“Go to your room…”
I don’t know that I was ever punished by being sent to my room. My parents had a different and, how shall I say, more immediate way of punishing me. I don’t know that I ever sent my kids to their rooms. They had so much fun stuff in there, I knew that wouldn’t be any kind of punishment. Regardless of whether you have ever been sent to your room, I think we can all agree that hearing that phrase brings a sense of fear and tribulation. “Go to your room…” Said with the right tone can bring chills.
Today we toured Wartburg Castle. As you may know, this was the place where Frederick the Wise had Luther brought after he was excommunicated. While Luther did not receive a death sentence, his heresy made him the target of potentially lethal persecution. Even more, anyone who helped him would have been also a target for persecution. We are unsure if it was prearranged with Luther’s knowledge or not, but he was kidnapped and brought to the castle for safekeeping. He stayed for 10 months under an assumed name. Most people thought he was dead.
Today we got to see his room in the castle (see photo below). It is pretty humbling to step into the very place where Luther lived, prayed, studied and wrote that which would change the world! While it is just a room, I can report, that it is quite a room! History is so powerful and I was filled today.
So Luther spent 10 months having been “sent to his room.” That simply could not have been fun! I can attest, the room was cold and stark and didn’t even have wireless! But what did Luther do in that room? He translated the entire Bible! From their original langauges! Greek. Hebrew. Latin. And his German was so good that it went on to be the benchmark of all of the dialects coming together. The unified German language was the result of his bible translation. Amazing!
His circumstances were horrible and yet he prayed, reflected and responded in a positive way. Don’t you wish we always did that? “Go to your room…” What is your response to hardship?
Pastor Greg Bouvier