Inherited Faith

Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; ³²and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” ³³They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?” John 8:31-33

I have been Lutheran my whole life. Within two months of being born, my parents had me baptized. They brought my brother and I to church every Sunday, where my mother was the bell choir director and accompanist on piano. Both sets of grandparents and other relatives attended the same church, and our extended family is filled with the faithful. I am deeply grateful for being raised in the church and learning about God's grace and love from an early age. I inherited a faith tradition and have become a pastor in the same tradition. That being said, this faith was not my own until I was an adult. I inherited a faith tradition but did not choose it. I was raised Lutheran, but religious custom and family tradition is not, on its own, faith. This we cannot inherit but must receive, as a gift from God. My faith became the center point of my life, not because I was raised in the church, but because I personally and powerfully have experienced God's love in my life. I have experienced the truth and the truth has set me free.


This truth and faith is what Jesus came to proclaim and live. He tells the crowd to continue "in my word" and you will know the truth. This was an unwelcome message to those who inherited their Jewish faith. They were told they were God's chosen people by birthright. That as descendants of Abraham they had been given God's full blessing. Jesus challenges them to move beyond faith as custom, tradition, and inheritance and move toward faith as truth, love, and obedience to God. The tension between Jesus' proclamations and Jewish tradition come to a boiling point because Jesus challenged the fundamental assumptions of faith as inheritance. Rather than accept the truth and change, they would prefer to believe a lie. No matter how hard Jesus tries, or how patient he is, some will never accept the truth.


Jesus is the "way the truth and the life" (cf. John 14:6) and whoever follows him will have eternal life. Faith, unlike an inheritance, is not given to a special few, or disseminated by birthright, or a matter of education or good works. Faith is a gift from God, activated by the Spirit and received by those open to it. It is a gift intended for all people and not just some people. Faith is a matter of trusting God and being set free from all that binds us.


Prayer: Lord, help me to know the truth and be set free. Allow your Spirit to work within me so I might grow in faith, love, and obedience to your will, in Jesus' name, AMEN.

Fear of the Unknown

About the middle of the festival Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach. ¹⁵The Jews were astonished at it, saying, “How does this man have such learning, when he has never been taught?” ¹⁶Then Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine but his who sent me. ¹⁷Anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own. ¹⁸Those who speak on their own seek their own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and there is nothing false in him. John 7:14-18

The Jewish people had been promised a messiah who would deliver them from their oppressors and restore the kingdom of David. There were signs to look for that were given by the prophets, but many who had previously claimed to be the messiah turned out not to be. So, in some respects, we can understand why the religious leaders were skeptical of Jesus. They questioned his authority because they do not recognize where it came from. They did not understand how Jesus could heal the man and where he received his knowledge from. They had become so convinced about their understanding of God they could not see God's truth standing in front of them. Because they did not understand they feel threatened, which is a natural human response.


Human beings like to be in control. We would rather go through life as routine drudgery than put ourselves in the position of having no control. Yet, control is an illusion and idolatry. A health scare, job loss, stock market plunge, violence, or even extreme weather are reminders that we are not in control. This is why we seek to buffer ourselves with various products and devices to guard against the unknown because we are truly anxious. The truth is we are not in control and we do not understand. Life is mysterious and baffling and there is very little we can do about it. The flip side of this truth is God is in control and God wants the very best for us. Our desire to control and our anxiety over our lack of control, is all connected to our lack of trust in God. The only way to combat anxiety is to surrender our need for control, to give our trust to God. This may not help us understand but will relieve our need to. This is liberating and transformational. It is also a life-long process which requires divine intervention.


Prayer: Lord, help me to place my trust in you. Help me, in the midst of things I do not understand, to believe you are with me. Help me to confess my anxiety and surrender it to you, in Jesus' name, AMEN.

Bread of Life

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." John 6:35

Bread is a gift from God. I know being gluten-free is all the rage these days, but I still am weak for the smell and taste of fresh bread. Bread comes in all shapes and flavors, but in its various forms it is a staple in diets across cultures and religions.  However, as satisfying as bread can be, even in massive quantities, it can never fully satisfy. If I eat an entire loaf of bread today, I will still be hungry tomorrow. This is the nature of our physical appetites. We can only temporary satiate our physical need for nourishment and each day we must fill and re-fill our body with nutrients.


When Jesus calls himself "the bread of life" he is not talking about physical needs or nourishment from food. Rather, Jesus is speaking about the spiritual hunger we have for meaning and purpose, and our deep desire to experience love and acceptance. Jesus offers us peace with God. This peace allows us to rest contently knowing we no longer have to strive for more or struggle to be accepted. In Christ, we have God's grace; in Christ we have God's mercy.

Jesus, as the bread of life, not only allows us to receive God's grace and mercy, but also provides us with ongoing spiritual nourishment.

I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. John 6:51

The flesh, or body of Jesus, was given as a gift of grace upon the cross, but also continues to be given to us at the table. When we receive Christ's presence in the Lord's Supper, we are not only reminded of God's grace but receive his presence in bread and wine. While the physical elements of communion may not fill our physical needs for nourishment, they fill us with God's grace and equip us to share God's love in the world.


This was a difficult and challenging teaching for those who heard it then (6:60-71) because it made clear that God's presence was breaking into our world. The Jewish faith had always claimed that God was transcendent and distant from humanity, while Jesus claims the exact opposite. In Jesus, God is made known and can been seen and even tasted. He came to satiate our appetites and make us whole. He is the best and most filling bread we could ever have.


Prayer: Lord, help me to receive the Bread of Life that satisfies my soul. Help me to receive Christ's presence so that I may be nourished with God's amazing love and share God's love with others, in Jesus' name, AMEN.

On the Sabbath

At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk. Now that day was a sabbath. ¹⁰So the Jews said to the man who had been cured, “It is the sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.” ¹¹But he answered them, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your mat and walk.’” ¹²They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take it up and walk’?” ¹³Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had disappeared in the crowd that was there. ¹⁴Later Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you have been made well! Do not sin any more, so that nothing worse happens to you.” ¹⁵The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. ¹⁶Therefore the Jews started persecuting Jesus, because he was doing such things on the sabbath. John 5:9-16

The Sabbath is God's gift to humanity. We are given the opportunity to rest one day a week. We are given relief from the grind of work and the responsibility that comes with it. God takes the seventh day of creation to rest and we are to follow suit each week. One would think human beings would rejoice in such a gift, but most cannot stop their work or productivity so God made observing the Sabbath a command. God's commands us to rest because on our own would will not and can not rest. Taking Sabbath rests requires trust in the provisions of God, rather than anxiously accumulating more and more. Taking Sabbath is a gift and it develops faith and trust in those who observe it.

To help people live into the gift of Sabbath, the Jewish faith developed detailed rules and regulations to help people rest. Most of these are intended to address the loopholes that anxious human beings devise to pay lip service to observing Sabbath. But as time went on, this Sabbath rules became elevated in importance to such an extent that love of neighbor became a "work" to avoid on Sabbath.

In this story, Jesus challenges strict Sabbath observance by healing a man who had been ill for 38 years. Strictly speaking, healing on the Sabbath was work, but Jesus demonstrates there is never a wrong time to help a hurting person. It is not that Sabbath observance is unimportant, but a legalistic and narrow interpretation of the commandments that does not preference love of neighbor is problematic. In other words, faithfulness to God is not as simple as following rules, we must seek to love God and love neighbor fully.

It is precisely this kind of tension and nuance the religious leaders of Jesus' day could not tolerate, which eventually led them to persecute and kill Jesus. God's calls us to live in this tension, requiring us to remain open to the Spirit's leading and discerning the most faithful path forward. In this instance, it meant Jesus healed and hurting man, but it other cases it may mean slowing down and allowing rest to permeate our harried lives.  

Prayer: Lord, help me to slow down, rest, and trust in your grace. Help me to follow your ways to love you with all I have and love others, in Jesus' name AMEN.





Eyes of Faith

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. ²He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” ³Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” ⁵Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. ⁶What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ ⁸The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” ⁹Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” ¹⁰Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?”

John 3:1-10

Jesus was a powerful teacher who brought new and groundbreaking insights to the people he met. Time and time again, people left an encounter with Jesus amazed, astounded, and often confused. Jesus spoke God's truth to the people, but they often missed the point. This explains why people missed the whole point of Jesus' coming and the could not grasp the meaning of his teachings.


Nicodemus exemplifies this disconnect, or spiritual blindness, in his encounter with Jesus. He comes to Jesus at night, which makes sense because as a Pharisee he wouldn't want anyone to know he was there. The imagery also suggests the lack of spiritual sight Nicodemus had in being able to understand what God was doing through Jesus. He comes not to aggressively challenge Jesus' teachings or authority, but with a genuine curiosity and desire to understand. Jesus speaks the truth to Nicodemus, but Nicodemus cannot handle it. To see the kingdom of God implies being able to see God at work in the world, which requires understanding who Jesus is and what God is up to. If Nicodemus (and others) see the signs and wonders Jesus performed, but still do not have faith how could they understand?

Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. ¹²If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? ¹³No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. ¹⁴And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. ¹⁶“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. ¹⁷Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. John 3:11-17



Nicodemus, like many, is seeking to understand God rationally or logically. This is his stumbling block. It is not that God is irrational or illogical, it is simply our human limitations do not allow us to understand God's ways. Nicodemus can see there is something special about what Jesus is doing, but because it does not conform to his prior understandings of God he struggles to believe. He stumbles because he is trying to think his way to new faith, rather than faith (it is a verb now) his way to new thinking.


St. Anselm, and 11th century theologian and bishop, described the intersection of reason and faith as "faith seeking understanding." This implies faith is a starting place for understanding the world. Faith helps us see the world in a new way that unlocks the mysteries of creation. Faith seeks understanding, rather than understanding seeking faith. This is what keeps Nicodemus from believing Jesus and is a story I can relate to as well.


In college I struggled mightily to understand God in order to believe. It didn't work for me and many have similarly struggled. Faith comes not from the head but from the heart. God touches our heart in a way we cannot always explain or describe. With Faith, I can explore the world and seek knowledge in ways that not only makes sense but discovers the harmony and rhythm embedded in this beautiful world God created. I can see God at work in my life and the world, and this knowledge continue to enliven and enrich my faith. May God touch our hearts and open our eyes to see, believe and understand!


Prayer: Lord, open the eyes of my heart and let me see your work in my life. Help me to see and understand, trusting in your love, mercy and grace. In Jesus' name, AMEN.

Family of Faith

While he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers were standing outside, wanting to speak to him. ⁴⁷Someone told him, “Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” ⁴⁸But to the one who had told him this, Jesus replied, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” ⁴⁹And pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! ⁵⁰For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” Matthew 12:46-50

In most cultures, and Jesus' was no exception, one's identity is largely determined by their family. Like it or not, we are connected to our family permanently. This is a legal and biological fact, but also makes sense from a survival perspective as well. We often turn to family in times of struggle or suffering. Even in the hardest times, family members help one another and care when others won't. This is why the scriptures often lift up the needs of the widows, orphans, and strangers because they lack the familial support others have.

When Jesus tells the disciples they are his true family, rather than his biological family it is jolting. He offers an alternative framework whereby faith and discipleship are the primary factors that determine whom we are to be committed to. If all Christians are my "brothers and sisters" and are to be afforded the same level of care and commitment I offer my own biological family, then I must significantly increase my level of concern for others. Jesus isn't rejecting his family per se (notice his mother and brothers are not in the room with him when he says this), but he is making clear to his followers that he values them completely.

These disciples left everything to follow Jesus, including their families and support systems. In doing so, Jesus offers them a new family, the family of faith. The family of faith is an open family that does not require, birth or marriage to be included. Instead, the family of faith functions as a group of children all adopted by God; taken in, and permanently included. The family of faith always has room for more and no one is forced to sit at the kids table.

Prayer: Lord help me to see my fellow human beings as my brothers and sisters, and to increase my level of commitment to their needs. Help me increase my empathy for those who struggle and my joy for those who celebrate, in Jesus' name, AMEN.