Why Reformation Day?

Today marks the 489th anniversary of the day Martin Luther nailed his 95 Thesis to Wittenberg Church door.

As someone who has only recently come to an awareness of Reformation Day itself, I have been asking the question "why should I celebrate it?" (at the same time as being thankful for a natural diversion from the utter pointlessness of Halloween).

It has prompted me to go over some old notes, and what follows includes extracts from an essay I wrote during FP. The title was '"Erasmus laid the egg which Luther hatched" - with this quote in mind assess and compare the contributions of both men to the 16th Century Reformation.' It was set by Ray Lowe (Biggin Hill, Kent) who brought the subject to life in his lectures. I hope that these will serve others like me, who need reminding of what happened (even if it is in very broad brush strokes), and of the huge change which the church is capable of.

Reformation's Impact
The effects of the 16th Century Reformation are beyond measurable. There is no way we can underestimate the lasting effect it has had on the global church. Christ’s bride has become more like Him as a result of its teachings. It is vital that the modern church remembers this; there are plenty of scholars and learned people today who would try to persuade us that the reformation’s only relevance today is nothing more than the fact that it empowered the people, provoked better education and paved the way for democracy.

Reformation's Story
Erasmus preceded Luther and had sought accuracy. He wanted to refine the existing church, nothing more or less. One of the practices he wished to change was the language churches used in services:

“I wish that the scriptures might be translated into all languages…I long that
the farm labourer might sing them as he follows his plough, the weaver hum them
to the tune of his shuttle, the traveller beguile the weariness of his journey
with their stories”.

His concern was the practical need to translate scripture and change our practices. By contrast, Luther said

"Others before me attacked the Church, I attack the doctrine of the
Church."

He was not willing to watch the church being less than it should be. He realised that there were deep-seated theological problems behind these inadequate Roman Catholic practices.

But what were these two reacting against? Mainly indulgences and purgatory.

Indulgences were the result of the Catholic separation of original sin, and sins we commit. The belief is that Christ’s death paid for our sinful nature, but any sins we commit need to be paid for separately, in the form of one of the seven means of grace (e.g. mass, penance, sacraments). Any sins left not atoned for had then to be worked out in purgatory (between this life and heaven/hell); this led to prayers for the dead.

However, it was believed that good works and prayers performed by Christians over time, and Jesus’ sinless life made up a treasury which could be called upon by the Church. This resulted in people paying the Church, in order to be “let off” their sins. There were even plenary indulgences which would give total exemption from purgatory; often these were relics (Mary’s milk, a piece of cross etc.). Tetzel is known to have marketed indulgences with the promise that “as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs!”

As people bought indulgences, they were told that all the proceeds were going to the rebuilding of St Peter’s Basilica, however, only half of it went towards this! The rest lined the pockets of people such as the Archbishop of Mainz and Frederick of Saxony.

So there was a lot to be questioned, and where criticism had started by centering around church practices, Luther moved the discussion onto doctrine.

The 95 Thesis
The Holy Spirit stirred Luther to speak out indulgences. He started to preach against them publicly on Sunday mornings, and then (as was the custom) nailed a thesis to the church door, calling for an academic debate on the subject.

It was called the 95 Thesis, made up of 95 points, but with two major themes throughout. The first theme was that repentance in an inward thing, and since indulgences have no inward value, they are not valid. The second stated that the Pope’s power is limited only to Earth – he has no power over the eternal state of man – therefore (again) indulgences have no spiritual value.

Unbeknown to Luther, his thesis was translated from Latin into German, and (thanks to the printing press) distributed across Europe. Because of this, it quickly became the manifesto for Reformation in the Church.

An Overflow of Consequences
As Tim Challies recently said, in nailing his thesis to his church door, Luther "struck a match, beginning a fire that quickly spread throughout Europe and throughout the world."

What followed was not only radical change in the church, including nation states breaking with Rome but the real fruit being the gospel restored to church life and an emphasis on the need of each individual to understand for themselves the gospel's message and necessity.

What In Our Day?
What I take from this brief overview is thankfulness to God that even though His church was beyond reaching the world with the gospel, He took time to re-engineer it so that it became fit for purpose. He didn't simply give up on it and look for some other people to carry His promises to the ends of the earth. No, He took time to carefully restore His church closer to New Testament principles.

We can expect Him to do the same in our day. As we look for the church to be fully restored we can wait expectantly for God to move and restore us that much closer to His norm. I believe He will do it. I believe He is doing it.

Martin Robinson and Dwight Smith make similar deductions in the opening words of "Invading Secular Space":

"This book begins with some fundamental convictions. First, that the
church is called to share in the mission of God. Second, despite its
weakness and manifest failures the church continues to occupy a central position
in the intention of God for His world. Third, that the church in the
Western world finds itself in deep crisis. Fourth, that however profound
that crisis might be, the church is called to rediscover its life and
witness. Fifth, that the re-imaging of the church can only take place
around the centrality of its call to mission. Sixth, the church
has encountered such radical challenges in the past. Seventh,
that it is possible for the church to be recast to meet the challenges
of our age, and that even now signs of the future church can be
detected with eyes to see."

The church has encountered such radical challenges in the past as the ones we face today. Surely that challenge the Reformation addressed was one of those? But listen to their seventh point: "It is possible for the church to be recast to meet the challenges of this age."

Hear that? It is possible. We will see the Church restored, the expression of Christianity changed around the world and God glorified through a glorious, triumphant Church!

Attribute 31: No means of measure can define His limitless love

It is endless. That means... it is endless. It has no end.

Unfortunately, the amount of descriptive language we have at our fingertips to describe it does have an end. Language is limited and can only impart a certain amount. However I believe as we use words the Holy Spirit gets behind them to reveal truth to us.

Often it can feel like we have experienced God's love in a better way than we can express. In fact, this is surely how it is supposed to be! To receive Jesus as a child, in an unsophisticated, unquestioning way without trying to understand every little detail, or necessarily being able to explain it. To feel like the truth is bursting out of us, and language struggles to contain it, rather than being able to explain it away with reams of imperfect language. To say that we could fully explain it on this earth then would be a lie.

But even our experience on earth is limited. Surely, it will only be in heaven that we will see in full! How exciting then, that our calling is to usher in this heavenly Kingdom, bringing the future Kingdom now more and more. Exciting, as that has an implication for our experience of His limitless love!

No means of measure can define it. No number of words can define it. In fact, our own experience of it on earth is imperfect (the perfect has not yet come!), so how glorious it will be to fully see in eternity the depth of the riches of His love, when we can rejoice in its limitlessness.

Attribute 30: He is the miracle of the ages

So many single aspects of Jesus' life, death and resurrection could be described as the miracle of the ages.

The fact that before the foundation of the Earth Jesus was begotten, knowing in advance the course that world history would take, forseeing the need for Him to come. The prophecies He fulfilled. The place, time and manner of His birth. His entire humanity and total God-ness. The many healings He performed. The place, time and manner of His death, and resurrection. His ascension into heaven. His willingness to use humanity as the primary outworking of His mission to earth in the church. All miraculous in themselves.

But all wrapped up in one amazing God-man means He alone is the miracle of the ages!

Mobilise 2006: Andy Martin

Seminar Two: From The Nations To The Nations

In this second seminar, and the start of the first full day of the conference, Andy brought to his seminar a helpful expansion on the theme of world mission. It was designed, not as a repeat of the previous year's seminar with the same title (which sadly I had not been at), but as an expansion on it, building on the foundation that it laid.

Having spent part of the Tuesday listening to Pete Cornford on Church planting, Andy's was a helpful perspective painting a broad picture of why world mission is a priority. He pointed out that what he brought would have similar feel and overall message to what David Devenish was planning to bring to the Together On A Mission conference later on in the week.

Ephesians 3:1-13:

"For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you
Gentiles- assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that
was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as
I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the
mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other
generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the
Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same
body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the
gospel.

Of this gospel I was made a
minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working
of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace
was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9and to
bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in
God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of
God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly
places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ
Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our
faith in him. So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you,
which is your glory."

The first line of my notes says: "This is a very missional passage, although not one of the obcvious ones"; I found it helpful to think of the whole Bible as being soaked with mission.

There are four distinctives to how we're working in Newfrontiers:

1) The Unreached
A series of reminders:

• The word "gentiles" means "all peoples" - this has an implication in the way we interpret the commands and promises of the Bible.
• Paul was always looking to go to regions beyond. Indeed it is sometimes embarassing to watch how overtly Paul expresses his wish to visit a place, that they may send him and help him to reach a new place with the gospel.
• There are about 15,900 people groups in the world. What is a people group? A people with a distinct language, culture or geography, or any combination, or all three. Peoples which are bigger than a family but smaller than a tribe (a clan?)
• 6,500 people groups of the world are unreached.
• Many unreached people groups have a population of millions.

2) The Church
A people to reach all peoples has always been God's desire. We see this just through flicking through the story of Abraham, looking at the Old Testament prophets and John 17 for example.

"Missional Church" by Darrel Guder was recommended.

Why so passionate about the church planting? Because of its New Testament value. Becaus ethe presence of God goes with who? The church. Because church planting is at the heart of spiritual warfare. And because church is where true disciples are made.

3) The Kingdom Of God
Churches are to demonstrate the Kingdom of God (Matthew 24:14). That means healing, setting the captives free, care for the poor etc. The result is that we are actively demonstrating the future, now.

4) Apostolic Ministry
Churches led apostolically, seeing people plant churches, laying foundations, appointing Elders, bringing revelation and wisdom.

In conclusion, we want to see churches reaching the regions beyond!

Blogspotting and Updates...

Here are some blogs that have been catching my eye during the last month or so.

Tim Suffield
A member of Grace Church Nottingham, originally from King's Community Church, Hedge End (near Southampton). Tim is studying Theology and we have discovered quite a few links or friends in common, as only fellow Newfrontiers people can! He is about to start posting on the subject of CUs etc. as part of a conversation with another person I've been watching...

Gareth Russell
Also studying at Nottingham, and a member of Cornerstone Church. I first came across Gareth when he responded to a post of mine on the Newfrontiers Student Worker Day in Oxford. A debate followed his response and although I have largely kept out of it, I recently revisited his original post to set the record straight and bring some concluding comments.

Dan Bowen
How can Dan not feature on this list?! He is about to follow in the fine tradition of my series This Is Not A Church Review, writing about his experience of visiting ChristChurch London last Sunday. Although I first noticed that particular service at ChristChurch because Kate Simmonds was leading worship and Greg Haslam preaching, it seems Kate was ill on the day and so couldn't be there. I'm sure Dan will fill us in though, so get over there to see what happened on Sunday! He has also posted on the latest Newfrontiers magazine (now in its third volume after a redesign!) which was distributed in most Newfrontiers churches last Sunday. He's too humble to point it out himself, but he and Scott are in the magazine, worshipping away on page 16. Just in case you missed it, here it is:

I had a similar thing once (see the inlay for The Passion Of God's Son CD from Leadership 04!).

Pete & Ali Mylon
Pete and Ali are an amazing couple from CityChurch Sheffield who recently got married and went straight out to Kerala in India to help the Newfrontiers church there in Kidz Klub and worship. It's great to be able to keep up to date on their travels even though separated by such vast distances. Family on a mission all the way!

Having lamented not being at prayer and fasting once or twice before, I was recently privileged to attend part of the two amazing days of prayer for Newfrontiers leaders in Derby at which I discovered Terry has been doing some blogspotting of his own! He referred briefly to his reading of Adrian Warnock's blog, who will soon be publishing another interview of a well-known Christian leader. I asked Adrian if it was Terry, and was told to guess again...

I have finally been connected to the internet! so hopefully blogging will start to increase again as I take time out to complete the few series-in-progress.

Mobilise 2006: Terry Virgo - Together On a Mission

Together On A Mission, Main Session: Tuesday Evening

Tuesday evening saw the first session which brought Mobilise to the Brighton Centre to join the Together On A Mission conference. How appropriate then, that it was Terry Virgo who brought the first message to us, as the full conference.

Hebrews 11:23-26 was the text and The Explosive Power Of Faith was the title.

Terry started by clarifying what it was he was meaning by faith: not just a means of obtaining things from God, but seeing that faith can involve making costly decisions.

"Making huge decisions rooted in things you presently
know"

Faith's Refusal
Moses' first step of faith was to refuse some things: "Moses, by faith refused..."and a whole community was able to be built on the foundation of the decisions he made by faith. He made sacrifices, but because of his faith-perspective it didn't seem like a sacrifice to turn his back on the things that were on offer to him.

"He was very happy to make this choice to turn down everything
that Egypt was offering him; and without that radical awareness at foundation,
we will never genuinely build a counter-cultural
church."

And his decision wasn't just based on what he thought he "should" do - there wouldn't have been anyone there to tell him! It was purely out of joyful faith that he turned his back on what was being offered to him. Similarly, the Christian life should not be rooted in a sense of morality, or a following of a "prohibition list", but a response of faith to everything that God has done. This is only brought about through a revelation of faith.

Moses' choice was at a significant time in history, as are we.

By faith Moses turned his back on an entire value system. By faith we are to say NO to this present age, because we have seen something infinitely better. Moses saw futility in the passing age he was in.

Faith's Choice
He chose to suffer ill-treatment with the people of God, actively choosing to be identified with the despised community, the slave community.

Faith's Consideration
"...considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than all the riches of Egypt, for he was looking for the reward..."

What Moses saw ahead genuinely excited him more. He knew he was attached to a group which carried the answer to world history, a group which would eventually come out of slavery. Not a group which is "inching up a philosophical cul-de-sac" (quoting Matthew Parris as he does in The Tide Is Turning), but which is altering the route of history.

He believed God would see them through because they were carrying world history. God wants us free. God wants us pressing into what will last forever.