November 2025
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, / and prosper for us the work of our hands— / O prosper the work of our hands!
– Psalm 90:17
Grace and peace to you all! It is strange to think that when you read this, our journey is already a year old – it feels as though I just began, and yet November 1st marks a year of ministry here at St. Luke’s Lutheran. I feel truly blessed to be here among you and to walk with you through our lives.
Reflecting on the past year, I believe I have been remiss in explaining myself and my approach to scripture and theology. I consider myself a constructive or systematic theologian. I believe in a theology that remains consistent as much as possible. This is accomplished by reading scripture and attending to the world around us, reconciling the words present in scripture with real, lived experience. This creates what we know as a Living Word seen in the person of Jesus. Jesus’s lived experience was often at odds with the religious authority that used doctrine and dogma as a cudgel, attending to the needs of the weakest, the poorest, the sickest, and the most downtrodden. His interpretation of scripture was always to help those in need, never to ignore their needs. (see Matt. 9:10-13, Mark 2:23-27, Mark 3:1-5, John 8:1-11)
As a constructive theologian, I try to follow in this model. I believe that God’s intention is for the liberation of humanity from sin, death, and the evils of this world, but if this is the case, then the lived experience of the people in the world – those who are held captive by sin, death, and the evils of this world – has to inform scriptural interpretation. If we believe that the Bible is true and that its message is one of liberation, then interpretation that enforces the evils of this world can’t be the proper interpretation. Interpretations that allow people to go hungry or be tortured or be kept in poverty and neglect can’t be the proper interpretation.
This also means that interpretation of the scripture, if it is to be a Living Word, has to be reflected in our lives. The meaning in it has to apply to what we experience. The application may have changed, because the world has changed, but the intention of God for liberation does not change. It is God’s intention that every person be freed from the sinful burdens of this world; since we could not accomplish it ourselves, God accomplished it for us through the incarnation of Jesus Christ. This does not absolve us of any responsibility; it gives us the freedom to try and not be afraid of failure.
I encourage you as we head into our second year of ministry together to remember this: God’s Word must have something to say about our lives now, or it is not a living word. It must seek the liberation of all God’s children from the evils of the world, or it is not a word of liberation.
I also have a number of papers and theological works from my time in seminary using my own words and the words of scholars far wiser than I. If you want to read them to better understand my theological approach and understanding, feel free to ask.
Blessings,
Pastor Rob