Update – Blogging with the help of Martin Luther

If you’re checking this blog out, here’s what I’m doing: Last year I read Martin Luther’s Church Postil, at least his sermons on the gospels. I saw a different Luther, and heard a different voice. He was teaching local clergy to help them with their sermons, but he was also preaching to the people. Instead of trying to figure out his ‘theology’ and apologetic to Rome or the scholastic community, I wanted to hear what he said to his congregants. I was pleasantly surprised, as much as you can be when trying to wade through the length and breadth of his messages. Luther was no biblical literalist. The Word spoke to him in ways academia might consider superfluous today.

Through 2008, I wrote a prayer every week based on his sermon(s) for the lectionary text for that week. The prayers were provided on Sundays for parishioners to pick up and use during their personal study/prayer time during the week. This year, I’m leading a weekly study on the same gospel texts. We are trying to determine how the gospel text speaks to our lives today, and we consult Luther’s thoughts to see if they add anything to our own ideas. This blog highlights some of the things we talk about and tells some of the more interesting things Brother Martin teaches in his sermons.

You can find Luther’s sermon on the links in the right column. The fastest way to find Luther’s sermon is to scroll down the left column at the sermon website to find the appropriate Sunday’s lectionary text, and then click on it to move to the sermon location on the right. I hope you’ll be blessed somewhere along the line if you choose to follow it. Peace in Christ - PWM