Monthly Archives: October 2025

Preaching, Sermons

Sin and Grace, Saint and Sinner – What Does This Mean? [Confirmation and Reformation Sunday]

Caitlin Trussell with Augustana Lutheran Church on October 26, 2025 Confirmation and Reformation Sunday

[sermon begins after two Bible readings]

John 8:31-36 Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” 33 They 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’?”
34 Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. 36 So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”
Romans 3:19-28 Now we know that, whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For no human will be justified before him by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.
21 But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed and is attested by the Law and the Prophets, 22 the righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, 23 since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; 24 they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; 26 it was to demonstrate at the present time his own righteousness, so that he is righteous and he justifies the one who has the faith of Jesus.
27 Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. Through what kind of law? That of works? No, rather through the law of faith. 28 For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.

 

[sermon begins]

Parenting is a strange task. Older humans caring for the tiniest humans, born with their own personalities and daily rhythms. Our son arrived as an immediate night owl who slept in. Our daughter was an o-dark-thirty, morning baby. We celebrated when she started sleeping until 5 a.m. Younger humans are their own people with their own God-given gifts and their own sins in which Jesus meets them. Yes, even my children. A friend of mine greets babies with, “Oh, aren’t you the cutest little sinner.” Hearing the moniker of “sinner” cooed at a baby is jarring but gets at an essential truth. Human creatures WILL hurt themselves and others thinking they know better than God. It’s going to happen no matter how special and good humans are. And human creatures WILL do wonderful things. It’s going to happen no matter how broken the human is.

As parents, the combination of saint and sinner in our children can be hard to experience and to witness. Oh sure, sometimes it’s comedy with lots of laughs. Sometimes it’s also tragedy and there are no words or kisses to make it better. Such is life for parents and for young humans – just when you think you know something, either the thing changes or you do, and grace for self and others is needed along with the natural consequences of our actions.

In that way, there are some similarities with Augustana’s young people studying towards Confirmation. Each is their own person with their own God-given gifts and their own sins in which Jesus meets them. There is comedy and there is tragedy – laughter and tears and sometimes both at once. I sometimes wonder if the age of Confirmation in the mid-teens is the “right” time. And then I end up wondering if it might not be the best time because their questions are enormous and honest.

They ask questions about self and God and the world. Questions about fantasy and faith. Questions about myth and truth. In the Rite of Confirmation, the student takes on the promises of baptism that their parents made to them so long ago:

To live among God’s faithful people.

To hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s Supper.

To proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed.

To serve all people, following the example of Jesus.

To strive for justice and peace in all the earth.

They will take on these promises for themselves, affirming their baptism, and they will continue asking questions of faith as baptized people awash in grace.

Jesus cuts to the chase about truth in the Bible reading from the Gospel of John:

Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”[1] Truth and freedom. They’re compelling on a gut level until you start trying to figure out the truth. A little like Pontius Pilate a few chapters later. He asks Jesus at the trial before the crucifixion, “What is truth?” A lot of us ask that question with Pilate. We want to know the truth.

Jesus goes on to say, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.”[2]  Slavery language is tough enough when we talk about historical or modern-day slavery, but it can make us downright uncomfortable when we use it to talk about ourselves. Maybe one place to start is to get used to the truth that each of us is simultaneously saint and sinner. Daily, we are sainted through the waters of baptism and daily we struggle with the next right step out of those waters.

Jesus tells his Jewish followers to continue in his word, assuring them that they will know the truth that will free them. Part of this truth is that we are slaves to sin in need of grace. If I’m honest in my demand for truth, then I’m also honest about the truth of who I am and the enslavements that bedevil me. The truth is that given the right set of circumstances, most of us are capable of just about anything. Our sisters in Christ in New Beginnings Worshipping Community at the Denver women’s prison know this better than anyone. It’s a powerful thing to sing with them, praise hands in the air, about justice and unconditional grace through the cross of Jesus. Those of us living outside the walls have a harder time seeing the truth of our need for grace. Another part of the truth, maybe the harder part, is that we need a liberator. Slaves do not typically free themselves. But we’re inclined to talk like the religious leaders in the Bible story. We’ve never been slaves to anyone – what do you mean we’ll be made free?![3]

It’s interesting that it’s easier to understand the Jewish followers questioning Jesus than it is to understand Jesus. Although it’s a little surprising that they ignore their ancestors’ enslavement under Pharoah and freedom led by Moses as they ask Jesus, “What do you mean, ‘made free?” At our youngest ages this question first comes out as, “Why?” From then on, that question doesn’t stop. We ask it over and over as children. As people of faith, as people of church, we continue to ask it. Questions seek answers. Faith seeks understanding.[4]

In seeking understanding, our faith is formed. Faith, given by God, is formed by experience and intellectual exercise, by comedy and tragedy, by people around us, and by more than I can think of right now. How do we imagine that Martin Luther was able to hammer those 95 theses onto the door of a German church, issuing a challenge, a theological smack-down to the church leaders of his time? Luther’s experience, intellect, friendships, suffering, and his determination to wring good news from the Bible contributed to the world changing event of the Reformation. In the 1500s, translating the Bible into everyday language was a crime against the Holy Roman Empire. Theologians before and in Luther’s time were executed, even burned at the stake, for translating the Bible into the common language.[5] Luther managed a full translation of the Bible into German while protected to do so.

The Bible is a library of 66 books written by many people over thousands of years. Imperfect people wrote it and they disagree with each other between books and sometimes in the same book. They wrote about their experience of God and Jesus, and their stories in light of those experiences. There is power working through that book casually sitting in the pews and in our homes. But we do not worship this book that we call the Bible. The Bible is not Jesus.

We may revere and respect the Bible but we do not idolize the Bible. We do not say the Bible is God. We experience it as God’s Word. The Holy Spirit works through the Bible to form faith as the Holy Spirit works through our families and each other as the church to form faith. Luther could do what he did in part because of his relationship with his family and his church. He was formed by asking questions of faith and the church. And then he turned the church of the Holy Roman Empire upside down with the clarity gained through his formation. Never underestimate the power of asking, “What does this mean?”

Confirmation students, keep asking “What does this mean?” And remember your questions. Keep asking them. There are people of all ages, times, and places asking similar questions. Parents and church faith formation teachers, keep holding space for challenging questions and conversations even if there are no answers. These young people ask honest questions hoping for good news. Faith seeking understanding is faithful and good. It changes lives. It changes the world. It changes the church. Because isn’t reformation about change? Changing our hearts through faith, drawing us closer to God, and aligning us to God’s will and mission for us today as God’s grace is poured out to us and through us by Jesus.

Jesus frees us through our baptisms and God promises to:

Always be with us even, and maybe especially, when we don’t feel God.

Always take us back by grace, even when we turn away from God.

Always work to make our lives ever more Christ-shaped.

And to keep these promises forever.

Children of God, in baptism you are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever.[6] Jesus sets you free and you are free indeed. Amen and thanks be to God.

___________________________________

[1] John 8:31-32

[2] John 8:34

[3] John 8:33

[4] Sze Zeng, “Where Did the Phrase “Faith Seeking Understanding” Come From?”  theology + life on October 12, 2010. http://szezeng.blogspot.com/2010/10/where-did-phrase-faith-seeking.html

[5] Rolf Jacobson, Karoline Lewis, and Matt Skinner podcast conversation on John 8:31-36, October 25, 2015 for WorkingPreacher.org. http://www.workingpreacher.org/brainwave.aspx?podcast_id=805

[6] Evangelical Lutheran Worship. Holy Baptism. (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2006), 231.

Sermons

Sowing Hope and Not Losing Heart [OR Persistence Towards Justice]

Caitlin Trussell with Augustana Lutheran Church on October 19, 2025

[sermon begins after the Bible reading–two other Bible readings are at the end of the sermon]

Luke 18:1-8 Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. 3 In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my accuser.’ 4 For a while he refused, but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’ ” 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? 8 I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

[sermon begins]

I’ve learned a thing or two from doing CrossFit for 14 years.

  • Showing up for class is THE hardest part.
  • Modifying workouts to my fitness level is the way to make gains.
  • Incremental gains take patience and persistence.
  • Community and fitness are built on consistency not speed.

Consistent presence and incremental gains add up over time until suddenly you’re lifting heavier or squatting deeper or stretching further. Oh, how many of us wish that gains could happen more quickly.

Quickly. It’s how the widow in our Bible story would likely have preferred her justice. She kept showing up to demand that the judge grant her justice against her opponent. Jesus’ parable says that she kept it up until the unjust judge gave her justice. Her presence bothered the judge until he gave in.

“Jesus told them this parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart (v1).” That’s what verse 1 says – to pray always and not to lose heart. Not losing heart jumps out of the text this week. The widow’s example of showing up many times is an example of how not to lose heart. Hope is a long game and showing up is the main thing.

First century listeners would have heard the word “widow” and understood that Jesus meant a vulnerable person with no way to support herself.[1] More than that, they would have heard about the widow and connected her with Jewish scripture about protecting the poor, the widow, the orphan, and the resident alien – all people of community concern and of God’s concern.[2] Given her social status, it’s remarkable that the widow had her own voice and used it with the unjust judge. She doesn’t have to convince him with a logical argument. She doesn’t have to convince him at all. She simply has to show up and demand justice.

The widow’s repeated presence in front of the unjust judge is an embarrassing indictment of his unwillingness to help her. He isn’t worried about giving her justice. He’s worried that she’s going to make him look bad. In the end, though, she gets the justice she’s looking for no matter the motivation of the unjust judge.

In the face of an unjust judge, or people like him, it’s easy to lose heart and give up when a situation doesn’t change or changes for the worse. It’s also easy to become the very thing we’re working against. Reverend Dr. King, in his sermon called Transformed Nonconformists, cautions against passive patience which is an excuse to do nothing but he also cautions against hardened and self-righteous rigidity that is simply annoying and easy for other people to tune out.[3] Rather, he calls for restraint “from speaking irresponsible words which estrange without reconciling and from making hasty judgments which are blind to the necessity of social process.”[4] The transformed nonconformist knows that justice “will not come overnight,” yet “works as though it is an imminent possibility.”[5] In these terms and in the story of the parable, not losing heart involves taking action when justice seems as though it will never happen knowing that it could come quickly at any time through perseverance and presence.

The parable is an example of what Reverend King is encouraging his listeners to do. Praying, showing up, and not losing heart are key to hope. Jesus closes the parable with the encouragement that if even the unjust judge can finally bestow justice, how much more will justice be given by a just and merciful God. Jesus also wonders if faith will be found on earth when he comes again. This question about finding faith on the earth makes me wonder if that somehow ties back to the introduction to the parable about praying always and not losing heart.

Is faith, in this reading, about not losing heart, about perseverance, and about staying connected to the one who is faithful? Faith is often understood as confessing Jesus as Lord. Here, Jesus seems to connect faith with not losing heart, with prayer, with perseverance, and with justice for the most vulnerable.

For some, Jesus’ connecting faith to other people beyond our own self is where the wrestling with God begins. Like Jacob in the first reading from Genesis, our encounters with God in scripture can throw us off balance, making us wonder if faith is worth the trouble it seems to regularly draw us into. If Jesus’ constant demand of giving justice to the vulnerable can feel overwhelming in the face of such need, imagine what being in that kind of desperate need feels like. No wonder the Timothy reading exhorts us to keep at it – “to be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable (4:2).” And warns us against “itching ears” who find teachers to suit our “own desires” rather than continuing to draw us in the direction of vulnerable neighbors.

Perhaps exercising faith practices brings us full circle and helps us hold fast when the pressure builds. Practicing faith in our worship, in our connections with God and each other, in our prayers, in not losing heart as God’s faithful people, in persevering, and in justice for the most vulnerable may be just the conditioning we need when those faith practices seem so small in the face of injustice that we wonder what we’re accomplishing. That’s why it takes all of us, called by Jesus who’s as persistent as the widow, figuring it out together as we keep the faith, trusting in God’s grace through our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.

Our Augustana congregation has named our latest stewardship appeal and response to God’s grace and Jesus’ call, Sowing Hope 2026, as we ask for the faith to embody hope for each other and our communities with a spirit of generosity and giving financially towards our three ministry initiatives. The first initiative is to Continue and Sustain Ministry Excellence. The heart of this initiative is rooted in the principle of economic justice in staff compensation, viewing fair wages and benefits not simply as a social goal, but as a spiritual practice for our congregation. Ensuring that all aspects of our ministry are adequately resourced allows us to continue serving our community with persistence, compassion, integrity, and excellence.

The second ministry initiative is Pastor Involvement and Support for Confirmands and their families. During this critical stage of spiritual and emotional development, middle schoolers face a complex and often overwhelming world. The Confirmation process offers a vital opportunity to nurture their faith, build resilience, and help them explore what it means to live with hope.

And finally, the third ministry initiative invites the entire congregation and our immediate neighbors to a joyful celebration marking the completion of the Augustana Homes. This neighborhood-wide event, co-hosted by our neighbors and us is a recognition of the shared effort, vision, and community spirit that made these affordable homes possible. It is a chance for everyone to connect, build relationships, and celebrate the good that neighbors can do when we work together for good. Rooted in our values of hospitality and inclusion, this gathering reflects the kind of neighborhood we strive to be; one where everyone belongs, participates, and is celebrated for their part in creating community.

In a moment we’ll sing a hymn together. While we sing, you’re invited to bring forward your Statement of Intent cards, placing them in a basket with other cards to symbolize the impact of combining our gifts.

As church, we try to heed God’s call and hope we’re following God over and above our own fears. The world is rapidly changing, and the worldwide church is changing right along with it. No one knows what the outcome of any of those changes will be. As the Augustana congregation, we are leaning into the incremental gains of a growing church. And, as church, we’re called by the gospel to sow hope in a weary world as we’ve been gifted by the Holy Spirit to do so. By that same Spirit, we’re reassured of God’s love and grace as our efforts and our offerings unite for God’s purposes. Amen and thanks be to God.

_______________________________________________

[1] Brittany E. Wilson, Assistant Professor of New Testament, Duke Divinity School, Durham, N.C.  Commentary on Luke 18:1-8 for WorkingPreacher.org. workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=4201

[2] Ibid.

[3] Martin Luther King, Jr.  “Transformed Nonconformist” in Strength to Love: A book of sermons. (New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1963), 16.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

________________________________________________

Genesis 32:22-31 The same night [Jacob] got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. 24 Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” 27 So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 28 Then the man said, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. 30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, yet my life is preserved.” 31 The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.

2 Timothy 3:14 – 4:5  But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have known sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 so that the person of God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.
4:1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: 2 proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage with the utmost patience in teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound teaching, but, having their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. 5 As for you, be sober in everything, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.

Preaching, Sermons

Serving Others in Uncertain Times [OR Blessing Animals in Honor of St. Francis]

Caitlin Trussell with Augustana Lutheran Church on October 5, 2025

[sermon begins after three Bible readings]

Genesis 2:19-20a So out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air and brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all cattle and to the birds of the air and to every animal of the field.

Luke 17:5-10  The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
7 “Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table’? 8 Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me; put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink’? 9 Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’ ”

2 Timothy 1:1-14 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, for the sake of the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,
2 To Timothy, my beloved child:
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3 I am grateful to God—whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did—when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you. 6 For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.
8 Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, in the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace, and this grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, 10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11 For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher, 12 and for this reason I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day the deposit I have entrusted to him. 13 Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.

[sermon begins]

Our dog Sunny has been a part of our family for almost 11 years. She was originally rescued in New Mexico, fostered here on the Front Range, and initially adopted by a different family. Someone died in that family and the foster dog-mom was asked to take Sunny back. That’s where we came into the picture. Sunny was six months old. A very slender caramel and black, medium-sized mutt that we were told was part Lab, part Greyhound, part Rottweiler, and part Other. She had the speed and shivery nerves of a greyhound, the sweetness and snorts of a Rottie, and the smiles of the Lab. We theorize that Sunny’s anxiety was due to uncertainty and trauma as puppy and she has carried it with her for 11 years. While she is sweet and loves us very much, she is not brave. She wishes she could be your friend, but she was formed in uncertainty and finds it hard to trust you. Very few of us are allowed to pet her all over. But she has taught us about grace, about meeting animals and people where they are, not where we think they should be.

Meeting animals and people where they are was a specialty of primatologist Jane Goodall who died on Thursday at the age of 91. I grew up admiring her intelligence, her patience, and the way that chimpanzees responded to her. In a 2021 interview, Dr. Goodall had talked about her grandfather a Congregationalist minister, her new pastor when she was a teenager, and how religion “entered” her and “how science and religion are coming together.”[1]

In a video of her from just a few years ago, this faithful, smart, gentle scientist was part of a group releasing a recently rescued and rehabilitated traumatized chimp named Wounda onto an island of refuge.[2] Jane had not met Wounda before. While the group made their way to the island, she touched the chimp’s hand through the bars of the travel crate. When they opened the crate, Wounda snuggled with her main rescuer and then she climbed onto the crate, sat there for a minute, and turned to Jane who stood still and silent. The traumatized and rehabilitated chimp reached out and gently hugged and held Jane for several seconds and then left the group to check out her new home. Jane Goodall quotes are everywhere at the moment. One of my favorites is, “Let us develop respect for all living things. Let us try to replace violence and intolerance with understanding and compassion. And love.” My response to that is, “Preach it, sister.”

Dr. Goodall died just a few days before the annual celebration of St. Francis of Assisi that we’re ritualizing today with the Blessing of the Animals. St. Francis is honored for his love for creation, for his challenge to faithful Christians to tend and care for creation, and for saying, “Preach the gospel always, and, if you must, use words.” I suppose I must use words as a preacher or this moment in the pulpit would be awkward, but there are so many times when actions speak louder than words especially related to animals’ trauma and tending and to our own uncertain times.

I’m not interested in turning this time into a scientific lecture, nor do I have the expertise to pull it off, so I won’t. Suffice it to say that there are many layers to trauma in both our individual and collective experiences of it and the ways we make our way through it. I AM interested in our congregation’s, experience of faith when suffering and uncertainty seem to be piling on either personally or publicly like it is these days of religious, political, and school violence, as well as government shutdown.

While theologians and philosophers have tried, there remains no satisfactory explanation for the existence of suffering. All we know for sure is that uncertainty, suffering, and trauma are part of the human condition. It’s so much a part of the human condition that God knows suffering personally in Jesus’ death on the cross and, through Jesus’ suffering, God knows our suffering personally too. Such is God’s promise to us to always be present even, and maybe especially when we don’t feel it. When times are dark. When hope feels lost. Those are the times when God is present with us. The churchy words for that is the Theology of the Cross.

Just before the Bible verses in Luke we hear today, Jesus challenges his followers to see and help people who suffer, to not cause other people to stumble in their faith, and to forgive and forgive and forgive again.[3] Then we get to the apostles pleading for more faith, literally in the Greek “add faith to us!”[4] Who can blame them?  Jesus raises the bar high on discipleship telling them to relieve deep suffering—not ignore it, to give away money and possessions, and to forgive each other. A bit more faith to get these things done would be awesome! Most of us would like a heap more faith if it actually worked that way.

The apostles plead for more faith as a group – “Increase our faith!” This is unfamiliar ground for most of us. We tend to think of faith as an individual rather than a group project. In an individual way, I can wonder if I have any faith or enough faith or certain faith. It’s one reason why the apostles’ demand is so interesting. “Increase OUR faith,” they say to Jesus. They say it as a group. Jesus replies to them as a group. In the Greek, Jesus uses the plural “you” that means “all y’all,” and then he uses an awkward 1st century slavery metaphor to call them to obedience in service to others. I don’t know who would need to move a mulberry tree into an ocean but it’s more possible with a team of folks working together than with one person.

In the Bible book that bears his name, Timothy was encouraged to trust and obedience by faith. But he wasn’t encouraged to trust alone. Paul reminded Timothy of the faith of his mother Eunice and grandmother Lois. Ancestors to whom Timothy could look for inspiration from faith larger than himself. By the larger faith of community, he could trust and endure the uncertainty and trauma of the present.

Trusting in God’s grace doesn’t negate or minimize uncertainty or suffering and the experience of being overwhelmed by them. Trusting in God’s grace means that we’re given a community of Christ to share each other’s burdens as we have the capacity to do so. It also means admitting something is beyond our capacity, and we need help. And, when we’re able, it means stepping in when help is needed.

Stepping in when help is needed is something that we tend to learn a little more easily from our pets. Maybe it’s because we can’t reason with animals. Caring for animals includes the tone of our voice, key words that they may know, and the way we touch them or give them space. Voice, words, touch, and personal space make a difference whether it’s my dog Sunny, Dr. Goodall’s chimpanzees or other people. And we are people formed by God’s grace to be present with each other in whatever we bring to the mix.

We are a church of the cross as much as we are a church of the resurrection. It means we tell the truth in times of uncertainty, name suffering for what it is, and actively work privately and publicaly to alleviate it or, at the very least, be present with those who are suffering. Loving them in obedience to the One who sent us to do so. By the power of the Holy Spirit, we can trust God’s good news of grace given in Christ Jesus before the ages began and we can serve creation and one another in love. Amen.

_____________________________________

[1] Religion News Service, ‘Religion entered into me': A talk with Jane Goodall, 2021 Templeton Prize winner. May 22, 2021. ‘Religion entered into me': A talk with Jane Goodall, 2021 Templeton Prize winner | National Catholic Reporter

[2] Dr. Jane Goodall and the Jane Goodall Institute. Wounda’s Journey – Jane Goodall Witnesses Release of Chimpanzee Into New Island Sanctuary Site. February 5, 2015.  https://youtu.be/ClOMa_GufsA?si=2D16QmbmrjlPpXIv

[3] In order: Luke 16:19-31 (challenge against indifference), Luke 17:1-2 (challenge to teach well), Luke 17:3-4 (forgive).

[4] Audrey West, Adjunct Professor of New Testament at Lutheran School of Theology Chicago. Commentary on Luke 17:5-10 for WorkingPreacher.org, October 2, 2016. http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3028