H. Michael Brewer
Crescent Springs Presbyterian
Reformation Day - 30 October 2005
AN ADDRESS TO THE GENEVA CITY COUNCIL
Psalm 47
Right Honorable Gentlemen of the city council, under the threat of banishment from this city of
Geneva, you have summoned me here to answer charges brought against me. Although the charges
against me are unfounded, I am pleased to appear before you both so that I may defend myself against
the baseless slanders aimed at me by the Libertines and also because God would have us submit
willingly to magisterial authority.
I am accused today of defying the Geneva City Council in the matter of bread served in the Lord’s
Supper. The authorities at Berne have ordered the churches of this city to restore the use of unleavened
bread in the celebration of Holy Communion. You have defied their mandate and directed the local
pastors to use leavened bread. Your political intrigues matter little to me. Although I believe that in
principle civil authorities should not dictate the practice of God’s church, in fact I care not a whit what
kind of bread is used in the Holy Supper. The meaning and efficacy of the Sacrament rely entirely upon
the grace of God apprehended by true faith. The kind of bread—whether wheat or barley, leavened or
flat, brown or white—is a matter of utter indifference to me.
To charge me with transgression in the matter of bread is a subterfuge, a mask behind which to hide
the true motives of the council. Let us speak the plain truth. I am under attack for doing precisely what I
was brought to Geneva to do: namely preaching the word of God and building up the church in unity
and purity.
As you well know, it was never my intention or desire to dwell in this ungodly city. People of good
conscience everywhere recognize Geneva as the abode of immorality and wickedness. Such is the
reputation of your city, and when I arrived here I was appalled to find that the reality was far worse
than the rumor. Gambling, drunkenness and prostitution are rife in the streets.
This unfortunate city is polluted by men who have thrown off every constraint of custom and
decency. “We will do whatever we wish,” they cry. “We will be free of every bondage,” they insist.
These reprobates call themselves the Libertines, but they have abandoned true liberty. Those who
throw off the easy yoke of Christ do not find freedom but slavery. The Libertines are slaves to sin,
slaves to folly, slaves to the degradation of their wretched souls. I have done battle with these Libertines
for almost two years, although it is not I they oppose but the word of God—the word that saves the
repentant and condemns to everlasting fire those who defy the Righteous One.
In July 1536 the year of our Lord, I set out to visit Strasburg, but war had closed the direct path
through Lorraine so I took the longer route that brought me here to Geneva. As God is my witness, I
intended to stay only one night in this community before resuming my journey. However, William Farel,
a minister of God in this ungodly city, came to my quarters by darkness and implored me to remain here
and to lead the reforming of the church in Geneva. My heart recoiled from such a duty and I told Farel
so frankly.
Said I, “I am merely passing through this city, seeking the place God will have me labor.”
Said Farel, “Why seek elsewhere for what has already provided here? Behold a rich field awaiting
your labor!”
Said I, “I must needs have peace and solitude in which to pursue my studies. Far from being a
teacher, I am still a learner.”
After all, at the time I was barely twenty-seven years of age.
Said Farel, “Is there no end to study? Are we never to practice what we have learned? Must not
leisure give way to work?”
Said I, “My health is too frail for the burden of leadership and public life. I require rest.”
Said Farel, “Rest, indeed! Only death releases the servants of Christ from their labors. Are you so
frail that you must flee your duty? Jonah fled from God, but God cast him into the stormy sea!”
I had reason enough to flee from Geneva. Farel himself had already faced abuse from the enemies of
truth. He had been attacked by mobs, threatened with death. Once his enemies poisoned his soup, and
only God delivered him from the death that waited in the bowl. On another occasion, a man attempted
to shoot Farel, but by God’s goodness the gun misfired. Geneva is cauldron of iniquity and the laborers
of the Lord receive only abuse for their efforts to reform this place. Small wonder I wished to go
elsewhere.
Then Farel laid his hand on my head and fixed his eyes upon me. In a voice that seemed to descend
from heaven itself, Farel said to me, “God will curse your rest, curse your studies, curse your tranquility
if you withdraw your help and support from Geneva in this hour of our urgent need.”
At that moment I felt as if God had laid his mighty hand upon me to detain me in Geneva.
With a heavy heart, I said to Farel, “Very well. I will remain. I will give myself up to the Lord’s good
pleasure.”
From that moment I dedicated myself heart and soul to the work of the gospel. I have preached in
the cathedral. I have taught the gospel, refuting superstitions and false doctrines. I have ministered to the
Protestant refugees from France who flock to our city. I have strengthened the church. And I have
worked with you to build Geneva into a city of God.
To that end I drafted a Confession of Faith clarifying the beliefs and practices of those who seek to
follow Christ. Upon your approval, every citizen of Geneva has been called upon to swear obedience
to that Confession.
Further, after six months here I brought to the Council a four point plan by which to further the
reformation of this cesspool of a city.
You well know that points I proposed to you, although you have been reluctant to grant your
support.
First, I proposed that the laws regarding marriage be studied and reformed according to the teaching
of Holy Scripture.
Second, I have proposed that our children must be instructed in the essential beliefs of our faith. We
will write catechisms for their enlightenment, to be studied under the guidance of parents, and
periodically the children will meet with church authorities to demonstrate their progress.
Third, I have proposed that we restore the practice of congregational singing to the service of
worship. I would abolish songs in the unfamiliar tongue of Latin performed by monastic choirs so that
the people of God become mere onlookers in the worship. Instead, we will train children’s choirs to
lead the congregation in singing so that all of God’s people may pray and sing praise to the Most High.
What will we sing? The Psalms, of course, that most perfect collection of prayers that speak to every
human condition.
And fourth, I proposed that the church must elevate the practice of the Lord’s Supper. Surely Christ
did not intend the Holy Supper to be limited to three or four times each year. Ideally, we will celebrate
the supper every Sunday—although we might begin with monthly celebrations until the people have
accustomed themselves to more frequent observances.
Furthermore, to protect the holiness of the Supper, the church must have the right to determine who
can receive the Sacrament. The unrepentant and flagrantly wicked and insincere must be turned away
from the table of Christ.
This proposal is the true cause of your anger. I have heard the mutterings. “Shall we have this
French foreigner ordering our behavior? Shall the church usurp the power of the magistrate? Shall we
allow this black-robe to set himself up as a little Pope in Geneva?”
I am accused to every selfish motive. Let me ask in what way I have enriched myself during my
ministry in this city. Have I enjoyed esteem and public favor? Hardly. Have I lived in luxury or leisure?
No, I have labored ceaselessly in spite of chronic illness. Have I grown wealthy? Far from it. I worked
here for over six months before receiving so much as a pittance. My only motive has been the faithful
service of God. For this I am hated. For this I am spitefully used.
At the last election, the Libertines seized a majority of the seats in this City Council, and these
Libertines are determined to overturn the good work of Christ in Geneva.
This is the true charge against me. I refuse to let the Council dictate the worship of the church. I
refuse to let the civil authorities rule the Lord ’s Table. I refuse to depose Christ from the throne in his
own church.
Because of my stand in opposition to the Libertines, riots erupted yesterday in the streets. Obscene
songs echoed through Geneva mocking the practice of Holy Communion. I lay awake last night as
enemies shouted threats and insults through my window and set off guns in the street outside my home.
This morning, Easter morning, I mounted my pulpit, denounced the sins of the City Council and
declared that there would be no celebration of Communion today. How can we offer the Holy Supper
to profane hands? How can we invite to the Lord ’s Table those who just yesterday were rioting in the
street? Those who sin so obstinately against the crucified Christ have no place at his Table.
At this pronouncement, evil men in the congregation actually drew swords and would have impaled
me in the pulpit had not my friends interposed their very bodies between myself and the blades of my
enemies. And now I stand summoned before you charged with using the wrong variety of Communion
bread. Are you so craven that you cannot voice your true motives?
Let me be charged honestly. Although I honor the civil government, I exalt the sovereignty of God
above all earthly powers. Let me be charged with teaching the gospel to our young and restoring the
role of the people in our worship. Let me be charged with applying the law of God in the streets of this
city. Let me be charged with sacrificing my own desires in order to serve God faithfully and selflessly.
Let me be charged with honoring God’s Word above every human word. Of those charges I am guilty.
You threaten to banish me from this city. So be it. If I came here for my own gain, I would be
poorly paid. But I serve a good Master who will reward me well. I came here at God’s prompting, and
it is God’s will you transgress in sending me away. But I leave with a glad heart and pray to God that I
might never again set foot in this swirling whirlpool of sin that is called Geneva. I take my leave and I
commend you to the justice of God.
John Calvin and William Farel were banished from Geneva by action of the Council on
Easter Sunday 1538. The reformers were given three days to vacate the city upon pain of
death.
William Farel went to Neuchatel where he ministered for the rest of his life.
John Calvin went to Strasburg and remained there less than three years, the happiest time
of his life.
In the fall of 1541, Calvin received an urgent plea from the City Council of Geneva,
begging him to return to the city and resume his work. Calvin reluctantly returned to Geneva
where he labored for the next twenty-three years until his death at the age of 54. At Calvin’s
request, his body was laid in an unmarked grave “to wait for the day of the blessed
resurrection.”
He left behind a changed city, a body of doctrine that defines the Reformed church, and the
personal motto he often quoted and by which he lived—Soli Deo Gloria—To God alone be the
glory!