We have heard the things most necessary in Christian life, and what is
a necessary result, namely, the doing away with the private mass. For
the works which are necessary are those which God has either commanded
or forbidden, according to the appointment of the Majesty on high. But
no one shall be dragged to them by the hair, or kept from them by
force, for I can drive no man to heaven with a club. I said this
plainly enough, and I believe you understood what I said.
[Sidenote: Nonessentials]
[Sidenote: Marriage of Monks and Nuns]
We shall now consider the things that are not matters of necessity,
but are let to our free choice by God, and which we may keep or not;
for instance, whether one shall marry or not, or whether monks and
nuns shall leave the cloisters. These things are matters of choice and
must not be forbidden by any one, and if they are forbidden, the
forbidding is wrong, since it is contrary to God's appointment. In the
things that are free, such as being married or remaining single, you
should do on this wise: If you can restrain yourself without burdening
your conscience thereby, do so by all means, but there must be no
general law, and every one shall be perfectly free. Any priest, monk
or nun who cannot restrain the desires of the flesh, should marry, and
thus relieve the burden of conscience. But see to it that you be
well-armed and fortified, so that you can stand before God and the
world when you are assailed, and especially when the devil attacks you
in the hour of death. It is not enough to say: This man or that has
done the same, I followed the example of the crowd, according to the
preaching of the provost[8] or Dr. Carlstadt, or Gabriel[9], or
Michael[10]. Not so, but every one must stand on his own feet and be
prepared to give battle to the devil. You must rest upon a strong and
clear text of Scripture if you would stand the test. If you cannot do
that, you will never withstand,--the devil will pluck you like a
withered leaf. Therefore the priests who have taken wives, and the
nuns who have taken husbands, in order to save their consciences must
stand squarely upon a clear text of Scripture, such as this one by St.
Paul--although there are many more: "In the latter times some shall
depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines
of devils (methinks Paul uses plain language here!) forbidding to
marry and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created."
This text the devil shall not overthrow nor devour, it shall rather
overthrow and devour him. Therefore any monk or nun who is too weak to
keep the vow of chastity, should conscientiously examine himself; if
heart and conscience are strong, so that he can defend himself with a
good conscience, let him marry. Would to God all monks and nuns could
hear this sermon and properly understood this matter and would all
forsake the cloisters and thus all the cloisters in the world cease to
exist--this is my earnest desire. But now they have no understanding
of the matter (for no one preaches it to them), and hearing that in
other places many are leaving the cloisters, who however are
well-prepared or such a step, they would follow their example, but
have not yet fortified their consciences and do not know that it is a
matter of liberty. This is bad, although it is better that the evil
should be outside than inside[11]. Therefore I say, what God has made
free shall remain free, and you must not obey if some one forbids it,
even as the pope has done, the Antichrist. He who can do so without
harm and or love of his neighbor, may wear a cowl or a tonsure, since
it will not injure his faith; wearing a cowl will not kill him.
[Sidenote: Monks' Vows]
Thus, dear friends, it is plain enough, and I believe you ought to
understand it and not make liberty a law, saying: This priest has
taken a wife, therefore all priests must take wives. Not at all. Or
this monk or that nun has left the cloister, therefore they must all
come out. Not at all. Or this man has broken the images and burnt
them, therefore all images must be burned--not at all, dear brother!
And again, this priest has no wife, therefore no priest dare marry.
Not at all! They who cannot retain their chastity should take wives,
and for others who can be chaste, it is good that they restrain
themselves, as those who live in the spirit and not in the flesh.
Neither should they be troubled about the vows they have made, such as
the monks' vows of obedience, chastity and poverty (though they are
rich enough withal). For we cannot vow anything that is contrary to
God's commands. God has made it a matter of liberty to marry or not to
marry, and thou fool undertakest to turn this liberty into a vow
against the ordinance of God? Therefore you must leave liberty alone
and not make a compulsion out of it; your vow is contrary to God's
liberty. Suppose I should vow to strike my father on the mouth, or to
steal some one's property, do you believe God would be pleased with
such a vow? And as little as I ought to keep a vow to strike my father
on the mouth, so little ought I to abstain from marriage because I am
bound by a vow of chastity, for in both cases God has ordered it
otherwise. God has ordained that I should be free to eat fish or
flesh, and there should be no commandment concerning them. Therefore
all the Carthusians[12] and all monks and nuns forsake the ordinance
and liberty which God has given when they believe that if they eat
meat they are defiled.
[Sidenote: The Images]
[Sidenote: Moses and Images]
But we must come to the images, and concerning them also it is true
that they are unnecessary, and we are free to have them or not,
although it would be much better if we did not have them. I am not
partial to them. A great controversy arose on the subject of images
between the Roman emperor and the pope; the emperor held that he had
the authority to banish the images, but the pope insisted that they
should remain, and both were wrong. Much blood was shed, but the pope
emerged as victor and the emperor lost[13]. What was it all about?
They wished to make a "must" out of that which is free, and that God
cannot tolerate. Do you wish to change the ordering of the Majesty on
high? Not so; you will not do any such thing. You read in the Law,
Exodus xx, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any
likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth
beneath, or that is in the water under the earth." [Ex. 20:4] There
you take your stand; that is your ground. Now let us see! When our
adversaries shall say: The first commandment aims at this, that we
should worship one God alone and not any image, even as it is said
immediately following, "Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor
serve them," and declare that the worship of images is forbidden and
not the making of them, they disturb and unsettle our foundation for
us. And if you reply: The text says, "Thou shalt not make any images,"
they answer: It also says, "Thou shalt not worship them." In the face
of such uncertainty who would be so bold as to destroy the images? Not
I. But let us go farther. They say: Did not Noah, Abraham, Jacob build
altars? And who will deny that? We must admit it. Again, did not Moses
erect a brazen serpent [Num. 21:9], as we read in his fourth book? How
can you say Moses forbids the making of images when he himself makes
one? It seems to me, such a serpent is an image, too. How shall we
answer that? Again, do we not read that two birds were erected on the
mercy-seat, the very place where God willed that He should be
worshiped? [Ex. 37:7] Here we must admit, that we may make images and
have images but we must not worship them, and when they are worshiped,
they should be put away and destroyed, just as King Hezekiah brake in
pieces the serpent erected by Moses [2 Kings 18:4]. And who will be so
bold as to say, when called to account: They worship the images. They
will answer: Art thou the man who dares to accuse us of worshiping the
images? Do not believe that they will acknowledge it. To be sure it is
true, but we cannot make them admit it. Remember how they acted when I
condemned works without faith. They said: Do you believe that we have
no faith, or that our works are performed without faith? I can do
nothing more than put my lute back in its pocket; give them a hair's
breadth, and they take a hundred miles.
[Sidenote: St. Paul and the Twins]
Therefore it should have been preached that images were nothing and
that God is not served by their erection, and they would have fallen
of themselves. That is what I did; that is what Paul did in Athens,
when he went into their churches and saw all their idols[14]. He did
not strike at any of them, but stood in the market-place and said, "Ye
men of Athens, ye are all idolatrous." [Acts 17;22] He preached
against their idols, but he overthrew none by force. And you would
rush in, create an uproar, break down the altars and overthrow the
images? Do you really believe you can abolish the images on this wise?
Nay, you will only set them up more firmly. Even if you overthrew the
images in this place, do you think you have overthrown those in
Nurnberg and the rest of the world? Not at all, St. Paul, as we read
in the Book of Acts, sat in a ship on whose prow were painted or
carved the Twin Brothers[15]. He went on board and did not bother
about it at all, neither did he break them off. Why must Luke describe
the Twins at this place? Without doubt he wanted to show that outward
things could do no harm to faith, if only the heart does not cleave to
them nor put its trust in them. This is what we must preach and teach,
and let the Word alone do the work, as I said before. The Word must
first capture the hearts of men and enlighten them,--we cannot do it.
Therefore the apostles gloried in their service, _ministerium_, and
not in its effect, _executio_.
We will let this be enough or to-day, and pray God for His grace.