If you have not yet discovered…

…the joy of a Sunday afternoon with Luther’s Postils, might I heartily commend this old practice to you? Many a Lutheran in years of old would not only enjoy the preaching of his or her pastor on Sunday morning, but would spend the afternoon also with a sermon from Luther. We are blessed to have both the House Postils (they are theologically more mature over all) and the Church Postils in English. 

Now, don’t be put off if you find a sermon such as the one for Epiphany in the Church Postil! It goes on far too long for a real sermon that would actually be delivered from a pulpit (I think Luther wrote that one while locked up in Wartburg and had nothing else to do but translate the Bible and preach to himself!). Yet even that one is filled with great insights; you just have to read it in bite sized chunks. 

Today, though, I read the Church Postil on the Epistle for this Sunday (the conclusion of Romans 6; and anyone who imagines Luther was the original antinomian needs to check it out). It was truly golden. We are blessed to be heirs a most insightful teacher of the Sacred Scriptures! And, something Pr. Wolfmueller and I have discussed before: he’s also really funny. He is romping around the Scriptures with all the joy and delight of a child at home in his Father’s house. And sometimes he puts things in a way that will leave you chuckling. Give it a whirl, folks. It’s a wonderful part of godly Lutheran piety.