To a certain city councilor. *) Jan. 27, 1543.
1. grace and peace in the Lord. Strict, wise, dear gentlemen, good friends! I have recently written to you, Captain, and asked that you let your pastor come from you in kindness. For I did not hear the things differently, as if he had acted wrongly and had been deposed by the visitators. Now I am told by the visitators that he has not committed any offense, nor do they want to have him deposed, nor do they want to have him deposed, but they give him testimony that he is pure in doctrine and blameless in life; only if you have cast a grudge on him for punishing the vices severely, you would have intended to depose him. From this I realize that here the devil would like to cause misfortune and lead you into great harm, which moves me to do this writing to you, and I ask very kindly that you accept it amicably, as I faithfully mean, for your good.
(2) I hope you will have so much Christian understanding that the ministry and the gospel are not ours, nor of any man, nor of any angel, but of God our Lord alone, who purchased it for us with his blood, and gave it to us, and established it for our salvation. Therefore he condemns the despisers harshly and says, Luc. 10, 16: "Whoever despises you despises me"; and "it would be better for him if he had never heard it", says St. Peter, 2 Ep. 2, 21.
3) Because the two excellent men, Mr. Jobst and Mr. Friedrich, visitators, have now
since they must give an account for it, both testify, and one must believe them that your pastor teaches the right pure word of God and is honorable life, which also the city of Kreuzberg and neighbors testify; Behold, dear lords and friends, how the evil spirit tempts you so cunningly and wickedly that you should offend the supreme pastor and bishop, JESUS CHRIST, Son of God, who, out of great special grace, so purely and abundantly communicates to you his Word and Sacrament, that is, his blood, death and suffering, through his faithful, pious servant, your pastor; how can the afflicted devil not suffer that you should be saved?
(4) So now you also have to take this into account, because there is no other cause and fault than that you have cast a grief on the pastor without his merit, yes, for the sake of his great merits and faithful preaching, that it is not to be done nor possible, for the sake of your grief and unjust presumption, to do violence and injustice to such a well-attested pastor and to throw him out with dirt. I cannot blame the visitators that they should not do such things, nor should they weigh down their consciences with such injustice for the devil's sake and go to the devil with you, if they consented to your conduct. Beware, dear lords and friends, beware; if the devil brings you down, he will not leave it at that, but will continue to fall.
5. the first case is this, that you shall
If you despise your pastor and despise him without cause, that is, if you despise Christ himself, the ruler of all pastors, you will strike yourselves on the stone and be burned by the devouring fire. For he is more interested in a pious, faithful pastor than in all the authorities in the whole world. For the same office does not serve him for his kingdom of heaven, as the parish office does. With this he brings it about that he plugs your heart and mouth, that you may not believe, not pray, not praise, nor lift up your head before God in any trouble, as he says, Matth. 5, 24: "Leave your sacrifice before the altar and make atonement for yourself first. With that you would no longer be Christians, you would have banished yourselves; that is terrible.
(6) After this, he will work it out, that over this sin of your own he may overthrow you with great strange sins, that is, that you may take away your innocent pastor, so that the church may become desolate, and children and other pious people may remain deprived of the word, baptism, or sacrament, and, as much as is in you, must also be condemned with you. That would be much worse than the pope's rule; how will you answer for that? Moreover, if the common man and the dear youth would see such a horrible example, that learned, pious priests would be rewarded for their effort and faithful service with dirt and disgrace; who wants to send a child to school? Who wants to study at his expense? Where do we want to get parish priests?
(7) Into this harm the devil seeks to lead you and others, as I have said, through such willfulness on your part and yours. How much better it would be to be under the sorry pope and the Turks, since there are still schools and churches left for pastors and preachers, neither among you, who want to make it completely desolate?
8) Thirdly, where you fail, he will at last fall you into hardened impenitence; then it is all over with you and no more counsel, yes, this is where the wretched devil goes about. Therefore, the sooner you get along with the priest and the church, that is, with Christ, the better, so that you do not become an example, as has already happened to some.
9 There are other ways to be found. Whoever does not want to hear the priest, the church door is open to him; he may well remain outside without God's grace. The churches were not built, nor the parishes founded, for the purpose of expelling those who want to teach and hear God's word, and leaving those inside who do not need or want to hear God's word; but they were built and founded for the sake of those who like to hear it and cannot do without it.
(10) You are not lords over the pastors and the ministry, you did not establish them, but only the Son of God; you have not given anything to them, much less the right to them, neither the devil in the kingdom of heaven; you are not to master them or teach them, nor to punish them. For it is God's punishment, not man's, who will have it unpunished, but commanded; wait your turn, and let God be satisfied with his rule, before he must teach you. Yours is none that can suffer a stranger to deprive him of his servant, or to dismiss him, that he cannot spare. Yes, there is no shepherd boy so small who would suffer a crooked word from a foreign master, but God's servant, he should and must be everyone's huddle and suffer everything from everyone, whereas one does not want or can suffer anything from him, not even God's own word.
(11) Understand this admonition well, which I mean faithfully, for it is God's admonition. But if you will not hear, nor amend your ways, we must let you go, and yet see how we may resist the devil, at least so far as not to trouble our consciences with your sins, nor to will the devil therein.
(12) We must not put you under ban; you are harming yourselves, since we would gladly and much rather have you out. And even if you could get another pastor, since it is still a long way off, you still cannot become Christians, nor be partakers of some Christian grace and life; so no one will accept it against the will and command of the visitators. And who would want to go to such disowned Christians, who would have such evil cries, that they ousted their pastor by force and injustice, and equally-
1628 A- SS, so.; 23,1-4. 12) That one should punish pastors because of that, that they punish vices etc. W. X, 1901-1903. 1629
If you were to call yourselves Christians and use such a name with shame, you would get a good name all over the world and become quite an example.
Finally, I counsel you in Christ to get along with your pastor and live friendly with him; let him punish, teach, comfort you, as he is commanded by God and as is on his conscience; as it is written to the Hebrews on the 13th, v. 17. 17, it is written, "Obey your teachers, and follow them; for they watch over your souls, as they that should give account thereof; that they may do it with joy, and not with sighing; for that is not good for you." For that which you are about to do is an evil example, that every magistrate, every judge
or councilor wanted to expel a priest, of whom he had no reason, right or cause, according to his whims; God will not and cannot suffer it either.
May God grant that you may not know it, but may the same dear God help you to know His will with fear and humility and honor His Son, that is, His word, which He has given and purchased for you by His blood, and His servants, the poor pastors, who are otherwise afflicted and should have protection and comfort from you worldly rulers, so that your ministry may be a service of God. Hiemit dem lieben GOtt in seine Gnade befohlen. Date Saturday after St. Paul's conversion, Anno 1543.