Sticky Doors
in Thoughtful Thursdays on October 17, 2017
Well, we have just a couple of weeks left. Y’all hanging in there? Everyday in my house, I can feel—rather than hear the after-effects of my daughter’s bathroom door. The upper right-hand corner sticks up against the frame of the door jam. It’s annoying. Eventually, my husband and I will get tired of our daughter’s bellyaching and slamming door, and we (actually, he) will remove the door, sand down the rough edge, and replace it back on its hinges.
But, until that day, we will deal with a sticky door.
Sticky.
Sticky comes in all shapes, sizes, and situations. If you’re lucky, it’s a bathroom door…if you’re not so lucky…it’s a situation. A couple of years ago, I was smack-dab in the middle of a sticky situation. I did not cause the mess, but I was most assuredly caught up in it. Rumors swirled, lines were drawn and relationships were broken. It was annoying.
Sticky.
But, wait, weren’t we talking about Martin Luther? Yes. Over the last few weeks, we have traveled down the church history path that has led us to this pivotal point in our journey. This is what’s known as The Point of No Return. Luther has been writing and saying things the Catholic Church just cannot be on board with, and can no longer turn a blind eye to. Church elders (administrators) must get involved. Luther’s writings are too inflammatory and too, too much to handle. The elders (the Pope) feel the only way to deal with Luther is to threaten him with excommunication, in other words, they are going to officially make him leave the Church. They send him a Papal Bull…a formal letter demanding he recant his writings and apologize for his abominable behavior.
Luther burned it.
Publicly.
Luther was then requested to attend a church council meeting called the Diet of Worms to discuss this latest development. Can you see where things for Luther were getting sticky? This all started because he wanted to discuss some church practices he found questionable…disturbing…odd. Now, he’s on trial for heresy and basically starting a religious uprising.
Closed Doors…Broken Doors…Old Doors…Sticky Doors…
Martin Luther was called in front of the council, the Diet of Worms, the biggest leaders of the church at the time, to recant not only his 95 Theses, but ALL of his writings, and peaceably adhere once again to the teachings of the Catholic church. He requested twenty-four hours to think about it.
The following day, after much thought, prayer and consideration, his answer was a polite “pass.” Luther had already spent a considerable amount of time in study and prayer with God’s Word and his writings proved that. His answer to the Diet was simple, if they could show him either by sound reason or Scripture where he had erred, he would recant; otherwise his conscience was clear. He stood firm.
From that day forward Martin Luther was an enemy to the Catholic church.
The Church was stumped. No one had defied them in such a manner before. However, Luther was allowed to leave and return home whilst they regrouped. As Luther made his way from Worms, he was kidnapped and taken to a secure location, more for his own safety than anything else.
While Luther was hidden away at the castle of Frederick, he did some of his best work. He translated the New Testament from Greek into German. He believed the people should be able to read the Bible in their own language. I personally, find reading books in my native language much easier to understand! He was able to gain perspective from his sticky situation once he had some distance from it.
As for me and my sticky situation, I’ve had some time to gain a bit of perspective as well. I still see the people who put me in that position. Our children run in the same circles, so we see each other from time to time. It is still uncomfortable to be around these people, but I just look at my situation like a sticky door. And a sticky door is the result of one of two things: One, the door is broken or two: The foundation is broken. For my situation, unfortunately, the foundation is broken and cannot be fixed. In Luther’s situation, the foundation was solid and the door needed replacing.
So, what about you? What sticky door is bugging you this week? Is it a busted door or is it a foundational issue? Hopefully, it’s just the door.
We’ve only got two weeks left! Come back next week as we look at NEW DOORS!!
Have a great day!
-Dallas
One thought on “Sticky Doors”
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Mother says:
Excellent!