– Paul Schlehlein

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Thirty-one October, 1517, is the day Martin Luther put hammer to nail and posted his 95 Theses upon the door of All Saints Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Reformation Sunday is the day that thousands of churches worldwide celebrate that historic moment. 

History of the Reformation

The Catholic Church in Luther’s day had become corrupt, promoting what Scripture rejects and denying what the Bible confirms. Luther was nurtured in the Catholic Church and had given his life to her as a monk. But as Luther dug deeper in the Scriptures—something Catholics were not supposed to do—the Holy Spirit began illuminating the sins of the Vatican.

Luther, as it were, had pulled up the floorboards of the Church, only to find the foundation infested with vermin. Down there were Hymenaeus and Alexander, Diotrephes and Elymas, eating away at the foundation of truth.

One of the termites in Luther’s day was a man named Johann Tetzel, who crafted this jingle: “As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs.” Among the false teachings of Rome was the doctrine of purgatory, a kind of holding tank between heaven and hell where sinners went after death. Thousands of years of punishment could follow, unless of course a dear loved one would buy a ticket (called an indulgence) which could release mother or father much quicker. 

The people came in droves, coins in hand, and no one was there to cry caveat emptor, buyer beware. They were blind sheep without a shepherd. In fact, they were goats. They had never heard Romans 1:17. “The just shall live by faith.”

J.C. Ryle once said that health is a good thing but sickness is far better if it leads us to God. The church in Luther’s day was sick. Ironically, it would point them to the Almighty.

Luther’s paper against these lies spread like wildfire. Thanks to the newly invented printing press, the Theses went through Germany in weeks and all of Europe in months. The Protestant Reformation had begun. 

It was Protestant because it was protesting Rome’s false teaching. It was a Reformation because it was calling people and institutions to change their sinful ways. 

Eventually, people began reading portions of the Bible themselves: kings, blacksmiths, farmers, noblemen, mothers and schoolboys. They saw that salvation comes through faith in the gospel, not by works. Individuals can go directly to God through Christ for forgiveness of sins and not through the mediation of a priest. 

Reasons to Celebrate

But why should the African Church celebrate this event that happened in Europe over 500 years ago?

First, Reformation Sunday reminds us that our articles of faith and the freedoms they bestow did not appear yesterday. We stand upon thousands of years of truth and upon the shoulders of those who gave their lives to bring us God’s Word. 

When the martyr Stephen preached in Acts 7, he urged his listeners to look back many millennia because that is where the story begins. Today, Christ-centered churches dot the African landscape, many proudly displaying the 5 Solas in their sanctuaries. These were the slogans of the Reformation—Scripture alone, Christ alone, faith alone, grace alone, to God alone be the glory. These urge the congregation to look back, while at the same time prodding them to look forward to Heaven. 

Second, Reformation Sunday warns us that we fight many of the same battles today as the reformers did a half-millennium ago. For example, Thesis 86 says, “Why does the pope, whose wealth today is greater than the wealth of the richest Crassus, build the basilica of St. Peter with the money of poor believers rather than with his own money?”

In today’s Africa, this could easily say: “Why does Makandiwa, Chris Oyakhilome, Shepherd Bushiri and Alph Lukau, whose wealth today is greater than the wealth of the richest diamond mogul, buy a Bombardier 8000 private jet with the money of the poor?” There is nothing new under the sun.

Finally, Reformation Sunday fills us with gratitude over the way true Christianity came to this continent. Protestant Churches are not perfect, but per the teachings of Jesus, they do not force people to convert. 

Contrast this with, for example, Spanish Jesuit Afonso Mendes and his arrival to Ethiopia in the 17^th century. He demanded conformity to the Roman Catholic Church and absolute allegiance to the pope. Dissenters were punished by hanging or being burned at the stake. Ethiopia is still reeling hundreds of years later. 

Conclusion

Thomas Sowell has said that we do not live in the past, but the past is in us. All believers today, including the African Church, owe a great debt to the Protestant Reformation. The Lord used that movement to bring light into a very dark world. Let us express our gratitude with joy and humility this Reformation Sunday.