Sola Spiritus
On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the Wittenberg Door; the subtitle: Disputation on the Power of Indulgences.
…addressed to Cardinal Albert of Brandenburg, who had been given the Archbishopric of Mainz…
well, not really given–he bought it…
…well, not exactly bought…
Albert made large “donation” to the church and thus was “given” the Archbishopric.
Cardinal Albert sent his toadie Joahan Tetzel to raise funds to recover the Cardinal’s “donation” by selling indulgences for past sins committed,
and if enough money was given, for future sins committed,
These indulges promised to release souls from purgatory, where they were otherwise doomed, according to the teaching of the the Church,
to suffer punishment for sins.
Thus Tetzel’s infamous couplet, “As soon as a coin in the coffer rings / the soul from purgatory springs.
Thus Luther’s 95 point disputation on the power of indulgences cut three ways…
First, of course, Luther’s wrote in defense of the poor, vulnerable, illiterate masses who believed indulgences released the souls of their beloved from suffering in pergatory…
Second, he wrote to oppose the use of indulgences of the wealthy to buy a get out of purgatory card in advance so they could sin with impunity.
Third, to stand up for vulnerable souls exploited by the alignment of religion with the power of the wealthy, by the alignment of politics and religion.
Historians call this period of time the Great Reformation, which we celebrate together today.
Luther’s protest lifted humanity out of the Dark Ages and led to the
Age of Enlightenment primarily by his translation of the bible into German, initiating a movement toward literacy .
In time, as the Reformation movement coalesced with a name we use today, Protestantism.
Luther’s theological genius condensed into a three-point message of protest:
In Latin: Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide, Sola Gratia:
Scripture alone, Faith alone, Grace alone.
Sola Scriptura: Scripture Alone: Scripture, Luther said, must govern church traditions and practices.
Luther’s translated the Latin bible into German, printed by Gutenberg allowing common people to read the bible themselves rather than trusting Church’s scribal class to read it for them.
People themselves must judge whether church tradition lined up with scripture.
This is the beginning of literacy. People learned to read so they could read for themselves; church became an institution of learning, which later blossomed into a movement for education.
Sola Fide: Faith Alone: good works are not a means for salvation. Justification is received by faith alone, without any need for good works.
Salvation can neither be bought nor earned, but is available to all through faith.
We, the people, have direct access to God in Christ through faith, unmediated by the church.
Sola Gratia: Grace Alone: Grace is “unmerited favor,” a free gift given to us through Jesus Christ, the grace of God in human form.
Grace unearned and unearnable. Free and unpurchaseable. A mystery, to be sure. We cannot see it, cannot judge it in others, nor be sure of it in ourselves, for we are simultaneously Saint and Sinner.
End of History Lesson.
Now then, to celebrate the Reformation 2026,
by way of a story, as a way of uniting Scripture and Faith and Grace,
I would like to propose a fourth Sola…Sola Spirutus, Spirit Alone.
The story:
Wiley Pitman was a jovial brown-skinned man, a big man with a wide grin, a fine piano player.
Wiley and Miz Georgia, owned the Red Wing Cafe, a wooden plank building in the Georgia countryside.
The Red Wing doubled as a small general store, where Miz Georgia sold kerosene and matches, flour and salt, cold beer and pig’s-foot sandwiches.
There were a few tables in the middle of the floor, and against one wall stood Wiley Pittman’s piano.
Out back was a boardinghouse with.rooms for watermelon pickers who overflowed the place in summertime…
A gathering space, a safe place for families, for children who played while their parents worked.
In the summertime on weekdays, Wiley Pitman would practice his piano playing, sweating in the Georgia heat,
windows and doors wide open,
the sound of his piano flowing like water out of the Red Wing.
The sound of the piano washed over one boy,
who broke away from his playmates,
pulled up a stool next to Riley,
Stood on top of it,
and started banging on the piano with his little fists.
Wiley could have shooed away the little boy, could have said, “Run along now child, I’m practicing,” but he did not;
Rather Wiley said to the little boy, “Oh, you love music so much, let me teach you how to play a little tune with just one finger.”
This was the little boy’s first piano lesson, a boy who at 7 would go blind,
who as grown man would say “I was born with music inside me. Like my ribs, my liver, my kidneys, my heart. Like my blood.”
“Had it not been for Riley Pittman, I wouldn’t be here today and then where would I be. Why did he take time for me, a little boy interrupting his practice?”
Asks the man told this sweet story, and set it to music
Georgia, Georgia
The whole day through
Just an old sweet song
Keeps Georgia on my mind
Sola Spiritus; Spirit Alone.
That moment, that blessing, when the the Spirit alone acts through us in ways we can neither see nor measure,
Anymore that Riley Pittman could have seen that little boy would go blind, would become the Ray Chales who blessed the world with his music.
Sola Spiritus, Spirit alone, unites all the solas as we hope and pray to our lives will follow the pattern of the scriptures, will inspire us to live by faith and live a flourishing life of gratitude with thanksgiving for the grace of Jesus Christ.
You see, we have been given something extraordinary; it is the glorious opportunity to baptize people with notice and love and dignity, to see the music in them the way Wiley saw the music in little Ray Charles.
The Spirit works through us.
We are given the highest honor in faith to extend God’s favor, the grace of Jesus Christ, which can neither be earned nor purchased..
Flowing from God to a world of people who are looking to find the music inside of them, not that they need to be changed into something else, but that the gifts each of us are given is a note in the heavenly melody which is our lives.
The Spirit flows through us into the world when we treat every soul the way Wiley Pitman treated little Ray Charles,
for the music of God lies inside every heart,
It forms the human soul, a longing, a hope, a need to trust love, to take care of people who are hurting in any way, to follow the suffering, courageous, daring, boundless love of God revealed in Jesus Christ.
We wear Red to Celebrate Pentecost Fire and Wind, the coming of the Spirit, the Gift of the Spirit is the music of life, we were born with Spirit inside of us.
Like our ribs, our livers, my kidneys, our hearts. Like our blood.
The Spirit is our lifeblood, so let us follow the Spirit alone, through scripture alone, in faith alone, with grace alone.
Thanks be to God
