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Perhaps the best way to commemorate the Reformation may be simply to return to our baptisms, where we were marked with the cross of Christ forever.


Theses 92 and 93: “And thus,


away with all those prophets who say to Christ’s people, ‘Peace, peace’ (Jeremiah 6:14), and there is no peace. May it go well for all of those prophets who say to Christ’s people, ‘Cross, cross,’ and there is no cross!” These statements summarize the


entire 95 Theses. Luther accuses indulgence preachers of offering false peace to people by proclaiming escape from God’s chastisement by obtaining letters of indulgence. Christians can no more avoid the consequences of sin than they can buy their way out of death. Many secular and ecclesiastical


preachers in our day lure people into the same trap—offering all kinds of “peace” (emotional, financial, familial or societal) and ignoring the truth of the human condition. A letter from 1516 that Luther wrote to a fellow Augustinian, who had just lost his position as prior, clarifies his point: That person whom no one disturbs does not have peace—on the contrary, this is the peace of the world. Instead, that person whom everyone and everything disturbs has peace and bears all of these things with quiet joy. You are saying with Israel, “Peace, peace, and there is no peace”; instead say with Christ, “Cross, cross, and there is no cross.” For as quickly as the cross ceases to be cross, so quickly you would say joyfully (with the hymn), “Blessed cross, among the trees there is none such [as you].”


It’s tempting to proclaim and


believe in worldly peace. The Christian life, however, moves daily from cross to resurrection, from terror to peace, from death to life, and—as in our daily baptism—from drowning to rising. This movement properly distinguishes law (which shows sin and puts to death) from gospel (which proclaims forgiveness and brings to life). It also demonstrates what


Luther called the theology of the cross, that is, the revelation of God in the last place we would reasonably look (namely in the midst of sin, suffering and death). Thus, our proclamation on


Reformation Sunday, and every Sunday in between, is simply: “You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). In later writings, Luther associates this “saint and sinner,” “dying and rising” and “hidden life of faith” with baptism. Perhaps the best way to commemorate the Reformation may be simply to return to our baptisms, where we were marked with the cross of Christ forever.


Citations from Martin Luther’s 95 Theses with Introduction, Commentary and Study Guide by Timothy J. Wengert (Fortress Press, 2015).


Timothy J. Wengert is emeritus professor of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia.


Image: From the collections of the Berlin State Library via Wikimedia Commons. This work has been identified as being free of known restrictions under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights.


SPIRITUAL PRACTICES & RESOURCES • LIVINGLUTHERAN.ORG 29


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