MARTIN
LUTHER
A Statement
from The Office of the President
The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
1333 South Kirkwood Road
St. Louis, Missouri 63122
United States of America
On November
10, 1483, Hans and Margarete Luther were blessed by
God with the gift of a son. The next day the baby
boy was baptized and given the name of the saint of
the day, Martin. We thank God for the precious gifts
He has has given to us through the work of his faithful
servant, Dr. Martin Luther.
There have
been more books written about Martin Luther than any
other figure in history, except our Lord Jesus Christ.
Luther's life and work tranformed Western civilization
and consequently impacted the entire world. The changes
initiated at the time of the Reformation laid the
foundation for revolutionary changes in economics,
politics, culture, philosophy and in just about every
area of life imaginable.
However,
it is not for these things that we remember and praise
God for Martin Luther. Rather it is for the clear
and penetrating voice of the living Gospel which resounded
from Luther's pulpit, classroom and home. The vibrant
and joyous Good News poured forth from the pen of
Luther, obliterating centuries of dark ignorance concerning
the grace of God through Christ the Savior.
Do Lutherans
worship Luther? Of course not! Sometimes others perceive
our admiration for Luther as worship. The best and
perhaps the only way we can explain to others why
it is we admire this man and his work so much is to
let them read Luther themselves. Share with someone
a copy of Luther's Galatians commentary, or his Small
and Large Catechism, or his preface to the book of
Romans, and they will come away with a new found respect
for this man of God.
Our own
Dr. C. F. W. Walther was rescued from pietism by being
introduced to the works of Dr. Luther during an illness.
Years later, writing to a pastor in another Lutheran
synod, he explained why Luther is so important to
our Synod. "If you have such a great longing
to learn Lutheran doctrine, to cling to it, and faithfully
to teach it, I would urge you to read Luther's writings.
It cannot be otherwise that in Luther the Lutheran
doctrine is the purest, the brightest, the most complete
and original (according to the Scriptures). It is
plain stupid to continue to argue about Lutheran doctrine,
and to follow one's presumptions, and not to turn
to Luther himself...you will soon become divinely
certain and happy in your faith and in your standpoint
within and toward the church" (Selected Letters
of Dr. C. F. W. Walther, CPH: 1981, p. 112).
That was
good advice then and still is today. I encourage you
to pull down a volume of Luther's writings from your
bookshelf for reading and study. As you do, pause
a moment to thank God for His faithful servant, Dr.
Martin Luther.
From:
The President's Newsletter, November 1995, p. 2
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