In 2017, the world will mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, an event that tradition tells us began on Oct. 31, 1517, when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. In the past, commemorations of important Reformation anniversaries have each found their own emphases. Some were characterized by a sort of confessional triumphalism, an opportunity to demonize other denominations. Others drew a dubious line from this 16th-century revolt against the church directly to modern Western-style open democracy. When Luther College commemorated the Reformation's 400th anniversary in 1917, it was faced with a particularly difficult dilemma: how, in the middle of World War One, to observe the anniversary of an event that at its core was deeply German. The answer, it turns out, was through music. The college's band took part in a two-day Reformation commemoration in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it performed limited content by German composers, lots of music from the Norwegian, Edvard Grieg, and ended with the "Star Spangled Banner," the audience singing along. Clearly the intent was to celebrate the college's Norwegian heritage, demonstrate its American patriotism, and perhaps distance itself from the Reformation's "Germanness."

Each generation, it seems, must find its own meaning in the Reformation. And while the purpose of recounting the nature past of commemorations here is not to impugn the motives of their organizers, these examples do raise the question: how do we find significance in the Reformation that is relevant to our times, but without twisting it in spiritually and academically dishonest ways? At first glance this might seem like a difficult task. What meaning could a movement that fractured religious unity, initiated internecine conflict, and upset social and political orders have for Luther College in the 21st century? As it turns out, quite a lot.

At the center of the Reformation stands Martin Luther's rediscovery of the Gospel message: human beings do not earn salvation by doing good works, but rather God freely offers it to all who believe in his son, Jesus, as Savior. To some of our ears, this deeply theological message may express a profound truth that animates all of life; to others of us, it may seem banal or irrelevant. But to Martin Luther, it provided humanity with a burst of freedom, freedom from the condemnation of God's law, freedom from what Luther saw as the humanly instituted and deeply oppressive regulations of the medieval church, and freedom from the constant necessity of striving to do good works for the sake of one's own salvation. Such liberty not only released its adherents from oppression, it freed them to engage in all kinds of new activities.

Chief among them was lives of service to others, service performed not out of fear or necessity or self-interest, but out of thankfulness to God for his gift of grace and out of truly altruistic love and concern for one's neighbor. This "liberating power of faith" argued Luther, freed Christians "to care for all of God's people" and "to serve with distinction for the common good" as we put it in the college's mission statement. What is more, claimed the Reformer, all God-given talents were intended to be used in such lives of service to others, a divine expectation he referred to as "vocation" that likewise finds echo in the college's mission statement, which declares "we challenge one another... to discern our callings." Clearly there is a deeply communal and inclusive aspect to Martin Luther's view of service, one that sees as its objective the welfare of all people, and one that has been translated into the ethos of the college named in his honor.

To truly employ talents and use opportunities in lives of service, however, requires their expanding, deepening and honing, and this is where education enters the conversation. For Martin Luther, education had two purposes: it was a means by which to better understand God and his message to humanity; and it was the means by which to prepare to deploy fully one's talents in the service of others. And, in fact, the Reformation unleashed a torrent of activity in the arts and sciences, inspiring the foundation of new universities, new scientific discoveries, and new musical, literary and artistic forms. What is more, the Reformation institutionalized liberal arts education at the university level, an approach to pedagogy that focused not primarily on the prospect of economic gain, but one that moves students "beyond immediate interests and present knowledge into a larger world" and is intended to "discipline minds and develop whole persons," as the college mission statement puts it.

But if many of the impulses that inspire our work at Luther College today trace their origins back to Martin Luther's understandings of faith, freedom, service, vocation, community and education, the Reformation as an historical movement further informs our endeavors. This watershed in Western history intentionally or inadvertently bequeathed to the world a variety of concepts that many of us examine in our classes and hold dear in our private lives: plurality in society; freedom of religion, conscience and thought; toleration; individualism; the equality of all human beings; institutionalized poor relief; literacy and universal education; and the importance of public discourse. And clearly its impact on music and the arts finds expression all over the curriculum and in the choral and artistic traditions of the college. Certainly the Reformation had a dark side, one that fostered suspicion and conflict between confessions, but out of this crucible the modern Western world was born. To the degree that the West subsequently impacted the entire planet, so, too, can the Reformation legitimately be considered a movement of worldwide significance.

It seems, then, that with regard to central ideas of the Reformation and their workings out in history this event still speaks to us in the 21st century. As Luther College grapples with questions of identity in the changing world of higher education, the Reformation offers a wealth of ideas, concepts, and approaches that can ground us in our past, inspire us as we face the future, and at the same time not constrict or limit us. Broad engagement with it can help us better understand ourselves and more cogently articulate the ethos of Luther College. For all of these reasons, we will spend 2017 revisiting the Reformation. Planning for the precise forms that this commemoration will take is already underway and may be viewed on the following website: https://www2.luther.edu/reformation-2017/. We hope that you will consider joining us.