e-Connect: Devotion and News from Canton Lutheran Church

But I've discovered that most people that I've met who are in government, in big business and even in the church are good and honest people who really do desire to do the right thing. It is generally just a few bad apples that can so often spoil the whole bunch. Yet, even if we know this, it doesn't change the fact that we've been hurt, lied to and deceived. We don't know who to trust and so we often choose to trust no one.

I think Martin Luther knew how we feel. As he grew up the one source for all truth and wisdom was the Roman Catholic Church. And yet as he drew closer to the church he realized that much of what they said was not the truth but rather were lies told for the sake of money and power. If anyone had a reason to be cynical and distrusting of larger power structures, it was Martin Luther.

And yet, years later, long after he was kicked out of the Catholic Church, long after he had discovered the truth that you just can't trust everyone, as he writes the Small Catechism, this is how Martin Luther explains the 8th commandment: "we must interpret everything our neighbor does in the best possible light."

How is possible that Luther believed that a spirit of optimism and faith in one another was the way to live out our faith in God? I believe it was because Luther came to understand the truth that most people, most of the time, want to live faithfully together. Yes, there are mistakes made, yes there are dishonest and dishonorable people but that to be people of faith is to to believe that no matter what - at the end of the day - all that really matters is God's love for us and God's promise to be with us always.

During the week of Aug 17-23 our national church body will meet in Assembly in Minneapolis, MN. Through the years, local congregations have begun more and more to distrust our state synods and our national church. We withhold our benevolence from them and criticize most everything they do assuming that they are just another bureaucracy that is out to get us. I ask you to remember the 8th commandment during these days. I ask you to remember that people that make up our synods and our national church are people just like you and I. They are not perfect but they also are not evil. Yes, they will make mistakes - yes they will do things that we don't always agree with - but at the end of they day, they are our brothers and sisters in Christ and God loves them and God is with them as well.

How would life change for us if we began to interpret everything our boss does at work in the best possible light? How about our relationship with our spouse or family? How about the guy who cuts us off in traffic or the waiter who brings us cold food or the wrong order? How would life change for the church if we only began to trust one another that we are all in this together?

I'm sure of one thing: if we trusted in each other all of the time, every time, there are going to be times where we are hurt, disappointed, disillusioned and lied to. But if we trust in God - then can't we leave other people's brokenness to God and know that ultimately there is nothing they can do to really hurt us because nothing can separate us from God and God's love. I'm also sure of another thing - that if we learned to trust more - that more people would live up to that trust and that we would create a better life for ourselves, for our family and for our world. This is the supreme truth that Luther wants to teach us in his explanation of the 8th commandment. Come to the defense of our neighbors, speak well of them and interpret everything they do in the best possible light. This is the life of faith - this is life that leads to new life for us all.