Beer Hall Putsch

Hi, I’m Pastor Lutzer, and I’m sitting in a very important spot here in Munich, Germany. This is where Hitler’s movement began. Behind me is where his troops marched and were confronted by police; as a result, sixteen of them died. Ten years later, Hitler honored them and built special temples for them. I’m sitting on what is known as The Feldherrnhalle. To my right is the Odeonsplatz, a huge plaza where 20,000 SS troops every year pledged personal allegiance to Adolf Hitler. He walked up the stairs behind me, and then he gave them a speech. I want to read the oath that they took and make a few comments.

I swear by God this holy oath
that I shall render unconditional obedience
to the Leader of the German Reich and people,
Adolf Hitler, supreme commander of the armed forces,
and that as a brave soldier I shall at all times be prepared
to give my life for this oath.

There are various translations of the German, but they all say the same thing. In effect, “I will be faithful unto Hitler unto death.” No wonder Bonhoeffer, who stood against Hitler, confronted the church and said, “There are two altars here in Germany. There’s the altar of nationalism, where you sell your soul to the nationalistic agenda, or there is the altar of Christ … you cannot bow at both.”

Isn’t it wonderful to hear the bells ringing, reminding us of Munich’s history? They also remind us of something else … it is here where a movement began that captured the entire nation, and of course, as a result, the world experienced the greatest devastation that you and I could think about. But here’s my point, we need to make sure that we have loyalty to the right King, not Adolf Hitler, but rather to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Now later on, when the pastors were asked to sign this oath, many of them did so because they believed Romans 13 teaches that we’re supposed to be obedient to the powers that be. They were very wrong.

Romans 13 is actually talking about a government that is installed for our good. Unconditional obedience to any government can lead to destruction, it can lead to devastation, and it can lead to the horrors of Nazi Germany. I leave you with this comment. Let us pledge our allegiance to Jesus Christ as King; all other allegiances have to fall behind his banner. So many lessons to learn from history. Thank you so much for joining us right here in Munich, Germany. The Feldherrnhalle is behind me, and the Odeonsplatz is to my right.