Reformation Tour: Appreciating Luther’s convictions

  1. Our Reformation Tour lands in Berlin
  2. Reformation Tour: Bridging the Divide
  3. Reformation Tour: Music & Luther
  4. Reformation Tour: Luther the disrupter
  5. Reformation Tour: Appreciating Luther’s convictions
  6. Reformation Tour: Who? The Reformation and those less well known
  7. Reformation Tour: Geneva, our final stop

BY LEON DORLEANS

(Editor’s note) Today we visited the imperial city of Worms and the impressive St Peter’s Cathedral, dating to the 12th century. Luther was summoned to Worms to appear before Emperor Charles V in 1521 and asked to revoke his writings. Luther refused and was declared an outlaw and heretic. A large monument dedicated to Luther and his co-reformers (above photo) sits near the site where Luther would have stood before the emperor. The following is a reflection from Leon Dorleans, one of our tour participants:

I counted it as a very special privilege to be able to participate in the Tour of the Reformation organized by Union Presbyterian Seminary. I’m learning a lot and hoping to share my experience with those I serve in Haiti.

Two of the experiences that stand out most to me during the Tour are Luther’s popularity in Germany and the conviction that he exhibited before the authority when he was summoned in Worms. These two experiences help me understand Luther in a different way then I did before the trip.

I think that Luther’s popularity is primarily due to the firm conviction he had about what the Bible teaches about the Grace of God versus human works in Redemption/ Salvation. He was truly convinced and convicted about “Sola Dei,“ “Sola Gracia,“ “Sola Fide,” “Sola Scriptura“ of Salvation to the point that he was not willing to do anything that would compromise his conviction.

I thank the Lord that he stood firm on his ground and with the help of God and few friends he was able to survive.

If he hadn’t done that, many of us would still be under the bondage of trying to save ourselves from sin and not being able to accept the grace God offers to us all.

In my experience serving the Lord in Haiti, I’m sometimes faced with the same issues of others trying to tell me what I must do and believe to please them in order to receive their favor/ support.

If I had decided to please them, I would end up not having any beliefs or conviction of my own. Several times I found myself saying to some potential friends “Thanks, no thanks“ in order to stay true to my own self conviction in order to serve the Lord with a clear conscience of what I believe to be the right thing to do and believe at the moment in order to do what I think that the Lord has called me to do.

The spirit of Luther (staying firm to what one believes to be true at the moment of one’s life) needs to be in the heart of all responsible leaders who believe in their God’s giving mission if they want to accomplish anything worthwhile and lasting for the Lord. I could understand more fully why Luther wrote “A mighty fortress is Our God.“ He believed it, he experienced it, he lived it, he shared it with the world. So should we, for the church is in constant need to be reformed.

Leon & Jacky Dorleans are serving the Lord in Haiti. Jacky supervises four schools (pre-K through 9th grade) with 1,487 students. Leon is the founder of Haiti Outreach Ministries (HOM) serving the Lord in Haiti since 1990. HOM is a 501 C3 licensed in Virginia. They serve three churches, four schools, one medical clinic, two vocational schools, and one orphanage. They are married and have two children.