Every once in a while when I served as a parish pastor, I would joke with colleagues or parishioners that stewardship would be a lot easier had it not been for Martin Luther. When they gave me a slightly confused look, I would say that I just thought it would be easier to raise money if I could threaten my people with hell, or at least with purgatory, rather than assure them they were justified by faith rather than their good works. Just to be clear, it really was a joke in that I am regularly and incredibly grateful for the Lutheran witness to God’s grace and the promise that we are, indeed, justified by grace through faith rather than...

Dear Partner in Preaching, Have you ever heard the sound of a heart breaking? Do you remember what it sounds like? Maybe it was your son or daughter’s heart breaking when they graduated from high school or college only to find the job market had disappeared. Or maybe it was your sister’s heart breaking when the doctor called to say the cancer was back. Or maybe it was your friend’s heart breaking when he called to say that his marriage was over. Have you ever heard the sound of a heart breaking? Do you remember what it sounds like? I think we hear that sound again in today’s gospel reading. It might be hard to detect at first, but if...