Emmanuel’s “Let’s Talk”

The category  “Marty’s Place” gets its name from the bar in my brother-in-law’s basement. Behind the bar is a life-sized bust of Martin Luther. And so, as he and his buddies gather around for church choir parties, they toast M.L. & make jokes about this being “Marty’s Place.”

Reckless cracks are often made about Martin Luther’s drinking. His wife, Katie, made “home brew,” and undoubtedly it was around. My word, he’s German and Germans love their beer. Yet, it is difficult to see how he could have been so productive (his collected writings fill 104 thick books) if he drank as much as some people say.

Still, legend is that “he drank three big ones a day to Father, Son & Holy Spirit.” And I would like to think that he took even more pleasure in the toasting than in the brew.

How do you toast God? Do you see the Triune God in your everyday? What place does God have in your life, even at the bar?

Pastor Paul Jaster

Martin Luther more than once nearly died. On one occasion he was out-of-town at an important meeting when he had an excruciating bout with gall stones. Hardly able to move, his friends sent for the proper drug of choice from Wittenberg (garlic mixed with dung), but did not work. Finally, they loaded Luther up in an ox cart. He thought he would die, but the bumpy ride home saved his life. The jostling helped him to pass a stone about the size of a bean and later he said that he was never so glad to see again his “silver stream.”

Is there a moral in this story? Do bumpy roads ever save our lives?

Pastor Paul Jaster

Martin Luther originally had a different name. The first time we encounter his signature in his own hand (in  a university enrollment log), it is clearly written Martin “Ludder.” Later inspired by his work on Galatians, the bible book of Christian freedom, he changed his name to “Luther,” from the Greek elutherius, which means “freedom.” 

Good thing he changed his name. Imagine being called “Ludderans.”

Pastor Paul Jaster

In a set of sermons for the Christmas season, Martin Luther once talked about the three miracles of Christmas.

The first miracle was that a virgin should conceive and bear a son. But that, Luther said, was a very easy thing for God to do. Any God worth his salt could very easily do that.

The second miracle of Christmas is the “incarnation,” that God should become a human being and be God-in-the-flesh. Jesus is both God and man. This was a much more difficult thing for God to do.

But the greatest miracle of all is that Mary believed it. THE miracle of Christmas is the miracle of faith.

In fact, towards the end Luther says “had she not believed she wouldn’t have conceived.” There would be no Jesus. Just think how that would change the world.

Pastor Paul Jaster

Use the category “Marty’s Place” to add your favorite quotes & stories from Martin Luther.

Pastor Paul Jaster