Effects of the Reformation

DAY 40 4/9/17 Palm Sunday- DAY 40 EFFECTS OF THE REFORMATION
The Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.  Psalm 118:23; Mark 12:11

Thoughts:
The world is not the same because of the Protestant Reformation.  Though it was a long time coming (think Wycliffe, Waldo and John Hus) it has a long term effect.  In some ways the Reformation was fueled by and fueled the Renaissance.   Most of the Reformers were humanists who sought to get back to the source- the Bible, and were well schooled in their day.  The political power of the Roman Catholic church broke as it both fought and could not fight the Reformation and its leaders.  Feudalism gave way to nationalism both by the Reformers (like Cranmer in England and Knox and Scotland) and the reaction to the Protestants in France and the Netherlands.  Democracy and individualism were influenced by the idea that we didn’t have to go through a priest and people could read scripture alone.  Many point to Calvinism as a tremendous influence on the checks and balances found in American government, and presbyterianism’s representative democracy as influencing the representative democracy of America and others.  The rise of the middle class was definitely inspired by the Protestant work ethic of both Luther and Calvin who valued every day work and encouraged all to do their best for the glory of God.  Vernacular Languages of German, French, and English were tremendously effected by the writings of the German Bible, the Book of Common Prayer and King James Version in English, the French Bible of Olivetan and Calvin’s writings. 
     There were also some negative things.  The church divided then divided then divided again.  In the midst of the divisions the main teaching of love has been downplayed.  Many of the teachings of the Reformation once rejected in the Counter-Reformation and the Council of Trent are now mollified with Vatican I and Vatican II councils that recognize the limits of the veneration of the saints, the problems of indulgences, and the idea that we are saved by grace and not by works.  There has been a tremendous shift in the Catholic church.  At the same time, some Protestants today are downplaying the basis of their own belief systems saying that scholarship and science should be elevated to the same position of authority as the Bible.  There has clearly been a growing skepticism in western Europe and among the old mainline churches of the Reformation in America.  There are some who say that every 500 years a change is made and we should embrace that change.  But the Book of Judges (everyone did what was rig hint heir own eyes), the deterioration that led to the Old Testament and Diaspora exiles should warn us that not all change is good.  We should be ever reforming- but not omit- “According to the Word of God.”  It is clear that without belief and the Spirit no church or even great principle will stand on its own.  The church today needs to get back to its roots, which was the original call of the Reformation (the solas: Scripture, Grace, Faith, Glory to God, and Christ Alone) and also return to our first love.

Prayer: Lord, help me to change.  Keep me from being conformed to the world but to be transformed in a way that honors you alone.  May my life glorify you alone.  

Priesthood of All Believers- All Believers May Serve

DAY 33- 4/2/17- DAY 33- THE PRIESTHOOD OF ALL BELIEVERS

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.  (1 Peter 2:9)
Thoughts: The priest had a large amount of power in the Roman Catholic church of the late medieval period.  People were discouraged from reading the Bible. Only the priest was supposed to read (in Latin) and interpret it to the people (though not all priests knew Latin).  Priests had the power to withhold the Lord’s Supper (the Eucharist) and taught that if you did not receive the Eucharist you could not be forgiven.  Priests could tell you what to do in terms of penance in order to achieve forgiveness and could absolve sins in the confessional.  The priest was the mediator between the people and God taking away the authority of Christ as the true mediator between the Father and the people.  The pastor was not a lord and his congregation the fiefdom.  Calvin also taught against the idea of a person getting money from the people and not even ministering to them. The Reformation was in many ways a rebellion against power grabs by the church.  It re-focused power on Christ (only he could forgive sins), and on the people who could pray directly to Him and read God's Word directly.
       The leaders of the Reformation fought against the power of the priest when it went against what scripture said.  They wanted the Bible in the language of the people- both Luther and Calvin were responsible for translations into German, French, and English.  The risk was that people could misinterpret it- but they contended the church too was misinterpreting it.  While communion was still closely guarded for the Protestants, it was not used as a personal weapon as it too often was in the late middle ages.  For Protestants, Jesus Christ is our great high priest, and he is the mediator between God and man (see below).  
     Luther, quoting I Peter 2:9 says (In the Babylonian Captivity of the Church) “In this way we are all priests.  There are indeed priests whom we call ministers.  They are chosen among us and do everything in our name.”  Luther, was not opposed to using the term “priest” and “minister” interchangeably.  Calvin renamed the altar that the Lord’s Supper was served on “the communion table” as a reminder that the minister does not sacrifice Christ again.  We all are called to pray directly to God- we do not have to go through the priest.  We need not over-worry about the content of our prayers- the Holy Spirit helps us to pray and helps us to interpret the scriptures.  We are the priesthood of believers- in that we are called to bring God to others- to the whole world.  As Israel was a witness to God, so all Christians together are an inviting and challenging witness to the Lord.  In our baptism we are all commissioned to go and make disciples and to teach (Mt. 28:19-20). 

Prayer: Lord, thank you that you care about me and desire I know you, read your Word, pray to you, and follow you without hesitation or mediation.  

Tetzel Selling Indulgences in Wittenburg for Forgiveness of Sins

The Climate of the Reformation

DAY 1 3/1- The Climate that Made the Reformation     

“When the time had fully come….”  (Galatians 4:4)

In God’s Providence the Reformation came out of a perfect environment of the moral abuse and power of the papacy at the time, division in the church, decay of feudalism (post crusades) and corresponding rise of nationalism, combined with the rise of the universities, the beginning of the printing press and proliferation of scripture.  But above all of this it was and is a movement of God’s Spirit.  The Reformation does not just change western thinking, but has vastly changed the world.  The Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and the rise of science, modern medicine, capitalism and democracy would not have flourished in the West without the Reformation.  These are broad and faith statements, that could be filled with caveats and hiccups of steps backwards that came before forward steps.  Some of these are quite unintended steps (especially the Enlightenment).  In this brief devotional overview, it is not my intent to argue but to make the points that help us understand the Reformation and how it deeply affects our lives today, but especially how we may grow spiritually through thinking of the Reformation and learning from the examples of the Reformers.
 [Pictured is Pope Leo X Medici who instigated indulgences to build St Peter’s]

Prayer: Lord, help me to trust that you will raise us up in your timing and your way. Lord, raise your church up again.