You probably know that today is Halloween. But did you realize that it is also Reformation Day?
And did you know that Reformation Day is a fantastic day to celebrate?
from the movie “Luther”
On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the wooden door of the cathedral in Wittenberg, Germany. This was the spark which fueled the Protestant Reformation and some remarkable changes for the world.
Posthumous Portrait of Martin Luther as an Augustine Monk
God used Martin Luther in a dramatic way to restore freedom and truth to His people. Luther had some significant flaws in both his doctrine and character. However, God gifted Luther with many profound spiritual insights, as well as the courage and conviction to defend those Biblical truths.
As he studied the Scriptures, Luther re-discovered this glorious truth:
We are saved by faith in Jesus Christ. Salvation is a free gift. It cannot be earned, bought, or sold.
This wonderful news, like a precious jewel, had been buried under thick layers of distortion and corruption within the Church. Luther retrieved this valuable gem, dusted off the deception, and held it up so that others could experience its beauty again.
Luther also re-discovered the key doctrines of the priesthood of all believers and the authority of the Scriptures. He taught that Church leadership was not infallible. For his refusal to recant some of his convictions, Luther suffered excommunication from the Church and threats to his life.
Luther Before the Diet of Worms, by Anton von Werner (1843–1915)
Reformation Day reminds us to thank God for the free gift of salvation, for the Scriptures that we hold in our hands, and for the direct access that we have into the Presence of God Almighty.
Here are several ways you may want to celebrate Reformation Day at your house:
- Watch the movie Luther. (The entire movie, in two parts, is posted on youtube. The movie is rated PG-13 and is not appropriate for children. )
- If you have young children, they will enjoy coloring pictures of Luther’s shield and learning about its interesting symbols. You can find fun activities for children at these sites:
*http://www.blessedbeyondadoubt.com/reformation-day-activities/
*http://theroadto31.com/2013/10/celebrating-reformation-day-like-christian.html
*http://www.sojournkids.com/blog/2010/10/reformation-day-party-plan - Sing or read the lyrics to A Mighty Fortress is Our God, written by Luther in 1529.
- Prepare a German supper. (I think German-chocolate cake qualifies, don’t you?)
- You can read more about Luther through many resources, but this website is unique in giving an easy-to-understand translation of the Ninety-Five Theses: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/the-reformation/the-95-theses-a-modern-translation/
- Enjoy some great Luther quotes (below).
Prayer
To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.
Pray, and let God worry.
Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance. It is laying hold of His willingness.
All teachers of Scripture conclude that the essence of prayer is simply the lifting up of the heart to God. But if this is so, it follows that everything else that doesn’t lift up the heart to God is not prayer. Therefore, singing, talking, and whistling without this lifting up of your heart to God are as much like prayer as scarecrows in the garden are like people.
I have often learned much more in one prayer than I have been able to glean from much reading and reflection.
Scripture
The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold of me.
Faith
This is true faith, a living confidence in the goodness of God.
The heart overflows with gladness, and leaps and dances for the joy it has found in God. In this experience the Holy Spirit is active, and has taught us in the flash of a moment the deep secret of joy. You will have as much joy and laughter in life as you have faith in God.
Faith is the “yes” of the heart, a conviction on which one stakes one’s life.
We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone.
Therefore, when some say good works are forbidden when we preach faith alone, it is as if I said to a sick man: “If you had health, you would have the use of your limbs; but without health the works of your limbs are nothing” and he wanted to infer that I had forbidden the works of all his limbs.
The two chief things are faith and love. Faith receives the good; love gives the good. Faith offers us God as our own; love gives us to our neighbor as his own.
Marriage
Katharina von Bora, Luther’s wife, by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1526
Let the wife make the husband glad to come home, and let him make her sorry to see him leave.
One learns more of Christ in being married and rearing children than in several lifetimes spent in study in a monastery.
Other
You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say.
Every man must do two things alone; he must do his own believing and his own dying.
Temptations, of course, cannot be avoided, but because we cannot prevent the birds from flying over our heads, there is no need that we should let them nest in our hair.
Tami Myer 
One learns more of Christ in being married and rearing children than in several lifetimes spent in study in a monastery.
In other words – single people can’t learn of Christ as fully as married people, therefore any institution where single people can learn of Christ is an enemy of marriage and all effort must be put into convincing people that marriage is the only way to know Christ. That idea has done enough damage – it’s time that churches stopped pressuring single people and marginalizing them. The Reformation wasn’t right on all counts.
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Thank you, Jamie, for reading and for commenting. I appreciate hearing your thoughts.
I agree that “the Reformation wasn’t right on all counts.” In fact, I disagree with Luther on a number of issues.
In that quote about marriage, do you think he may have meant that interacting with people and putting our faith into action teaches us more than merely studying books? I think we can admit that marriage can be challenging and faith-stretching, just as we can admit that the single life is also full of challenge and opportunity for growth.
The single life is commended in the Scriptures, and the Church has been enriched by countless highly valuable single people–such as Luther, who was single when he posted his 95 theses and when he translated the New Testament in German.
We are not defined by marital status, but by our yieldedness to Christ. Our identity is in Christ, and we want to be faithful to the trustworthy calling that He places on each of our lives.
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Single men and women had monasteries that served as centers of education, soup kitchens, grief counselors, orphanages, care for the ill; they provided an alternative to marriage and made up for any potential “loss” by having so much to offer. One of my favorite nuns was Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz, she lived in a world that denied her an education just because she was a woman. She didn’t let that stop her, she taught herself enough to amaze even the royal court. She refused to marry because all she wanted to do was to study. She wrote about the inequality she saw all around her that recently inspired a nation to right the same wrongs that still plague us all even four hundred years after her time. Single men and women can contribute when there’s an outlet for them to do so; but so many churches make marriage a prerequisite for having true, mature faith that there’s never the opportunity.
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Thank you, Tami, for these great reminders. I especially like your suggestions for ways to celebrate the day for all ages. I’ve read Katharina’s story, and it was incredible. 🙂
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Kristen, I am glad to be celebrating Reformation Day with you today!
I liked your encouragement on your blog to celebrate October 31 by remembering 1) to share our faith, even when it’s unpopular, and 2) to celebrate the light, not the darkness:
https://thinktruethoughts.com/2016/10/31/reformation-day-celebrate-the-light/
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Thank you my friend for sharing the TRUTH of great warriors like Martin Luther.
What an example of you who “put on the FULL armor of God!”
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