Catchy Tune, Ja?

Many restaurants have what they call their “signature dishes.” These are menu creations that they are known for, either due to their own special recipes, or to their unique methods of preparation or presentation. People go to those restaurants because they want to order those “signature” foods. As a budding chef myself I am still looking for something to call my own signature dish, though it will probably include heating water in the microwave and opening a packet of dehydrated noodles. I’m toying with calling it, “ramen” or something like that . . .

As it is, I actually do have sort of a “signature dish” when it comes to the sermons I have preached.

As it is, I actually do have sort of a “signature dish” when it comes to the sermons I have preached. My “signature sermon” is a portrayal of Martin Luther, the great reformer. I dress in costume, affect a German accent, and tell his story. Sometimes I have presented him on the way to nail his 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg; sometimes I have him on the way to his wedding with Katie von Bora; sometimes he is in the Wartburg Castle working on translating the New Testament into German; and most recently, I presented Luther on his final journey to mediate a brotherly dispute in Eisleben, Germany – a trip from which he did not return.

It’s hard to believe, but I have preached as Martin Luther now for over 30 years! I have been privileged to speak before nine congregations in three states, before a high school class and other high school groups, during elementary and middle school chapels, before Christmas Eve services with  900 people in attendance, and even for the national Pastors Conference of the AALC (I was the entertainment for the banquet). I also preached as Luther for a Lutheran women’s missionary gathering. It was one of the first sermons I preached at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Elk Grove during my internship in 1994, and it was one of the last I preached before retiring at the end of 2016.

Luther has been with me all those years, and for some reason, people still ask, “Is Martin going to show up again?” Well, as it turns out, I have been asked by the Presiding Pastor of the AALC, Dr. Curtis Leins, to portray the reformer at our national church body’s upcoming celebration of the 500th Anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation on October 31st. Once again, I will be the entertainment, this time during lunch. Once again I will dust off my black robe and beret, practice singing the first line of “Ein’ Feste Burg” (A Mighty Fortress), and work on my German accent and real Martin Luther quotes.

But how did this all begin? How did I get started acting as Luther (and then get type-cast in the role)? To answer that we have to go back to the mid 1980s when Karen and I lived in Columbus, Indiana. I was director of a large, local youth agency known as the Foundation For Youth, and Karen ran a daycare business in our home. We were members of First Lutheran Church in Columbus, where I had recently been appointed as Assistant Sunday School Superintendent.

About mid-October, the Superintendent came to me and said he was going to be out of town for Reformation Day (the last Sunday in October), and asked if I could conduct a special Sunday School program that day, known as an “intergenerational” because all the ages and classes were to meet together. He then suggested I look up information about Martin Luther and the start of the Reformation, and maybe even portray Luther. So, I went to work, did some research, and wrote a short dramatic monologue. Then I grabbed a beret and borrowed a black choir robe from church.

Then, when the gathered children and adults finished singing “A Mighty Fortress” I came striding in from the back. My first words were, “Catchy tune, ja?”

When the day came, I had helpers start the program. Then, when the gathered children and adults finished singing “A Mighty Fortress” I came striding in from the back. My first words were, “Catchy tune, ja?” in reference to the fact that Luther wrote that great hymn and tune. And then I held up paper and a hammer and told the story of why he nailed the Theses to the church door. Somehow, I got through it and everybody seemed to like it – as did the pastors, who immediately dragged me into the sanctuary and told me to repeat my presentation during the announcement time at the start of the next service!

Later, I got to repeat it for the church, and eventually my pastor asked me to preach it for a nearby church in Edinburgh, Indiana – St. George – who were without a pastor. They also received it well, and asked me to return and fill in for the vacancy for the next eight months or so (though not as Luther every week!). By the time I went off to seminary, I had developed several versions, and realized I would probably be presenting them in the future. So, when a local costume shop in Kenosha, Wisconsin went out of business in 1993, I was able to buy a better costume, which I have used ever since.

I have enjoyed portraying Martin Luther over the years, though I am afraid that someday I will have to answer to him in person for what I have said and done. I am also grateful that most people have enjoyed those portrayals, though I feel a little awkward when some tell me, “You’ve missed your calling and should have gone into acting!” It is precisely because of my true calling to proclaim the Gospel that my acting as Luther has made any impact.

. . . my portrayals of Martin Luther are not about me, or even about Luther, but about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

That is because my portrayals of Martin Luther are not about me, or even about Luther, but about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and about the biblical truths which the Reformation restored to the Church and the world. These key truths include:

• Justification by God’s grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone (stated in Latin as sola gratia, sola fide, solus Christus). Justification is by faith apart from works.
• Our righteousness is from Christ and not from ourselves.
• The authority of Scripture alone over popes, councils, and other writings (sola scriptura).
• The priesthood of all believers.
• Rejection of certain church teachings and practices, such as purgatory, the sale and effectiveness of indulgences, the validity of holy orders (monks and nuns), and praying to the saints.
• That all glory belongs to God (soli Deo gloria) rather than to Mary, the saints, the popes, or the priesthood (or I would add, to Martin Luther!).

Of course, as much as possible I use Luther’s own words to relay these truths, usually translated into English – or into a hybrid mixture I call “Germish” (just as people who blend Spanish and English are said to speak “Spanglish”). As I like to tell people, I had a good writer for much of my material!

There is however, one part of many of my presentations that I cannot attribute to Luther (nor would he want me to!) – and that is the “song” with which I close many of my talks: the Luther Rap! I wrote this early on, and still think it conveys much of Luther’s message. It goes like this:

• So you say the Devil’s caught you in his trap?
• Well, come and listen to the Luther Rap!
• You say you’ve sinned and are feeling blue,
• And want to know what you can do?
• Nothing! Nothing! What could you do?
• Jesus has already done it for you!
• You say you’re good, und big, und strong?
• I tell you you’re thinking wrong;
• Throw yourself at Jesus’ feet,
• And he will give you peace so sweet.
• You give your gold, und always behave?
• Das ist gut, but it does not save!
• We do this out of love for Gott
• Whose precious blood our lives has bought.
• For Gott by grace our sins does forgive
• Und we with him shall always live.
• Eternal life we shall inherit,
• But not because of our own merit!
• So come with me, your sins to toss,
• At the foot of Jesus’ cross;
• Throw yourself at Jesus’ feet,
• And he shall give you peace . . . so . . . sweet!

And that about “raps” it up!

I’ve enjoyed portraying Luther these many years, mainly because I understand his struggles with seeking righteousness through good works. His struggle, though more dramatic than mine, was of the same nature: we both realized after much struggle to make ourselves acceptable to God that Christ accomplished our forgiveness on the cross, and that by God’s grace we receive forgiveness, righteousness, and eternal life through faith in Christ alone. When Luther realized that truth, he felt “born again and entered into paradise through gates that had been flung wide open.” I also felt the peace of truly understanding God’s grace for the first time during my college senior year, but rather than describing my experience, I will go with Luther’s description, because he used “catchy words, ja?”

And so, with the peace of knowing we have forgiveness through Jesus Christ and do not depend on our own merits: may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Ephesians 2:8-10, Romans 1:16-18, Romans 3:21-28