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MARTIN LUTHER COMES TO HOPE LUTHERAN
A Skit for 8 persons
Time: 20:00 minutes
By Joan W. Peery
| CAST OF CHARACTERS: |
STAGE SETTING: |
| Luther |
Backdrop (monastery interior) |
| 4 students |
Table with tapestry cover |
| Tetzel |
5 chairs |
| Emperor |
(On table: books, candle, quill pen) |
| Kate Luther |
Optional: Luther Rose |
| Townspeople dressed in costume for Tetzel parade, etc. |
Optional: "Wittenberg" town sign |
| Trumpeter |
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| Drummer |
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| Banner carrier |
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Written for presentation at
REFORMATION FEST
October 29, 1995
Hope Lutheran Church
Fresno, California
SKIT PREPARATION for Reformation Sunday.
When meeting with Junior highs, ask them what questions they would
like to ask Dr. Martin Luther if they had that opportunity.
Prior to asking the above question, you might want to give a brief
history rundown of the Reformation, by asking questions like:
• What do you know about the Reformation movement in the
16th Century?
• What were the names of some of the reformers?
• What do you know about Martin Luther?
I have discovered that students know or remember very little about
this period of history, and often confuse Martin Luther with Dr.
Martin Luther King.
Be prepared to offer an informal sketch of Luther, prodding them with questions
as you do so, to help students feel that they are helping you "write" the
skit.
After that introduction, let them think of questions they might ask Luther
today. Be sure to write ALL questions down (some of them you may not
use, but all students' questions should be taken seriously). If the well runs
dry, you
might prod them by asking, "what do you think the people of Martin Luther's
day thought about him and his reforms?" "How did you encourage others
to read the Bible so they could understand its message in the way you did?" Etc.,
etc. The junior highs I worked with were very responsive, although they did
not always know correct answers, we were able to talk it through. Here are
the questions they asked that I wrote into the skit:
1. Aren’t you about the same vintage as that other dude,
Christopher Columbus?
2. Why did you become a monk?
3. What did you discover in the Bible that was different from what the church
was teaching?
4. Didn't others read the Bible? Why didn't the people know this?
5. Why did you write the small catechism?
6. What did YOU teach about the way to salvation?
7. Why did the church need to be reformed?
8. How did the Pope react (when you said he was not infallible)?
9. They say you had to go on a diet. What was that for? Did you really have
to eat WORMS?
10. You were condemned as an outlaw to be hunted down. How come you weren't
burned at the stake like other martyrs?
11. What did your contemporaries say about you?
12. What did you say about yourself?
13. Dr. Luther, did you really marry a nun?
MARTIN LUTHER COMES TO HOPE LUTHERAN
(At 9:55 a.m., TETZEL enters the courtyard along with entourage of
trumpets, drums, banner carrier, and surrounded by several costumed
townspeople.
As soon as Tetzel enters courtyard, TRUMPET fanfare announces his
presence;
drummer
follows along, beating drum, stopping when Tetzel speaks.)
TETZEL (walking around courtyard, calls out:)
HURRY, HURRY! Step right up…
Come and hear about these special merits that can be yours!
Indulgences for sale here, signed by the Pope himself!
Save yourself and your loved ones from purgatory!
(May stop to negotiate a sale or two, but continues
on to the entrance to Community Center by 10:00.) Trumpet fanfare should be played as
he enters
Community Center.
As he mounts the stage, TETZEL addresses the crowd:
TETZEL: Listen now! God and St. Peter call you! Consider the salvation
of your sous and those of your loved ones departed. You! Noble!
You! Merchant!
You!
Youth! You! Old man! Listen to the voices of your dead relatives
and friends, beseeching you and saying, "Pity us, pity us. We are
in dire torment from which you can redeem us for a mere pittance!" Remember
that you are able to save them, because
" as soon as the coin in the coffer rings
the soul from purgatory springs!"
I have indulgences here for two years, five years, and for a price,
for ETERNITY!
TOWNSPERSON: Did you bring some relics with you?
TETZEL: Ach, ja! Here is a piece of the very cross
on which our Savior died; for a small price you can touch it. And
if you buy an indulgence,
I'll
show you one of the actual coins given to that traitor Judas, who
betrayed our
Lord…
LUTHER: (interrupting…strides angrily toward the stage carrying
a Bible to confront Tetzel):
Fraud! You are cheating these poor people into thinking they can
buy their way into the Kingdom of God! Relics indeed! I suppose
you even
have a piece
of the burning bush that Moses saw!…or maybe even a feather
from the angel, Gabriel!
(TETZEL cowers and begins to back off stage, while LUTHER continues):
Be gone, monk! You are not welcome in Saxony! (As TETZEL retreats
into crowd off stage)…I tell you that "he who gives to the poor or tends to
the needy does better than if he buys indulgences!" Lieber
Gott! To think if you prayed before every ancient relic you could
get time off from purgatory! (Glaring at the retreating TETZEL):
I'll know a hole in his drum! "If
the Pope can free suffering souls from purgatory, why not, for
the sake of love, empty out purgatory altogether?
(Luther addresses crowd):
Let me introduce myself. They call me BROTHER MARTIN. I don't suppose
any of you would remember my last name?
(STUDENTS shout out "LUTHER" and two voices call out "KING")
LUTHER: King? No, no…that was one of your
modern day heroes in America (his mother must have named him
after me). My roots go
back
500 years ago,
to Germany. (Hold up Bible) As a priest and student of the Bible,
I became aware of how much the church had departed from God's Word.
What
angered
me most was this selling of indulgences, and using the money from
these poor peasants
pay for the building of St. Peter's in Rome. In fact, it was exactly
on October 31 in 1517 that I drew up a list of 95 theses, points
for debate about the
church, and nailed it on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg.
(Addresses students near stage)
But here are some students. You read your Bible, Ja?
STUDENTS: Ja!
LUTHER: And your catechism? Ja? Tell me, how many parts does the
Apostle's Creed have?
STUDENT: Three!
LUTHER: And what do these parts deal with?
STUDENT 1: With the Father as creator,
STUDENT 2: the Son as Redeemer
STUDENT 3: and the Holy Spirit as Sanctifier.
LUTHER: Very good! You four, come up and join me at my table. You
probably have some questions to ask me!
(Students come up on stage; lead student (male) greets Dr.
Luther with a high five, and says)
STUDENT 4: Yo! Martin!
LUTHER: (to audience) Hmmm…your
20th century students have an odd way of showing respect.
STUDENT 5: Dr. Luther, aren't you about the same vintage as that
other dude, Christopher Columbus?
LUTHER: Columbus? I didn't know much about him or his adventures.
News didn't travel very fast in my day. But much later I learned
that he set sail for
America when I was nine years old. Back then, I was far more interested
in man's relationship
with God than with our relationships in the New World.
STUDENT 4: Is that wny you became a monk?
LUTHER: (chuckles to himself)
Well, I was certainly interested in MY relationship to God. You
know, I started out to be a lawyer, because that's what my father
wanted.
But one day when
I was returning to the University from home, I got caught in
terrible storm. The lightning terrified me, and I made a vow
to St. Anne,
that if my life
was spared, I would become a monk! Well, here I am! But it wasn't
without much
struggle! I was as terrified of God and what I thought was his "righteous
anger" as I was of the lightning storm! Hard as I tried,
I did not feel I could please a God so perfect!
STUDENT 6: What did you do?
LUTHER: Not what I did, but what God did for me as I studied the
Scriptures! One night I was reading Psalm 71, and the words leaped
right out at me:
" IN THY RIGHTEOUSNESS, O LORD…DELIVER ME!"
There it was! The righteousness of God DELIVERS not DESTROYS!
And then Isaiah 45 says:
" LET THE SKIES RAIN DOWN RIGHTEOUSNESS; LET THE EARTH OPEN, THAT SALVATION
MAY SPROUT FORTH."
Righteousness saves!
STUDENT 7: What else did you discover in the Bible that was different
from what the Church was teaching?
LUTHER: It was the words of Romans 1:17:
" THE RIGHTEOUS SHALL LIVE BY FAITH!"
We can't earn God's forgiveness. We simply have to ACCEPT it! By our faith
we receive that wonderful gift FREE!
And from my beloved Galatians, chapter 5: (reads from Bible)
" Now it is evident that no main is justified before God by the LAW; for
'He who through FAITH is righteous shall live.'"
These verses were the turning point in my life! We are "justified" by
our faith in Christ!
STUDENT 5: Didn't others read the Bible? Why didn't the people
know this?
LUTHER: No one but priests had access to the Bible in my day. And,
if they did it was only written in Latin, which was a language
the common people
could not read or understand. Perhaps my greatest contribution
to the church was
to translate the Bible from Latin into the German language so that
all could read it. Of course, not everyone could READ in those
days, and I insisted
that children, both boys AND girls, be educated and learn to read.
STUDENT 6: Why did you write the Small Catechism?
LUTHER: To help fathers teach their children.
Parents had forgotten that they were supposed to teach their
children what Christians
believe. I
wanted to
students to say, "What does this mean?" when they read their Bibles.
So I wrote the Small Catechism for fathers to use with their children. And
I wrote the LARGE CATECHISM as a "refresher course" for
pastors to use in their teaching. Too many pastors were spending
their time
going on pilgrimages
and engaging in worldly pursuits. They became very lazy in their
preaching and teaching duties.
STUDENT 4: What did you teach about the say to salvation?
LUTHER: (with confidence): "Sola scriptura! Sola gratia! Sola fide!" We
are saved by Scripture alone, by grace alone, and by faith alone!
STUDENT 7: Why did the church need to be reformed?
LUTHER: The church was corrupt, particularly
in the practices of "simony",
the selling of church positions, and "nepotism", giving
jobs to family members.
And the church was too wealthy. Many bishops also held the title
of Prince, and church owned 1/3 to 1/2 of all the land in the Empire.
I'm sorry to say
that the church was growing more worldly. There were constant demands
for money to support papal wars or for building new churches in
Rome.
Also, priests had far too much power. The priesthood was considered
more worthy than the monarchy! The church had set itself up as
the custodian of
GRACE which
it administered through the seven sacraments. Grace isn't bestowed
by the church: it comes as a FREE GIFT from GOD.
STUDENT 5: What other reforms were needed for the church?
LUTHER: The sacraments! The church practiced seven, but only TWO
have a scriptural base: baptism and the eucharist, or Holy Communion.
And I insisted that the
wine should not be reserved for priests but offered to the laity
as well.
And priests. Let them marry if they choose! Nothing in the Bible
says they need to remain in an unmarried state.
Also the teaching that the pope was infallible was wrong; the pope
is not above, but under the Word of God.
STUDENT 6: How did the pope react?
LUTHER: He was furious! He issued a Papal Bull (that's
an order) of excommunication; called me "a wild boar
that had invaded his vineyard!" (chuckle) He gave me 60 days to recant or suffer excommunication.
STUDENT 4: They say you had to go on a diet. What was that for?
Did you really have to eat WORMS?
LUTHER: (Chuckling again) Actually,
I had to go TO a Diet. That's what they called a "congress" or
an official meeting with the Emperor, which was held in the German
city of Worms.
STUDENT 7: What happened?
LUTHER: I remember it well…
STUDENT 2: (Student offstage, walks across stage
quickl,y carrying sign that reads "FLASHBACK" as Luther walks
to center stage in front of table.)
EMPEROR CHARLES V: (in loud, commanding voice):
Dr. Luther, we ask you two questions:
Did you indeed write these books before us today? And secondly,
do you deny everything that you have written in these books?
LUTHER: Your imperial Majesty and members of the Diet: When I was
ordained I was commissioned to use the Scriptures as the norm and
faith of life. And
I was called upon to give a faithful witness to the Grace of God
in the world. For some time now, the faithful witness to the grace
of God has been buried
under manmade traditions and laws. When the Word of God and the
traditions and teachings of men stand opposed to each other, we
must always
come down on the side of the Word of God.
It appears to me that not only have the bishops and princes of
the empire forgotten this, but also the Emperor and the Pope. You
have
asked me to recant
on the
basis of an imperial command and the traditions of the papacy.
Until I am convinced by Scripture alone that I am wrong, I cannot
and will
not recant.
HERE I STAND!
God help me! Amen.
(EMPEROR CHARLES shakes his head sadly and walks off stage; LUTHER
returns to table)
STUDENT 5: You were condemned as an outlaw, to be hunted down.
How come you weren't burned at the stake like other martyrs?
LUTHER: Duke Frederick, the elector of Saxony,
was my good friend and protector. He arranged to have me kidnapped
after the Diet
of Worms,
and gave me safe
passage to the Wartburg Castle where I lived in hiding for a
year. My life was truly in danger. I disguised myself as "Junker Georg" and
let my hair grow long. But I had to keep busy, so while I was
there, I began to
translate the New Testament into German.
Eventually, I was able to return to Wittenberg to lead the Reformation
movement.
STUDENT 6: What did your contemporaries say about you?
LUTHER: (laughing)
Well some said I was a "maniac", "vulgar", a "windbag"'
I've been called "Dr. Easychair" by a few.
But others said, "No, he is the Saxon Hus who had the courage
to defy the church's tyranny, a dear man of God who brought the
Gospel to
light when
it had been utterly lost."
STUDENT 4: What did you say about yourself?
LUTHER: It troubled me when people talked
about forming a "Luther-an" church.
I did not want to start a new church, but to reform the old! I ask men to call
themselves CHRISTIANS, not LUTHERANS. And don't give me the credit for reforming
the church. "God reformed the church while I drank Wittenberg
beer!"
STUDENT 7: Dr. Luther, did you really marry a nun?
(KATE walks quickly on stage during this question…)
I'd like to answer that question!
LUTHER: (rising from chair to greet Kate…from
this point on both Kate and Luther use the stand-up mike in front of
stage)
Ah, Kate, m'Lord, come join us.
KATE: I see you brought students to our dinner table again.
(addressing the audience):
But to answer your question…let me tell you how that happened.
I was sent to convent as a teenager because my parents couldn't
afford to keep my at home. When we heard about Dr. Luther's teachings
about
the "Priesthood
of ALL believers", and "that the Son of God sets free those who have
cloistered themselves under false vows," we wrote to him
to ask him to help us escape the convent.
LUTHER: Yes, I arranged for the herring merchant
to make a night-time delivery to your convent on Easter Eve…
KATE: …and 12 of us used the cover of
darkness to hide among the stinking fish barrels in the covered
wagon which brought us to
Wittenberg.
Dr. Luther
arranged to find husbands or positions for everyone except me.
Oh, he tried, but I finally enlisted the help of another man
to offer
a proposal
to Dr. Luther.
LUTHER: (to audience) Gott in himmel,
she was persistent! I thought it best to stay unmarried. After
all, my life was in jeopardy, and
there was so much
work to do! But my friends convinced me I needed a wife, so "the
angels laughed and the devils wept" when we married.
KATE: We took our vows before the magistrate in June, and two weeks
later had a religious ceremony and a wedding dinner which even
your parents attended!
We were married for 21 years and had six children.
LUTHER: In addition to the 11 orphaned nieces
and nephews that you raised…
KATE: And we could always count on at least 12 students lodgers
plus an endless stream of visitors!
LUTHER: Ahh, Katie, my rib, you proved such a blessing to me, and
you had your hands full trying to make this drab, cheerless monastery
into a hospitable
home.
(Addressing audience):
There was never much money, and Katie planted gardens, and even
converted a space into a brewery which produced an excellent
beer. She raised
livestock, especially pigs, because I love pork, and I often
called her my "Lord
Kate, Mistress of the Pigsty." In spite of all that, she
found time to read her Bible. I promised 50 gulden if she completed
the
Bible in
its entirety
before Easter!
KATE: We've had our joys as well as our share of trials, especially
when our 13 year old daughter, Magdelena, died. Your health, Dr.
Luther, was always
my biggest concern. These people would probably laugh at some of
the home remedies
I concocted for your headaches, digestive system and other ailments
(aside to audience) to say nothing about his moodiness!
But among the happiest moments in our life together was when you
would pick up your lute after dinner and lead us all in song.
LUTHER: Ah, yes…next to the Word of God,
music deserves the highest praise! There wasn't much singing
in church in my day, so
I wrote songs,
sometimes
stealing the music from drinking songs and writing in words from
the Gospel through Music, too! He is our mighty fortress, our
ever-present help in trouble!
I wonder if anyone still sings that song I wrote so long ago?
KATE: They didn’t' call you the "Nightingale
of Wittenberg" for
nothing, dear doctor! One of your hymns, "God's Word is
Our Great Heritage" reminds
us that the reformation you started 500 years ago continues even
today as the light of God's Word falls on each generation. Let's
leave these
good people
with this song in their hearts.
ALL CAST (including Tetzel & Emperor) STAND TOGETHER AND LEAD
AUDIENCE IN SINGING:
God's Word is our great heritage
And shall be ours forever;
To spread its light from age to age
Shall be our chief endeavor.
Through life it guides our way; In death it is our stay.
Lord, grant while time shall last
Your Church may hold it fast
Throughout all generations.
(At conclusion of song, the cast may bow from the waist toward
audience and file off stage).
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