Everyday Lutherans

Normally Palm Sunday is filled with palm branches swaying back and forth. People milling around and greeting one another. We are handed palm branches and as good Lutherans, we have no idea what to do with them. We hold them close to our chest so as not to hit the other person. We apologize when our children, or children at heart, start to use them as swords. However, today, we do not have any of that. Most of us are in our homes and the halls of the church are empty. However, just because that is the reality that we are facing does not mean that we do not have an occasion to celebrate. Rather today, we are reminded now, more than ever what that Palm Sunday really is all about. Now yes, we can point back to the account of the Gospel that was read at the beginning of the service. “Pastor, didn’t you listen to yourself? The people used Palm branches and so do we.” Yes, I understand but why did they use Palm branches in the first place? When the people in the Gospel laid the branches...

Our Gospel lesson today, is one that is needed to hear at this time in our lives. Turning on the evening news and we are overwhelmed with statistics of what is going on in the world. We go through the list of countries and we are more and more aware that we are in this world together. We see numbers growing higher and higher. We bear witness to the reality of this world, we are in a broken world. What I think that we often forget is that each and everyone of those numbers represent a life. Each one of the single digits represent a person who has a family, who is a son or daughter, who comes from a family, and who was on this journey of life and faith just as you and I are today. Today, our gospel lesson could be happening in China, Italy, Spain, or even here in the US. A family gathered together, bearing witness to a loved one suffering and dying. In the midst of it all, they are wondering where is God in it all. They are overcome by grief. Then their loved one dies. The family m...

We are in the midst of Lent. A time of reflection, a time of greater understanding about our faith and life, and a time for us to really understand God. I know many people are struggling with these obstacles and challenges that we are facing now. People have a desire to be with one another but also a fear if a person were to infect me with this virus. We are told to isolate, quarantine and prepare, words that spark within us more anxiety and fear. I have heard many people on social media, news, and other sources that echo the beginning of our gospel. “Who is to blame?” We want an answer and yet in the midst of the crisis that is not always where we find the solution. So it is this gospel today that we share that can help us to better understand what it is Christ is calling us to do. Jesus stands in the midst of the crowds of people and the people know a truth, that this man has been blind from the very beginning, he was born this way. For the whole of his life, this man was tre...