Martin Luther loved Christmas. There are countless stories from students who would stay with the Luther family at their home, a converted monastery that they opened to many visitors and guests. He would grow more and more cheerful as Christmas approached, students reported, and gather his...
Luther on Education
posted by DJL
While we’re on the topic of public education… Okay, so we weren’t on that topic, but rather Luther’s understanding of good government. Last week I cited Luther’s urgent appeal to the city councils and magistrates of Germany to establish schools as an example of what government was...
Christ for Us
posted by DJL
On October 31, 1517, a monk teaching at the relatively new university of Wittenberg posted a set of theological arguments on the door of the castle church in order to invite an academic debate. This was not terribly out of the ordinary and nine times out of ten – actually, make that 9999...
Pentecost 20 C: Every Day Acts of Faith
posted by DJL
Luke 17:5-10 Dear Partner in Preaching, I have to admit that I feel for the disciples. (Even more than usual!) In recent passages Jesus has been asking some fairly extraordinary things of them – to give away their possessions, to forgive those who wrong you…countless times, to take up his cross, and more. No wonder then, they ask for more faith. They feel inadequate to the tasks around them, insufficient to the challenges, unable to imagine accomplishing any of what he is asking. And after a week like the one we just had – with shootings, stabbings, injustice, hacking, and more – I suspect lots of us feel the same way. Like we need...
Easter 4 C: The Electing Word
posted by DJL
John 10:22-30 Dear Partner in Preaching, I don’t usually start this letter, or my sermons, by calling to mind theological controversies, but I will make an exception in this case. Why? Because there is something deeply dissatisfying with this exchange between Jesus and his questioners. Just a quick contextual note to remind us where we are in John’s distinct narrative. After healing the man born blind in chapter 9, Jesus goes on to interpret that sign (John’s intentional naming of what we often call a miracle) across the first two-thirds of chapter 10 in what is often referred to as the “good shepherd discourse.” In these verses,...