February 1, 2026 | Epiphany 4 @ Holy Trinity Lutheran Church – Buffalo, NY
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Have you ever experienced a moment that calls for your attention so strongly it cannot be ignored? I was at a Buffalo Sabres game recently and noticed that the cheer “Let’s go Buffalo!” served as a call and response that gathered everyone’s attention, created a sense of community, focused us, and encouraged the team.
I want there to be a call and response … a cheer … something that will gather our attention, focus us, encourage us, make us one, guide us to “truth”, and help us make sense of the events in our world right now.
We see the protests.
We hear the news.
We watch the videos.
On so many levels, there is just SO much! How do we even begin to process what all of this means and what, if anything, we can do?!
Do we feel helpless? Hopeless? Do we feel like observers of life rather than engaged participants with agency? Do we just shut all that stuff out of our minds and hearts, and only tend to the matters immediately around us?
And yet, the call of Jesus interrupts our inaction. It asks: What are you living for? What is your next faithful step?
There is no roadmap for how we navigate this time, but we are not alone and rudderless drifting in a sea of uncertainty. The scriptures tell of many challenging situations in which God provided. History has many stories of people who have navigated by faith. And now, in our time, it is our turn to see where God is at work and to observe the Holy Spirit’s fingerprints. We can notice the witness throughout the Christian church.
An Episcopalian bishop in New Hampshire recently urged their pastors to get their affairs in order, including their life insurance policies, just in case their stand for justice resulted in their deaths [link].
This past week, the Lutheran Bishop in the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Synod and several Lutheran pastors were arrested at a protest in D.C..
Catholic bishops and cardinals … even the pope … have raised the alarm about the treatment of the poor and marginalized. The response to what they were noticing was a call for them to “stay in your lane.”
Other denominations have also noted discrepancies between public life in the United States, and the values and life Jesus calls us to.
This past Thursday, I participated in a faith community breakfast at Jericho Road Community Health Center. Their mission is to “care for our communities and advocate for systemic health equity in order to demonstrate the unconditional love of Jesus.”
It’s helpful to know that it is named “Jericho Road” because it was along the road from Jerusalem to Jericho that Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan took place. Do you remember one of the driving questions in the parable? It is … “Who is my neighbor?”
Each of the presenters at the breakfast were clear that their concerns were not only with the current administration, but with the systems that make healthcare unaffordable and inaccessible for everyone. These systems span administrations and parties.
On Friday, I heard from a pastor outside of the Buffalo area. He asked if Holy Trinity or other local Lutheran churches could help an immigrant family released from detention here in Buffalo. I didn’t have a ready response for them. Thankfully, another pastor responded with the connections their congregation had in place.
You and I hear … we see … we notice. And that puts us in good company with the Good Samaritan. Jesus’ question was, “who was a neighbor to the man?” The neighbor is the one who notices where healing and wholeness are needed … where justice, mercy, and love need to be made known.
What does God require of us for such a time as this?
We hear the call through our scriptures to notice … to hear … to see.
To see the poor and lowly.
To see the sick and the naked.
To see those who are imprisoned.
To see those who mourn.
To see those who hunger and thirst.
To see those who need justice.
To see those who need mercy.
To see people as human … and children of a loving God.
All people are either created in the Imago Dei – the image of God – or they are not. Is there any other distinction that matters? Do we see, but look away? Do we notice, and pass by on the other side?
You and I hear a call to action because what we’ve seen … we can’t un-see. What we’ve heard … we can’t un-hear. What we’ve come to know … we can’t un-know.
For such a time as this, you and I bear the light of Christ. This message may sound like foolishness, but this is God’s call to us … a call that gathers, focuses, unites, encourages. This is the call … what is our response?
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Epicurious Lutheran 