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A great movie rental this summer

I've seen you there. Searching up and down the aisles. There must be 10,000 choices, yet nothing jumps out at you as really good. It's a summer movie night and you're in Blockbuster. I have a suggestion.

There's a movie called “Luther”. Try it. I think you'll like it. And I know you'll be blessed by it. It's the story of Martin Luther, 16th century German, whose life and conviction changed the world.

Of course, I'm a bit prejudiced. As a Lutheran pastor, I have a rather strong bias toward the man, but I do believe anyone of any denominational or non-denominational affiliation will enjoy and take something from his story. Even you my dear Roman Catholic friends will get a blessing, I feel certain. (Luther broke away from the RCC.)

As way of introduction, I'll share a few thoughts with you right here about Martin Luther. Lutherans do not regard Luther as a prophet or saint. Rather, he was a man of faith whose influence on the Christian Church is still being felt today. He never intended a church denomination to be named after him. The name was given by others, never to Luther's approval.

• Discovering the faith. Martin Luther lived in the Late Middle Ages (1483-1546), a time of much ignorance and superstition. Dramatic events early in his life led him to become a monk in the Roman Catholic Church, believing that he could find peace with God by living a holy life. But Luther's struggle for perfection made him only more and more aware of his own failure to live up to God's standards. God seemed to him to be only an angry and condemning judge.

During this time of struggle, study, and discovery, Luther was appointed to lecture on the Bible at the University of Wittenberg. The church authorities had recognized that he had special talents.

Preparing his university lectures forced Luther into a careful study of the Bible. It was this study that convinced Luther that the Christian faith is first of all about God loving us in spite of our sin. He sent his Son, Jesus, to die for us and win us back from the power of sin and death. God's love changes wrong to right, evil to good, and death to life. By our own strength we cannot even begin to do these things. What Luther rediscovered was the Gospel, the Good News, that a person who is right with God through faith shall live (Romans 1:17).

• Living the faith. Luther's discoveries soon led him into a new conflict, this time with the papacy rather than with God. He strongly opposed church practices and traditions which he felt went against a proper understanding of Christianity. The storm broke loose over the selling for money of indulgences. These were certificates which, their sellers claimed, would guarantee God's forgiveness of one's sins. It was not necessary to be sorry for what one had done. It was not even necessary to have faith in God. Luther (and many others) saw this as being contrary to the Gospel and the teaching of the Church, and was determined to put a stop to it.

At that time, people who opposed the papacy were likely to be put into prison at the very least, if they were not put to death as heretics. But Luther's faith gave him the courage to stand up for what he firmly believed to be God's own truth. More and more people were coming to believe that the church's teaching should be based only on God's Word, and Luther was given official protection by the political leaders of his part of Germany.

The papacy expelled Luther and those who agreed with him from its church. This made it legal for anyone to kill Luther on sight, without a trial. But by now the Lutheran church was taking shape, because it no longer seemed possible to change the church from the inside.

• Teaching the faith. The new church had many of the same problems as the old one. Most people did not know even the Ten Commandments, the Creed or the Lord's Prayer. Luther worked hard to change this. He put the Bible and the church's worship services into the language of the people. Hymns were written, sermons were regularly preached, and with great intentionality God's people were fed with the Word of Life.

• Sharing the faith. Luther's work was not only for Germany. His rediscovery of the Gospel spread throughout all of Europe, and many people came to Wittenberg to learn from him. Many more read his books. Two early English Bibles were translated by Tyndale and Coverdale, men who were heavily influenced by Luther. Many of the leading writings of the Church of England showed the marks of Luther's work.

Luther struggled throughout his life to bring all Christians to a common understanding of the Gospel. Sadly, however, differences still remained. In human terms, the endeavor to reform the church succeeded only in splitting it. But today many churches recognize their debt to Luther. The freedoms we enjoy to worship God and to hear the Gospel, to read the Scriptures and to teach our children the faith, all of these are part of the legacy left to us by Luther.

So, grab this flick, pop the corn, gather your teenagers, and enjoy. Let me know what you think. My e-mail is pjk@popdove. (This movie is rated PG-13 for a couple of scenes that show the result of the violence of the day and some of the strong confrontations Luther had denouncing the devil.)