Written by Dr. Marcus J. Serven
“When the preacher speaks, God speaks.” ~Martin Luther
Some of Martin Luther’s (1483-1546) most powerful sermons were preached in the pulpit of St. Mary’s Church in the center of Wittenberg, Germany. When my wife and I visited this beautiful church during the summer of 2019, I found myself deeply stirred. Here was the very place where Luther boldly proclaimed the Word of God week by week to the gathered congregation! His sermons were quickly transcribed and later printed as pamphlets so that they could be distributed far and wide. These sermons had a profound impact throughout all of Europe–from Basel to Budapest, from London to Lyon, and from Paris to Prague! God used the preaching of Martin Luther to bring reformation and revival to a people who were starved for the Word of God. As Isaiah prophesied, “so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isa. 55:11). Luther’s preaching is one more example of how this prophecy has been fulfilled throughout the centuries. Luther was asked later in life how he had such great success in reforming the Church; he humbly replied,
“I simply taught, preached, wrote God’s Word; otherwise I did nothing. And while I slept, or drank Wittenberg beer with my friends Philip and Amsdorf, the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that no prince or emperor inflicted such losses upon it. I did nothing; The Word did everything.”
— Quoted by Michael Horton, “Scripture Alone: Luther’s Doctrine of Scripture” in The Legacy of Luther, R. C. Sproul & Stephen J. Nichols, eds. pages 115-116.
As I recalled some of Luther’s sermons, I was struck by the simplicity of his language and by the power of his rhetoric. He was unafraid to speak plainly with words and images that proclaimed his message. He was also humble, and often used himself as an example of what to do in the Christian life, and what not to do. Here is a fine example of his preaching from a sermon on Matthew 7:1-5.
“Therefore a Christian should follow a different practice. When he sees the mote in his brother’s eye, he should go look at himself in the mirror before passing judgment. He will then find beams in his eye big enough to make hog troughs. Consequently he will have to say: What is this anyway? My neighbor has done this once in a quarter, a half, a whole year; but I have become so old and have never yet kept the commandments of our Lord God, yea, I transgress them every hour and moment. How can I be such a desperate rascal? My sins are nothing but large oaks, thirty feet tall; and I allow the paltry motes, the specks of dust in my brother’s eye, to irritate me more than my large beams! But this should not be. I must first see how to get rid of my own sins. This will keep me so busy that I shall forget about the motes.”
— Quoted by Ewald M. Plass, ed. What Luther Says, 524.
I hope you can agree with me that Luther’s use of colorful words and images powerfully drives home the point of Jesus’ exhortation in Matthew 7, “Judge not, that you be not judged” (vs. 1). How could anyone miss it?
Robert Kolb, a widely recognized Lutheran scholar, highlights Luther’s assertion that “preaching” is the “highest worship of God.” Would you agree? Consider Luther’s actual words and his arguments for this making provocative statement. Luther states,
“The highest worship of God takes place in preaching the Word since God is worshiped when the gospel is preached, thanks is given, and all the sacrifices and worship of the Old Testament are fulfilled. In this form of worship, the neighbor is served and the image of God is formed in people, so that they die and come alive in order to be godlike.”
— Quoted by Robert Kolb, Luther and the Enduring Word of God, 175.
In essence, Martin Luther argues that “preaching the Word” is “when the gospel is preached” and this fact pleases God. It demonstrates the faithfulness of God’s covenantal promises contained in the Old Testament and their fulfillment in the New Testament. Moreover, when the text of Holy Scripture is preached, it changes lives and the “image of God is formed in people.” This is the Lord’s intent, that the gospel goes forth and lives are transformed and people are redeemed from the “domain of darkness” and brought into the “kingdom of his beloved Son” (Col. 1:12-13). With those kinds of persuasive arguments, I believe, Luther’s statement–“preaching” is the “highest worship of God”–is not provocative, but it is instead a very sensible conclusion.
Steven Lawson, a well-known contemporary preacher, makes the following assessment of Luther’s preaching. He notes,
“Though Martin Luther’s preaching was thoroughly biblical and deeply theological, his pulpit presentation was anything but stiff or sterile. To the contrary, his manner of delivery was energetic, engaging, and highly impactful on his listeners. The success of his preaching was due not only to the truth of what he said, but also to the passionate tone and trajectory of how he said it. The power of his sermons did not consist merely of doctrine, but also of his lively delivery. In other words, the strength of Luther’s proclamation was not simply his mind reaching the minds of his listeners, but his heart reaching their hearts. In order to preach in such a way, Luther had to possess a heart enflamed with a holy passion for God’s glory. As the fire of the Spirit consumed his soul, his heart was ablaze, and he was warmly invigorated for the gospel. Thus, he was filled with a burning desire to do more than teach. He wanted the substance of the truth he taught to bring about life change in his listeners. Therefore, he designed his pulpit proclamation to motivate and move his hearers to live the truth of God’s Word. To this end, his sermons included all the elements of true preaching that go beyond mere explanations of the text. These included exhortation, admonition, affirmation, and consolation.”
— Steven Lawson, The Heroic Boldness of Martin Luther, 83-84.
What should a preacher of God’s Word do? Luther vividly contends,
“A minister of Christ is a steward in the mysteries of God. He should regard himself and insist that others regard him as one who administers to the household of God nothing but Christ and the things of Christ. In other words, he should preach the pure Gospel, the true faith, that Christ alone is our life, our way, our wisdom, power, glory, salvation; and that all we can accomplish of ourselves is but death, error, foolishness, weakness, shame and condemnation. Whosoever preaches otherwise should be regarded by none as a servant of Christ or a steward of the divine treasurer; he should be avoided as a messenger of the devil.”
— Quoted by Hugh T. Kerr, A Compend of Luther’s Theology, 147.
Luther was absolutely clear as to what a preacher should do to fulfill his vocational calling. He contrasts those who are “stewards of the divine treasure” and who dedicate themselves to “preach the pure Gospel” with those who are merely “a messenger of the devil” who busy themselves by proclaiming “death, error, foolishness, weakness, shame, and condemnation.” Luther holds nothing back in differentiating between these two types of preachers. The one receives God’s praise, and the other receives His judgment. Moreover, the preacher must preach the actual words of Holy Scripture and not just his own opinions. Luther strongly warns,
“Let him take care to keep to the text and attend to what is before him and make people understand that. Those preachers who say whatever comes into their mouths remind me of a maid going to market. When she meets another maid she stops and chats awhile, then she meets another and talks with her, too, and then a third and a fourth, and so gets to market very slowly. So with preachers who wander off the text; they would like to say everything at one time, but they can’t.”
— Quoted in Hugh T. Kerr, Compend of Luther’s Theology, 147-148.
Luther gives some memorable advice to all who preach by suggesting that they should “take care to keep to the text.” It is important to recall that the true power of preaching is found by expounding the actual text of Scripture. The writer of the Book of Hebrews reminds us that, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Heb. 4:12-13). These powerful words illuminate the authority of the Word of God and how it convicts us of our sins, converts us by the grace of God, and consoles us in the trials and tribulations of this world. Preachers neglect it at their peril.
Dr. Derek Thomas gives this thoughtful evaluation of Luther’s preaching. In particular he demonstrates the sheer magnitude of the number of sermons that Luther preached. Luther was tireless and persistent in his efforts at preaching. Thomas writes,
“Perhaps we do not think of Luther, first of all, as a preacher but as a stalwart teacher and defender of the doctrine of justification by faith alone. However, statistics concerning his lifelong preaching ministry reveal a very different perspective…From the moment Johann von Staupitz assigned him to preach in the monastery in 1511, Luther preached about four thousand sermons (approximately 2,300 have survived) during the course of his life, most of them in the town church (Stadtkirche) in Wittenberg. Allowing for a two year gap in preaching, Luther preached an average of 120 sermons a year, or one sermon every three days. In 1528, he preached two hundred sermons. There were three preaching services in Wittenberg every Sunday, the first one starting at 5:00 a.m. In addition, there were sermons on weekdays and Saturdays. During the Passiontide of 1529, for example, Luther preached eighteen times in eleven days.”
— Thomas, Derek W. H. “Spare Everything But the Word: Luther as Preacher” in The Legacy of Luther, 267-268.
Surely this text from the Pastoral Epistles of the Apostle Paul was central in Luther’s mind when he entered the pulpit: “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching” (2 Tim. 4:2). Luther lived out this admonition for a lifetime of service as he pursued his vocational calling–as a preacher of the gospel and a pastor to the people of Wittenberg. He was not only a capable theologian, but he was a theologian so that he could be an excellent preacher and pastor. In my opinion, Luther succeeded in this goal. I thank God for the preaching of Martin Luther, and I fervently pray that God will continue to raise-up preachers like him who will faithfully proclaim his Word.
Resources for Further Study:
Bainton, Roland H. Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther. New York: Penguin Books, 1950.
Bornkamm, Heinrich. Luther in Mid-Career 1521-1530. Philadelphia, PA: Fortress Press, 1983.
George, Timothy. Theology of the Reformers. Revised Edition. Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2013.
Kerr, Hugh Thomson, ed. A Compend of Luther’s Theology. Philadelphia, PA: The Westminster Press, 1953.
Kolb, Robert. Martin Luther and the Enduring Word of God. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2016.
Plass, Ewald M., ed. What Luther Says. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 1959.
Lawson, Steven J. The Heroic Boldness of Martin Luther. Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust Publishing, 2013.
Sproul, R. C. and Stephen J. Nichols, eds. The Legacy of Luther. Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust Publishing, 2016.
- Calhoun, David B. “Faithful to the End: Luther in His Later Years (1530’s-1546)”
- Godfrey, Robert W. “Christ Alone: Luther on Christ, the Sacraments, and the Church”
- Horton, Michael. “Scripture Alone: Luther’s Doctrine of Scripture”
- Thomas, Derek W. H. “Spare Everything But the Word: Luther as Preacher”
Watson, Philip S. Let God be God: An Interpretation of the Theology of Martin Luther. London, UK: The Epworth Press, 1947.
Dr. Marcus J. Serven, ThM and DMin
The Genevan Foundation – Copyright 2026 – All Rights Reserved