Beggars (“wir sind alle bettler”) Long Sleeve Tee

This design was inspired by the words of two men:

Found written on a slip of paper in Martin Luther’s coat pocket after his death: “Hoc est verum. Wir sind alle Bettler”--“This is true. We are all beggars.”

Attributed to about 5 different people (including Sproul) but actually first said by Methodist missionary, D.T. Niles (not Reformed but hey—credit where it’s due), “evangelism is just one beggar telling other beggars where to find bread.”

Two truths for us to glean from these words:

1) we are born into spiritual poverty with nothing to offer the Lord Almighty to remedy (or even better) that condition. We can only hold out empty hands and receive the Bread of Life with no payment that could be traded for such a needed provision.

“God is not a needy God…There is, most fundamentally, a difference in nature between the Creator and the creature, the former having life in and of Himself, the latter deriving life from the One who is life. We are born into this world totally dependent, finite in every way. Our existence is derived from our mother and father. If we are to continue living, the God of the universe must sustain us. We are dependent on not only our earthly father but our heavenly Father too. Our nature, our very existence, is contingent in every way.”
--Matthew Barrett

2) We are not only commanded but have the privileged with the opportunity to share the Gospel of this eternally satisfying meal with others.

“If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for.”
― Charles Spurgeon

“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
Romans 1:14-17

This should produce godly, awestruck humility in us knowing we simultaneously have nothing to offer a holy God to earn his favor and save ourselves but also that he has chosen us as a means to invite siblings in Christ to feast eternally together.