The internet has not, as some predicted, made life better. It just made life more complicated by encouraging the “same old same old” peer pressure machine counting friends and clicks as your worthiness.
Paul was not thinking about all this when he called the Romans to lives of genuine love and mutual support but those words speak deeply to our time and lives.
Read MoreOur society emphasizes the individual. You do not need others around you – in fact you are called to, “Pull yourself up by your boot-straps.” But that only leads to loneliness, resentment, and anger. Feelings that can explode with devastating consequences as we see almost on a daily basis. Paul calls us to live a life in community. That community is the body of Christ with Jesus at the head.
Read MoreYour salvation does not rely upon following some set of rules about everyday life such as what you eat. Your salvation depends upon the work of Jesus – his life, death, and resurrection. And in thanks for this gift you choose to live your life as God asks. If you are lost in how to do that, all you need to do is look to Jesus. He is your model, leader, and shepherd.
Read MoreIn this, his attempt at a solution for his dilemma, he quotes Deuteronomy, claiming they are looking for God in all the wrong places. You do not need to go up into heaven or down into sheol – to scour the world – to find God, Jesus is present now in their lives wherever they may be.
Read MoreYou know that feeling. When our lives are disrupted by change, life can become a struggle. We experienced that in the pandemic and the years following it. We see it in our lives when loved ones die. Those things that made our lives - the joys and rewards - seem to disappear and all that is left is trouble and sadness. To you Isaiah is calling. The call is to remember that you have been washed in the waters of Baptism and fed at this table.
Read MoreThese verses, then, are about living life in the present age. It is about the assurance that in the struggles within and without the church God works with God’s people to bring about those things that God has planned (predestined) for the world. The hard part is for each of us to decide what work God is calling us to do. There are plenty of positions open in God’s plan. Which one (or ones) are you being called to?
Read MorePaul is trying to explain God’s work which is, at some point, unexplainable. He also may be quoting a hymn that the Romans sang to share with them that he is not really saying anything that they did not already know. Or, he may be saying that we are, at the same time, children of God and waiting to be adopted as God’s children. As Luther said it, at the same time sinner and saint.
Read MoreAs I have said many times, the law is a set of rules put in place by a people so they can live together in a stable and safe environment. The opposite of law is chaos.
Read MoreInstead of cursing those who anger you, say a prayer for them. Instead of insisting on your rights, be gracious, instead of bravado and commandeering be humble. All in all remember your savior.
Read MoreYou have been freed from the bondage to sin and death and made whole by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. You can choose to live your life so that, through you, others see their own bondage and cry out for their salvation.
Read MoreThe Christian faith was dividing families. Jeremiah gives a good description of what it sometimes means to answer God’s call. He was being made fun of and mocked. There were threats on his life. And when he tried to withhold God’s words it was like a fire burning within him. All three of our texts today are a reminder that to be God’s own does not guarantee an easy life. What is guaranteed is that God will not abandon you despite who you are, your mistakes and foibles.
Read MoreThe suffering that Paul is talking about is that suffering that came about because they were Christians and fulfilling the call of Jesus to proclaim that the kingdom of God had arrived. They were suffering for the benefit of others.
Read MoreI can tell you hundreds of examples of people who I had never seen before show up at church wanting God to fix some problem. Then, after it is all done, they leave again. Some because the problem is solved so they can return to life as it was while others leave in anger because God did not answer their prayers.
Read MoreTheir attempt to solve their own problems on their own without God ended in disaster. Now, after messing up their lives, they were questioning who they were. They were even questioning God. You know people like that who wander away from God chasing after green pastures. Then, when disaster strikes, blame God for it. Their lives are like the dry bones in the valley.
Read MoreWhat our story says is that God chooses differently than the world. That which the world sees as most important may not be what God chooses.
Read MoreThis woman, who had suffered much losing five husbands, was welcomed by Jesus into the kingdom of God. He did not change her or make her act in a different way, he just made her acceptable to God as she was.
Read MoreWhile Paul uses the story of Abram and Sarai to talk about faith – they were willing to leave home based on a promise. He does gloss over parts of it to make his point. That point is the promise that God has given to us through Jesus. The promise of faith. Faith is knowing that God will not abandon God’s people.
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