Everyday Lutherans

Today is Holy Trinity Sunday.  A Sunday in the year that we celebrate and recognize the Holy Trinity.  However, this past week has made it hard to focus on the complexity of God when there is so much here on Earth around us that is demanding our attention.  Yet, I am also reminded that it is here in the complexity of God that it shines a light of hope into the complexity of our own life and yes…  even what is happening among us today.   Throughout this week, I wrestled for the right words to say to the pain, anger, frustration, voices, longing for recognition, and yet nothing came.  So to say nothing is a choice.  Yet it is in the choice to remain silent that we allow others to create and form an opinion for us.   I recognize that racism is one factor of the protests happening right now.  I recognize that among us are people who we separate from us and call a variety of races, that each and every one of us has our own experiences which g...

Today, we celebrate the Day of Pentecost.  The day in which God bestows His Holy Spirit upon all the people to be led and guided in all that they do and all that they are.  The Holy Spirit comes and influences all the people who have encountered it.  The Holy Spirit uses the people as instruments to show the glory of God in the world.  Others bear witness to this glory.  There are those who see and believe.  Those who will bear witness to the work of the Holy Spirit will often wonder how?  How is this possible, how can we understand, and know that this is part of God’s Will?  They will soon realize that it is only because of the work that God is doing within the world, that these things could have happened.  The work of God allows people to be united, gathered together in God’s name.  They will see and believe that these things are taking place. They are in awe.   There are those who see and do not understand. Those who will be...

Today, Jesus tells his disciples that if they love him they will keep his commandments. However, in this passage, we are not told what that commandment is.  It is in the previous chapter, where we have Jesus washing the feet of the disciples, serving them and cleaning up the very filth that many would regard as below them and for a slave to handle.  Jesus demonstrates and tells them of the love that he has for them.  Jesus goes on and tells the disciples that they should go out into the world and the people of the world will know they are his disciples because of their love.   Whenever I hear this account I am always reminded of the Christian hymn, “They will know we are Christians by our Love.”  (sing a verse)  This song reminds me of the community and purpose of our calling as a church and as people in the world.  Over and over again, the disciples and even us hear this calling, and yet it is something that we struggle with applying and give to ...

As Jesus is talking to the disciples, he tells them, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?  When I heard this, I immediately thought of the moments when I stop myself because I will say something that sounds like something my dad would say.  Now I am not saying that’s a bad thing but I am reminded of the old saying that, “an apple does not fall too far from the tree”.  Then I started to remember all the times that I would see people who knew my dad when he was growing up and they would say, “wow, you look just like your dad.”  Many of us probably have similar stories to share.  Sometimes when a person tells us that, we are proud of that.  Other times, we hear that and it causes us to fear.  “I am not THAT old am I?”   Our parents are ones who shape us and guide us in this world.  They are the first ones who show us love, care, and compassion.  They are the ones who share with us stories of growing up, ...

Luke 24:13-35 New International Version (NIV) On the Road to Emmaus 13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him. 17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19 “What things?” he asked. “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is m...

John 20:19-31 New International Version (NIV) 19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. 21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” 24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” 26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, ...

John 13:1-17 New International Version (NIV) Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet 13 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unle...

Matthew 28:1-10 New International Version (NIV) Jesus Has Risen 28 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.” So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet...

As Jesus is talking to the disciples, he tells them, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?  When I heard this, I immediately thought of the moments when I stop myself because I will say something that sounds like something my dad would say.  Now I am not saying that’s a bad thing but I am reminded of the old saying that, “an apple does not fall too far from the tree”.  Then I started to remember all the times that I would see people who knew my dad when he was growing up and they would say, “wow, you look just like your dad.”  Many of us probably have similar stories to share.  Sometimes when a person tells us that, we are proud of that.  Other times, we hear that and it causes us to fear.  “I am not THAT old am I?”   Our parents are ones who shape us and guide us in this world.  They are the first ones who show us love, care, and compassion.  They are the ones who share with us stories of growing up, ...