Reformation Day is celebrated each year on 31 October. On this day in 1517, Martin Luther published his 95 Theses (statements for debate) against indulgences. An indulgence was a payment made to the church in exchange for exemption from punishment for sin. Luther was deeply concerned that indulgences misled and took advantage of the people. He pointed instead to true repentance and salvation by God’s grace through faith. It was never his intention to cause a fracture in the church but this is indeed what happened. It is not too dramatic to say that the world would never be the same again.
A host of circumstances came together at the time of Luther, and beginning in Wittenberg, for what was to become known as the Reformation to ignite and take hold. The invention of the printing press, for example, allowed debates to be played out in the public arena on a scale not previously known in much the same way as social media has today transformed communication and changed the modern news cycle.
Martin Luther was a great advocate for education for both men and women which was very progressive at that time. He believed that the people should be able to read and interpret the Bible for themselves which required not only education but a Bible written in their own language, not Latin. Luther made such a translation while in hiding in Wartburg Castle. Education was pivotal. It allowed people to not only deepen their faith but equipped them to be good citizens, serving the community and fulfilling their vocations with gladness and excellence as a thankful response to the grace of God.
I had the great joy in the recent holidays of visiting many of these key locations in Luther’s life and the Reformation: standing at the altar in the Augustinian monastery where Luther nearly spilt the wine when leading communion for the first time, as he struggled with the theological gravity of what he was doing; seeing the Castle Church and its doors (now metal after having been burnt down) where Luther nailed his 95 Theses; sitting in Luther’s home where he conducted theological debates with his students, colleagues and friends; and standing in the room in Wartburg Castle where he translated the Bible.
I can only touch on these things here. I hope, however, that you can see the echoes of 1517 in Lutheran schooling today through our commitment to coeducation, to pastoral care and formation and the equipping of our young people to use their talents and capabilities in service to others and for the benefit of society in whatever vocation to which they are called and so that they might enjoy and know the fullness of life that God has for them.
