Emily: “Hello, everyone! I’m Emily Cox with Love Notes: Timeline Edition. Today I’m sitting in Martin Luther’s dining room, talking with the Doctor himself, along with his lovely wife, Katharina. (to Martin and Katharina) Thanks so much for having me in your home this afternoon. I just get this sense of peace and welcome, even though I’m only stopping in for a few minutes.”
Katharina: “I’m glad you feel that way. We have so many visitors coming and going, and it’s not always a picture of calm, but we do want our guests to feel welcome!”
Martin: “Katie is the one to give credit for the hospitality at Lutherhaus. I stay busy with writing and preaching, while she keeps our family circle from spinning out of orbit.”
Emily: “It sounds like you make a good team.”
Katharina: “We like to think so!”
Emily: “Dr. Luther, I’ve heard about the celebrated theological discussions that happen around this table, and I feel a bit of awe as I sit here. I don’t know that I have much to contribute, but I’m really looking forward to talking with you both and hearing your stories. You were a monk at one point, Dr. Luther, and Mrs. Luther, you were a nun. But now you’re married and running a busy household. How did that happen?”
Luther: “The hand of God. But it’s rather a long story, actually. Where do we start?”
Emily: “Let’s start with your lives before you met. Dr. Luther, how did you become a monk?”
Luther: “It was a dark, stormy night – ”
Emily: “Are you serious?”
Luther: “Yes…*with a puzzled expression* Anyway, when I was a young law student traveling back to college from visiting my family, I got caught in a raging thunderstorm.1 I was terrified that God would send a lightning bolt to strike me, to punish me for my sins, and I thought that I needed to become a monk in exchange for my life. I had always had this strong sense of God’s judgement – and it’s true that God is just – but at that time my understanding didn’t include the depth of his mercy in Christ. I had not yet come to truly understand and believe the gospel.”
Katharina: “The gospel changes everything. If God was just but not merciful, we would all live in despair.”
Martin: “Precisely. And I DID live in despair until I stopped relying on myself to earn God’s love and acceptance – until I realized that Christ had already earned those things on my behalf.”
Emily: “When did you leave the monastery?”
Martin: “What makes you think I left the monastery?”
Emily: “Well, I mean – just look where you are now.”
Martin: “Yes, just look where we are! *motioning around” Would you believe that THIS is the Augustinian monastery where I lived as a monk? As the Reformation swept through Wittenberg, most of the other monks left, and at the time I married Katie I was living here with one other bachelor.”
Emily: “That’s fascinating. It feels so cozy and homelike now.”
Katharina: “Yes, now it does. But when we came back from our wedding, it smelled like twenty bachelors – and their dogs!”
Martin: “I’m afraid our wedding night wasn’t quite up to fairytale standards.”
Katharina: “And that was the same night a refugee from the Peasant’s
War came knocking on our door.”2
Emily: “What did you do?”
Martin: “We let him in, of course. Actually he was a former colleague of mine, and he stayed for several weeks.”
Emily: “Wow. Lutherhaus has been a happening place from the very beginning.”
Katharina (laughing): “That’s one way to put it! When I married Martin, I married into his adventures. His monastic order emphasized life lived in community and holding loosely to worldly possessions, and he brought that into our marriage. Ultimately, Lutherhaus isn’t our house – it’s God’s house.”
Emily: “That’s so profound. But you’re right – “our” possessions are really God’s possessions, and he has given them to us to steward for his glory. Learning about the way you steward your home makes me think of my own pastor and his wife. Even with their busy schedules, it seems like there’s always extra room at their house.”
Katharina: “That’s wonderful. I’m so thankful for the resources the Lord has provided us with and how he has enabled us to minister to others through the things he’s given us. Not everyone is called to do exactly what we do, but the important thing isn’t the specific task – the important thing is that it is done for Christ.”
Martin: “Yes. Some people believe that doing mundane work like changing diapers is a distraction from some higher, holy calling, but actually it is in these small acts of serving others that we are serving God.”3
Emily: “It’s so true. But what do you know about changing diapers, Dr. Luther?”
Martin: “Six things, actually!”
Katharina: “Six blessings from the Lord.”
Martin: “Some people don’t like children, but I think those people are blockheads.”
Katharina: “Martin..”
Martin: “Well, it’s true!
Emily: “Who would have thought that a monk and a nun would one day run a busy household full of children?”
Martin: “The gospel really does change things!”
Katharina: “And it helps us bear with one another and others in love.” *looking at Martin meaningfully*
Emily: “That’s true, Mrs. Luther. When we realize the depth of God’s mercy towards us through Christ, it motivates us to respond by showing mercy to the people around us.”
Martin: “When I think of God’s grace and kindness in the gospel, it makes me feel like singing! Where’s my lute?”
Katharina: “I think I last saw it in our bedroom.”
Emily: “Listeners, we’re going to take a short break while Dr. Luther looks for his lute. We’ll be right back.”
*shampoo commercial plays:* “Has this ever happened to you? After a narrow escape that involves hiding in fish barrels under the cover of darkness, you’re getting ready for your first date, and you’ve tried everything to get that suspicious herring smell out of your hair. What do you do? Introducing – Alpine Essence – 4-in-one shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and shower gel. Alpine Essence was voted #1 shampoo for eradicating fish odor. It smells like the alps in springtime – except not really, because the alps don’t smell like soap. (super fast voice: no fish were harmed in the making of this commercial).”
Emily: “Welcome back to Love Notes. I’m Emily Cox. I am happy to report that Dr. Luther has found his lute, and he is ready to play a song for us. Mrs. Luther, do you have any suggestions?”
Katharina: “How about, ‘A Mighty Fortress’?”
Emily: “That’s a great one. I think I know it by heart.”
Martin: “A Mighty Fortress it is!” *strumming lute*
All together *singing* (recording fades out)
Emily: “Thanks for listening to Love Notes: Timeline Edition. Join us next time for more Love Notes as we see the love and grace of God displayed in marriages throughout history!”
Works Cited.
2, 3. https://www.1517.org/articles/crowded-house-the-unexpected-home-of-martin-luther
God Calls it Good 