Lightning Faith

Rumor has it that Martin Luther had a faith crisis in the midst of a thunderstorm. He ended up nailing to a church door 95 reasons to believe in a different way. The lightning evidently "put the fear of the Lord" in him and made him realize that the need for a new way to God was not something to just think about but that he needed to act on his faith.

Yesterday I witnessed a thunderstorm with its power and remembered brother Martin. A thunderstorm can leave you without power because of its power. Luther ended up saying that "faith" is the sole foundation for what he understood salvation to be. He was tired of the church saying that it had to be the constant "middle-man" or broker for God's love.

In a flash of light Luther said it "was faith alone" that did the trick. You did not have to pay off a priest to get your sins forgiven. The road to God did not have to go by the preachers desk. He offered a new concept, "the priesthood of all believers."

This is why I tell people that though I wear robes and have degrees you have the right and the privilege to disagree with me. We are all in this together. I'm on the road "with" you and the lightning flashes in all of our skies.

The God of "earthquake, wind, and fire" often comes in that "still small voice" or better translated, "in the sound of gentle stillness." Let us listen together. Faith lures us toward a God who longs for us to be on the journey. Both in the flashes of light in the sky and in the soft sound of the breeze God longs to be with us.

On night long ago when the sky was clear God sent Immanuel...God with us. In the sound of gentle stillness and in the power of thunder the God of all life speaks...
jody jseymour@davidsonumc.org