On the last Sunday in October, Christians around the world remember the Reformation in the church in the 16th Century, in which the gospel of Jesus was restored to the heart of western Christianity. It was October 31 1517, when Martin Luther, a priest and scholar in the church, nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in the German town of Wittenburg.
Luther’s goal had been to reform the church from within, but in fact he was unsuccessful in this endeavour. What followed was a sharp divide between Roman Catholicism and what came to be known as the Protestant Church. The Protestants, led by men like Luther, Calvin and Zwingli in Europe and Cranmer and Tyndale in England, sought to return the church to the Bible’s message that salvation from sin and rebellion against God is not earned by doing good works, but can only be received as a free gift. In God’s grace, his undeserved favour, we can be saved from the penalty of sin and rebellion by faith in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.
Justification: “The act of declaring or pronouncing one to be righteous”
On October 31 1517, Martin Luther, a priest in the church and professor of theology at the University of Wittenberg in Germany, nailed a document to the door of Wittenberg’s “Castle Church.” It was the statement which came to be known as Luther’s 95 Theses, and which sparked the Protestant Reformation that swept across Europe in the 16th Century.
The 95 Theses were a response to the Roman Catholic practice of selling “Indulgences”- the promise of partial remission of the punishment for sin, which could be secured by giving money to the church. The church at the time was raising money for the rebuilding of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
Paul Harrington, Senior Minister of the Trinity Network, speaks about ministry challenges at the Trailblazing — Ministry with Purpose Conference in Sydney last week.
This is the day, one week before Easter, when Christians have traditionally remembered Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. According to the accounts preserved for us by the gospel authors, crowds of people went out to welcome Jesus into the city, waving palm branches, a national, even nationalistic, symbol for Israel and a sign of victory over one’s enemies. The crowd spread their cloaks on the road in front of Jesus, shouting words from Psalm 118, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” But rather than reflecting a true understanding of Jesus’ identity and purpose, the events of Palm Sunday really show that the crowd had an inadequate grasp of who their king was. That within a week their cries could turn from “Hosanna!” (a Hebrew expression of praise which means “save us”) to “Crucify him!” shows just how far the people were from being ready to accept God’s Messiah.
The Messiah had arrived, although not as the crowd was expecting. Jesus himself indicates that the salvation promised through the prophet Zechariah has arrived by riding into the city on a donkey. This also should have served as a corrective to the overzealous nationalism of the crowd, who were expecting a warrior Messiah, but as we know, it did not. Here was a king, to be sure, but a king coming to make peace, not war. A king coming to make peace between us and God.
In some churches with a very formal liturgy, those leading the service on Palm Sunday traditionally say the following prayer before commencing the service. Perhaps this week you’ll have an opportunity to pray these words or similar as we reflect on Palm Sunday:
Merciful God, as we enter this holy week and gather at your house of prayer, turn our hearts again to Jerusalem, to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, that, united with Christ and all the faithful, we may one day enter in triumph the city not made with hands, the new Jerusalem, eternal in the heavens, where, with you and the Holy Spirit, Christ lives in glory for ever.
Traditionally, today is the day on which people begin to make their Christmas puddings. But the tradition goes much deeper than that. In the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, the collect or special prayer for today, the last Sunday before Advent, concludes: Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. "Stir Up Sunday" as it is jokingly called, marks the end of what is known as the liturgical year and next week, the beginning of Advent. More than just a time for advent calendars (which these days mostly have chocolate in them! Is nothing sacred?!), Advent comes from a Latin word which means "coming" and during these 4 weeks before Christmas, we remember Jesus' coming as a baby, and look forward to his second coming in glory. I think it's wonderfully appropriate that at Trinity Hills we're finishing our teaching series on Jesus return just as we launch into the season during which Christians have especially pondered it for centuries.
As we approach Advent and Christmas, with all their busyness and distractions, why not pray that God our Father will help us all to hear the call of Christ the king and to follow in his service; the service of the Kingdom which has no end and which we long to see in all its fullness.
In any sphere of life, failure to understand the times can have castastrophic consequences. It is a wise person indeed who comprehends the days in which we live and orders affairs appropriately. Jesus coming governs the future ... and especially should shape ours.
Understanding the Times is a public lecture by William Taylor, senior minister of All Souls Church, Bishopsgate, London. He is a respected evangelical leader who has the knack of being able to identify and speak to the issues of our day. He has been invited to Adelaide to speak at the SA Preaching School, but this public lecture will be about his recent book, Understanding the Times, based on Matthew’s gospel chapters 8-10. There will be an opportunity for questions from the floor during William's presentation. His latest book, Understanding the Times will be available on the night.
A couple of years ago I was at a preaching conference where Don Carson and Dale Ralph Davis where the main speakers. Their various books were available for sale at the bookstall and I simply couldn't pass up Davis' book, The Word Became Fresh! It's the only time I can recall buying a book almost entirely because I thought the title was clever!
In Article 2, we read the Reformers insistence that the eternal Word of God, did indeed become flesh as per John 1:14.
The Son, which is the Word of the Father, begotten from everlasting of the Father, the very and eternal God, and of one substance with the Father, took Man’s nature in the womb of the blessed Virgin, of her substance: so that two whole and perfect Natures, that is to say, the Godhead and Manhood, were joined together in one Person, never to be divided, whereof is one Christ, very God, and very Man; who truly suffered, was crucified, dead, and buried, to reconcile His Father to us, and to be a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but also for all actual sins of men.
"Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start" sang Maria to her new pupils in Rogers and Hammerstein's final work, The Sound of Music. I'll take Fraulein Maria's advice and start this series on The 39 Articles with Article 1 - Of Faith in the Holy Trinity.
There is but one living and true God, everlasting, without body, parts, or passions; of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness; the Maker, and Preserver of all things both visible and invisible. And in unity of this Godhead there be three Persons, of one substance, power, and eternity; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
Griffith Thomas (1861-1924) in his significant work on the Articles, The Principles of Theology, states that there are two main truths to Article 1; The unity of the Godhead and the Trinity in the Godhead. To this we could also add that the Article speaks to the some of the characteristics of the Godhead, laying the foundations for the Articles that follow, especially those focussing on aspects of God's person and work in the first section (1 - 5).
In the light of the new series of posts on The 39 Articles, I thought I'd share news of a conference I was invited to (invited in the sense of a mass email - they didn't want me particularly!).
Here on our site, you can read The 39 Articles, the historic statement of faith of the Anglican Church. These short statements written in the 16th Century, are a brief and condensed summary of what the Church considers the most central doctrines and teachings of the Christian faith.
My co-blogger Andy and I have been discussing the value of having the Articles on the website. We believe they are "eminently Protestant and eminently Evangelical" (as Bishop J C Ryle wrote in 1900) but how comprehensible are they to modern ears? Can we expect people to even know what they mean?
Therefore, starting with this post which will serve as a bit of an introduction, I'll be blogging on The 39 Articles, the Statement of Faith of Trinity Mount Barker, and in fact, all churches in the historic Anglican tradition. At this stage, I'm not sure whether I'll examine each of them, or just choose a few which may be of particular interest to 21st Century Christians. We'll see what happens as we go along! You can make requests, too, if you want to hear about an Article you think I may otherwise skip!
On the last Sunday in October, Christians around the world remember the Reformation in the church in the 16th Century, in which the gospel of Jesus was restored to the heart of western Christianity. It was October 31 1517, when Martin Luther, a priest and scholar in the church, nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in the German town of Wittenburg.
