I was searching online to discover what happened on this day in history. 202 B.C. – Roman legions defeated Hannibal Barca. Too bad for the Carthaginians. 1216 – King John of England dies and is succeeded by his nine-year-old son Henry. Good. King John was a rotten monarch (as we all know from watching Robin Hood movies.) 1512 – Martin Luther becomes a doctor of theology. Now that’s interesting.

If you grew up in a Missouri Synod Lutheran church, you were accustomed to hearing Luther referred to as Dr. Martin Luther. Luther was quite proud of his achievement. He wrote to a court official: “I have often said and still say, I would not exchange my doctor’s degree for all the world’s gold. For I would surely in the long run lose courage and fall into despair if, as these infiltrators, I had undertaken these great and serious matters without call or commission. But God and the whole world bears me testimony that I entered into this work publicly and by virtue of my office as a teacher and preacher, and have carried it on hitherto by the grace and help of God.”*

Lutherans have always valued education. There are 38 Lutheran Colleges in the United States. We insist our clergy earn graduate degrees before we ordain them. Every Lutheran church I’ve ever belonged to offers Bible studies and other educational activities.

God gave people minds. We’re supposed to use them. We’re supposed to feed them with knowledge. Thanks, Dr. Luther, for giving us a good example of a faithful, learned Christian.

Read Proverbs 19:8 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne

*Luther’s Works, 40:387-8