Brave

You may have heard yesterday at church that it was Reformation Sunday.   500 years ago this week, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Thesis on the Wittenberg Door.   Because of this action, the things that needed confronting in the Catholic (one and only) church at that time were addressed and the protestant religion was formed.    His stand had a huge effect on all of us.  He was the first one to teach that salvation and eternal life are not earned by good deeds but are only received as a free gift of God’s grade through faith in Jesus Christ as redeemer from sin.

He was definitely a hero of the faith and yet at the time he had no idea that he was going to be viewed as a brave man who changed history and started a reformation.  In fact, he was kind of a nervous wreck before and after the nailing of the thesis on the door.   Afterwards, he remained scared and went into hiding when he was declared an outlaw and his writing was banned.   We had the opportunity to recant many times and seriously considered it. 

We may not know what God is going to ask us to do today.   It might be something that seems small but later others will realize it was something very big.  It might be something that changes history for the world…. or it could be something that changes history for one person, on child, one family.

Martin Luther didn’t see what life would be like 500 years after he did his brave deed.  Neither will you and I be able to see what life is like 50 years from now for a person who we impact today.   But God is calling us to be brave and do what He asks today … and tomorrow… and the day after that.  One day at a time.