Martin Luther - Doctor and Confessor of the Church

Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
Revelation 14:6–7

Forget for a moment that we use his name to designate our churches (something that Luther was never very excited about in the first place). Why would we commemorate this man who died nearly 500 years ago? Well, the main reason the Church remembers any saint, that is any Christian man or woman, is to thank God for giving such a faithful servant to His Church and for all the great things God worked through that saint. And it is the same reason we choose to designate this day, the day of his death, as Martin Luther’s commemoration day.

Through this man, God gave inexpressible gifts to all the churches of Christ in Germany and around the world. Through this man, God triumphed gloriously over the kingdom of Satan and over so much shameful idolatry and human tradition that had been set up in the Church. Through this man, God defended His holy Gospel against all worldly might and false teaching. God gave to this man, our dear father and doctor, the Spirit of power and strength so that he was not afraid to boldly bear witness to the Gospel and the pure doctrine of God’s Word.

Now this man, so blessed and used by God for the sake of His holy name, this man died; but the mighty, godly doctrine of this man still lives. And this is really the most important reason we would commemorate this man. We commemorate him for what he taught. Luther’s doctrine was not his own ingenious creation, but Luther’s doctrine, his teaching, was nothing less than the doctrine of the eternal Gospel of Jesus Christ. Yes, the man died; but the message still lives, because this message cannot die.

It is for this reason that the man, Martin Luther, has sometimes been connected to the angel of Revelation 14. At Luther’s funeral in the Castle Church of Wittenberg, Johannes Bugenhagen, Luther’s friend and pastor, preached the sermon. And in this sermon Bugenhagen identified Luther with the angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal Gospel to proclaim. Of course, Luther was a man and not an angel, nor do men become angels when they die. But an angel is a messenger. And what Bugenhagen saw was the one message heralded by both this winged messenger in Revelation 14 and this human messenger who went by the name of Martin Luther—the one message of the eternal Gospel.

The angel said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give Him glory.” These are the two parts of the doctrine that Martin Luther taught: the Law and the Gospel. Through these two parts, all of Holy Scripture is unlocked and Christ, our righteousness, is recognized. “Fear God,” is the message of the Law. He is the one and only God, the only one to be feared, the only one who has the power of life and death. And in His Law, God threatens to punish all who break His commandments. Therefore, we should fear His wrath and not do anything against them (Small Catechism, Close of the Commandments).

But “give God glory,” is the message of the Gospel. For the true glory of God is seen in the death and resurrection of Christ. The true glory of God is seen in His justification of sinners, when they believe that they are received into favor and that their sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake (Augsburg Confession IV:2). So, to rightly give God glory—to rightly worship Him—means to have faith in Him. God wants to be worshiped through faith so that we receive from Him those things He promises and offers (Apology IV:49). God wants to get glory through our faith when we hear His Word and receive His Sacraments, for there He promises and offers forgiveness, life, and salvation to us.

“Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come,” said the angel. When God’s Law is pronounced against sin, when His glory is revealed in the forgiveness of sin, when the message of the eternal Gospel is preached, then the hour of His judgment has come. Wherever God’s Word is purely preached, either by an angel from heaven or by a man named Luther, then God’s judgment, His will, is made known. And when a sinner believes in Christ, then the judgment of God is that this faith counts for righteousness in His sight (AC IV:3). The sinner is acquitted, set free, and given life.

When we remember Martin Luther who lived and died nearly 500 years ago, it’s obvious that a lot has changed in our world and even in our churches. But it should also be obvious what has not changed. First, our sinful human nature has not changed. We are not so different from the people Luther preached to, or from Luther himself. We have the same weaknesses, the same inclination to doubt God’s Word and give into sin. We have the same lies and threats from the devil and the world attacking us on every side. We have the same desperate need for a merciful God.

But here’s the other thing that has not changed: the eternal Gospel of Jesus Christ. He is our God and our Man, who made satisfaction on our behalf and suffered the penalty for our sin. With His holy precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death He redeemed us lost and condemned sinners, so that we might be His own and live under Him in His kingdom, just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity (SC, Creed, 2nd Article). This eternal Gospel proclaimed by Christ and His Apostles, and also proclaimed by Luther and many other servants of God, is still proclaimed to you today. Thanks be to God.

If we look around our churches today with disappointment, and see congregations closing, and pews standing empty; if we see this eternal Gospel discarded and despised by those within the Church and those without; if we fear that God has taken away such great servants as Luther, or that He has sent His angel on to other lands and has forsaken this one because of our sin and ingratitude, then we should admit that this may in fact be true. And so then, we should improve our lives and pray to God our heavenly Father through His Son, just as dear children ask their dear father (SC, Lord’s Prayer, Intro.), in order that we would always remain in the pure teaching of His Word and so be protected by Christ from the world and its tyrants, from the peddlers of alternative gospels, and from all the powers of hell.

O God, preserve in Your Church faithful preachers and devout hearers. Lord Jesus Christ, protect Your poor Christendom, that we may praise You eternally. Help us, God our Savior, have mercy on our sins, and rescue us for the honor of Your name. Amen.

This commemoration was inspired by the funeral sermon for Martin Luther preached by Johannes Bugenhagen. This sermon can be found in Johannes Bugenhagen: Selected Writings. Volume 1. Translated by Kurt Hendel. Fortress Press. 2015.