On October 10, 1999, the American cable network A&E started counting down a list of the 100 most influential people (good or bad) of the millennium, from the year 1000 up through 1999. It was compiled by a group of 360 journalists, scientists, theologians, historians, and scholars from all over the world.
Do you know who was first? It was Gutenberg, the German printer who invented movable-type. Second on the list was Sir Isaac Newton, who contributed to physics, math, and the far reaches of the universe. Do you know who was third? Martin Luther. The guy who wasn’t a scientist, who never led an army, ruled a country, or painted a masterpiece. And it was not just the folks at Biography that felt this way about Luther. TIME Magazine put Luther in the second position of 100 most influential individuals of the last millennium. Here are some of the things he did:
- He stood up to the anti-Scriptural and misguided teachings of the church in his day.
- He gave people the Bible in their own language.
- He promoted education for everyone
- He wrote music
- He influenced almost every aspect of religious and secular life.
But here is something Luther did not do. He did not want people to call themselves “Lutheran.” In 1522, Luther, in his own colorful way, wrote:
“I ask that men make no reference to my name and call themselves not Lutherans but Christians. What is Luther? St. Paul would not allow Christians to call themselves Pauline or Petrine. How then should I, a poor evil-smelling maggot sack have men give to the children of Christ my worthless name?”
Luther had a way with words, didn’t he? And he took that position because, above and beyond everything else, he used the Bible to point people to the grace of God which is found only in Jesus Christ, God’s Son, the world’s Savior. Luther pointed out that the Bible wanted lost and sinful souls to realize that when the Holy Spirit gives them faith in the Savior, there is forgiveness and life eternal. That is why the Reformation is so significant. It is all about sharing Jesus.
When we celebrate the Reformation and the way God used Luther to restore the truth of His Word, we are not pointing people to Martin Luther. We are pointing people to Jesus. And it isn’t about our size or our strength. It is about what God can do. That was the reminder He issued through Zechariah when His people were given the daunting task of rebuilding the Temple after the Babylonian Captivity:
Zechariah 4:6 So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.
As the ones who have the Reformation as part of our heritage, we need to trust God’s power at work in us as we continue to point others to Jesus as the only hope for a fallen world. It is all about Jesus. He alone is our hope for life and forgiveness and salvation.
