Luther…
Feed: Witness, Mercy, Life Together.
Posted on: Thursday, April 21, 2011 7:52 AM
Author: Matthew Harrison
Subject: Luther on "inevitable faults and mistakes in the community of believers."
It is inevitable that various faults and mistakes will occur in the community of believers, so we should not get angry if we bite our own tongue, punch ourselves in the eye, kick ourselves or bang our head against a wall. This is when we should think in this way: "So, this is a member of your body, your brother, your neighbour: what are you going to do about it? He did it by accident and not for fun – it was not meant maliciously. Or else it happened out of weakness or ignorance. The blow has landed, and it hurts, but does this mean that you are going to throw away an entire limb? This is a tiny spark. If you spit on it, it will go out! Do not do this, otherwise the Devil will come with his poisonous breath or will work through spiteful tongues to make a fire out of the spark, which will then prove impossible to put out. And then there will be all this discord and hatred with you possibility of reconciliation and the whole community will suffer as a result." The Devil is indeed a spirit of this kind, never giving up and never leaving us alone. The only solution for us is constantly to keep fighting him off. Luther, in Luther Brevier: Worte fuer jeden Tag, Wartburg Verlag 2007, p. 128 (for April 21) |
