First sermon.*)
That we may render unto our Lord God his due service, hearing and learning his good word, as he hath commanded and enjoined us, that we may know what he will do unto us, and what we shall expect of him, lest we be as swine that know not any thing: let us hear the gospel of this day. For he has given his
Do not let the word be preached to the stones. Neither do they preach how we may live here, for this is taught elsewhere; but how we shall be saved. So today's gospel is about the last future of the Lord, how it will be when the world will come to an end, and it reads thus:
Luc. 21, 25-36.
And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth men shall be afraid, and shall tremble; and the sea and the waves of waters shall roar. And men shall faint for fear, and for waiting of the things that are to come upon the earth: for the powers of heaven also shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads, because your redemption draweth nigh. And he said unto them one
*) Held by Luther at his home, December 8, 1532.
Likewise, look at the fig tree and all the trees. When they now bud, you see it in them, and realize that summer is near. So also ye, when ye see all these things come to pass, know that the kingdom of God is at hand. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be done. Heaven and earth shall pass away; but my words shall not pass away. But take heed lest your hearts be troubled with eating and drinking, and with cares of food, and let that day come upon you quickly; for as a snare it shall come upon all them that dwell on the earth. Be ye therefore always valiant, and pray that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
In this gospel the Lord proclaims his future on the last day, which will take place with great splendor and majesty. On the last Sunday you heard about his riding into Jerusalem on a donkey without any splendor. He did not have a place of his own, not even a foot wide; he was also crucified afterwards. This is a poor, miserable future, in which he comes, not as a Lord, but as a servant, who wanted to serve, and so serve that he dies for us; as he himself says Matth. 20, 28: "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life for the redemption of many. Summa, in his first coming he did the greatest service that no angel or creature can do, that he prepared and made ready the kingdom of his faithful and elect. But when the number of the elect is full, he will come, not as a servant, but as a Lord, and will come to destroy us from the earth, worms, death, and stench.
2 The Lord proclaims these things in this gospel, warning his Christians to beware of security, lest the day of his coming should suddenly overtake them; comforting them also not to be afraid of the signs that will come before the last day, but rather to rejoice that their redemption is at hand.
First of all, the Lord warns that we Christians should not set the date of our life here on earth, but know that our Lord and Savior will come from heaven, and so we should be ready to expect all the hours of His future; so that we should be only halfway and with the left hand in this life, and with the right hand and with the whole heart we should be in expectation of that day when our Lord will come in the world.
of such splendid majesty and magnificence that no man can talk out of it.
(4) This is the warning and exhortation of this gospel, that we take heed: for there is no abiding here; lest we do as the wicked do, saying, O who knoweth when the last day shall come? We are not to be like such secure and godless people, who weigh down their hearts with eating and drinking and worrying about food. For it shall come to pass before the last day, that every man shall build, and have a marriage, and eat, and drink, and be sure; and therewith shall they burden their hearts, as if there were nothing else to do, but this. Those who do these things will be suddenly overtaken by the last day, and Christ will come in a moment; and when they are most secure, beating the drum, leaping and dancing, they will lie there unawares and burn forever.
5 The Lord says this beforehand and wants people to follow it. Those who despise it will suddenly come to three. If they build the most, and let themselves be free, and eat, and drink, and live in all safety, there shall be brimstone and fire above and below. Just as it happened in Sodom. They ate, drank, danced, rejoiced, and would not have wished a penny for the pious Lot, as our citizens, farmers, and nobles do today. Then Lot said unto them, God shall destroy you with fire: but they laughed at him, and said: What sayest thou of this, dear Lasse? What happened? Early in the morning, when the sun went out, the sky became black, and there was a great storm, so that it went up and down; and from that time they were in hell. It is the same today. When our citizens, peasants, and nobles hear of Judgment Day, they say, "Oh, how I have time to eat and drink and count my money until Judgment Day!
kärsie. But when they will count thalers at the best and be wanton, and one will say to them: Beware, the last day will come, and they will laugh at it, and say: Ei, how are you a fool, do you think that the last day will come? etc.: then shall the latter day come in and burst, as the lightning, which is in a moment in the morning and in the evening. Then what are the Jáchymovs, houses, chains and the emblazonment?
006 Therefore saith Christ, Ye, my beloved disciples and Christians, turn not aside unto the ungodly and secure company, but beware. You will see before your eyes that they will weigh down their hearts and mock you for it. But beware; for the latter day shall come quickly, like lightning, that they shall not be able to escape. As a little mouse is caught in a hui, so calamity will quickly overtake them.
7 We should take this warning of the Lord Christ to heart and remember it well. For we cannot prevent it; we must hear and see that everyone is so wanton. But let us hear what Christ says and expect his future, and not see what the wicked and the secure do in the world. For the Lord Christ faithfully warns us to expect his glorious future, when this will happen: the wicked will sink into the abyss of hell, and we, on the other hand, will be delivered from the earth and from all the miseries we have on earth.
8 This is one thing we are to learn today, that we prepare ourselves for the Lord's future. As we also confess in faith that our Lord Jesus Christ will come to judge the living and the dead. For what is recently said in our faith, this gospel says abundantly and superfluously, and reports how it will be in the world before the future of the Lord, namely: Christ will be despised and the preachers of the gospel will be considered fools. The ungodly and crude crowd, on the other hand, will live and be stingy, as if there were nothing else to do on earth but this. Not that it is evil or forbidden that
They will feed themselves, but they will weigh down their hearts with it. If they weighed down their hands alone, there would be no need, for work must be done. But to weigh down their hearts is evil and forbidden; it is to put all their confidence in how they will become great and rich; they ask nothing of Christ, and laugh at God's word and the last day. That is, to weigh down the heart: to deal with the temporal in such a way that the heart cannot judge itself in Christ's word; just as in our time merchants, citizens and farmers only think how they will become rich, besides which they do not give a damn about God's word.
(9) Thus shall it be, saith Christ, when the last day is at the door. All the world will be safe. Be not deceived, follow them not, do not as they do, cleave unto me; neither be afraid, lift up your head, and see, if I come down from heaven, and find you so: there shall be no trouble with you, for I will come to deliver you. But those who are heavy-hearted and do not ask about the last day will suddenly be dead; when this one jumps and dances with the matzo, he will suddenly be lying there; and when that one counts the Joachimsthalers, he will suddenly be lying there with money, sack and all. That's how it will be at that time, that's how it will be found.
Therefore it is a good sign in our time that the last day is not far away. For the world is now very well prepared for it, and will do even better. Everything is rising now, there is no measure of glory; so the certainty is so great among the common multitude that they laugh at the preachers. But such certainty will become even greater. They will surely become so that they will not want to hear a sermon, but will throw the book away and say, "You are a fool, will you ask much about the sermon? There are already many such among the citizens and peasants. Whoever then lives will understand these words well.
(11) Therefore Christ saith unto his disciples and Christians, Beware lest I find you among this rude company. If
they will speak: It is not yet necessary; at the same moment they shall lie there. So it was, when Lot admonished his oaths or his daughters, that he was laughed at. For they said, "Oh, this city has stood for such a long time; it will stand for some time yet. But the next day, before they arose, they were dead and swimming in the fire. That is what the world wants. Christ is well excused, he has faithfully warned the world and is still preaching to the people today, but it does not help. They should be frightened and think: The man who lets us preach such things will not lie to us. But they continue in their security and say: Meanwhile I will drink my beer. Well, says Christ, it serves you right, you did not want to listen, I warned you: therefore I will also strike you suddenly. Then they will have to say that it has served them right; now they do not ask anything about it. But the Lord says, "The day will come like lightning, and we will follow it.
012 So shall it be before the last day, that men may learn it, and not be offended that it is so; but say, Christ hath declared it before, that the world shall be so fierce, rude, and covetous. etc. Well, so be it, and there will be more. So it was in Sodom in the days of Lot, and in all the world in the days of Noah. It is all said for our comfort, warning and teaching, that we may conclude what it means. The raw multitude knows not what it is; but we shall know it, and beware lest we also fall into the multitude. We must eat and drink, but in such a way that our hearts are not weighed down, but rather that we hang on to the future of the Lord, knowing that in the future there will be a resurrection of the dead and eternal life. If I make sure of this, I sleep, wake up, study, eat or drink at once, and if the last day comes when it wants to, it cannot come to me suddenly.
13. yes, we desire that he come for the sake of sin; for God's name is not sanctified in this life, but rather blasphemed, his kingdom is prevented, his will is not done on earth, that is, the day of his coming.
Our bread is taken away from us, our guilt increases, and temptation does not cease. Therefore we ask: Heavenly Father, come your kingdom, deliver us from evil. Help, help, God, strike down and put an end to it. So if we let ourselves be warned, watch and pray, one can be sure that the last day will not frighten him. But they must be afraid, and it is their own fault, because they do not want to wait for the future; therefore the last day must come suddenly to them, not because of the Lord Christ, who warns them sufficiently, but because of their fault that they do not want to be warned.
14 Secondly, the Lord comforts us and exhorts us to rejoice when we see the eclipses of the sun and moon and comets, and that all creatures are changed and are no longer in their usual state. When ye shall see, saith he, the sun and moon turn their eyes, it is time for the creatures to die. Just as a man who is now living with half darkness and his eyes are turned back is near the end and death, so also when the world turns back its eyes and things change, know that the end of the world is here; lift up your heads and do not be afraid, for your redemption is near.
(15) These words should be written in the heart with letters of gold, because they comfort all those who believe in eternal life. When ye shall see, saith Christ, that the world is cracked, hideous to look upon, then be not dismayed, ye that are my disciples and Christians, but let them be dismayed whom it concerneth. But the secure, rough farmers and citizens do not ask anything about it, and even if there were three eclipses in one day, they would still lie in the alehouse and get drunk. Therefore Christ saith, When ye see heaven and earth falling, and the people wicked, and all things going against the stream, then be glad, and take heart. On whom? On you? No, but upon me, for I will come. It will be a little terrible. For if I should strangle the world, it must see sourly and turn its eyes. But I am there, do not be frightened, you shall be saved.
will come. Let us believe that our Lord Jesus Christ will surely come and that we will have eternal life. But when this day and hour will come, we do not really know; but yet we can know it, as the Lord says: "When this begins to happen, know that it is not far off"; therefore we are warned for all days and hours.
(16) He giveth a likeness of the fig tree and other trees, not a terrible, hideous likeness of fire, but a beautiful, comforting, lovely likeness of the trees. "When the trees now bud," he says, "you see it in them, and realize that summer is now near"; so also you, when the sun becomes dark, say, "The trees bud"; and when the sea and the waves roar, say, "This is a beautiful blossom on the trees". For what purpose? That we may be eternally saved. The world shall see such signs as these in
sun, moon, water, earth, for spears and halberds; but you, my disciples and Christians, should consider them as a beautiful flower. Therefore be glad, for the kingdom of God comes to you, that you may believe, that you may be baptized, that you may suffer, that you may call and ask.
(17) We are to learn both these things to strengthen our faith, and to warn and comfort us. When we see the manifold troubles in the world, we are not to turn to them, but beware of all who go about like sticks and blocks, and pay no attention to all these things. To them God's wrath will come suddenly, but we must rejoice and wait for the Lord, who will come in the clouds with His angels and will save us from all our troubles. This is what Christ preached to us today, which is why we celebrate this day. May God give us His grace, that we may grasp and keep it, amen.