"'We are all beggars.' Those words, scribbled on a scrap of paper, were found in Martin Luther's coat pocket after he died at a friend's house just off the town square in Eisleben, Germany, February 18, 1546."
A friend of mine received a parking ticket this week, as so many seem to do in this town, out in front of the high school one morning, just stopping for a moment to leave off a child. The officer pounced, handing my friend a paper, asking her to sign. She trembled, even sobbed, for that paper, as she read it, said, "By signing this document . . . I admit that I committed the offense charged, plead guilty, and make payment of the prescribed penalty."
"Oh," she said, in serious reflection, "What if, instead of public confession, we had to sign a paper like that in church every Sunday morning? Oh, the offenses I have committed before God! How guilty am I! How great the penalty I deserve! How can I possibly make enough payment?"
"We are all beggars."
So, "In his final hours (Luther) kept repeating: 'For God so loved the world . . . (For God so loved the world . . . For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.)' You can see the place this happened (where Martin Luther died). It's just five or six blocks from the house where he was born and from Sts. Peter and Paul Church, where he was baptized. Starting from his death house, you'll walk over medieval cobblestone streets, past St. Andrew's where he preached his last sermon, and by his statue which presides over the market square."
For "Eisleben is one of several German towns" hosting thousands of visitors during 1996, commemorating the 450th anniversary of Martin Luther's death! This morning, on Reformation Sunday, we join the tour.
For from Eisleben, on the same day, we can "easily travel a dozen miles down the road to Mansfield, where Luther lived as a boy." There "He was familiar with Mansfield Castle, which offers a commanding view of the village, nestled in a little valley, and of the surrounding hills . . . It is said Luther had this castle in mind when he wrote the lyrics of 'A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.'"
"Next stop: Erfurt . . . Luther . . . entered the monastery and took his priestly vows here." You see, Luther had originally studied the law. But so afraid of God the stern, angry , and awesome judge of his sin; so aware, as he thought, of signing the paper, admitting his staggering offenses, pleading his guilt, worried about making the impossible payment for the penalty, Luther gave up the law and vowed to please God as best he could in the monastery. Still he tossed and turned. He was a sinner. God was his judge. There seemed no way out!
So, "Off to Wittenberg: Luther lived and taught here for 36 years, but you can see the high spots in a full day . . . You can visit the town church, St. Mary's, where Luther preached, and the castle church where Luther nailed (on the door) his famous 95 Theses in 1517, and where he and fellow reformer Philip Melancthon are buried."
And in this "Luther Jahr," or year, marking the 450th anniversary of his death, Wittenberg, so long shrouded in Communist East Germany, is witnessing the most excitement since 1517! There have been more than 300,000 tourists so far this year. "On just one day in June, some 100,000 visitors from around the globe converged on Wittenberg for an open-air reenactment of Luther's 1525 wedding to Katharina von Bora, a former nun . . . Everyone who comes to Wittenberg (this year) can get what they want in terms of Martin Luther. If they want a T-shirt, they can get a T-shirt . . . more than 200 different Luther souvenirs are offered for sale."
Now "Luther was generous with his money and spoke naturally about money as one of God's gifts. And on this Stewardship Commitment Day II for us, we do well to listen to what he said: "The human heart covets goods and honors, he wrote, 'the more it has the more it wants. If it possessed the whole world, it would like to have two worlds; if it had two, it would like to have ten.'"
"Be master of your money, not its servant," Luther advised . . . 'If God has given you wealth,' Luther said, 'give thanks to God, and see that you make the right use of it.' . . . Money and love are connected, he thought. When we realize how much God loves us, we will want to give as God gives. 'If I have won someone's heart, I will soon have his purse too,' he said."
Yet many in Wittenberg are disturbed by this year's commercialization of Luther. for Luther began the entire Protestant Reformation, in this town, nailing up those 95 Theses, or 95 ideas, largely protesting the commercialization of our faith, the commercialization of our relationship with God! for it was taught by the church that God's love and forgiveness were only available in commercial exchange for good deeds or good money! You could buy indulgences or tickets of forgiveness to lessen your loved ones� time in purgatory, thereby hastening their entrance into heaven! But Luther, tossing and turning, the sinner before God, knew full well that he could never do enough or pay enough for God's love. Therefore, the stew pot of his personal torture, condemnation to burn in hell's fire forever! So, Luther said, "No!" He re-formed, re-shaped, re-newed the understanding of the church, challenging the way things were, re-focusing attention on the truth, the beauty, the comfort, and the wonder of the grace of God! "I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more," says the Lord.
since all have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God, they are justified
by God's grace as a gift, through the
redemption which is in Christ Jesus.
Yes, if we had to sign the paper in church this morning, we would admit that we have committed the offenses charged. We would plead guilty. But we could not make payment of the penalty prescribed. "But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us (has shown) the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." Yes, we are sinners, but God is not the stern, angry awesome judge. "Christ, on the cross, opens his arms to all." And into those arms run the prodigals: Martin and Katy, and you and me! And so God wins our hearts!
And the tour brings us next to Worms, where Luther was put on trial before the assembled power of the church, and of the state, and of the status quo. And they insisted he take it all back. They demanded he recant! The one stood before the many and boldly held fast, shouting, "Here I stand!" Here I stand on what I believe. Here I stand on Jesus Christ! Here I stand on the truth of that scripture. Here I stand on the Grace of God. And in that same place this morning I stand, and you stand; and let us stand as well with Luther in the heritage of our church, with the courage of re-forming, not fearing to be innovative.
[Sing song:]
Martin Luther wrote a paper and nailed it to the door,
Rosa Parks took her seat, she couldn't take it anymore,
Galileo set the sun at the center of the stage,
The things we never challenge are the things we never change!
Let us stand in our tradition, willing to challenge the most oft spoke words of the church, "We never did it that way before," so that the church and our church might remain vital and current, and continue to move and grow and energize with spirit! Here we stand! Here we kneel!
"'We are all beggars' Those words scribbled on a scrap of paper, were found in Martin Luther's coat pocket after he died at a friend's house just off the town square in Eisleben, Germany, February 18, 1546," 450 years ago. "We are all beggars."
But, the last stop on our tour for "Luther Jahr" takes us to Wartburg , and Wartburg Castle, where Luther hid himself after Worms when the powers attempted to capture him and silence his voice. There, among many other things, he wrote about the same Lord's Supper to which you and I are about to come to receive God's grace:
We come as poor, miserable people,
precisely because we are unworthy.
"For God so loved the world . . ." he kept repeating, "For God so loved the world."
AMEN
Quotations used from the following sources and are copyright by their owners:
"Rendevous With Luther," by David L. Miller, The Lutheran, September 1995
"Love, Money and Pigs," by Barbara Owen, The Lutheran, September 1996
"A New Reformation," by Heidi Modro, The Sunday Star Ledger, September 8, 1996
