the Christian life. Another in our group became a bit more esoteric. Lutherans are pragmatic, beginning with “P” for our problem-solving commitment that puts our mission first, ahead of office, ahead of the organization. This is not to say that we are not organized. Rather, the pragmatism in Lutheranism insists that our organization must serve the mission of God’s people, rather than using God’s people to serve the well-being of the organization. The organization is not holy. The high offices of priest, bishop, pastor, or pope are not holy. It is the mission that is holy, and that mission is to proclaim the gospel in word and deed.
Another among us, Charlie Danner, focused on the rite of confession as central to becoming the good soil in which God’s Word can grow. He referred to that memorable line in the Brief Rite for Confession and Forgiveness: “We are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves.” This is a line that sounds so dire, defeatist, and depressing; but that’s not the point – for Charlie or for us. The point of this prayer is to remind us of our need for God’s grace, and more, to remind us of the Good News that God’s grace is already ours – it’s presence in our lives is providing the power we need to reach out our hands, opening our hearts and our lives to the help, to the love, and the strength God gives so that we can lay hold of the freedom that is ours with the truth and experience the joy of growing in love and service by grace. For Charlie, and for us, the theme of confession keeps our focus on the saving dynamic of the gospel, where the gifts of God’s grace fills the overwhelming reality of our need.

I don’t know if that’s distinctively Lutheran, but that is the Good News of God’s Grace. You are forgiven. Believe it. You are loved. Believe it. You are saved. Believe it. It’s not true if we believe it … in the right way, with the right understandings, with the right mix of the deeds we do, the gifts we offer, the time we share. God’s grace has done what we could not. Everything else is the overflow of the gratitude that follows.

For some time now I’ve had a newspaper article hanging on the bulletin board in the main hallway talking about a resurgence in the popularity of confession – on the internet, in malls, at airports, in the movies, on television, and even in church – protestant and catholic.* It is an interesting article, but Charlie isn’t talking about these cultural movements that make confession popular. Among the factors are feeding this resurgence, the article mentions the “aggressive marketing by churches” that is helping to “reinvent confession as a form of self-improvement.” That’s not the reason for Charlie. The article tells us that “some Protestants now air their sins on videos that are shared on YouTube and iTunes.” Again, that’s not it for Chuck. “Everyday on Jerry Springer we see people confessing their sins in public…” That’s certainly true, but that’s not the reason for Charlie’s interest nor for ours. For Lutherans, it’s not about our fifteen minutes of fame in the spotlight. It’s not about us at all, except that we have come to know the depth of our need, because Christ has filled it with his love. The more we delve into the gift of God’s grace, the more amazing God’s grace looks and feels and sounds.

In the end, this thing we call Lutheranism is all about lifting up the gospel of grace – grace first, grace alone, God’s grace freely given. That’s our message and our mission. It was never meant to divide along denominational lines, but to unite us in our common awareness on the need that is in us, to unite us in our common hope that is given with the solid rock on which we stand, to unite us in identifying the solid rock that serves as the church’s one foundation, which is Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

*: This article was entitled “Confession Makes A Comeback,” written by Alexandra Alter, in The Wall Street Journal, September 21, 2007.