I’ve been thinking a lot about truth lately — about what we grow up believing, and what we later discover to be true. Sometimes those discoveries are surprising. Sometimes they’re unsettling as they challenge what we thought to be true. We learn from the Reformation the it takes awareness, courage, and humility to be relentless in our pursuit of truth.
What did you grow up believing about George Washington?
Specifically … what about his teeth?
I grew up hearing that George Washington wore wooden dentures.
What’s true?
The truth is that Washington’s teeth weren’t wooden at all — they were made of ivory and human teeth. In fact, there was an active “tooth trade” where dentists acquired teeth from both living and deceased people — enslaved and free alike.
What did you grow up thinking about the first Thanksgiving?
I grew up believing relations between settlers and Native Americans were friendly and mutual. We made cute costumes and learned about pilgrims’ hope and gratitude — but very little about the suffering and displacement of Native peoples.
What is true?
Or what about May 1921 in Tulsa, Oklahoma?
Until recently, I didn’t know anything about the massacre there — the destruction of what was called “Black Wall Street.”
Again … what is true?
What did you grow up believing about God?
Is God about love? Punishment?
Is God petty when it comes to our sin, or rich in mercy?
Is life some kind of divine script where you and I are mere actors playing out a role — or is God dynamically present, inviting us into something real and alive?
What is true?
Martin Luther wrestled with that same question. He grew up believing God was angry — a vengeful judge waiting to punish him for every sin. He spent hours in confession convinced that he was not enough … that he was not good enough for God to love and forgive him … much less die on a cross for him and save him.
But the Reformation began the moment Luther asked, What is true?
In Luther’s time, in the time of Jesus, and in ours, there’s this lingering question: What is truth?
It’s the same question Pontius Pilate asked Jesus before the crucifixion.
And it’s the question we face every day — in headlines, conversations, social media, even in our own hearts — as we try to discern what’s true and what’s not.
Jesus said, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
That’s what the Reformation is about — not just as history, but as an ongoing call to faith and courage. On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther wanted to start an academic dialogue about matters of faith that we call the 95 Theses. These theses stirred something that went way beyond an academic dialogue! What followed was not just reform in theology, but a spiritual awakening that rippled through art, science, worship, education, and language.
We don’t just celebrate Reformation Sunday as a matter of history, but we celebrate and recommit ourselves to the relentless pursuit of truth!
Such a relentless pursuit of truth requires faith, curiosity, awareness, courage, and a lot of humility. You and I engage in this pursuit in community with one another as we “continue in [God’s] word” … as we engage and immerse ourselves in the Word of God.
The Spirit that stirred in the Reformation still stirs today — awakening courage, opening minds, and calling us to reimagine what faithfulness looks like now.
As you and I pursue “what is true,” where might the Holy Spirit be stirring among us and our community?
What new opportunities for freedom, compassion, and growth are waiting to be uncovered?
Where might God be calling us to adapt … to change … to be set free … because of what is true?
The truth is this: the relentless pursuit of truth in a community of faith who is “continuing in [God’s] word” also stirs and strengthens hope.
Epicurious Lutheran 