Martin Luther, the Reformation & God's Tender Romance (Inclusion or Neglect?)"

 Ps. 116:5, NIRV

    The Reformation was full of heart!  This year we celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, with October 31 being Reformation Sunday.  In this post we look at some of the heart theology^[1] of the Reformation: an emphasis that is too often neglected.

     We also consider a neglected emphasis of Martin Luther’s thought—Luther being the man who was at the center of the Protestant Reformation.  Luther was, indeed, full of heart!  He was also a brilliant man.  He knew both head and heart must be nourished if there is to be wholeness in our relationship with God.  So Luther offered a full measure of both emphases to his students and followers.

     However, soon after his death, Luther’s followers increasingly turned to “rationalistic interpretations” and cooler “logical-conceptual”^[2] explanations of the great mysteries Luther had tackled so beautifully with full inclusion of a heart theology.

     What led Luther to his heart theology?  Luther had experienced a spiritual breakthrough in which he discovered the power of God’s Grace, mercy, and “loving kindness.”^[3]  Luther found that God offers us an invitation to such Grace and love and also an invitation into a mystery that he called a “royal marriage.”^[4]  Through this marriage the impossible is made possible! 

     How so?  We humans face an impossibility: the “impossibility of self-justification”^[5] before God; for we are full of foibles, weaknesses, sin, quilt, and our own shame.  How does God address this impossibility?  In Christ, God marries us!  This is totally an act of love and overwhelming Grace; it is not based on our own wavering merits.  And what happens in this royal marriage?  We take on all that is Christ’s—all Christ’s goodness and perfection becomes ours.  In turn, Christ takes on all that is ours: Christ absorbs all the weakness, failures, foibles, sin, and guilt in us (as he was doing originally on the cross; see 2 Cor. 5:18-19).  Luther speaks of the exchange that takes place in this royal marriage as a “happy exchange”^[6] (see 2 Cor. 5:21).

     And what of us now?  Now God sees us in terms of this “royal marriage” or “happy exchange”: this great love, gift, Grace, and forgiveness given to us.  God also now sees us through the goodness and perfection of Christ.  (Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow”^[7]: we ask for this with a sincere, honest heart.)  All of this is because of God’s loving self-donation (and union) to us in Christ, who gladly enters into this “royal marriage” with us.  We humbly “trust” in such unfathomable love, mercy, Grace, and bountiful generosity.  “Trust” is the key ingredient that we give back to God.^[8]   This is a “trust” the Holy Spirit will help us with as we ask, seek, knock (Lk. 11:19).  And as we truly live in “trust” and Grace, our love for God and others grows and bears fruit in the world.

     The above understanding is very much based upon Martin Luther’s thought.  Luther came to such thought about the Grace of this “royal marriage” after having experienced a terrible time of struggle as a young man—as he despaired over the impossibility of ever being a good enough monk or of ever experiencing “self-justification” in his life before God. 

     There had been much discussion of the mystical marriage between the soul and God before Luther’s time.^[9]  Luther valued this tradition and retained similar language: “[A] bridegroom possesses all that is his bride’s and she all that is his—for the two have all things in common . . .” ^[10] (in explanation of our relationship to Christ).  Luther writes, “Christ is your own, with his life, teaching, works, death, resurrection, and all that he is, has, does, and can do.”  Indeed, “all that he has becomes ours . . . he himself becomes ours.”^[11] 

     Martin Marty, writing of Luther’s marriage imagery, says that in “the biblical script that Luther provided [the marriage metaphor], the soul could say with the Song of Solomon: ‘My beloved is mine and I am his’ [2:16].”^[12]  In this regard Luther wrote that there “arises the voice of the bridegroom [Christ] who says to the soul, ‘I am yours.’” And, in return, “comes the voice of the bride who answers, ‘I am yours.’”^[13]  And in regard to “trust” (faith), Luther writes, “[F]aith couples Christ and me more intimately than a husband is coupled to his wife.”^[14] 

     To put this in our contemporary vernacular, Christ (the willing Bridegroom; Mt. 25:6; Jn. 3:29; Rev. 19:7; Hos. 2:19; 2 Cor. 11:2, RSV) absorbs all our negatives—ultimately even to the point of giving his own life.  In acceptance of Grace and by "faith" and  “trust” we absorb all his positives.  All of this is based upon nothing other than overwhelming divine Love and Grace given in a great tender romance.

     After all, what is royal marriage except a tender romance?  It certainly was this for Luther in his own marriage.  Martin and Katie first married almost as a matter of practicality.  But Luther wore his heart on his sleeve in regard to the deep love that grew in their lives.  Katie became for him “my darling” or “Katie, my rib” (after Gen. 2:21-13).^[15]  And Luther would say, “Katie, you have a husband that loves you.  Let someone else be empress.”^[16]

     In all of the above we see that Luther made full use of the language of marriage (tender romance)—language that many of his followers have tended to neglect.  As we celebrate Reformation Sunday we hope that we will not get lost in the details.  Luther wanted our relationship with God to be warm, real, abiding, and tender.  This was the secret relationship that made Luther so effective.  The Apostle Paul prayed that “the eyes of your heart may be enlightened”; Eph. 1:18.^[17]  He knew, as Luther did, that there are the eyes of the heart as well as the eyes of the mind.  Both need tender nourishment.

     (Note: Most often we hear forensic oriented [i.e., the language of the courts] explanations of Luther’s discovery of “justification by faith” and the impossibility of “self-justification” before God.  Meanwhile, such explanations too often neglect Luther’s discussion of intimacy with Christ (a royal marriage)—thus also neglecting Luther’s imagery of a tender romance^[18]). 

     We draw this segment to a close with Luther’s words about amazing Grace and God’s virtually unfathomable love: “But grace is so great that it amazes a human creature, and is very difficult to be believed. . . .  O! man’s [woman’s] heart is too strait and narrow to entertain or take hold of this.” ^[19]   May the Holy Spirit help us “take hold”!

     (We should note that John Calvin, another great leader of the Reformation, used--and retained--language similar to Luther’s “royal marriage”--in his case regarding the Church.  Calvin writes that “all those prophets and teachers who faithfully served God, were jealous [in care] of God’s spouse [God’s beloved people]. … Now to pastors and ministers the Lord commits his Church as his beloved wife.”[20]  Also see a previous post for further discussion of Luther’s response to God’s tender romance[21] and another that discusses the great divine romance of Heaven for us.[22])

(Also a special note to our Catholic friends: beginning in 1999, and continuing in years after, Catholic and Protestant leaders have joyfully entered into a Joint Agreement regarding understanding of God's Grace

and our “justification by faith”--indeed faith alone [Rom. 3:28].^[23] ) 

* * *

We close with thoughts for meditation, prayer/poetry/proverbs:

A Celtic-style refrain for meditation: ^[24]     

                                   

The tender romance of the Father;

the sacred romance of the Son;

the divine romance of the Spirit:

☘ The THREE but truly ONE!  💗

                                   

The tender romance in the heavens;

                             The divine romance come to earth:                             

calling “beloved” children--long lost--

home to a sacred romance,

brooding, expectant, longing

to welcome us

again.

                                 

     (With reflection upon God’s children, the “beloved” 

[Ps. 127:2; Rom. 9:25; Isa. 40:11, RSV, NRSVCE] and the 

brooding of the Spirit [Gen. 1:1-2, AMP], which surely 

continues in time.)

* 💗 *

A prayer to the God of the tender romance: [25]  

                                 

An opening to prayer/meditation:   

                                 

Be kissed by God’s tenderness

each morning

and each evening.

It will slowly . . . transfigure . . .

your life!

                                 

Help us, Lord, to find You!

We need Your promised romance,                                     

for the world can be hard and cold! ^[26]

                                   

(In Hosea God says of the children of God: “To them I was like 

one who lifts a little child to the cheek . . .”; Hos. 11:4, NIV. )

* 💗 *

An opening to prayer/meditation:

     (With reflection upon Mt. 5:1-12, John Newton’s hymn “Amazing Grace,”

["I once was lost but now I'm found"] and also the “beloved” of Ps. 127:2;

Rom. 9:25; Duet. 33:1, RSV, NRSVCE. [Note: we can be lost in many

different ways.  In our lives it has sometimes been discouragement--

including being vexed with spiritual discouragement. See this topic

addressed in another post.[27] )

* 💗 *

And finally, simply in celebration of the season (& another of Luther's

surprising emphases):

"If I Should Find a Castle"

The magic of the autumn woods,

   The geese that cry and scold,

The scents that weave among the trees,

   One leaf, red dipped in gold . . .

If I should find a castle

   Beyond the trail's bend

With fairies dancing on its gates

   And elves from end to end,

Could it hold more enchantment     

   Than that which I now see?

For every bush is holy

   And filled with mystery!

Martin Luther: “God in his essence is present everywhere, in and

through the whole creation in all its parts and in all places, and so

the world is full of God and he fills it all, yet he is not limited or

circumscribed by it, but is at the same time beyond and above the

whole. ...  All this is infinitely incomprehensible.”[28]  

Elizabeth Barrett Browning: "Earth's crammed with heaven, / And

every common bush afire with God . . ."; "Aurora Leigh."

***

(See additional blog posts after the “Notes” in Newer/Older Posts.)

.....................................

Notes:

1. Bengt R. Hoffman, Theology of the Heart: The Role of Mysticism in the Theology of
Martin Luther, ed. Pearl Willemssen Hoffman (Minneapolis: Kirk House, 2003).

(Also see Note 5 below.)

2. Bengt R. Hoffman, Luther and the Mystics (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1976), pp. 18-19.  

(This is the original form of the above volume [Note 1], and is a volume we

retain/treasure because of many personal notes in margins.)

3. See a sermon by Martin Luther (Second Christmas Sermon; Titus 3:4-8; taken from his

Church Postil of 1522; www.martinluthersermons.com/sermons15.html.  (Also see

Titus 3:4, RSV.)

4. Martin Luther, “The Freedom of the Christian,” Martin Luther: Selections From His
Writings, ed. John Dillenberger (Garden City, NY: Anchor, Doubleday & Company,

Inc., 1961), p. 61.   

5. Jack Kilcrease, “The Bridal-Mystical Motif in Bernard of Clairvaux and Martin
Luther,” Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Cambridge University Press, Vol. 65, Issue 2,  
April, 2014, pp. 263-70;

www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S00220496912003624.

6. An often quoted phrase taken from the German version of Luther’s “The Freedom

of the Christian, 1520.”

7. Isa. 1:18, ASV.

8. Martin Luther, "An Introduction to St. Paul's Letter to the Romans," Luther's German

Bible of 1522, trans. Robert E. Smith from Dr. Martin Luther's Vermischte Deutsche

Schriften, ed. Johann K. Irmischer (Erlangen: Heyder and Zimmer, 1854), 63:124-125.

9. Kilcrease, “The Bridal-Mystical Motif in Bernard of Clairvaux and Martin Luther,”

Journal of Ecclesiastical History; also see Paul Robert Sauer, “Mystical Marriage

Renewal,” Lutheran Forum, Spring, 2009, pp. 10-12.

10. Luther, “Two Kinds of Righteousness,” Martin Luther: Selections From His

Writings, ed. Dillenberger, p. 87.  (Also see “Pagan Servitude of the Church,”

pp. 328-329.)

11. Martin Luther, “Preface to the New Testament,” Martin Luther’s Basic

Theological Writings, ed. Timothy F. Lull and William R. Russell (Minneapolis:

Fortress Press, 2005), p. 111.

12. Martin Marty, Martin Luther (New York: Penguin Group, Viking, 2004), p. 64.

13. Luther, “Two Kinds of Righteousness,” Martin Luther: Selections From His
Writings, ed. Dillenberger, p. 89.  (See further references to Luther’s bridegroom/

bride imagery in Hoffman, Luther and the Mystics, pp. 149-150, 155-159,

172-174, 177.)  

14. Martin Luther, “Lectures on Galatians 1535,” Luther’s Works, eds. Jaroslav

Pelikan and Walter A. Hansen (Saint Louis: Concordia, 1963), Vol. 26, p. 168.

15. Roland H. Bainton, Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther (New York:
Abingdon-Cokesbury, 1950), pp. 289, 302.    

16. Rudolf K. Markwald and Marilynn Morris Markwald, Katharina von Bora: A
Reformation Life (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2002), p. 77.

17. William Barclay’s translation, The Letter to the Galatians and Ephesians

(Philadelphia: Westminster, 1976), p. 88.

18. See Carl E. Braaten and Robert W. Jenson, eds., Union with Christ (Grand

Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1998) for further discussion: here the language of
union is used (more than marriage), yet the emphasis is quite similar.  (Also

see Note 2, 9 above).

19. The Table-talk of Martin Luther, trans. William Hazlitt (Philadelphia: Lutheran
Publication Society, no date), p. 176.

20. John Calvin’s Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 5: https://biblehub.com/commentaries/calvin/isaiah/5.htm

21. “Martin Luther’s Neglected Tenderness”;
http://sacred-tenderness-christian-tradition.blogspot.com/2015/03/martin-luthers-neglected-tenderness.html
22. See our earlier post: “The 'Great Divine Romance of Heaven' for us & its

Frequent Neglect”;
http://sacred-tenderness-christian-tradition.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-great-sacred-romance-and-its.html

(Also see references in Note 25 below.)

23. See explanation and sources in Note 35 of “Martin Luther’s Neglected

Tenderness”;

http://sacred-tenderness-christian-tradition.blogspot.com/2015/03/martin-luthers-neglected-tenderness.html

24. E.g., as in the well known “St. Patrick’s Breastplate”: “Christ be with me,

Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me . . . ”  Also see our post:

“Hearing God’s Heartbeat”; https://sacred-tenderness-christian-tradition.blogspot.com/2015/07/hearing-gods-heartbeat.html

(For other imagery used in this meditation see Note 25 below.)

25. See Note 22 above.  Also a thank you for terminology to Brent Curtis and

John Eldredge, The Sacred Romance: Drawing Closer to the Heart of God

(Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997); S. J. Hill with Margaret Feinberg, “The

Divine Romance,” Ch. 2: Enjoying God: Experiencing Intimacy with the

Heavenly Father (Lake Mary, FL: Relavant, 2001); Joseph F. Chorpenning,

O.S.F.S., The Divine Romance: Teresa of Avila’s Narrative Theology (Chicago:

Loyola University Press, 1992).

26. Meditations, prayer/poetry/proverbs by Lorraine B. Eshleman.  (Also

see Note 25 above.)

27. See the topic of "spiritual discouragement" addressed in
“The ‘Fickle’ Weather of the Human Soul, God’s TLC & Advice

from the Old Saints: Julian of Norwich, Luther, St. Ignatius, etc.”;

https://sacred-tenderness-christian-tradition.blogspot.com/2024/03/the-fickle-weather-of-human-soul-gods.html

28. Martin Luther, Word and Sacrament, Luther’s Works, ed. and trans.

Theodore G. Tappert, (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1967), Vol. 37, p. 59.