Pastor’s Weekly Message: 3/27/2025

Dear Westview,

In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus consistently flips expectations, especially when it comes to status, power, and worth. His teachings in chapters 17 and 18 reflect this radical reordering, where the last will be first and the first will be last. We see it in the healing of the ten lepers—only the outsider, the Samaritan, returns with gratitude. We see it in the parable of the persistent widow, the tax collector’s humble prayer, and in Jesus blessing the children whom others tried to send away. These stories drive home a central truth: God’s kingdom doesn’t reward greatness as the wuorld sees it, but lifts up the lowly, the honest, and the desperate.

This isn’t just a spiritual metaphor—it’s an economic and relational reality. In Luke, Jesus shows that God comes near not through displays of strength but through connection. Through the act of asking. Through vulnerability. The people who receive God’s attention are the ones who cry out, admit their need, and lean on the mercy of others. It’s often when we are at our wits’ end—when life has stripped us down—that we finally reach out to God. And it’s in that reaching, not the breaking, that God meets us. The good news is that we don’t have to wait until everything falls apart. Through faith, we can build that connection daily, grounding ourselves not in self-sufficiency, but in trust and relationship.

As Martin Luther once wrote, “This life therefore is not righteousness, but growth in righteousness; not health, but healing; not being, but becoming; not rest, but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it.” (Luther’s Works, Vol. 32, “The Freedom of a Christian”) Faith is not a finished product, but a daily turning toward God. It’s a posture of humility and hope, and a willingness to live with our hands open—ready to ask, receive, and connect.

Peace,

Pastor Marty