First sermon.*)
Matth. 22, 1-14.
And Jesus answered and spake unto them again in parables, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a king that made a marriage for his son: and he sent forth his servants to call the guests to the marriage: and they would not come. Again he sent out other servants, saying, Tell the guests, Behold, I have prepared my supper, my oxen and my fatlings are slain, and all things are ready; come to the marriage. But they despised this and went away, one to his field, the other to his handiwork. And some of them took his servants, and mocked them, and slew them. When the king heard this, he was angry and sent out his armies and killed these murderers and set their city on fire. Then he said to his servants: The wedding is ready, but the guests are not worthy. Therefore go out into the streets and invite to the wedding whomever you find. And the servants
*) Held in the house, 1532.
went out into the streets and brought together whom they found. Evil and good. And the tables were all filled. Then the king went in to see the guests, and saw a man there who had no wedding garment on, and said to him, "Friend, how did you come in and have no wedding garment on? But he fell silent. Then said the king unto his servants, Bind his hands and his feet, and cast him out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth: for many are called, but few are chosen.
In this Gospel, our dear Lord Jesus Christ warns us to beware of the sin that is called despising and persecuting God's word; he also sets before us an example of the despisers and persecutors in whom God has horribly punished the despising of his word and the murder of his servants. But the Lord warns us especially of the certainty that comes with the fact that people not only despise God's word, but are also so sure of it that they go along and think to themselves that it will go well with them; just as it is written here of those who are invited that they do not want to come to the wedding, that they despise the glorious meal, and go away, one to his field, the other to his work. It would not be a miracle if the hellish fire rained down on them; but they go and become rich.
2 So it goes today also. When the good gospel is opened, there is a great tumult, so that the world is worse than before, and everyone wants to work. Before the gospel came, they did not work in this way; but now they are invited by the word and the gospel, they have so much to do that they cannot wait for the wedding. Now, under the light of the gospel, the peasants, the burghers, and the nobility are more stingy, proud, and hopeful, and they are more arrogant and stubborn than they were before under the darkness of the papacy; they put their pastors, who invite them to such a banquet, to all pains of heart, and they are ten times worse than they were under the papacy.
Let no one be angry that the godless peasants, burghers and nobles are so proud and courageous, and yet they trample on God's word and their pastors. It is certainly annoying that one should see, hear and experience such things. For even some pious people would like to remember: Because
Most of the people in the world despise God and His word, and yet they are happy: so will I do; I see nothing that they lack, they have everything enough, and they think they are doing right. By no means! Let them despise and persecute God's word, and put all their heartaches on their preachers: but turn not thou to it. They are safe now, and do not look upon our Lord God that they should be afraid of him. But beware. For our Lord God is a kind host who can lend you a bill for a time, but he will not give it to you if you do not mend your ways. Today he is also watching, letting citizens and peasants do all they can, despising the gospel and all faithful admonition and teaching, collecting money, overcharging for everything that is needed, wood, grain, butter, eggs, and remaining silent about it, as if he did not see it. But if today or tomorrow he comes with a pestilence, so that they often fall there, or with a war, so that the lansquenets, Italians and Spaniards fall into your house, take what they find and beat your skin to the bone, they do not even strangle you, rape your wife and child and make you watch and cry out about it: O, how does our Lord God deal with us so horribly? *)
(4) Then it shall be found what pleasure God hath had in thy covetousness, in thy wantonness, and in thy pride. For it will be said: "Dear one, if before you were stingy, proud and wanton and despised my word, now take it for good and look behind you at the score. You have been carousing for a long time; dear, pay once and hold out your neck! So it will finally go out. That's why it would be good to let up in time and improve, as we are admonished by the word. We would like to have it so that
*) Marginal note: "Weissagung, zum Theil erfüllet 1547."
we would despise God's word and do whatever we wanted, and yet God would not punish us. Yes, we should be ordered to do so!
(5) Some of them, however, who are summoned, do not stop at contempt, but are still so wicked that they seize the servants, put them to all shame and disgrace, and finally kill them. By this the Lord especially means the city of Jerusalem, which struck the prophets dead and finally strangled the Son of God himself.
But what happened? The king was angry and sent out his army, the Romans, who had to be in his service, to kill the murderers, to burn the city with fire, and to deal so horribly with the Jews that they sold them more cheaply than sparrows: thirty Jews for a penny, since only one sparrow was bought for a penny. Then the Jews began to cry and complain, saying, "It is unreasonable for the Gentiles to afflict them like this. But they had wanted it that way, they had been drinking for a long time and had let themselves be preached to in vain; then they had to pay the bill once, God did not want to hear them again, the father of the house dealt with them as with snakes and toads. Beware of this.
(7) Without this, we have many other things upon us that are repugnant to our Lord God, and that offend Him: anger, impatience, avarice, belly care, lust, evil lusts, fornication, hatred, and other vices, are great and grievous deadly sins, which are everywhere in the world and abound with power. Nevertheless, such sins are nothing compared to the abominable contempt of divine word, which is so great and mean that in truth miserliness, stealing, adultery, fornication, etc. are not so mean; indeed, they would all remain so if we loved and valued God's word. But, alas! we experience the contradiction that all the world is drowned in this sin. Peasants and citizens do not care so much about the gospel, snore against it and do not consider it a sin. So I see my wonder in the church, that one yawns out there, the other out there, and among such a large crowd there are hardly ten or twelve who are there because they want to notice something from the sermon.
(8) Now over and above the fact that this sin is so common, it is also a real, terrible, hellish, devilish sin in that it does not want to be recognized like other sins. Everyone considers it a minor thing if one is in the sermon and does not diligently pay attention to it; indeed, most of the people go along like this and make believe that the wine or beer tastes just as good to them during the sermon as at any other time. No one cares, much less consciences, that he holds the dear word in such low esteem. This does not happen in other sins, such as murder, adultery, and theft; these are followed, if not soon, then in due time, by the newcomer, so that the heart is horrified by it and wishes it had not happened. For no one can think it right. But not to hear the word diligently, yes, to despise, to persecute, no one takes conscience over. That is why it is such an abominable sin that the land and the people must finally be destroyed, for because it remains unrecognized, neither repentance nor correction can follow. This is what happened to the city of Jerusalem, Rome, Greece and other kingdoms.
9. Germany also has to answer for this; for sin always cries out to heaven and does not let God rest, so that He must be angry and say: "I have given you my dear Son, my highest and dearest treasure, and I would have liked to talk to you and teach you and instruct you for eternal life, but I have no one who will listen to me; therefore I must let the punishment go. As the Lord himself testifies in John 3, v. 19: "This is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their works were evil. As if he wanted to say, "I would gladly keep silent about the sins of all others, but this is the judgment that breaks the neck of the world, that I have sent my word and they ask nothing about it. This is what most vexes me. Otherwise they are full of sins, and I would gladly help them by my word: but they will not. If they will not hear my word, they will hear the devil's word. I will have to suffer this, but they will see how it will go for them.
(10) So it went with the Christians toward the morning in the beautiful, large countries that the Turk has now brought under himself. Hungary is almost gone as well. We Germans and other nations also do not want to hear the gospel nor suffer, therefore they must hear and suffer the devil's mob, the Anabaptists and sacrament abusers. So it should go. Wherever the Word of God is despised and will not be heard, then listen to the Turk, the revolting spirits and all devils who preach all kinds of error. For because it is the highest and greatest sin, it deserves the highest and most severe punishment.
Our Lord God would like us to fall on our knees before it and write it not only in the books with golden letters, but also in the hearts: the world wants it least of all, indeed, it can hardly stand that it is written in the books and resounds in the pulpit; it wants the devil in its heart, which must also finally be granted to it.
Therefore be warned. God has sufficient cause to be angry and to punish for the sake of other sins. But this sin is above all, when one despises his word, in which forgiveness of sins is proclaimed, and holds those in contempt who invite us to such a wedding and banquet. Whoever then is in such a sin, let his conscience tell him that he is not in a small sin, but in the very highest and greatest sin, which God will tolerate the least and punish the most severely.
Everyone is now crying out about the great infidelity and about the avarice that is now in the world, that peasants, burghers, noblemen so toil, scrape, steal and rob. It is not less, and such things cannot remain unpunished in the long run. But that we have the gospel, snore against it, and go strolling under the hour of preaching in the market, in front of the gate, in taverns, or sit and lie in the playgrounds, that is the main sin, which far surpasses all others. Our citizens are up to their ears in sin, not only despise the Word, but also mock the preachers, saying: "Our priest can preach nothing else but about faith, about the
Love, from the cross, can't do more than dat; go meanwhile to the ditch lurch. When I see such, my heart would break. Because of this, God will certainly punish them horribly, that he will send error and let red spirits tear down with power, which will tear it away with heaps. As has happened in Greece and other countries, where Mahomet now reigns; he teaches them to believe in the devil's filth, since they had God's word before, but still despised it.
14 In the Welsh region of Rome, the same thing happened. At first the doctrine was right and pure, but since the people opposed it so foolishly and ungratefully, God punished the sin in such a way that some ran into the monasteries, became monks and nuns, and toiled to death in the devil's name; the others ruled themselves to death and instead of divine truth believed in crude, shameful and harmful lies, until everything was devastated and ruined. Such punishment is now again on the way (for 'this sin must be punished physically and spiritually: physically with sword and fire, spiritually with error and seduction), the devil throws in the sacrament abusers and rebaptizers, who take away baptism and the sacrament pure. So it is also convenient, as if everything wanted to fall in one heap. Why do people not want to stick to the word and accept it with thanksgiving?
(15) Therefore, learn to beware of such sin; cherish the word of God and hear it diligently and gladly. For if you would do it for no other reason, you should do it for this reason, that God has commanded it, and love and serve Him. For it is not a small thing to serve such a great Lord; he can reward us abundantly. Therefore, every Christian should be diligent in such service, thinking: "Because my Lord and God wants me to hear his word, and because he himself holds this service in such high esteem that he will accept it for his pleasing service, I will gladly render him such service, preach his word, hear it, read it and learn it, so that I may also boast that I have once served my God for a day or an hour. Such a cause should be enough for us,
that moved us to the Word. For to serve such a great Lord as God is, that is much. That is why every man should say with justice: Dear God, you show me innumerable benefits every day; therefore, because you want me to hear your word, I will also hear it again for your service and honor with diligence and earnestness, and be careful that I do not despise it. That would be cause enough.
016 But now there are other and greater causes. For God promises thee, saying, If thou hear my word diligently, and keep it, thou shalt be a master of the devil, that he may flee thee, and not come nigh thee. For where my word is, there am I also: but where I am, there shall the devil not be found, but shall be made ashamed.
17. thou shalt also have the benefit of having thy sin forgiven, and of having thy heart enlightened, and set on fire unto true devotion and obedience. For thou shalt hear good things, how thou mayest overcome death, and obtain eternal life. In sum, my word shall show you the way to heaven and bring you to eternal life. Therefore I command you to serve me, so that the fruit and the benefit is most yours. Without this, if I wanted something from you, you would have to do it for my sake, but now I am doing it for your sake, and I am commanding you such service that you will enjoy the most. As we find out when we do no more than take the Ten Commandments or the Lord's Prayer before us again for an hour, a new fruit is always found, that one notices and learns something that one did not know before.
(18) And if there be no other fruit, yet the fruit is always there, that the devil cannot abide with thee, nor hurt thee. Therefore let no Christian think himself so learned as to say that he knows the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments well beforehand; but if such a thought should occur to you, take up the holy cross before you, and say, "My God forbid that I should be one day without His word. For where I am without God's word, the devil will surely come to me.
Therefore, although I have already prayed this day, I will pray again now. That you may always chase away the devil and sin from you and render service to our Lord God. If you do not do this, you do our Lord God a grievous displeasure. Who would like to have such a great Lord's wrath?
Nineteen: But there, alas, goeth the greatest multitude, hearkening unto the word less than unto nothing. If pestilence or war comes today or tomorrow, our Lord God will say: I do not hear you again; because you would not hear me when I spoke to you, I do not hear your cries and howls now. As it is written in Proverbs of Solomon in chapter 1, vv. 24-30: "Because I cry out, and you refuse; I stretch out my hand, and no one heeds it; and you forsake all my counsel, and will not heed my punishment: I will also laugh at your calamity, and mock you when it comes, which you fear; when it comes upon you as a storm, which you fear, and your calamity as a weather; when fear and distress come upon you. Then they will call to me, but I will not answer; they will seek me early and not find me. Therefore they hated the doctrine, and would not have the fear of the Lord; would not have my counsel, and blasphemed all my punishment" etc. So horribly shall this sin be punished'.
20. When you come one day with a bloody head, our Lord God will laugh in his fist and say: O right! you would not have it any other way. I preached to you with earnestness, but you did not want to hear me. Now hear the devil! If thou wilt not hear my Son Jesus Christ, who saith, Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest; hear then brother Landsknecht, who curseth thee St. Veltin, Potz-Macht, and all curses, and thrustteth a spear through thee; so it shall be. Why then do you despise God's word, which you should hear and send to the highest treasure. But thou goest forth into thy field, and hast toil here and there, that thou canst not wait for the preaching. Do you think that God should not be annoyed by this? He has given you without the six
You shall work and wait for your food; do not ask for more than the seventh day, that you may do good and serve him in honor and for your good: yet he shall not have it from you.
21 Therefore let this gospel be well remembered. It is a great seriousness that the Lord says: "The king was angry and sent out his armies and killed these murderers and set their city on fire. This indicates that our Lord God is most displeased when His word is despised. And this is no wonder.
22 If a mighty prince had a son and sent him to some prisoners in a tower to set them free, and they led him to them, not only would they not accept him gladly, but they choked him and mocked his father as well: do you think he would laugh at that? He would shoot the tower and the prisoners one by one in a heap, and he would do right. So does our Lord God. He sends his Son to deliver us from sin, death and the devil and to help us to eternal life. He preaches the gospel and says: "Believe in my Son, and you shall have eternal life. Therefore we should accept him and believe in him. So we turn our backs on him and say to him, "Go to our fields and to our work, for we are better off there.
(23) Lightning, thunder, pestilence, the Turk, the mercenary, and all plagues come upon us! That we then clear
and cry foul, it will not do so; for. Dear, remember also how well it has pleased our Lord God that you have so long stolen his service and honor from him; count one against the other, and he shall give you hellish fire for not granting him his honor.
24 That is, to kill the murderers. The king punishes all the scorners, but he punishes the murderers more severely; as a warning to us, that we should not take offense at the common heap, at citizens and peasants, at bad boys, nor should we follow their example. For the world is no different: it does not want and does not like the word, it loves its fields and handling more. But woe to her! For what judgment and punishment will come hereafter, we see in the Jews and others.
(25) Therefore let us not follow their example, but hear the word gladly and diligently, and hold the wedding charities in all honor, love and esteem, for the sake of their Lord who sends them; so God will be with us in all our troubles, help and protect us, and finally give us eternal life for the sake of His Son, our dear Bridegroom, the Lord Christ. What more can he do? He offers us His grace and faithfully warns us of our harm; if we are condemned, the guilt is not His but ours. May our dear Lord God grant us His grace, that we may accept such a faithful warning and diligently guard against contempt of His word, amen.