A Summary of the Whole Christian Life

What are the most basic teachings of Christianity? 

At times, this is an area of controversy.  In the 16th century, the monk Martin Luther was threatened with excommunication for his teachings.  So he wrote what he said was a “summary of the whole Christian life” and sent it to the Pope, hoping for reconciliation: a brief spiritual classic called The Freedom of a Christian.  It offers a beautiful sense of faith as mystical, heartfelt and engaged in the world for the sake of the neighbor.

In our times, too, there are contrasting visions of what, basically, Christianity ought to be about.  Indeed, the values of our society as a whole have shifted, sometimes in disturbing ways.  What do people live for?  What do they trust?  And what about us?  What could it mean to live by faith today, inspired by Luther’s Freedom of a Christian?  Join us as we explore these questions!

Read with us: Freedom of a Christian is really just a tract (not a full book) and is often the one writing by Martin Luther people read (aside from the lyrics of A Mighty Fortress!).  Various versions can be found online for free, and you might consider this annotated version (good-sized font and margins).  We’ll have a few copies available at church.    

Join us at worship, October 12-November 2.  The service and sermons will take us through major themes of Freedom of a Christian, connected to the assigned lectionary scripture readings. What makes this Lutheran approach to faith and life different from other Christian and cultural belief or value systems? Topics:
October 12: The Message.  What message do we live by?  What’s “God’s word?”
October 19: The Embrace.  Who are we to God, and why does it matter?
October 26: The Experience.  What makes this kind of freedom different?
November 2: The Life.  What does it mean to live in love for our neighbors?

Join us for conversation: We’ll find a midweek happy hour time in late October (probably a Wednesday) to talk about the book – TBD.  But we’ll also discuss the book and sermons after worship on October 26 and November 2, at church and on zoom.  A question for these discussions will be: are there convictions, visions, values and practices here that we’d like to claim as a congregation, to inspire our mission going forward?  

“Christian individuals do not live in themselves but in Christ and their neighbor, or else they are not Christian. They live in Christ through faith and in the neighbor through love. Through faith they are caught up beyond themselves into God; likewise through love they fall down beneath themselves into the neighbor—remaining nevertheless always in God and God’s love …” from the conclusion of Freedom of a Christian.