What if Martin Luther Liked to Watch Lightening?

“Tomorrow at this time I will cause the heaviest hail to fall that has ever fallen in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. Send, therefore, and have your livestock and everything that you have in the open field brought to a secure place; every human or animal that is in the open field and is not brought under shelter will die when the hail comes down upon them.’” Those officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of the Lord hurried their slaves and livestock off to a secure place. Those who did not regard the word of the Lord left their slaves and livestock in the open field. The Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven so that hail may fall on the whole land of Egypt, on humans and animals and all the plants of the field in the land of Egypt.” Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire came down on the earth. And the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt; there was hail with fire flashing continually in the midst of it, such heavy hail as had never fallen in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. The hail struck down everything that was in the open field throughout all the land of Egypt, both human and animal; the hail also struck down all the plants of the field, and shattered every tree in the field. Only in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were, there was no hail.” Exodus 9:18-26

Lutherans know the story of Luther’s lightning bolt experience – much like the experience of Saul on the road to Damascus. Luther was on his way to his university while studying to become a lawyer, but upon nearly being struck by lightning, he fulfilled his vow to St. Anne to get himself to a monastery and become a monk. The storm must have been frightening – especially to be on horseback when encountering the storm. It was fear and the uncertainty of life that forced the words out of his mouth – but once the vow was uttered, he was compelled to fulfill it. But, what if he wasn’t afraid of storms? What if lightening produced a feeling of excitement rather than fear?

We know that this experience completely changed the course of his life. As I said previously, upon surviving the storm, he left his university where he most likely was on his way to a successful life as a lawyer. His family was hopeful that his career as a lawyer would help them financially. And looking upon his prolific and successful life as a theologian, he probably would have had a successful life and career as a lawyer. But, Luther did more than become a leader of the church. Luther changed society as they knew it. He is remembered in the Lutheran church as a “Renewer of Society”. He advocated for the education of children, the idea that all are part of the “Priesthood of Believers”, that any vocation in life can be sacred, and he put the words of the Bible and of worship in the language of the people – some say Luther stands symbolically as the greatest single agent in increasing the value of the individual. As Martin E. Marty so eloquently puts it, “I have a hard time picturing several aspects of the modern world without Luther.”

What would the world be like if Martin Luther wasn’t afraid of lightening storms?

Pastor Dave