When we expect the easing of grief to follow a straight line—imagining that today should be better than yesterday, and tomorrow a little better still—we are shocked and frustrated when another wave of weeping overtakes us. Hope rises, only to be dashed. To those putting one foot in front of the other on the winding […]
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We commemorate the Reformation as a time when the freedom found in knowing Jesus and his saving work was discovered anew. Five hundred years later it is easy for the newness of this message to be part of our old story. It is easy to look past how much has changed in our own lives […]
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Today’s gospel is an encouragement to always be in prayer, but the parable Jesus uses to urge people to pray is a complicated one. Jesus says the judge is unjust. The widow in the story is persistent in pestering the judge for the verdict she seeks. The judge is not convinced by evidence or reason, […]
Read moreThere is a running joke in some congregations that Lutherans do not sit in the first several rows of the worship space. We may seek the front-row seats at concerts, sporting events, and elementary school award ceremonies. We like to be close to the action. Yet, when the action is the word of God read […]
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“Increase our faith!” (Luke 17:5). This request from the disciples seems perfectly reasonable. Jesus’ response about faith the size of a mustard seed defies the disciples’ expectations of what an increase in faith looks like. He then shares a reflection about obedience and humility. An increase in faith, Jesus seems to be saying, does not […]
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