Wir Sind Alle Pettler

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Romans 3: 23—24

Well over a decade ago I received the book “Luther the Reformer” by James Kittleson. It was an excellent read, however, I remember being fairly disturbed by a detail mentioned with regards to Luther’s final days. A scrap of paper was found in Luther’s pocket that read: Hoc est verum. Wir sind alle Pettler.” “This is true. We are all beggars.”
At that time in my life, those words troubled me. They seemed defeatist and depressing. “We are all beggars” did not square with my ideas about the man Martin Luther, his accomplishments, and even my own ideas about Christian faithfulness. Then I graduated, went on to the seminary, and gradually began to see the profound truth: we are all beggars before a righteous holy God. In the words on the hymnist: "Nothing in my hand I bring." In the words of Paul: “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
Could anything enrage the old Adam more than this? You mean to tell me, preacher, that I have no capital with which to bargain with God? You mean to tell me that who I am; what I have; what I’ve learned; and what I’ve done gives me no leverage with God whatsoever? Even in a minister of Word and sacrament, the impotent old man whispers, “You mean to tell me that my office is no insurance policy against personal tragedy? Don’t I have some pull? All have sinned; We are all beggars, so, no, we deserve no good thing; in fact, were we to get what we deserve for sins dreamed of; conceived and actually committed, we would earn hellish eternal torture. So beggars, beg. All who have sinned and fallen short—which is to say, all—beg for that which we could never earn or purchase. Repent. Our cups are empty. We are at the mercy of the Almighty Almsgiver, who would be justified in passing us by as if we didn’t exist. He would even be justified in treating us contemptuously, offended that we would even ask for help after all that we’ve done to soil ourselves.
Standing as a beggar before with Lord, with our absolute poverty on display, we properly expect the blow of punishment to fall at any moment. We wince in anticipation of it landing. And the blow lands, to be sure, but not upon us. Instead, the blow of death lands squarely upon the Son of the Most High. From his side flows the telltale sign of blood and water. Blood and water for the beggars. Eternal riches for the beggars. The Almsgiver fills our cups to overflowing with these riches. Freely justified by His grace. Incorporated by water and the divine Name into Christ’s death, and raised with His resurrection. Raised to life. Nurtured in faith. Delivered to the heavenly presence of God at this life’s end. All as gift. All by God’s choice. All purely out of fatherly, divine good ness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me. “This is true. We are all beggars.” Thanks be to God. Amen.