In Danger of Your Life
As Lent began in 1522 Martin Luther found himself preaching in Wittenberg. While you would expect this to have happened, Luther was doing so at great risk. On May 26, 1521, Emperor Charles V had issued the Edict of Worms, which declared Luther to be an outlaw and banned his teachings and a bounty was placed on his head. Soon after that Luther was “kidnapped” by soldiers of Frederick the Wise and taken to the Wartburg Castle to keep him safe. While hiding there he translated the New Testament into German.
When he heard about the activities at Wittenberg by Karlstadt, Zwilling, and others - their rash words and the violent activities they fostered - Luther left the safety of Wartburg and traveled to Wittenberg. There, on Invocat Sunday (the first Sunday in Lent) and the seven days that followed Luther preached some of his most famous sermons. While many of the reforms Karlstadt and company were calling for Luther agreed with, he disagreed with their method. They had destroyed the altars and cast out the images from most of the Wittenberg churches, demanded that the mass be outlawed, and called for the distribution of communion in both kinds and distributing it without a call for fasting or confession confusing the citizens of Wittenberg. Luther was appalled at these events and how inconsiderate of the people’s faith the would-be reformers were. On March 9th Luther preached the first of his eight Lenten sermons on the reform.
The gospel text for that Sunday was the temptation of Jesus (Matthew 4:1 ff.) but it seems that this sermon, written down by someone who heard it, was actually extemporaneous after Luther preached his written text. In that second part of his sermon Luther cautioned the would-be reformers that they seemed to be allowing Satan to win out. It would be good for us to hear a summary of what Luther said then as we begin Lent this year. He began by reminding us that we are children of wrath and that God sent his only begotten Son so that we could be children of God. Luther reminds us that God did this because of his love for us and we are called to love one another as through the faith God has given us. Lastly, Luther calls for us to be patient because God will bring about his will in due time.
This led to Luther’s discussion of what we must do and what we are free to do. Here Luther quotes Paul, “’All things are lawful for me,’ but not all things are helpful (1 Corinthians 6:12).” While we do not need altars and images and we can distribute in both kinds, if we do so in a way that brings about violence, destruction, and hate, we are doing Satan’s work not God’s. This should be our Lenten journey, reflecting on our lives; how we have sown hate and not love, violence and not care, our selfish desires and not God’s. This Lent take up Paul’s call in 1 Corinthians 13. Live the more perfect life in love for God and neighbor .