Rulers are defined by their power over others. They can levy taxes, conscript youth into armies, open or close borders, and enforce policies that direct the daily lives of the people in their realm. When Pilate interviews Jesus, he says to him, “Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power […]

“What’s this world coming to?” The circumstances that call forth this question are different for different people, but the question occurs to nearly all of us at some point in our lives. The gospel reading for this Sunday speaks comfort and encouragement to people who feel powerless in the face of huge changes. The world […]

In our gospel today, some Sadducees come to Jesus with a question. Their intent is to embarrass the teacher and to demonstrate how ridiculous the notion of resurrection is. Who could imagine such a thing? The scene they paint features would-be husbands lining up and waiting, like contestants on The Bachelorette, to see “Whose wife […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

There 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 […]

“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 […]

Today we celebrate and give thanks for the angels, especially Saint Michael and the unnamed angels who fought with him against Satan. It is not very often that we contemplate the angels in Lutheran tradition; while we do mention them in portions of our liturgy, we rarely name them as specifically as we do today. […]

In the gospel today when Jesus so clearly states that we “cannot serve God and wealth” (Luke 16:13), we are called to think about who—and what—we serve. How do we follow wealth around, acting as its servants? How do we allow money to dictate our actions, our lives, and our very identities? No matter how […]