Everyday Lutherans

The Good Samaritan Story is one that is heard so often that we can often forget the real meaning of the story.  The lawyer stood up and wanted to justify himself.  He wanted to make sure, in the eyes of God, he would receive the gift of eternal life.  Yet Jesus instead focuses the lawyer into this world.  To this life and to those whom he shall encounter, Jesus reminds the lawyer that this world is also important, it is why God created you within this world, gave you the law and have you work with others around you.   When the lawyer asks his question to receive eternal life, he is really asking. How can I make sure I am going to heaven?  But Jesus wants to know what the man already knows, so he asks him, what does the Law say? For the Law was given as a gift of love from God to help the people have good relationships with God and one another.  So first, Jesus wants to know, does the man know this.  The man states the summary of Law by quoting Deu...

When I was in high school, I was able to travel with a band and choir tour.  We got to travel through eleven countries within Europe in a month.  It was roughly two to three days within each city. Traveling from one place to the next, day after day, eating food that I had never tasted before, seeing historic buildings and the culture was incredible.  It was also the farthest away from home I had ever been within my life.  I had been in a different state but now, I was in another country, on another continent, where people spoke different languages, who did things that were not the way I had done things.  It was exciting, scary, incredible, and life changing.   Returning home, I was reminded of those words of Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, “There is no place like home”.  As I was home, all the things were still there and others that I had often overlooked.  The first thing I wanted was a Burger King cheeseburger, my bed was so soft and comfortable,...

A few days ago there was the anniversary of one of the largest battles that was ever fought upon US soil.  The Battle of Gettysburg.  The war between the North and the South is often known as the war over slavery within the US.  While this is one of the main reasons the war was fought it was not the only reason.  Now this was a war that the slaves did not get to fight in until they ran away and made it to the North, where they could join the Union and actually be given a chance to fight.  But mostly this was a war that was fought by free men who felt it was important to fight for the freedom of others.   Being in the present, we can often forget the sweat, blood, the heartache and the people.  It just becomes a past event, something we hear about and may even think, “Oh that’s so sad.” Yet the events of the past influence us greatly and we need to take time to realize that.  Why have they done that?  What was at stake? And what did it give us...

Daniel is one of those famous characters of the Old Testament because of his true faith.  Since these are rather popular stories, I want to dive in deeper into how they remind us of our own time and the world around us today.  Daniel was willing to stand up to the king who had enslaved his people, brought them out of their lands and made them destroy their past.  Taking away someone’s language, history, and their story was what the King of Babylon was trying to do.  Most of the people at that time had a language and story that defined them.  There was a reason for being Amalekite, an Ammonite, Philistine or Hebrew.  Your story, comprised of the past and the current events formed who you were.  By doing this, the king had hoped that you would abandon your story and pick up their story, the Babylonian story.   There was only one problem, the creator of all the world and author of all time is still with the Hebrew people.  However, they had forg...

The Law and The Gospel.  Often when we think of the Law, we are thinking of those times when we are driving and we see the  police on the side of the road.  We look around in panic and wonder, am I doing something wrong?  Am I speeding?  Did I cross the line or something? Alright, act cool, and everything will be fine.  For many people, this may be the way that they think about God.  God is constantly watching you and making sure you are being good or will punish you for it.   Yet much like your parents, God gives us the Law as rules to follow so that we can have good and healthy relationships.  That we may take care of ourself and those around us.  The Law is there so that we may know our own limits and even know that we need God and one another in order to fully enjoy this world.  So yes, God even comes off as harsh sometimes, but that is often when we God’s People do something that goes totally against those Laws.  God remin...