Vol. 31, No. 9 -- October 2011
CHRIST LUTHERAN CHURCH OF THE DEAF
9545 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910
CHRIST LUTHERAN CHURCH OF THE DEAF
9545 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910
Feet of Clay
In the second chapter of Daniel in the Old Testament you will find a description of a strange vision of a huge statue. The head of the statue was made of pure gold. The chest and arms were silver. The stomach and hips were bronze. The legs were iron. And the feet were made of a mixture a iron and clay. A large rock hit the feet of the statue; the statue fell, broke into dust, and the wind blew it all away. The rock grew and became a huge mountain that "filled the whole earth."
Daniel explained what the statue symbolized and what each different kind of metal and the rock represented. But most people today have never read the story and they have no idea what the vision means. However, in their daily conversation, they use a phrase that comes from this story.
People use the phrase "feet of clay" to describe character flaws, moral weakness, and poor judgment of great and famous people. When you say that someone "has feet of clay," that is a colorful way of saying that the person isn't perfect.
And that is a good description of Martin Luther. He certainly had feet of clay. Martin Luther was not a "holy man." He was an imperfect sinner like the rest of us, and he knew it. He had a hot temper which prompted him to write hurtful things which he should never have said. And he often struggled with serious depression. Perhaps today psychiatrists would diagnose him as having bipolar disorder.
But Martin Luther made an important contribution by bringing our focus back to the Bible as the absolute authority for knowing God and His free unconditional grace in Christ Jesus. Luther also translated and published the Bible in the common language of the German people, so they could finally read the Bible for themselves.
Martin Luther was not the only church reformer of that time. Earlier Reformation pioneers were John Wycliffe in England, and martyr Jan Hus in Bohemia (now the Czech Republic). In Luther's time John Calvin and Ulrich Zwingli brought reformation to Switzerland, while William Tyndale published the first English translation of the Greek New Testament. For that "crime," Tyndale was executed before he could finish his translation of the Hebrew Old Testament. Then came Miles Coverdale, who completed Tyndale's English translation of the Bible, and John Knox, who brought the Reformation to Scotland.
Each one of these heroes of the Protestant Reformation were imperfect sinners. Each one had "feet of clay." We can look back in history and point to their faults and failures, just as folks in future generations will do to us. We ALL have feet of clay. We all need God's grace. We all need forgiveness. We all need God's help daily. The Good News is that Christ Jesus, through His death on the cross and in His resurrection, gives us exactly what we need -- His grace, His forgiveness, and His daily help.
In the strange vision of Daniel chapter 2, the Bible explains that each part of the statue represents four different military empires which will dominate the world, one after the other. The large rock which toppled the statute represents Christ and His spiritual kingdom, "that will never be destroyed." The events described in this vision have all been fulfilled. Those four empires have all come and gone. Christ has come and He reigns as King in the hearts of those who trust Him all over the world.
This story also has a lesson which we can apply in every generation. Great men, like great empires, rise up and then pass away. Only Christ is truly good. Only Christ is truly great. Only Christ endures forever..
~~Pastor Ron