I want to draw attention to five October and November dates which are significant for the way we live today. The first is 31st October, when in 1517, the German Monk, Martin Luther, pinned his “95 Theses” to the door of Wittenburg Church – a move which most people trace as being the catalyst for the Protestant Reformation. The title, “Defender of the Faith” was bestowed by the Pope upon King Henry VIII for his treatise opposing Luther’s teaching. Ironically, King Charles continues to bear that title, whilst making a vow at his coronation, “to maintain in the United Kingdom the Protestant Reformed Religion established by law.”
The second date is 6th October, which marks the life and work of William Tyndale who translated the Bible into English. Condemned as a heretic by Cardinal Wolsey, he was executed in 1536. His last recorded words, according to Foxe’s Book of Martyrs (1563) were, “Lord! Open the King of England’s eyes!” Within four years, Henry VIII, who had always opposed the translation of the Bible, decreed that an English translation of the Bible should be placed in every church in the country. Many of the first editions were based on Tyndale’s work. The “King James” Bible (published in 1611) contains much of Tyndale’s translation, and it is from Tyndale that we get many of our common expressions today, like “signs of the times” or “a law unto themselves” and even the words atonement and scapegoat.
The third date is 16th October, when, in 1555, the former Bishop of Worcester, Hugh Latimer, and former Bishop of London, Nicholas Ridley, were burnt at the stake for their Protestant views, which were regarded as treasonous by the Catholic Queen Mary and her supporters. Foxe records, in his 1586 version of his earlier work, that Latimer said to his friend as they approached the stake, “Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man; we shall this day light such a candle by God’s grace in England as shall never be put out.” It cannot be doubted that their labours to reform the church left an indelible mark on our nation.
World history is bloody and violent. But the present is no different. Because people are no different. We radically need a change of heart. Click To TweetThe fourth date is 5th November, when Catholic Guy Fawkes and others were foiled in their plot in 1605 to blow up the Houses of Parliament at the official opening of Parliament by King James I the next day. Parliament decreed in early 1606 that 5th November should be an annual day of remembrance and thanksgiving (for the foiling of the plot).
The final date is 11th November, when we remember the Armistice which ended the First World War in 1918 and all those who gave their lives in battle to protect their loved ones in that and subsequent conflicts.
World history is bloody and violent. But the present is no different. Because people are no different. We radically need a change of heart – from one which always seeks our own way to one which is patterned after the God in whose image we are made – a heart of love. As we don our poppies and remember those who gave their lives, let us commit to learn the ways of peace proclaimed in the face of great hostility by Luther, Tyndale, Latimer and Ridley, and let us, like them and like the Saviour they honoured, lay down our lives for our friends.
May the God of peace be with you.