"Living Each Day Faithfully"

Lutherans live by salvation by grace through faith. To some extent that means that we "love God always, and do the best that we can." This sometimes has led to less than faithful following of God's design for our lives. It has led to what some have called "Protestant Lite Ethics," which does not result in lifestyles that are good for individuals or communities. It has led to people like Bonhoeffer calling on the church to be a place where we practice "costly grace" while living out the cost of discipleship. A re-call to costly discipleship is needed today.

When I was in seminary I was intrigued by the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer particularly on the Sermon on the Mount. Even then as someone who was brought up on the "free grace" of God in Jesus Christ I realized that this might result in something like what happened in Nazi Germany, an absence of faithfulness to the convictions of the Christian faith. In my class on "The Sermon on the Mount" taught by Jim Burtness we reviewed various positions on how to interpret Matthew 5-7. I came to agree with the position of Joachim Jeremias that the Jesus of Matthew's gospel is calling for "lived faith." We are to approach each day with the goal of living faithfully according to Jesus' teaching, trying to follow the will of God for our lives.

Martin Luther points us further along the path of following Jesus' teachings here. When we aim high and are sincere in our efforts to follow God's will, despite our best efforts, we will fall short of being faithful. Then it is that we are to throw ourselves on the mercy of God. But as time goes on we will become more aware of our shortcomings and more quickly turn toward God in repentance, asking for God's forgiveness.

In whatever circumstances we find ourselves in-- working or retired, employed or unemployed, adult or youth-- we are measured by our faithfulness to God. Each day of our lives is really similar to every other day. At the end of the day we must ask, "how did I follow what God wants me to do with my life today? Did I love God with my whole heart, soul, and mind? Did I love my neighbor as myself?" Then as Luther said in his Small Catechism we shall return to our baptism, the source of our first repentance and forgiveness, and ask for God's forgiveness. As we do this on a daily basis we will become much more able to live each day faithfully.

What is your view of Jesus' challenge to do the will of God? What is your interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount? How do you live in response to being saved by the grace of God through faith?

May God help us all to "live each day faithfully."