My apologies to health food enthusiasts, but I find kale salad inedible. The same goes for kale chips. There are plenty of alternatives that are far more flavorful. Although I suspect that, if given a choice between this leafy offender and a diet of worms, most would reluctantly choose the ornamental cabbage.

Now, I’m not suggesting anyone add those slimy, dirt-covered creatures to their meal plans (nor kale, for that matter!), but the phrase “Diet of Worms” is actually quite significant on this day, April 16. And it has very little to do with dining.

A diet, in this case, was not a menu but a formal assembly of political and religious leaders in medieval Europe. The term comes from the Latin dieta, meaning a meeting or assembly, often tied to a specific day. The Diet of Worms was held in the German city of Worms (pronounced “verms”), and while the name may sound like something from a middle school lunchroom joke, it was anything but trivial.

So what made this gathering so important?

In 1521, a young emperor, Charles V, just 19 years old, convened the assembly. His goal was unity. The Christian world was fracturing, and he needed stability at home to confront the growing power of the Ottoman Empire abroad. At the center of the controversy stood Martin Luther, whose teachings challenged long-held Church practices and authority.

Luther was summoned to appear before the assembly and was asked to recant his writings. After being given time to consider his response, he returned the following day and refused. With that, he was declared an outlaw. Charles V had hoped to silence a movement. Instead, he helped amplify it. As we might say, the rest is history.

The Reformation gained momentum, divisions deepened, and debates intensified. Among the responses from the Protestant side were documents called “apologies.” In our modern ears, that sounds like an admission of wrongdoing. But in that time, an apology was a formal defense, a reasoned explanation of belief. The most famous of these, the Augsburg Confession and its Apology, sought not forgiveness, but clarity and conviction.

Charles V found himself caught in a kind of two-front struggle: religious conflict within his empire and military pressure from the east. It proved an impossible balancing act.

Which brings us to this Sunday. On April 19 at 9:30 AM, we gather for our own diet, our own assembly. And yes, there will be a meal. Not kale. Not worms. But something far more life-giving. We will share in the bread and wine of Holy Communion. And we will offer our apology—not a statement of regret, but a bold proclamation of faith: Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Blessings,

Pastor Marc