“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 […]

We get lost. And yet, God searches for us. God stops at nothing to find us. God rejoices over us. In baptism, God finds us—for good. Claimed as Christ’s own, we are never so lost that we can’t be found. In holy communion, God finds us—for good. Called out of our wayward wandering and forgiven […]

The words from Jesus today might make us squirm a bit, and we might prefer to gloss over them. Hate our family members? Hate life itself? Give up all our possessions? It all sounds so extreme. But then again, Jesus is not known to mince words or soften the edges of his speech to suit […]

Today we hear the call to look beyond the familiar, to look around the edges of our known community and beyond our comfort zones. We are called to deliberately seek out the overlooked. We are called to look directly into the eyes that others avoid. Maybe that person is someone you would typically avoid because […]

Some of us live with chronic pain or disability as part of our daily lives. All of us know that our bodies are vulnerable, subject to illness or injury. In today’s gospel, Jesus heals a woman who has lived with a disability for eighteen years. There are times when we wish for a miraculous healing, […]

Jesus calls us into a kingdom unlike any of the kingdoms of this world. We are called to pursue justice for all people, to care for those on the margins, to seek God’s will before our own. Jesus’ message conflicts with our common cultural messages, which tell us to seek our own profit at others’ […]

There are many things we do in life to be ready. Sometimes readiness anticipates something good happening, and sometimes it anticipates something bad. In today’s reading from Luke 12, Jesus compares the coming of the Son of Man to something positive—the expected arrival of the head of the household—and to something negative—a thief coming in […]

The author of Ecclesiastes believes that hard work and wisdom should be fairly rewarded, but notes that reality often turns out differently. Colossians tells us “…get rid of all such things, anger, wrath, malice, slander and abusive language fro your mother. Do not lie to one another seeing that you have …clothed yourselves with the […]