Author: TechCommittee

In the early morning hours of Feb. 18, 1546, Martin Luther closed his eyes forever.   And the hand that hammered the 95 Theses into the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg on Oct. 31, 1517, penned its final words:   “We are all beggars. This is true.”

And this is the truth that our Lord says makes you free. Ironic, isn’t it?  That, in order to be free, you must be a beggar; you must be utterly dependent and reliant upon God.  This makes us uncomfortable – the way we’re uncomfortable when someone gets us a Christmas or birthday present when we haven’t gotten them one.  We feel we owe them.  And we don’t much like being in someone’s debt.

But what Luther would remind us is that we are all indeed beggars.  But we’re not just anyone’s beggars.  We’re God’s beggars.  And this is His legacy to the Christian Church.  Christ came for sinners.  He came to seek and save the lost. He came to heal the sick and raise the dead. He came for sinners, and He dwells only with sinners.

And, if we are to be where He is, we must be willing to be counted among the lost, the sick, and the dead.  We must be willing to be beggars.  We must cry out for mercy, for grace, and for his undeserved love and kindness.  We must be dependent solely on Him and what He gives.

And here’s the beauty: He gives us everything.  Everything – forgiveness of sins, salvation from death and the devil, and eternal life.  This is not because of any worthiness or merit in us, but it is because of His divine goodness, mercy, and grace.

On account of Christ’s death and resurrection, the Father forgives you, saves you, and is pleased with you.  And you receive.  You receive His love, His righteousness, His holiness, His acceptance, and His inheritance.  We are all beggars.  This is true.

This is the heart and soul of Christianity and the life-blood of the Christian Church.  God justifies us, and He declares us innocent and righteous by His grace received through faith for the sake of Christ.  This is not because of our works; this is because of His work on the cross.  We, who once were enemies of God, are reconciled to Him and made to be His children.

This is what Luther would point us to when He took up his pen for the last time and scribbled “We are all beggars. This is true.”  We are beggars.  But we are beggars of the God who does not ignore us, who doesn’t pass by us on the other side.  We are beggars of the One who descended from heaven to make His dwelling with sinners.

We are beggars of Him who deigns to dwell with us, among us, and – yes – even in us by grace for Christ’s sake. For in the bread and cup that we bless, we share together with Christ and each other the riches of God’s grace.

So inexhaustible are the riches of this grace – the Gospel in sermon and absolution, in Baptism and Holy Communion – that our cups overflow. We, who are God’s beggars, are not only inexhaustibly satisfied but have something to give back in thanksgiving and praise.