It never occurred to me as a kid to dress up as Martin Luther for Hallowe’en. (By the way, that’s the way I was taught to write it when I was in school. It’s a contraction for Hallow Evening.) I suppose if I had done the Luther thing, I would have jeopardized getting candy from the Roman Catholic households.

Hallowe’en and Luther are connected because it was on October 31, 1517, that he sent the “Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences” or Ninety-five Theses to Albert of Brandenburg, Archbishop of Mainz. He may have posted them on the door of All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg on or around the same time. History is a little murky about that part of the story.

Pope Leo didn’t like the Theses. According to legend, he asked what drunken German had written them. I’m not sure today all Lutherans would like the Theses either. Here’s the first one: “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent,’ he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.”  An entire life of repentance? Are you nuts? I’m not that big of a sinner that I need forgiving all the time. (I knew a Lutheran who actually said something like that.) When we start thinking we don’t have anything to repent of, we really need to repent.

Luther didn’t foresee where his Theses would lead. He wanted to debate. Instead of discussion, he was met by attempts to silence him. I wonder if we Lutherans want to hear him today?

Read Matthew 4:17 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne