Sunday, January 30, 2011

Luther's speech at Worms, 1521

at 2:23 PM
Labels:

3 comments:

Steve Martin said...

Thanks, Brigitte!

I always enjoy seeing that clip.

Martin Luther fully expected to be burned at the stake after his confession of faith. But made it anyway.

Thanks be to God that our Lord had other plans.

January 31, 2011 at 10:31 AM
Brigitte said...

So many people think that they cannot make a confession of faith which is firm, i.e. basically saying that everything is relative and so on.

But life makes theologians of us. We must find answers to the questions of sin and death, the problems in our relationships, the authorship and meaning of life, and so on. It becomes inescapable.

And to simply rely on what someone else said will not do. We have to come to a convition. First we learn from our parents, but we become adults and have to grow.

The quest for truth cannot be avoided and sidestepped. We cannot be so nonchalant and lazy. We have a heart, mind and body and resources to learn.

At the bottom of what I've learned is that I cannot improve myself, pull myself up by my own bootstraps, cannot prolong my life of the ones I love by a hairsbreadth. The gospel is the power of God and faith is the shield against the evil one.

Because nothing depended on him, Luther could be so bold in his confession.

Ephesians 2:4-9
"But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you ahve been saved--and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Chrst Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."

Luther is not boasting in anything, except in the Lord, and thus he has to boast, and be bold, and confess. He has no choice without being unfaithful.

It is a boldness from weakness. It is irrepressible.

January 31, 2011 at 12:38 PM
Steve Martin said...

Very well said, Brigitte.

"At the bottom of what I've learned is that I cannot improve myself, pull myself up by my own bootstraps, cannot prolong my life of the ones I love by a hairsbreadth. The gospel is the power of God and faith is the shield against the evil one."



"Because nothing depended on him, Luther could be so bold in his confession."

"It is a boldness from weakness. It is irrepressible."

Amen!

January 31, 2011 at 2:33 PM

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)