The sermon by Scott Brown, titled 'The Woman Who Launched the Protestant Work Ethic,' revolves around the concept of redeeming time and working diligently as a way to gain wisdom, drawing on Psalm 90:12. The speaker emphasizes that God created humans to work, mirroring the continuous work of Jesus and His Father. The sermon narrates the story of Katie Luther, the wife of Martin Luther, who played a significant role during the Protestant Reformation. Katie's life exemplified the Protestant work ethic through her relentless efforts in managing a large household, cultivating land, and supporting her community. Her marriage to Martin Luther symbolized a shift from the widespread practice of celibacy in Reformation Europe to a renewed emphasis on family life based on scriptural teachings. Katie's industriousness and resourcefulness significantly contributed to the economic success and altered the familial patterns of that era. The sermon concludes with practical advice on time management, family improvement, and living a disciplined, productive life.

Go ahead and be seated. You know, we are talking about this matter of redeeming the time. The text, in addition to the one that we just read, that I want to bring up is Psalm 90 verse 12. Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Being careful with the use of your days is the way that you gain a heart of wisdom.

You can gain a heart of foolishness by the way you treat your days, or you can gain a heart of foolishness by the way you treat your days or you can gain a heart of wisdom by the way that you treat your days you're always going to be gaining something you'll be gaining wisdom or you'll be gaining foolishness. But God made us to work. And we actually, we spend our lives learning how to work. And it's really after the pattern of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says that he is always working and his father is always working.

That's really our pattern. And the Apostle Paul told the Ephesian church, he said that we are his workmanship. In other words, we are one of his works that he has made. And we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works. He created us to work.

And that really encapsulates so much of what I want to talk about. I want to tell you about the girl who changed Western civilization because she exemplified what people have come to call the Protestant work ethic. But before I tell you about her, I want to give you an illustration. A 12-year-old daughter one time asked her father what the secret of life was. And her father said, I'll tell you, but don't tell your brothers.

And he said that the secret of life is cows don't give milk. Cows don't give milk that's the secret of life and his his dear daughter of course didn't understand what do you mean by that that cows don't give milk. And the father said, my daughter, cows don't give milk. You have to go milk them. Milk just doesn't come out.

You have to get up at four o'clock in the morning You have to go out in the field It might be raining You're going to walk through a pasture whereby you must walk circumspectly you will bring the cow into the stall and you will lock it in the head gate and You might tie the tail up, and then you're going to sit on a stool and Then you're going to put a bucket Under the cow and then you're going to milk that cow You have to milk that cow the cow does not give milk And if you do not milk the cow, you will not get the milk that you want. You have to work to get the milk. And This is what I want to say to all of us You can say this another way Gold does not strike you You strike gold You have to dig for the gold. The gold is not going to come out and strike you. Hamburgers do not make themselves.

You have to make them. Cars don't fix themselves. You have to fix them. Houses don't build themselves. You have to build them.

This this is just a basic principle. God made us For work. We are his workmanship So that we would be workers as well And I want fathers and daughters to grab this together. Father, you need to understand, and I'm sure you do, but not only were you made for work, but your daughter was made for work, and you've got to help her, and you've got to be an example to her. So let me tell you about the girl who changed Western civilization.

During the Protestant Reformation something happened and that is that the the sufficiency of Scripture was rediscovered and reestablished in the church. And of course, you had Martin Luther, and you had John Calvin that were really proclaiming this. At that time, 25% of the population of Reformation Europe had taken vows of celibacy. Do you know what a vow of celibacy is, ladies? A vow of celibacy is where you make a promise to your parents, to God and everyone, that you will never get married and you will never have children and you are going to spend your life in a convent taking care of a big building and and farming and doing things like that.

If you're a man then you make the same vow that you will never get married, you will never have children, there will never be grandchildren in the world from you, and you will move into a monastery, and you will spend your time meditating. And 25% of the population of Reformation Europe had taken a vow of celibacy. And during the Reformation though, Scripture was being taught like it hadn't been before. And what Martin Luther and John Calvin did is they really recovered the doctrine of the family. And they began to preach against this culture of celibacy.

And the word began to spread. And it happened to spread to a nunnery. And there were several women, several nuns, who had taken a vow of celibacy, who began to hear the teaching of Martin Luther, and they began to read his writings, and they began to hear the rumors about the tumult of the changes that were taking place. And So one night, in the middle of the night, several of these nuns, twelve of them, crawled out a window and walked across the yard and they got in the back of a fish wagon and they hid because Martin Luther had sought out one of his friends to go steal women from the convent. And so they came out and All of them had gotten married after two years, except one.

And she had been passed over by various men over the time. And she ended up marrying Martin Luther. And they established a family. But it was a family that wasn't seen at the time. She was called the morning star of Wittenberg.

She was a remarkable woman. She was 26 when she married Martin Luther. Martin Luther was 41 and they married in 1525. Martin Luther said that he married her for the following reasons. Number one, to anger the Pope.

Number two, to practice his theology. Number three, he owed his parents grandchildren. His father was not happy because he wasn't going to give him grandchildren. And at the same time as they got married and tried the best they could to establish a marriage that fit the pattern of scripture. This was a family reformation that took place during the Reformation.

Most people think that the Reformation was all about justification by faith, and it significantly was, but it was actually about a greater principle, and that is that Scripture is sufficient for everything. And what that means is man is justified by faith alone and everything else, from your family to your economy and what has become called the Protestant work ethic. What's really interesting is that God used a handful of families, particularly Martin Luther and John Calvin's family, to alter Europe and to literally alter Western civilization. And it's, it was such a significant thing that happened. Now Martin and Katie moved into a monastery that was given to them.

They're very expensive to take care of and Martin Luther had no income. And it was the monastery called the Black Cloister. And so they, as newlyweds, moved in to this rundown monastery, a huge building, and, you know, Katie would spend her days cleaning and whitewashing the walls. Martin Luther hadn't changed his bed for several years and so she had to throw out his bed. Bed and she, in order to support the monastery, she began to take in boarders, other students who would pay rent.

And then she planted a garden and she raised vegetables. She raised peas and beans. She raised carrots and lettuce and other herbs. She took the herbs that she grew and she made medicines from them. She started breeding livestock and then she started slaughtering livestock and poultry.

She started, in order to support their lives, she started fishing in streams. And then she began to create fisheries in streams and lakes. She planted fruit trees. She planted nut trees. She planted a vineyard, she started raising bees, she started preserving meats, and of course, milking cows.

And she made cheese and butter. And she, the water was not very safe to drink, and so she started a brewery. She hauled water. She did laundry in the river, in the Elba River, she cooked everything from scratch, she worked 17 hours a day, she had six children, she often had foster children, She often had 50 house guests in the black cloister. And during one of the plagues, she held 40 sick people to nurse them during that time.

And she, and the household that was established there, altered the pattern of family life in Reformation Europe. And there's a book that was written by Vichal Malgawadi, the book that changed everything, the Bible's amazing impact on the world. And he has a chapter Where he, that, and there's a section that he calls the forgotten secret of the West's economic success. And he traces it back to these families. By 1542, the Luther's owned more real estate in Wittenberg than any other citizen.

And she would go and buy land and start developing it and turning it into productive farmland. And the farms needed buildings for the agriculture and for her employees. And as a result, the pattern of 500 years was disrupted. And I just want us to understand what it means in a family to disrupt the patterns of this world, because that's what happened there. They altered there.

They altered 500 years of Roman Catholic priests and nuns not marrying. And at the same time, they touched off another 450 years from then to the present, where actual family life in some vestige of consistency with the Word of God is established. Many of you, I would say all of you, have your heart for your families in the same way. You are Martin and Katie Luther's ancestors, descendants, and you're carrying out many of the things that they taught. And the reason you're carrying them out, not because of Martin and Katie Luther, but because of the Bible.

And so, there's much to say about the Luther's. And Martin Luther married a very strong wife. I would just encourage you young girls to set yourself to be strong women, to be vigorous, hardworking women that will bless your husbands if God gives you a husband, and that you would so inspire your heart in the Word of God that you would be strong. You know Martin Luther was often given to depression and one time he fell into a very dark season of depression and he locked himself in his study. I think it might have been for a couple of three or four days.

And she would slide food under the doorway. And then one day, she banged on the door and appeared at the doorway dressed in black in mourners clothes. And her husband turned to her and said, who died? And she answered, God must have died because you're acting as if God has died. And she said God must have died because Dr.

Luther would not be so sorrowful. But you, as girls, train yourself in godliness so that you might be a strength to everybody around you. And you can, you absolutely can. I know so many women like this, and it's such a blessing. I actually married one.

So there you have the girl who changed Western civilization. I know that's a little bit of an overstatement, but I think you know What I mean, okay now. I'm going to give you some I'm going to give you a list okay? I'm going to give you some so a list of things to do first of all Take stock of your situation Study your life You know look at the terrain you know arrange your tools because you're you're you're going to be digging your you're you're going to Be milking you're you're going to be going to those cows, you know, figuratively, and you're going to be milking. And, you know, ask yourself how you can promote the prosperity of your family.

You know, who do you have in your family? How can you make your family better than it is right at this moment? Take stock of your situation. What gifts do you have? What things do you know how to do?

These are all things that you should mobilize to understand, you know, how to redeem the time for the days of evil. Secondly Set yourself to improve everything about your life and your family life Get in the mindset of a dominion taker Girls dominion takers take charge They go after it They chase it down They tackle the situation. They take direct action. And I, you know, girls, there's nothing wrong with bravery. There's nothing wrong with taking initiative.

There's nothing wrong for a, for a girl being decisive. In fact, it's actually a very good thing. And there are places in scripture where we could we could prove that but look around see what could be improved In your family life on your property in your own life anything you know God has created you to take dominion number three Create a daily schedule and work with your parents about your daily schedule Look at your schedule like a farmer looks at his field. What are you sowing? Because what you sow is what's going to come up.

What you reap is what you sow. And that has to do with, you know, what are you sowing? What are you reading? Who are you serving? What skills are you learning?

What are you doing to improve yourself? Industrialize your life. Go after it and take dominion. Time is the greatest asset that you have. Time is actually the greatest blessing that you have, because there's so much that you can do with your time.

Redeem the time for the days are evil. And who needs encouragement? Your siblings? Your neighbors? The people at church, your grandparents, your parents, you know, is there anyone, is there anyone who could use your diligence in love?

Fourth, live a rhythmic life, Live a rhythmic life. People who live a rhythmic life get more done, and they're less harried about it. They move from one thing to another in a disciplined way. They're not worried about it. They're not running frenetically.

They're not late for everything. They have a regular schedule. I'm just here to say, maintain a regular schedule. Go to bed at the same time and get up at the same time. Get a good rest every night, and be ready for war.

You know, I was a mean father. You know, when our kids got out of bed, they had to get dressed. They had to get ready for war and come down, and we were ready for life. In other words, we weren't lounging around, okay? It's daytime.

It's showtime. Next, I get focused on bearing fruit. You know, our churches have been studying the Book of Romans and in Romans six, it says, and do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness So, you know set yourself To be and take your instrument. What are your instruments your hands your feet your eyes your ears your mind? Mobilize everything for bearing fruit mobilize your life for action What God does when He saves a person is that He brings them into a new season where they're bearing fruit like they never did before, and because the and because the kingdom of heaven has come near and so I'm just here to say take dominion now life Life was not always easy for Katie Luther.

Toward the end of her life, she was forced to flee Wittenberg twice because of wars that were raging. God has not promised an easy life to everyone. She had to leave her home during one war and came back and found that it was devastated. If she had sold her property before the war she would have been financially stable, but she had lost everything and she was forced to move out and was destitute, but someone took care of her. And then Katie Luther, finally in her early fifties, she died suffering an injury by falling from a wagon and In the final moments of her life She said I will stick to Christ as a burr to a topcoat That's what defined her life, And that's what made her so productive.

And the world was changed because of the homes of the reformers. So don't ever forget this. You have to milk that cow. The cow won't give milk. And if you don't milk her, you don't get milk.

See to it that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time for the days are evil." I'm going to give you two questions. All the speakers are going to do that. We're just going to have you as fathers and daughters talk together. Just take time to do that. One question is, what are some important things that you should be doing?

What are some important things that you should be doing what are some important things that you should be doing next question what changes do I need to make to go get the milk out of that cow?