Held in 1517.*)
Mal. 3, 1-4.
Behold, I will send my angel to prepare the way before me. And soon shall come to his temple the Lord whom ye seek, and the angel of the covenant whom ye desire. Behold, he cometh, saith the Lord of hosts. But who shall endure the day of his coming? And who shall stand when he shall appear? For he is like the fire of a goldsmith, and like the soap of a launderer. He shall sit and melt, and purify the silver; he shall purify and cleanse the children of Levi, as gold and silver. Then shall they bring meat offerings unto the Lord in righteousness; and shall the meat offering of Judah and Jerusalem be acceptable unto the Lord, as it was before, and as it was long ago.
First of all, the origin of this feast should be explained. The name is, Mary's Purification. Among the pagans and Romans this was the custom, that in the beginning of the month of February (which was also called Februatio, Lustratio or Purification) they visited the graves of the dead with lights and in this way purified the city, because they believed that the dead would thereby be made favorable to them. When the church grew and they, the Romans, began to confess Christ's name, this way of the pagans remained; and in order not to completely usurp it, it is called the "Lustratio".
*This sermon in Latin was first published by Löscher from a manuscript in his "Unschuldige Nachrichten von alten und neuen theologischen Sachen. Leipzig 1703" p. 67 ff. It was then translated into German and included in the Leipzig collection vol. XII, 429. In the "Vollständige Reformationsacten" I, 795 Löscher gives the year 1517, while the Leipzig edition and afterwards Walch erroneously noted 1518. Cf. Erl. A. Opera varii argumenti I, 202. ed.
celebrated under the name of the Virgin. Therefore, it is still worth the effort that Christians watch, so that they do not reintroduce the discontinued custom by their pomp. For the little women take pleasure in the length and grandeur of the ceremonies, and consider it praise if they can offer a large wax candle. But I would rather they fed their children and maintained their households with such expenses. For there is no benefit in it. So now epistle and gospel cry today of a cleansing; and this is for the old Adam, who must be cleansed. And when this cleansing is done, it seems to us rather to be a defilement. For thus says Malachi:
Behold, I send my angel, and he shall prepare the way before your face. And straightway shall come unto his sanctuary the ruler whom ye seek, and the angel of the covenant whom ye desire.
2) See the order and regulation of purification. Hitherto the people have been preached of great indulgences, by which man himself would be redeemed from the misery, suffering and toil of this world; since God does not want to take away the suffering itself, but to increase it even more, yes, the Scriptures seem to heal them all with the single word of indulgence, which is to believe in Christ. The suffering of Christ and the saints make their limbs and bones (in faith) holy, and everything they have touched. Why then do we poor people accept that which is inferior, and forsake that which is better? Because Christ wants to have a pure and cleansed soul. Therefore he said to Petro Matth. 16, 19.: "What shall be bound on earth shall be bound in heaven, and what shall be loosed on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Not, as the popes did, with fury and violence of wrath. Alas! What was given to us for the highest comfort has now become terror and fear. For nothing else can be done now but curse and banish. This is also said to us, it applies to us.
Now you may say, "I am already so contrite and have confessed my sins; therefore they are all forgiven me. By no means. That is poison and ruin. Believe only the word that the priest speaks in absolution, so that he is absolved neither by his merit nor by yours. Confession is in faith. For a true penitent does not even know that he repents, much less the priest, among whom some only want to absolve those whom they see contrite. Off with them! For this the angel or Christ is sent, who prepares the way, cleanses our hearts. And immediately the ruler will come; as if he wanted to say: Otherwise he will not come, it must be clean before. "Behold, he cometh, saith the Lord."
And who will be able to signify the day of his future?
4 Christ will come in such a way that no one will know that he is there. He confuses everything, so that it seems that a great confusion is coming.
and misfortune. Here is a rough likeness on a twisted piece of wood. Wood is already known and has an uneven round figure according to nature. The carpenter comes here and first hews one side, then the other. And if the wood could speak, it would say: What do you want? The carpenter would answer: I will make an octagon of wood out of you. Then the wood would say, "Leave me alone, you are ruining me completely, for I now have barely two corners. So it is also in man, that at first sight all destruction and ruin appears to him. Therefore, do not think about the day of his future.
And who will stand to see him? For he is like an oven and a furnace, and like the herb of the dyers.
5 Let no one be bold here; let it all go free. No man shall stand; for who shall resist his power? For when he comes, he scatters all our plots and makes them nothing; therefore purgatory is within us.
6 In Hebrew there is a word, borith; St. Jerome says it should be given as "herb of the dyers". But if I had so much power, I would translate it as "purgatory". A dyer is also not the one whom we commonly call wool weaver or knapp; but it was an artist to clean the clothes, for which the herb borith was most skillful; as we have, for instance, the soap, or similarly chicken dung etc.
And he shall sit and melt, and purify the silver, and make the children of Levi clean, and sweep them as gold and silver.
7. Christ is not a bad fire, but it dissolves everything hard, because gold and silver are melted by its flame. Nor will he purify everyone, but those who are worthy "children of Levi", chosen from all the tribes (as we read in chapter 1 of the 5th book of Moses): the sons of God, namely, those who believe in him with holy and sincere faith.
And they will offer sacrifices to the Lord in righteousness.
8 Or in the faith of Christ; for the righteous liveth by faith. Christ purified his own, he polished them, so that he says in the Song of Songs, "Thou art fair, and there is no spot in thee." The purified ones, however, do not rest now, but, like an oven full of fire, give up the flames of their works: they have love and honor God. Therefore, they sacrifice in righteousness, or they give and restore all that they have received from the Lord.
And it will please the Lord the sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem.
God accepts what He Himself has worked in us and not what is ours. He does not like what is our own, if he did not create it himself. Therefore, it is advisable for Christians to wait only for what God wants from them and in which state and way of life they should be called; then they should fulfill and accomplish it to the best of their ability, even if they already have the greatest resistance. For this is called "purification".