Wittenberg Town Church (Inside #2)

Hi, I’m Pastor Lutzer. I want you to spend a few moments with me. I am here in Wittenberg, Germany, and I’m actually sitting in one of the churches of Wittenberg. Wittenberg has two churches. You’ve perhaps heard me say that before. This is not the church where the 95 Theses were posted, but it’s the church in which the Gospel was preached by Martin Luther in German.

Now, you have to understand that one of the doctrines of the Reformation that was absolutely transformative was the doctrine of the priesthood, of the believer. When Martin Luther discovered in 1 Peter 2:9 where it says that we are “a priesthood,” he recognized that the distinction between clergy and laity had to be broken down. You see, in those days, if you wanted a prayer that you thought that God might answer, you went to a priest. You thought that he somehow had power that you did not have, even if you were to pray in the name of Jesus.

So, Martin Luther undercut the power of the priesthood by emphasizing that we are all priests before God, and this was symbolized by the fact that in this church, communion was offered (both the bread and the wine) to the laity. For centuries, that was not the case, because, after all, someone might spill the blood of Christ on the floor. When that happened after the time of Luther, they just wiped it up. They said, “This is not the blood of Christ literally.” There was no transformation. This was huge. The cup was now a symbol of unity, and all the laity could participate.

Did you know that this changed the whole view of work? You see, in those days, a good work that was acceptable to God was saying prayers, maybe giving a gift, or maybe doing an act of mercy. Now, Luther said this, “If we are all priests before God, even what we call today ‘secular work’ is very important and pleasing to God.” That changed everything because now the laity had significance in God’s eyes.

I remember a quotation of Luther’s that comes to mind. He said, on one occasion, “God milks cows, but he uses a milkmaid to do it,” or, “The woman who is scrubbing the floor, she is doing God’s work because she’s doing it for the glory of God.” It changed the whole environment. Eventually, the power of the priesthood and the complications of the whole system collapsed. Isn’t it wonderful to know that you and I have access to God directly?

You know, sometimes when I’m at a picnic or somewhere else at a table, people will say, “Pastor Lutzer, will you pray?” Well, I’m very glad to do that because I love Jesus and I love to take every opportunity I have to pray. But I always like to emphasize, you have just as much authority and power and opportunity to come before God as anyone who’s in the pastorate. We are all priests before God. Let’s live like it.

God, bless you. Thank you.