Katy, Katy!  Now where is that creature God has given me?  Oh, hello - welcome to our home!  And who are you, all dressed so nicely this morning?  Come in to my house, please come in!  I am always pleased to have travellers stay awhile.  God bless you for coming.  You must excuse my messy study - I never clean it.  Ever since being condemned as a heretic, I have had much to do - translating the Bible, teaching the Gospel, explaining God's truth.  Thank God for Mr. Gutenberg's printing press.  It has helped a dying faith come alive, and taught people to read and write and even to know the Bible.

          Today is All Saints' Sunday, isn't it?  I have a sermon to deliver soon, but I can take some time to visit with you.  I should really tell you something about myself.  I, Martin Luther, was born in Eisleben, Germany, nine years before Columbus discovered America.  My father and mother were stern parents, but ours was a loving home filled with music and laughter.  I was a rare child in that I was given an education, for most children did not attend school.  When I was only four years old I was enrolled in Latin School where I learned to speak Latin at school and German at home.  I was a bright student and enjoyed my studies.  School was much easier than the hard life so many others my age already knew.

          I believed in God, but thought of Him as a stern judge who punished evil people.  Every time I did something wrong in school, I had to make a mark on my chalk slate.  And at the end of each week my slate was wiped clean, but only after I'd received a very hard spanking.  When I was 14 my father sent me to the Cathedral School at Magdeburg where I saw my first Bible, chained to a library table.

          Magdelena, Magdelena!  Oh, I wish that sweet child would come help her Daddy clean up this messy room!  I just hate housework.  When Katy and I were married I hadn't washed the sheets in a year!  But I shouldn't work my little one so hard.  She hasn't been feeling well lately.

          My father made it possible for me to attend University of Erfurt, and in only one year I achieved the Bachelor of Arts Degree at age 19.  I achieved my Master of Arts three years later.

          Though father wanted me to become a lawyer, God had other plans.  I was walking during a terrible rainstorm when lightening struck nearby, killing a fellow traveller.  I fell to the ground and cried out, "St. Anne, mother of Mary, save me and I shall become a monk!"  Well, I lived and so I felt I should enter the local Augustinian Monastery at Erfurt, renouncing all worldly pleasures and possessions.

          Life was hard as a Monk, but I thought it would bring me peace with God.  Yet no matter how hard I tried to please Him, or how many times I confessed my sins, I never felt worthy.  I worked hard, prayed constantly, even beat myself with whips to purge myself of evil thoughts, but nothing worked.  Mankind was evil - why should God care for me?  How could any sinner get to heaven?

          I became a priest but still my struggles with God continued.  Dr. Staupitz, my dear friend and head of the Augustinian order, tried to help, but I was riddled with guilt.  How could I be forgiven?  Finally he sent me to study the Bible and then to teach at the new University in Wittenberg, built by Elector Frederick the Wise, ruler of Saxony.

          Oh Katy, the butcher is here!  Why must he come on a Sunday morning?  I shall speak to him about that.  But back to my story.  Staupitz later sent me to a conference in Rome.  Ah, Rome, mother city of the faith, that great and mysterious city, but also a very troubling one.  There surrounded by magnificent churches was also great superstition.  And the relics - how could they all be real?  The rope of Judas, one of the 30 pieces of silver, a twig from the burning bush, a leg bone of St. Peter.  But worst were the priests and bishops - how shamelessly they lived!  How could God accept such people?

          I was glad to come home.  I continued teaching and preaching, and earned a Doctor in Theology degree.  Now I was Dr. Martin Luther, Professor of the Bible and pastor of the Wittenberg village church.  I preached and taught and studied the Bible fervently, seeking my peace with God.

          One day while reading St. Paul in Romans I saw these words:  "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, the Jew first and also the Greek.  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith, as it is written, 'the righteous shall live by faith'."

          Suddenly it was all clear - God had punished Jesus in my place!  I who could never be perfect, no longer need be, for Christ was perfect for me.  All I need is faith - not works or church law or traditions or anything else - just faith!  At that moment it was as if the doors of heaven were opened wide!

          I needed to tell others about this, so I did!  And all would have been good had it not been for a fat monk called John Tetzel.  He was selling "Indulgences," pieces of paper that supposedly granted people forgiveness of sins and release from purgatory.  But I knew that only God can forgive sins, and that His grace cannot be purchased.  No paper can ever forgive one's sins!

          Tetzel sold them to everyone, saying, "When your coins fall into the chest, the soul flies up to its heavenly rest."  My people wasted many coins buying those empty promises, but more disturbingly, they believed what was on them.  They actually thought they could buy God's forgiveness!

          Finally I'd had enough.  I composed a number of statements, challenging church leaders to debate whether or not forgiveness really could be purchased.  My central thesis was this: "The true treasure of the Church is the most holy Gospel of the glory and grace of God." (Thesis #62)   On Halloween Day, 1517, I nailed my 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg, and word of them spread like wildfire.  Printers sold them by the thousands.  Little did I know what I had started!

          Because of my writings, the sale of Indulgences fell and Tetzel was furious.  He appealed to the Pope who issued orders for my arrest.  Even the Emperor was worried about this little-known German priest.  But God was doing His work!  I was not arrested, for Prince Frederick became my protector.  I continued teaching until I was ordered to appear before the Emperor's representative.

          I had already debated my many writings at Leipzig with John Eck and proved them true from scriptures.  But in 1521, a Diet, a kind of church conference, was called in the city of Worms and there I was ordered to take back all my writings.

          "All of them?" I asked.  "But they contain the truth of Holy Scripture.  How can I recant the truth of God?"  They gave me 24 hours to consider this, and when I appeared again, I said, "Unless I am shown my errors by Scripture, I cannot and will not recant.  Here I stand, I can do no other.  God help me, amen!"

          But my enemies became adamant!  I was declared an outlaw and could be killed on sight.  But on my way home, God again protected me.  I was kidnapped and taken to a castle at Wartburg.  There I stayed nearly a year, translating the New Testament into the German language of my people.

          During my absence Satan went to work.  Carlstadt, a fellow priest, went around preaching that people did not need the church or even the Bible.  He said that God would just tell them what He wanted them to know.  Riots broke out and people began destroying churches.  Finally, I'd had enough.  In 1522 "Knight George" returned from the Wartburg Castle, to restore order.  The peasants had destroyed so much, that I was forced to write against them saying, "Bad and unjust government does not justify revolt!"  I urged peasants and nobility to sit down and end the conflict, and finally they did.

          The years following were filled with much activity.  Everyone, even most priests, were so ignorant of the Scriptures.  Thus, I wrote the Small and Large Catechisms, containing the basic teachings of the Christian faith - Prayer, the Sacraments, the Commandments, the Creed and Confession.  I also wrote many sermons about the Word of God.

          During that time I saw many priests and nuns leave the monasteries and convents.  I helped some of them find wives or husbands, and once aided twelve nuns escape their convent by wrapping them in fish bags and hauling them away in an ox cart.  How they smelled when they were unwrapped!  One of them was Katherine von Bora, my Katy.  I had proposed she marry two wealthy men, but she refused, saying, "I would marry anyone else, even you, Dr. Luther, but not those two."  Well, how could I refuse that?  On June 13, 1525, we were married, I at age 42 and Katie at 26.  That day God gave me a precious helper indeed!  Though we only had respect for each other in the beginning, we grew to love and cherish each other.

          My house needed much work but my Katie was a jewel.  Elector Frederick had given us the small monastery at Wittenberg so Katie began keeping it masterfully, supervising the servants who raised chickens and vegetables and milked the cows and made beer.  We have always had 20 or 30 extra people with us, and she feeds and houses them all, though they all have their duties.

          She is more precious to me than the kingdom of France or the jewels of Venice.  She has born me six wonderful children.  They are such a great joy, though God already took one of them as a babe, my little Elizabeth.  And my sweet Magdalena has always been sickly.  Yet our home is filled with music and laughter and, of course, always much hard work.

          The unrest in the church still continues.  By now thousands have left the church of Rome for churches pastored by men we have trained.  So far I have translated the whole Bible and have continued writing the truths of God.  And people have kept reading.  I also write hymns for worship for I love music.  Next to the Gospel, music is God's most precious gift to mankind!  And my associates also write extensively, especially Philip Melanthon, who has a gifted pen.

          A few years ago, in 1530, Emperor Charles ordered us to appear before another Diet, this time at Augsburg, to explain our beliefs and bring unity in the empire.  For that event Philip wrote the Augsburg Confession, our explanation of the faith.  It was signed by dozens of pastors, nobility and mayors, but the Pope's emissaries rejected it all, even parts containing accepted catholic doctrine.  But whether they wanted it or not, Christ's Church is being reformed, and the Reformation was now unstoppable.

          Today I continue writing and preaching and God continues growing His protesting churches, "Protestants" they call us.  Some call us "Lutherans" though I dislike that name.  This is Christ's church, and I do not wish to make another.  It is only they who say we are creating another.

          My enemies wish me silent and soon they may have their wish.  I survived one heart attack but God has given me more time.  I pray the Church will one day grow so that it's impossible to number, all over the world.  It matters not what we are called, only in whom we trust - our Lord and Savior.  Hold fast to the Gospel, my friends.  Let no one bind your consciences with useless demands.  Beware of false prophets.  Never take your eyes off the cross of our Lord.  God's peace be with you, amen!

Copyright © 2002 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.