Before traveling to Worms, Germany to go on trial for his life, Martin Luther was asked, “Where will you be, Brother Martin, when church, state, princes, and people turn against you?  Where will you be then?”  Luther answered, “Why, then as now, in the hands of Almighty God.”

When Norwegian Bishop Eivand Berggrav refused to be silent in spite of being held in solitary confinement in a Nazi concentration camp, the Gestapo chief threatened, “If you don’t stop giving us trouble, we are going to line you up against a wall and shoot you.”

Showing no fear at all, the bishop replied, “Very well, and what will you do to me after that?”

Both Luther and Berggrav had heard the words of Jesus predicting they would be turned over to lawless people and their lives threatened, and they had also heard Jesus’ promise that “not a hair of your head will perish.  By your endurance you will gain your souls.” 

They knew that, because in baptism they had been united with Christ in a death like his, they would certainly also be united with Christ in a resurrection like his. Jesus promises us that God will be with us in times of tribulation.  It is the hope on which we hang our lives.  Whenever God is in the center of life, hope enters.

Peter Marty, Lutheran pastor and editor of the Christian Century magazine summed up this sentiment in his description of grace:  “Grace – a free download of God’s character placed inside of you.”

In this sense, whenever God’s grace enters our life, something must exit.  What exits is, as Luther says, “sin, death, and the power of the devil.”

But, there is often resistance to this download of grace.  Firewalls are set up to resist that which is meant to strengthen our relationship with the good graces of God, instead letting viruses of doubt seep through to our hearts.  And the doubting leads to insecurity and fear.

Fear grips us to the point that we latch on to things that pacify for the moment and do not allow us to be free in the hope of Christ.

Most of us know something about baseball, something about golfing. We know something about gripping things too tightly.  I remember playing baseball, gripping the handle of the bat so tight it seemed I was squeezing the sap out of the handle.  My coach would say, “Relax, loosen up, loosen your grip!” The same thing happens with golf – grip the club too tightly and bad things happen.

Fear grips us.  But it’s not only baseball bats or golf clubs. There are other things that inhibit our ability to be free, our ability to walk with Christ as referenced in the hymn “Just a Closer Walk With Thee.”

Things that pacify us, things that grip us are things like weapons, gangs, false political prophets, conspiracy theories, money, pride, power, etc..  Some even grab the Bible itself as a pacifier.  The point is that we as humans can put up all sorts of firewalls to try and suppress the more powerful word of grace.

The verses prior to today’s scripture from Luke is the story of the widow’s mite (Luke 21:1-4).  Isn’t it interesting that immediately after Jesus points out the incredible gift the widow offered to the temple (giving everything she had because of the download of grace in her heart) that those with Jesus that day basically brushed off his observation?

Instead, they are more impressed with the beautiful stones of the temple and the enormity of the gifts that some had given.  This was the center of their world.  The temple and its beauty was their home of God, their security.   They beheld its glory, they oozed with admiration.  It was tangible evidence of God’s blessing upon them.  God must be good if he provided such a beautiful building!

Like Little Red Riding Hood (“What big ears you have!  What big eyes you have!  What big teeth you have!”), they were duped into thinking the stones and buildings and the Empire behind it all was Grandmother God.  In reality, it was the big bad wolf of an oppressive Empire ready to devour their possession and their souls.  Their firewall did not prevent pride and false security from entering their hearts.

But then Jesus blows them out of the water by predicting the destruction of the temple.  Nothing was permanent, nothing is lasting – nothing except God.  The underlying reference Jesus was pointing out was the reliance on Empire instead of reliance on God’s grace.  The temple was Herod’s Roll’s Royce of buildings, a sign of his power – which was finite. The download of grace is infinite!

When Christ enters into a situation, ultimately “sin, death, and the power of the devil” take an exit.  For this we can be thankful.

If you have watched the holiday classic “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas,” starring Jim Carrey, you’ll recall in the story how the Grinch enters all the homes by way of their chimneys disguised as Santa Claus. He takes all the presents and ornaments, the trees and stockings, and even their food down to the last morsel.

He drags his loot up to his mountain and then looks down upon Whoville with a sinister grin. He is listening for the cries and wailings of the people to start as they wake up on Christmas morning to discover a Christmas lost. What he hears instead surprises him. Up from the town of the Whos comes a joyful Christmas carol. They are singing.

“Why?” he asks.  It is because, he learns, Christmas resides not in things but in the heart which is thankful. He could not steal their gratitude, their personhood, their hearts. Like the people of Whoville, gratitude and faith in the Almighty God to see us through will not ultimately render us to crying and wailing.   Malachi says, “But for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings.”

The inbreaking of God’s love, the downloaded character of God, will let us walk each day with the confidence of a Luther, of a Berggrav, of a Christ Jesus.

AMEN