Dean Hill’s Reformation Sunday speech was striking to me, especially the part on Martin Luther’s sermon, The Freedom of the Christian:
A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none.
A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.
These two theses seem to contradict each other. If, however, they should be found to fit together they would serve our purpose beautifully. Both are Paul’s own statements, who says in I Cor. 9[:19], “For though I am free item all men, I have made myself a slave to all,” and in Rom. 13[:8], “Owe no one anything, except to love one another.” Love by its very nature is ready to serve and be subject to him who is loved. So Christ, although he was Lord of all, was “born of woman, born under the law” [Gal. 4:4], and therefore was at the same time a free man and a servant, “in the form of God” and “of a servant” [Phil. 2:6–7].
I am glad to have had the chance to reflect on Luther’s teaching of relying on grace alone, faith alone, and Scripture alone. It is incredible to think about his influence, how he made religion more accessible to people. For example, he assumed girls should be taught the catechism, insisted marriage was just as important as vocation and that music is next to theology. This is an interesting essay to read from the New Yorker about Luther’s influence. I have yet to learn more about Martin Luther.
It was inspiring to see what people wrote on the “What Would you Reform?” blackboards on the Marsh Plaza on Tuesday, October 31. Here is what some people wrote:
- Religious education across North America
- Trump’s Travel Ban
- Nuclear weapon
- ME
- Remembering history as romanticized and not true
- Financial aid based on parent income
- Self care
- The way we live our lives on social media
- Old cancerous values
- Health care
- Criminal justice system
- The binary conception of body and soul
- Grade deflation @BU
- The way we treat each other
We are living in a time of political turmoil, and there are many things that we may want to reform, but may not necessarily be able to change in our capacity. Nevertheless, it felt good to write out something, and it was fascinating to see what friends and strangers in our community care about. I hope we will all feel empowered by Martin Luther’s legacy and will take on action after sharing these thoughts.