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Order of Service
- Prelude
- The Invocation & Versicles for Ash Wednesday
P: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. C: Amen.
P: Make haste, O God to deliver me. C: Make haste to help me, O Lord.
P: The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.
C: A broken and a contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen. - The Offertory: Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God (Psalm 51:10-13)
Setting the Stage for Reform
"Rome seen, faith lost!" This Italian proverb sums up the terrible conditions around the leadership of the church in the late middle-ages. Some Christian writers outside of Italy warned parents not to let their children go to Rome because they would be perverted by its immorality. In the 1300's one of the top church leaders drew up a list of certain sins which priests could commit, and then pay a price to have them "paid for" and expunged from their record.
That same century the Kaiser in Germany had to ask the new head of the church to stop priests from collecting money from the town prostitutes. Some nuns reportedly turned to prostitution for income. The church grew more and more wealthy. By 1400 the top position in the church earned 5 times more money than the king of England. The church owned about one-third of Germany, one-fifth of France, the majority of Italy, and one-third of England. All this money corrupted the pastors and church leaders. People could "buy" a position in the church for themselves or a loved one. Writers claimed that the average layperson lead a more Christian life than did the priests. In 1465, a Carthusian monk named Jacob wrote, "What a hardened devil is ashamed to do, a monk will do without shame."
In 1513, four years before Luther posted the 95 theses, Machiavelli wrote, "There cannot be a greater proof of (the Church's) decadence than the fact that the nearer people are to the Roman Church, the head of their religion, the less religious they are. And whoever examines the principles on which that religion is founded, and sees how widely different from those principles its present practice and application are, will judge that her ruin or chastisement is near at hand."Another Dominican monk wrote, "God Himself must come to our aid in some way unknown to us!" John came preaching, "Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is near." (Matt. 3:2)
Around the time Martin Luther was a teenager, another reformer started to preach in Florence, the most important city in Italy at that time. His name was Girolamo Savonarola. He was known for having a devout faith, a colorful personality, and great speaking skills. People were hungry for a leader to rise up inside the church and bring about change. When he began to preach, large crowds came to hear him. He openly condemned many of the priests of his day, saying, "If you want to ruin your son, make him a priest." He considered himself to be a prophet sent by God to depose the church leadership and preached that God would come to punish the church if they did not repent and turn back to His Word. He directed people back to the authority of Scripture, over and above the powers of the church leadership.
His sermons were preached from open-air pulpits above the streets. His sermons often moved his hearers to tears. In 1494, when French soldiers captured Florence, Savonarola was made the new ruler in hopes of reforming the city. Girolamo called for the burning of many books and works of art that he believed were immoral. Huge fires were created in the city square. This became known as the "Bonfire of the Vanities." Some scholars would equate this event with the cleansing of the city of Ephesus by St. Paul in Acts 19. Others in the art community believe his reform went too far.
The residents were called upon to repent, and turn from a materialistic lifestyle to focus on the joys of heaven. Savonarola exhorted the people to humble themselves before God, and return to His Word through the spiritual cleansing of repentance and faith in Christ. His attempts at reform upset many of the leading people in Florence. For a time he was thrown into prison. Members of the rich and powerful Medici family turned on him, except for Lorenzo who thought highly of Savonarola, and called him to hear his deathbed confession.
Girolamo's best-known writing is entitled, "Triumph of the Cross," written in 1497. Here he defends historic Christianity against those in the church who were questioning the Bible in his day. From prison he wrote an exposition on some of the Psalms, and even penned a few hymns. His writings on Psalm 51 are very similar to Dr. Luther's, with an emphasis on justification by faith in Christ. Luther considered him a forerunner of the Reformation.
Alexander VI became known as one of the most evil church leaders to ever hold office. He hosted a great banquet in the halls of the church headquarters where he hired 50 women to dance naked before his guests. He established new offices in the church which people could "purchase" to add to his bankroll. Savonarola went on the attack, writing and preaching against Alexander, calling him the "Nero of the Papacy." Alexander was enraged, and demanded a hearing, forbidding Girolamo from preaching anymore. He tried to bribe him by making him a cardinal. But, the fiery preacher openly defied him, and claimed it was his duty to stand against him on behalf of Christ's true church.
Abraham replied, "Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am but dust and ashes." (Gen. 18:27)
Girolamo appealed to the Council members of Florence to support him, but due to pressure from the church leaders they refused. In 1497 Savonarola was excommunicated from the church and placed under torture. He and two of his co-workers were sentenced to hang in the city square, and then have their bodies burned. Many of his followers who came to observe his execution were moved by his faith and courage. His ashes were dumped in the Arno River.
A few decades later, in Germany, Martin Luther would refer to Savonarola as "that godly man of Florence," and "one of the first Protestant martyrs" whom the church had wrongly executed. While Girolamo had primarily tried to reform the morals of the church leadership, Luther's reformation would focus on doctrinal reform, restoring the Gospel – that we are justified by faith in Christ apart from our works - to its rightful place as the central teaching of Christianity. This is the doctrine upon which the church stands or falls. Though not all of Savonarola's theology was in line with the Bible, he is one of the great figures who attempted to reform the church back to Biblical truths prior to Luther's arrival. His message calling believers in Christ to repentance remains relevant for all time. - Prayer
- Hymn 240, Jesus, Refuge of the Weary (G. Savonarola)
- The Blessing
- Postlude