Little RunOn

Rebel. Genius. Liberator...Man of God.

I went to see Luther at Madstone on Tuesday. Pretty good stuff. I love it when art of any form really pushes us to think critically or inspires us to reflect spiritually. We all know from history class that the Reformation was a key moment in history, but this movie brings to life what the "little German monk" faced when he stepped forward to confront the powerful Roman Catholic Church, the German emperor, and the whole world with the Truth of the Word of God and the salvation found only in Christ.

From what I understand the movie provided a fairly accurate account of events in Luther's life and was filmed on several locations throughout Europe. Although many reviewers found the subject and movie to be boring, I found it to be both interesting, thought-provoking, entertaining, and, at times, moving. Towards the end it seemed a bit disjointed and rushed as if the producers wanted to cram in as much as possible without making the film too long. But I was willing to forgive this because the movie spent plenty of time developing the part that really was more interesting to me--the events and struggles that led up to Luther posting his theses and standing up to the church in trial. I was impressed that the film seemed to balance the spiritual, theological, ecclesiastical, political, financial, and social issues that influenced Luther and those around him. Finally, I was pleased that the movie also does not hesitate to convey the gospel message that we really do have a loving, merciful God and that we are saved by faith in Christ alone.

So...um...I feel it necessary to comment on the lead actor--Joseph Fiennes. As if seeing him portray William Shakespeare weren't enough to make me fall in love with him, I have now seen him as Martin Luther. Romantic poet and wise theologian seeking the Truth. Pretty good resume. I think he will be added to Colin Firth and Johnny Depp as one of my all-time favorite actors. BTW, Colin Firth's younger brother Jonathan Firth makes an appearance in Luther as the less-than-savory Giralamo Aleander.

OK...back to more important and less shallow topics. The movie really was enjoyable to me, but I tend to like this sort of movie. It is not for everyone. Oh...and one more warning: although not everyone that I went with was in concurrence, I thought the dialogue in the love scenes was almost as bad as the romantic dialogue in Attack of the Clones. Again...willing to forgive because the rest of the movie was pretty darn good.

Luther prompted me to think about how blessed we are to have the religious freedom we enjoy. We take it for granted all too often how readily we have access to God's Word. Luther did not even read the New Testament for himself until he was well into his career as a monk, preacher, and theologian. Our right to religious freedom, our right to read the Word for ourselves, and the right to relate to Christ personally existed before Martin Luther. But he opened the door for us to more easily enjoy these rights. Many others risked their lives and died so that we could truly enjoy these freedoms and encounter the Truth of God's Word; unfortunately, there are many people in the world who still do not have this freedom or know this Truth. And many are still risking their lives to bring the gospel to those people.

I know that folks talk, write and blog about the need to pray for and reach out to the people who do not know or are unable to freely worship Christ, so I'll stop now. But I will leave you with a phrase used more than once in the movie: I am Yours. Save me.

The message of the movie and the gospel is that simple.

Monday, December 15, 2003