John was kicked out of his church in Geneva. His friend, Martin Bucer (1491-1551), reached out and invited him to Strasbourg, France. Martin and his wife, Elizabeth, were church reformers like John. Martin had been in training to become a Dominican friar, and Elizabeth was previously a nun. John moved into their home and observed that he had never seen a happier marriage. He said, “In his [Martin’s] family during the entire time I saw not the least account of offense but only ground for edification.” John was thirty-one and single. Pastor Martin, who was eighteen years his senior, became his mentor. He helped John Calvin see how his uncompromising attitudes in Geneva had caused needless discord.
Martin made it possible for John Calvin to pastor a church of French exiles living in Strasbourg. John rented a large house near Martin and turned it into a dormitory for students, hoping to recoup expenses. He didn’t! He hired a housekeeper with a bad temper who drove borders away and annoyed him as he edited his Institutes of the Christian Religion. “You need a wife,” Martin told him. John agreed, so Martin and friends formed a search committee to find a wife for John. The first three candidates didn’t pass muster with John but the fourth one, Idelette, won the marriage sweepstakes. Martin urged John to go back to Geneva when the church extended an invitation for him to return. John served the Genevan church with distinction for twenty-three years and became a Reformation stalwart.
Martin Bucer put himself out for John Calvin. If it had not been for him, there might not have been a John Calvin. We join with Martin in praying to discern God’s gracious will for our lives: