Why do we say “Happy Ash Wednesday” when Ash Wednesday focuses on death? Why do we announce that we “celebrate” the season of Lent? Have you ever wished someone a “Happy Good Friday”? It must seem a little odd to be celebrating death and darkness.

Death is devastating. Being in a ministry family, I have seen a lot of death and it never gets easier to deal with.

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I recently saw this graphic (artist unknown) on social media and my scrolling stopped. Because I’d already been deep in research for a Lent blog post the image made me smile.

How creepy that would seem to anyone watching me smile silently at the sight of this graphic. Am I right? If I saw someone smile at death I might reconsider spending time with that person. 

Yet we Christians have extra church services that celebrate and discuss death. We have hymns and contemporary Christian music and art and poems about Lent. We passionately and purposefully pick death and mortality as theological themes during Lent.

Why? Don’t we want to be happy? Christians should be a happy group of folks. Doesn’t Jesus want us to be happy? Then why talk and sing and read about death?

Genesis 3:19 says this:

“By the sweat of your brow

    you will eat your food

until you return to the ground,

    since from it you were taken;

for dust you are

    and to dust you will return.”

Oof. Morbid. Lent can be a morbid season in the church….and that is OK! We Christians have to talk about morbid things like death. Christianity is not all lollipops and sunshine. And having faith does NOT eliminate going through hard things. 

Having faith does, however, remind us that we do not go through hard things alone. Jesus died alone on the cross so we would never be alone again. But we will get more into that in a few weeks when we dive deeper into Holy Week.

The season of Lent provides space for us to reflect on a lot of really morbid things, beginning on Ash Wednesday.

What is The Season of Lent?

If you’re not able to answer the question “what is Lent?” off the top of your head, please don’t be hard on yourself. I grew up in Lutheran schools, my dad is a pastor, and my husband is a pastor, and I still need help explaining and understanding Lent. 

I can tell you how many times my 3-year-old pooped today and I can explain why I need to serve fruits and veggies with each meal, but I struggle explaining Lent in casual conversation. Mom life, can I get an “Amen”?

Lent is a season that the Church has acknowledged for hundreds of years in preparation for Easter. 

It has a couple of things in focus: 

First, our sin and our need for a savior 

Second, the solution to the problem of sin in the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus. 

Here is a great quote from my husband, Brandon Larson, the pastor at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Prairietown, Illinois:

“The season of Lent is a journey that follows Jesus on His path to the Cross and always with His empty tomb in view. In other words, it’s a time to think about how much we need Jesus, because if we don’t think our sin is a big deal, then really we don’t think Jesus is a big deal. And He is. The Apostle John wrote, “If we say we don’t have sin, we’re deceiving ourselves and the truth isn’t in us. But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:8-9) The point of Lent is to receive God’s forgiveness in Jesus Christ.”

Sin. Death. Betrayal. Addiction. Disease. Loss. 

Why do we focus on all of these things in the Bible during Lent? Why do we focus on these things in our own lives during Lent?

Because when you spend weeks focusing on our own sin and mortality….Easter’s Gospel feels REALLY good. But Lent also runs deeper than “feelings”.

When we realize we are sinful and going to die….we can then find hope in Jesus.

We NEED a Savior.

Jesus IS our Savior.

I personally love hearing the Gospel message from pastors, so let me share another pastoral quote from my dad Bob Rossow, a pastor at Faith Community Lutheran Church in Las Vegas, Nevada:

“We will die and return to the dust from whence we came. The Good News is Christ created a dust storm with His death and resurrection. He has raised us to new life now and will raise us to new life in the glory of heaven. As we say in humble confession, “From dust you came and to dust you shall return”, hear this gracious echo from God: “From Christ you came and to Christ you shall return.”

Amazon Treats for the Season of Lent

Why do we say “Happy Lent Season”? Perhaps because we Christians find joy in realizing our need for a savior since that need has been fulfilled. 

Maybe through the death and resurrection of Jesus we find and share hope and comfort by wishing one another a “Happy Lent Season”. 

Check out the first verse of the old hymn Jesus Sinners Doth Receive:

Jesus sinners doth receive;

oh, may all this saying ponder

who in sin’s delusions live

and from God and heaven wander.

Here is hope for all who grieve:

Jesus sinners doth receive.

Look, there it is again! A bunch of morbid stuff followed by the hope of Jesus. Jesus is the hope for ALL who grieve, no matter what or why you are grieving. 

Notice it doesn’t say “Here is the hope for all who grieve except those who caused it themselves”. It also doesn’t say “Here is the hope for all who grieve except for those who can’t express it well”.  

There is no long list of requirements we sinners must meet to be received by Jesus. Thank goodness, this 1668 hymn already has seven meaty verses. Ha!

Musician Kip Fox writes in the first verse of his song, This Dust:

Lord have mercy on me

I am riddle with the world’s disease

Taking what I want

And turning it into my need

I am flesh and blood

Never good enough

You poured out Your love

To cover over this dust

The reflection and repentance vibes are wonderfully strong in this verse and throughout the entire song by Kip. This is what Lent is for and this is what Ash Wednesday kicks off. Reflection on difficult topics and repentance of difficult sins followed closely by the reminder that Jesus paid it all and He is our hope.

Death is Rough

We live in a society that often feels uncomfortable about death. We often refuse to acknowledge death at all.…or we gloss over the real traumas of death.

Southern Illinois boasts beautiful church cemeteries right up against busy roads, but that was not the case in Orange County, California. In the West, cemeteries tend to be hidden; out of sight, and out of mind. Even Christians avoid talking about death. Ask any given church how their Good Friday attendance compares with Easter Sunday, and you’ll see what I mean. 

When we fail to properly confront the reality of death (y’all, it happens to everyone) we fail to see how much Jesus has accomplished for us by dying for us. 

Is Death Only a Curse?

That quote from Genesis 3 I shared earlier, it sounds like really bad news. You’re dust, and you’ll return to dust. But there’s also a good reason Adam and Eve were kicked out of Eden, the occasion for their hearing of those words. If they’d remained there, corrupted by sin and still having access to the Tree of Life, they’d be stuck that way. 

Forever. 

God in His mercy has given an end to sin. 

The Apostle Paul talks about our baptism as being a burial into Christ’s death. We’ve already died in Christ. And if you’ve already died, you’re set free from sin. 

“Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:3–11 ESV)

What Does This Mean For Us?

God made Adam and Eve from dust, and we will return to it. But because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, we’re not going to stay that way. 

Dust does not have the final word. 

Death does not get the final word. 

Jesus does. And His Word to you is the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life. 

The journey of Lent begins in recognizing the consequences of our sin. Our first parents, Adam and Eve, brought sin and death into the world, and we too have contributed to the problem every day of our lives. If we aren’t honest about the state that we’re in, how desperately we need saving, how impossible it is for us to conquer sin on our own, we just might miss the depths of what Jesus did for us, and more specifically how much He loves us. 

So, long story longer, Happy Lent Season to everyone. May we all reflect and repent and kneel at the foot of the cross, then rise to rejoice in and celebrate His resurrection together on Easter Sunday and every day!

Plan your meals and read your Bible at the same time!

This printable Bible Reading Meal Planner provides 52 weekly dated pages. Each week includes a Bible passage to read (and read around) throughout the week.

Miss a few weeks? Or months? That’s OK! Pick it up again when you’re ready. This meal planner is FOR you.

CLICK HERE to get your Meal Planner today!

In 2011 I traveled to Kauai, Hawaii, for a two-week vacation with my mom and Grandma and Grandpa Schmidt. I had just finished vocational nursing school and my grandpa had some epic connections with property owners in Hawaii when he was alive. I will forever be thankful for this trip!

The very first morning we woke up in the Kauai condo my mom and grandma were giddy with excitement. I was surprised and thought they were both excited about the day’s plans. I grabbed my fresh local Kona coffee and strolled to the dining table to talk with the other excited ladies about our upcoming day.

Then they surprised me.

My mom took her coffee and some books to an armchair in the corner, clearly a space for one person.

My grandma took her coffee and some books to a small chair and table outside on the Lanai. Another space for one person.

RUDE.

After passive-aggressively mumbling “ok, I guess I’ll just sit alone” my mom looked up from her Portals of Prayer devotional and well-worn Bible to say “Sorry, we were just really excited to read our Bibles in Hawaii!”

Ohhhhhh. Ok, I get it. Reading the Bible is exciting. Feeling exhausted makes us read the Bible. Seeing beauty makes us read the Bible. Planning the day makes us read the Bible. Life makes us excited to read the Bible.

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Reading the Bible is Hard For Moms

Reading the Bible as a mom can be overwhelming, to say the least. It’s not like other books we read from the first page to the last then shove into the bookcase to collect dust. And honestly, that would be WAY easier.

No, the Bible is meant to be read over and over, different sections at different times, sometimes planned out for you but sometimes not planned at all. So which parts do we read? And when? And how much?

Any part.

Any time.

Any amount.

You certainly may spend hours a day reading many chapters of the Bible. It’s also incredibly good to read one verse a day. Shoot, you can read one WORD a day and it would be good.

Why Should Moms Read the Bible?

I’m sure you’ve heard that you should read the Bible daily. Did you know that is FOR you? 

If you view reading the Bible as only an obligation we put Bible reading into the “law” category.  And we will always fall short and usually feel guilt.

What if we looked at reading the Bible as a gift? How would it feel to you knowing that reading the Bible is a gift to you from God?

Psalm 119:105 says that the Word of God is a lamp for our feet and a light for our paths. I’m usually pretty thankful for lamps and lights in my life. I don’t remember ever walking through a well-lit path and being frustrated with the lights guiding my way. 

Notice how the Psalm does not say “800 words are a lamp to my feet and 3 chapters are a light for my path”, does it? 

In the season of motherhood, we should take ANY light and guidance we can get. And we get the best light and guidance from God and His Word.

For more on how to read the Bible, check out my FREE Ebook here! 

Moms Need Tools

As parents, we are in charge of countless people and things, and our responsibilities shift and change each day (sometimes each hour). A Bible reading plan doesn’t always have to feel like an obligation. What if we look at a Bible reading plan for moms as a tool? The same way a cookbook helps us nourish our families and a washing machine and dryer make laundry a heck of a lot easier. 

Finding the right Bible reading plan for you can be tricky, just like if you attempted washing your clothes with a cookbook. I suggest finding a reading plan that allows for the mom lifestyle. A plan that lets life happen too.

• Do you need some accountability? Follow a reading plan with a group of people.
• Do you want some extra input? Ask your pastor for a reading plan to follow together or with other congregation members.
• Do you want quiet time alone with Jesus? Experience a reading plan on your own.
• Do you want extra romance? Work through a reading plan with your spouse. This is one of my favorite things to do!
• Do you want a fresh perspective? Invite your kids to read with you sometimes.

Make sure you pick a Bible reading plan that works realistically with your life. Really, make it easy for yourself. Don’t create more guilt and stress than mom life already creates for you. Reading God’s Word should be enjoyable for moms. 

Mom Fuel Weekly Bible Reading Plan

There are wonderful Bible reading plans out there in the universe for when life works and plans work. This Bible reading plan can go along with other reading plans or can be done on its own. 

This list of Bible passages was inspired by a bunch of really wonderful people offering their favorite Bible verses and/or their Confirmation Bible verses. I simply arranged each suggested passage to be read weekly.

One Bible verse a week? Sounds pretty easy, right? Oh, there’s more.

HERE IS THE FUN PART

Yes, read the one passage each week, but also read the verses and chapters AROUND the given passage. You may read things you’ve never read and see each passage in a new context. Do this extra reading on a schedule that works for you.

If you’re someone who naturally picks up your Bible to read each day, great! If you’re anything like me you might need a daily reminder to read your Bible. That is also great!

Sign up with your email address here to receive a FREE printable with Bible verses to read each week in 2022. Print as many copies as your precious heart desires and treat yourself to some good Bible reading this year. 

Keep reading for the Bible verses to read and read around this year!

Printable Meal Planner with Bible Verses

Reading the Bible and planning meals? Yes, please! I created this printable meal planner with Bible passages to read each week. 

Multi-tasking is one of our greatest skills as parents. Follow this link to my Etsy store to get your 2022 printable meal planner for only $5.00!

2022 Bible Reading Plan

January

• Romans 8:1
• Jeremiah 29:11
• Proverbs 22:6
• Psalm 23:6

February

• Proverbs 16:9
• Revelation 21:5
• Psalm 55:22
• Psalm 34:18

March

• Proverbs 31:25
• Lamentations 3:22-24
• Psalm 46:10
• Psalm 119:105
• Hebrews 13:5

April

• 1 Corinthians 2:9
• Revelation 2:10
• Psalm 37:4
• Romans 8:28

May

• Exodus 14:14
• Matthew 5:9
• Ephesians 2:10
• 2 Corinthians 5:21

June

• 2 Timothy 1:7
• John 8:12
• Romans 15:13
• Matthew 28:20
• John 13:34

July

• Philippians 4:6
• Matthew 6:34
• Romans 8:38-39
• John 14:1-2
• Proverbs 3:5–6

August

• John 14:27
• Isaiah 43:2
• Philippians 4:13
• Psalm 37:5
• Isaiah 40:31

September

• Isaiah 41:10
• Joshua 1:9
• 1 Corinthians 15: 55-57
• Esther 4:14

October

• Philippians 4:7
• Matthew 11:28-30
• Isaiah 61:3
• Job 19:25-26

November

• Colossians 3:17
• Luke 15:20
• Psalm 27:1
• John 11:35
• Ephesians 2:8-9

December

• Psalm 121:1
• Philippians 2:1-2
• Romans 8:32
• John 15:5

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Justification By His Grace: Romans 3:23-24

One of the key passages that was involved in the Reformation was Romans 3:23-24. St. Paul writes,

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…”

It’s a fairly common verse. 

It explains the situation that we’re in, that we’re all in. We’re sinners. We have fallen short of the Glory of God. 

But that’s not all it says. It also says that we are justified…meaning we are declared to be righteous and made righteous as a gift through Jesus’ blood, suffering, and death on the cross. Whew! Say that 5 times fast!

Read through Romans Chapter 3, focusing on 21-31.

The whole passage, ranging from 3:21-31 is a complete thought where Paul is defining what it means to become righteous in Jesus Christ. 

When I was starting work on this post, I did a quick Google search of Romans 3 and followed the link to related images. I like learning through pretty images. Right away, a whole bunch of colorful images with Romans 3:23 popped up in the search results. 

Just the one verse, though. Verse 23, on nice backgrounds with creative typography, but no Verse 24. No context. Just the bad news that we’re sinful and fall short of God’s glory. Oof.

This got me wondering, why are there so many that leave off the second half of that sentence? The verse numbers and chapter divisions, while very helpful for quoting the Bible and looking things up quickly, are not part of the text of the Bible itself. Those are added for ease of use. Verse 23 is not really meant to be split from verse 24. 

But we often do things just like this. Context matters. Pulling a verse out of context is a super-easy way to miss the point. Read the whole sentence, the chapter, the whole book. Better yet, consider where that verse fits the entirety of Scripture. It’s an exciting and vital part of reading the Bible. 

Do you look for bad news?

I think that there’s a real reason for an oversight like this. We often gravitate toward the bad news. We’re comfortable talking about sin. Saying that everyone is a sinner and leaving it at that allows us to do a couple of different things. 

First, we can use it as an excuse for our poor decisions and behavior. It’s a variation on the whole, “I’m only human” thing. We also have the tendency to use it as a weapon against others. We try so hard to convince other people that they’re sinners too, and although we usually think of our intentions as being pure, it’s not always the case. 

Still, it’s missing the point. The point is the second half of this sentence. 

Romans 3:23 is important to us in the grand scheme of things because it paints an accurate picture of us. 

We’re sinners who have fallen and continue to fall short of the glory of God. If that doesn’t sound like good news, it’s because it’s not good news. We like to think of ourselves as “enough” or at very least good enough to improve ourselves to an acceptable level. Here’s the problem: we’re not good enough by our own power and strength. 

So…is that the “Good News”?

While that is not good news in and of itself, it opens us up to something that truly is good news. While shattering the illusion of saving ourselves, we are brought to a point that we’re ready able to see what God’s solution to our sin truly is. 

If we could save ourselves through our works, we’d be required to do it. But we’re not, and we can’t. You can’t trust your works for salvation and trust Jesus at the same time. 

We’re All in the Same Boat

The other value of this Bible passage is realizing that we’re all in the same boat. Where we might otherwise rank ourselves and others in varying degrees of good and bad, what we see here is that apart from Christ, everyone has the same standing before God. 

There’s no ranking scale of good and bad, it’s either good or bad. 

And the only one good is Jesus. 

We bristle at this thought, that surely there’s some ranking scale from “horrible sinner” to “good person” with “pretty good person” in the middle. In the horizontal view of human relationships with each other, this is true. Before God, there’s either righteous or unrighteous. 

That’s what St. Paul is getting at in this passage, and that’s why you don’t chop it in half. We are justified, that is, we are declared to be righteous by God as a GIFT! You can’t earn a gift! Wages are earned. Gifts are freely given. 

You can’t earn justification, you can’t make yourself righteous by your works. Only God can do that and He does it without any cost to you. It cost Jesus everything, it costs you nothing. 

Let’s Talk About Justification

You might have noticed that I’ve been using the terms, “declared righteous” and “made righteous” interchangeably. That’s for good reason. The language that Paul is using here is intentionally “legal”… notice it’s courtroom-type language. 

Justification is God’s declaration that you are righteous, or in a right relationship with Him. You have no sin or fault standing between you and Him. 

See this previous post in this series for more on “righteousness”. 

In declaring something, God makes that thing a reality. In the beginning, God created out of nothing. His Word makes something out of nothing. When God declares you righteous, you become righteous. 

Where formerly we had nothing,  now you stand as a person who God has made to have the very same perfection as Jesus. 

This of course is an article of faith, but Scripture here declares that this is the case. You are made righteous by God’s declaration, and we believe this to be true because God’s speaking makes it so. 

When we don’t observe this in our lives, we cling to what God has said to be true of us for Jesus’ sake rather than what our senses tell us. Paul will later unpack this mystery of faith in Romans 7, where he describes that war waging within us between the new righteous person in Christ and the old sinful flesh. The thing is, that old sinful flesh, our sinful will one day pass away and cease to exist, but the new person who God has made us to be in Jesus Christ has eternal life even now, even in a new, glorified, sin-free body. 

When we die, or when Jesus returns (whichever comes first), the sinful nature will be gone forever. Our resurrection selves will be without any sin whatsoever. Until then, we in faith believe what God has declared to be true even when we don’t always see a righteous person in the mirror. 

Redemption

This word that Paul uses, “redemption”, is of huge value to us. We see the value God has placed on us. Redemption is financial language, the language of the marketplace. You have been purchased, bought back from your temporary owner through Jesus Christ. 

We were once held captive by sin, death, and the power of the devil. Now, Jesus has paid the price to set us free. 

If you struggle to see your own value, if you have a hard time seeing yourself as important or worthwhile, consider the price that Jesus has paid for you. 

Martin Luther uses beautiful language in the Small Catechism, a nice simple explanation of the Christ faith, to describe that value placed upon you by God. 

“I believe that Jesus Christ…has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy precious blood, and His innocent suffering and death, that I may be His own, and live under Him in His kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, live and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true. ” 

The price that Jesus paid for you was His holy precious blood, and His innocent suffering and death. That’s how valuable you are. Not only did Jesus pay this price, but the purpose was that He wanted you to be His own and live with Him forever. 

This righteous life, the Jesus-filled and Jesus-empowered life that God has given you through Jesus is a life without end and a life of purpose and meaning that begins now and continues in eternity. 

When we serve Him in this life, it’s by serving our neighbor in all the areas of life He’s placed us for service. It’s a life lived by faith; believing what God says about us more than any other voice, even our own.  And all of this as a gift, freely given by God to you and received through the faith He’s given to you in Jesus Christ our Lord. 

You matter. You are important. Jesus paid the price for you. You are called into many vocations in this season of life. God is with you and we are all in this together. Remember…we are all in the same boat…united.

Read through Romans Chapter 1 before reading this post for further understanding.

It sometimes seems like two questions constantly swirl around inside my head and heart, causing random streaks of panic to spread through my chest. Am I good enough? And I doing enough? Over and over, completely consuming my current state of mind at any given moment. When I’m upset…am I enough? When I’m enjoying a moment…am I enough? 

Perhaps you’ve experienced the same thing in your own thoughts and feelings. Seasons of anxiety tend to trigger these thoughts more often, but they can pop up in moments of peace as well. 

So let’s talk about this together.

Are you enough?

Are you righteous?

Are you called?

Are you holy?

The Bible talks a lot about all of this, but the world may speak differently on the subject causing us doubt and fear. If you have ever worried about enoughness or righteousness, you are not alone. 

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Martin Luther and The Reformation

Back in the year 1517, Martin Luther worried about his own salvation. Being a professor of Bible in Germany, Luther had access to The Bible and superior literally skills than that of common society. Luther wanted to make himself right with God, but couldn’t find any assurance of his own salvation through the teachings of the church at that time.

Luther made some incredible discoveries about what the Bible tells us, especially through the book of Romans. Romans 1:16-17 sparked what is known as “Luther’s Gospel Breakthrough”. It says this:

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

We’ve all heard this before, the righteous shall live by faith. Sure, we get it, but what does this mean? (cough *true Lutheran* cough, haha) Luther wanted to know how to be righteous and I think it’s safe to say the rest of us are curious about it too.

The Righteousness of God

The simple definition of what “righteousness” means in this context is to “be in a right relationship with God.” 

Understanding what this means isn’t something that was perfectly clear for quite a while. Martin Luther had entered the lifestyle of a Monk in an attempt to attain righteousness. He tried every avenue the church of his day had available, and still felt very “unrighteous.” 

He struggled with Romans 1:16-17 and its phrase about the righteousness of God. 

“I hated the word ‘righteousness of God,’ because in accordance with the usage and custom of the doctors I had been taught to understand it philosophically as meaning, as they put it, the formal or active righteousness according to which God is righteous and punishes sinners and the unjust. As a monk, I led an irreproachable life. Nevertheless, I felt that I was a sinner before God. My conscience was restless, and I could not depend on God being propitiated by my satisfactions. Not only did I not love, but I actually hated the righteous God who punishes sinners” (WA. 54, 183-185)

Thankfully, Luther’s superior in the Augustinian order sent him to study the Bible for a doctoral degree and to ultimately teach the Bible at the University of Wittenberg. While studying the Bible, Luther came to realize that Paul is actually quoting from the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk with the phrase, “The righteous shall live by faith.” 

The light bulb sparked on. No longer did Luther see the righteousness of God as something to which we must measure up, to prove ourselves “enough”, but something that God gives freely through faith in Jesus Christ. 

Righteousness is not something we earn, but a gift that God gives. 

Luther said that heaven itself was opened to him and suddenly all of the Scriptures became clear. He felt as if he had been born again!

Wait, So Who Isn’t Righteous?

We might think of “unrighteous” people as those who don’t act right or do the right things. This isn’t the case in the Bible. Simply put, those who reject the Gospel are not righteous. 

Righteousness comes through faith. Unbelief rejects the gift God is giving and therefore also rejects the giver. God won’t force you into something you don’t want.

We may think of this question in terms of wanting to make sure (in our human brains) that we are righteous, but we shouldn’t use this judgment against others.

“Worry about your own self” isn’t only for the good of others, it’s for the good of ourselves too. The less we worry about the righteousness of others, the more we can enjoy God’s gifts to us. 

Our concentration when it comes to others is better spent sharing the amazing news that Jesus makes them righteous too! 

Ok, So Now What?

One of the cool discoveries Luther made when examining this passage is the logical consequences (the natural outcomes that result from actions) of what Paul is saying here. 

“The righteous shall live by faith” also means that “The one who by faith is righteous shall live”! In fact, this word order is how Luther would render this passage when he published his German translation of the Bible. 

Because you have been made righteous through faith in Jesus, you have eternal life! Just like the old-timey beer commercials would say, “It just doesn’t get better than this”! 

Vocations

Because you have been made righteous through faith, you no longer have to worry about saving yourself and can instead live for the blessing of your neighbor. 

One way that Luther and Lutherans since him have described “Good Works” in the centuries since the Reformation has been in terms of vocation. 

Vocations are simply the areas of life to which you have been called (see the word ‘vocal’ here). If you’re reading this, you’ve probably been called to a whole bunch of different vocations, one of which is called “mom”. Maybe you’re also a wife, or a teacher, or grandma, aunt, or any combination of these! You might be an employee of someone or someone’s employer. 

All of these vocations, or callings, are areas in which you serve God by serving your neighbor, those people nearest to you, and those whom you have been called to serve. If you’re a mom, serving God (aka “Good Works”) means caring for your children.

If you’re a wife, serving God looks like caring for your husband. If you’re an employee, serving God looks like doing your job well. If you’re a friend, being a good friend. You get the idea. 

Enjoy your vocations, mommas! Take pride in the ways God is calling you and using you. Your vocations will not always be easy, so have fun with them when you can. You’re doing a great job.

The tendency for humans is to turn the idea of “Good Works” into some über-pious attempt to look holy. Some denominations stress religious actions as the way to do good works, like going to Church, prayer, giving, mission trips, etc. Some churches stress moral behaviors as the way to serve God, like avoiding alcohol, secular music, or other worldly things. 

While being involved in the life of the Church is definitely a good thing and making good choices won’t hurt you, being a Christian in the service of God usually looks like how Jesus described it (and the Old Testament too): love the Lord your God with all of you and love your neighbor as yourself. 

We don’t need to invent new ways of serving God when there are so many people right in front of us that God has called us to serve and be a blessing to them. Vocation simply means being God’s instrument to bless the rest of His creation through His creature, you. 

You Are Holy

We often struggle with the word “holy” as if it’s a strange or mystical thing. We know God’s name is holy (hallowed by Thy Name). We have heard people from the past described as “Saints” (holy ones). Holiness is actually quite simple. It means “set apart for God’s use”. You are holy. 

God made you holy through Jesus Christ.

In other words, God set you apart for His purposes; to love you, bless you, and bless the world around you through you. One way to think of holiness is like this: Would you take the communion vessels from church and use them for chips and dip? Probably not. They’re holy things. They’re set apart for the Lord’s Supper, the Body and Blood of Jesus given for the forgiveness of sins. That’s also what you are. You’re set apart for God’s purposes. 

You’re set apart to serve God through your vocations. You’re set apart to share the Good News (Gospel) of Jesus Christ with those you meet! You’re set apart by God to live in a way that will often cause other people to take notice. This is why Peter said, “Always be prepared to give a reason for the hope that lies within you.” People will want to know why Christians living out their vocations aren’t quite like everybody else. Luther used the analogy that we are to be “little Christs” to one another. After all, Jesus in your life might be the only Jesus someone else will ever see. 

You are Righteous.

You are called.

You are holy.

You are loved.

Rest in the gift that you get to live by faith. You can trust God for everything instead of worrying about making yourself righteous. And what good news that is….we moms have enough to worry about.

John 20:11-18 (ESV)

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

¹¹ But Mary stood weeping outside •the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. ¹² And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. ¹³ •They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” ¹⁴ Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵ Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing •him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” ¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). ¹⁷ Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father•, to my God and your God.’ ” ¹⁸ Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.

Mary is weeping outside the tomb.

Jesus had been buried in such a rush because no one can work after sundown on Friday night. He died so quickly, and they had such little time to prepare His body for a proper burial. The soonest anyone could get back to work was sunrise on Sunday, after the Sabbath had ended.

We usually think of days starting at sunrise and ending at sunset, but the Jewish way of reckoning time is that a day begins at sunset.

The Sabbath, the 7th Day of the week, begins at sundown on Friday and ends at sundown on Saturday. In Hebrew thinking, time is measured by a progression from darkness to light, “There was evening, and there was morning, the first day” (Genesis 1:5) But then it’s dark, so this is her first chance to complete the preparations for Jesus’ burial and rest in the tomb.

Mary heads to the tomb as early as possible so that when the sun came up, she could complete the proper burial practices for Jesus. But when she gets there, the stone has been rolled away.

The two angels in the tomb ask who she’s seeking. I mean, c’mon, Mary. Didn’t you listen to a word Jesus said about rising from the dead? Did any of His disciples listen? Do we listen? We have the benefit of 20/20 hindsight knowing that Jesus is risen from the dead. Christ is risen! But put yourself in their shoes for a minute. How could anyone have understood what Jesus was saying, apart from the power of the Holy Spirit (That was given to the Apostles on Easter, and to the whole Church on Pentecost 50 days later).

Then there’s another dude there. Mary supposes him to be the Gardner. And keep in mind, this says a lot about where Jesus was buried. It’s a garden.

A garden like this one doesn’t just happen. It’s tended. It’s the result of care and effort. So why wouldn’t this guy, out here at the crack of dawn, be the gardener?

Now stick with me here, but I’m not going to say that Mary was wrong.

Is he the “gardener” in the way she was expecting? No. But He is THE Gardener. He is the Second Adam, the caretaker of all creation, the Son of God in exalted power and majesty, right here in the flesh. Is Jesus the Gardener? You betcha, but not just for the garden around His tomb; for the whole wide world.

Adam had been given a very simple command: fill the earth and subdue it. Care for it. Tend to it so that life continues to burst forth from every nook and cranny of what God has made. Adam did this for a time, but Adam also failed. Adam had been given the task of being God’s right-hand-man at the very start, but he gave in to the serpent’s temptation to take God’s place.

The serpent lied, “Ye shall be like God”. To be like someone is to be on the same level. Adam and Eve’s pride meant that they were willing to throw away literally everything so that they would no longer be God’s helpers but God’s equals. Of course, this was a lie. They would never be less Godlike again.

What do you think Mary thought when Jesus said her name? 

He calls her by name. He doesn’t criticize her for not understanding that He was going to rise from the dead. He says her name. And there’s a lot in a name.

Has Jesus called you by name too? 

Absolutely! Yes! It’s a part of the baptismal liturgy. Even if you were baptized as a wee little baby, Jesus called you by name through the pastor He has sent.

In the baptismal service, the pastor asks the person being baptized (or their parents), “How are you named?”. Then, when the water is poured, the pastor says, “(Your name here), I baptize you in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”.

Jesus Is Buried

³⁸ •After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. ³⁹ •Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. ⁴⁰ So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. ⁴¹ Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. ⁴² So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there. 

It all started in a garden. I don’t mean my garden, I mean THE Garden. Adam and Eve were placed there by God as caretakers, in other words GARDENERS. They were to tend the plants and animals and by this work of cultivation and care, life on earth would continually flourish and grow. There’s a difference between a jungle and a garden; a garden is a lush place that receives the Gardener’s care. And most often, it produces an abundance of fruit that you wouldn’t otherwise see. This was Adam and Eve’s vocation, to tend God’s creation. 

Genesis doesn’t really give us a timeframe between when God made them and when they gave in to the serpent’s deception. It could have been one day, it could have been centuries or even millennia. It doesn’t even matter, because until they took those wicked bites, the passage of time did not mean death or decay; it meant GROWTH. It was not until they ushered death into the world that the passage of time meant an inevitable march toward death. The world which Adam and Eve inhabited prior to the Fall was much like the world we await when Jesus returns: world without end. 

It started in a garden, and it’s brought to conclusion in a garden, or at very least near one. John says that the place where Jesus was crucified had a garden, and in that garden was a brand-new tomb, one that had never been used before. This tomb belonged to Joseph of Arimathea, an up-and-coming somebody in Jerusalem, quickly becoming established as a person of importance in his new place of residence. He’d been a follower of Jesus, but secretly thus far because of the fear of damaging his reputation among the Jews. There’s a garden here, which means that there’s somebody tending to it. This wasn’t a discount burial plot; it was costly. Perhaps Joseph was willing to allow Jesus’ body to rest there because deep down he knew it wouldn’t be there long. Or perhaps not. John doesn’t say. 

Jesus is laid to rest in a garden tomb. The Word by which the Universe was brought into existence (John 1:1) is Himself planted in the garden to bring about a whole new creation. John had said earlier that without Him, nothing that has been made was made. Jesus is the Word of the Father that brought to completion every single let there be… of Creation. And now He’s dead. The author of life, lies dead in a garden tomb. They have anointed his body with all sorts of other plants in preparation for His burial, but quickly as the festival Sabbath sun was setting. 

John’s Gospel begins with direct reference to Genesis 1. John’s intention is to clearly demonstrate Jesus’ role in the Creation in the beginning, and to connect Jesus’ ministry, suffering, death, and resurrection with the New Creation which He’s bringing about. In other words, Palm Sunday marked the beginning of a brand-spanking-new Creation week. Jesus begins in His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. And wouldn’t you know it, John is the only one of the 4 Gospel writers that includes the detail that they were holding palm branches (more plants) as they welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem.  If Genesis 1 is the account of the week of creation, Holy Week is the same for the new creation that is emerging right here and now through Jesus’ work. “And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. (Genesis 2:2-3, ESV)

Sin and death had been defeated forever. Jesus’ death had taken the punishment and penalty for all sin, not just sin as “deeds” or actions, but sin as the disease that has ravaged creation since Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden. They’d tried to cover up their shame with plants, but God clothed them with skins. It takes a death to cover sins. This is what Jesus gave. It started in a garden, and it’s completed in a garden. The place where Jesus was crucified is called “Golgotha” or “Calvary” (Latin) meaning, “The place of a skull”. Some scholars had surmised that it was called the place of a skull because of some rock formation that looked like a skull. But that doesn’t make much sense if there’s a garden there. It’s not necessarily some barren wasteland. The early church fathers, however, they knew why this place was called the place of a skull. This was the place where Adam was buried. Adam, the first gardener, was buried in this place in fulfillment of the curse that he had brought upon himself and on all creation. Adam died, and Jesus is crucified in his graveyard. Jesus’ death has undone Adam’s death. Adam and Eve rebelled in the garden, and Jesus is planted in the garden as the seed of a brand-new creation. Death has been undone. Death has been defeated… In the garden. 

Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:24 ESV)

Prayer:

Lord Jesus Christ, the Word by which all creation exists and Author of Life, you were crucified to defeat sin and death on our behalf. By your death, you have undone the death brought about through our rebellion. You were planted in a garden to bring about life and salvation; to renew your whole creation and make us new. Keep us in the sure confidence that because You live, we shall live also. Amen.