The days are short. The sky is often gray. We move quickly from cars to buildings, eyes down, shoulders up, focused on getting through. And the Gospel meets us right here. Jesus encounters a man who has been blind from birth. Before healing him, the disciples ask a familiar question: Who is to blame? It’s the question we still ask today. We look for something to fault. Someone to other. A reason o explain away the discomfort.
Jesus refuses the premise. Instead, he acts. The healing itself is messy. Mud, spit, washing, waiting. And what follows is even more uncomfortable. The man can see, but the community around him struggles to adjust. Religious leaders interrogate and ultimately reject the man who can now see. The real lack of understanding, our Gospel suggests, is not the man’s disability. But it’s the refusal to let love lead when it disrupts power, order, or control.
We’ve seen stories like this before. I’m reminded of 1930s Germany, when many church leaders preferred order and comfort to truth, telling themselves it wasn’t their place to name what was happening around them. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a young Lutheran pastor, refused that silence. He insisted that faith meant acting even when it disrupted religious certainty and social peace. That kind of faith costs something, and it matters deeply.
In moments when fear and harm are blatant, naming this reality is part of our call as Christians. The gospel calls us to clear faith, rooted in love and grounded in truth, without turning one another into enemies. Jesus shows us a way of living in the world that resists cruelty without becoming cruel, that names injustice without losing our humanity.
As your pastor, I want to be clear: this is a season for discernment, courage, and direction. We are invited not just to admire Jesus’ life, but to live by it step by step, trusting that love leads the way.
Before I leave you, I want to introduce a new addition to these weekly devotions. I’d love to share my favorite songs with you to expand our collective library of songs that center faith. For my first offering, this week I’m recommending Bonhoeffer’s Prayer by Bifrost Arts. Click here to listen.
I hope you’ll join us next week as we listen for what Christ is revealing, and ask what it means for us to live in Christ’s way together.
Peace,
Pastor Katie
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