the rev. dr. lauren r.e. larkin
@laurenrelarkin.bsky.social
reclusive revolutionary, priest, and political ethicist; study/write on Martin Luther, Dorothee Sölle, and Theology of Resistance. the Personal is Political! she/her www.laurenrelarkin.com
The final projects for my summer class at BSK are rolling in. The class I taught was "Love and Resistance: The Role of Resistance in our Lives". I gave them a lot of liberty to do what they wanted for their "A projects." There were four essential requirements.
What weirdo at LSN linked #DorotheeSölle and #MartinLuther together in the same newsletter... 👀 🤭
Lutheran Scholars Network@lsnetwork.bsky.social · 2d agoSummer Newsletter is LIVE! This issue turns our heads toward the peace of Christ and how we, as adopted siblings of Christ, participate in being peacemakers like our elder sibling. There are some other highlights in the newsletter... If you'd like to be included on our distribution list, holler!
...into these covenants (even the new one) the Roman Christians are adopted into by faith in Christ apart from any deed. Thus, they cannot boast in the new covenant being theirs alone. God elects and God calls... laurenrelarkin.com/2026/08/02/w...
What Now?: Not Replaced or Forsaken
“‘Dear Lord God, I wish to preach in your honor. I wish to speak about you, glorify you, praise your name. Although I can’t do this well of myself, I pray that you may make it good.’”[i] Introducti…
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We should so desire all to experience God’s grace and mercy, forgiveness and unconditional love that we’d be willing to ditch our status so that those over there who are convinced they are abandoned by God would be convinced otherwise.
What Now?: Not Replaced or Forsaken
“‘Dear Lord God, I wish to preach in your honor. I wish to speak about you, glorify you, praise your name. Although I can’t do this well of myself, I pray that you may make it good.’”[i] Introduction Over the course of 8 chapters, Paul crafted a biblical and theological account of the union of the Roman believers amongst themselves and with God by faith in Christ and by the Power of the Holy Spirit. He demonstrated that they are the adopted children of God, they are siblings, and , they are a family, thus they are the body of Christ: one, unified, grown together, all of them foreordained, called, justified and glorified.
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We are called to live and spread grace, overhauling the power of sin and death one person at a time. We are called to love because we were first loved. laurenrelarkin.com/2026/07/26/w...
What Now?: Foreknown, Called, Justified, and Glorified
“‘Dear Lord God, I wish to preach in your honor. I wish to speak about you, glorify you, praise your name. Although I can’t do this well of myself, I pray that you may make it good.’”[i] Introducti…
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What do we do with this very good news? What now? Well, we treasure it, let our weary and skeptical minds bath in it, our broken hearts heal in it, and our fatigued and exhausted bodies rest in it. We should let it wash over us, soak us down to the marrow, and let it begin to take root in our souls
What Now?: Foreknown, Called, Justified, and Glorified
“‘Dear Lord God, I wish to preach in your honor. I wish to speak about you, glorify you, praise your name. Although I can’t do this well of myself, I pray that you may make it good.’”[i] Introduction Last week, Paul moved his readers from the introspection of chapter 7 to the extrospection of chapter 8, Paul exhorted the Roman Christians to understand the symbiotic relationship redeemed humanity has with all of creation yearning for liberation, specifically the liberation that comes with the presence of the glory of God made known in the revelation of the adopted children of God—the ones who are saved by faith in Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit apart from…
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"In this pastoral moment, allow me to back you up. I am thrilled to declare that the gospel offers holistic liberation, freedom from sin, fear, injustice, and every burden that confines us, restoring God's love within all humanity."
Tupac Shakur’s “How Can We Be Free?” [A Guest Post by The Rev. Anthony Stevenson]
During the summer session I taught for BSK Theological Seminary this summer, I asked the students to submit weekly 300-word responses on the weekly assigned readings. For the last week, I assigned some poetry and lyrics by Tupac Shakur and a speech by Malcolm X ("The Ballot or the Bulelt", 1964). The responses--across the board--were powerful; potentially the best week of responses of the seven (and, tbh, each week collected strong responses!). With that said, the following response about Tupac Shakur's poem "How Can We Be Free" written by The Rev.
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....as these Roman Christians participate in the divine revolution of love, life, and liberation the creation begins to receive liberation from the vile ways of the kingdom of humanity, liberated unto and into God’s glory through those who dare to follow Jesus. laurenrelarkin.com/2026/07/19/w...
What Now?: Children of God
“‘Dear Lord God, I wish to preach in your honor. I wish to speak about you, glorify you, praise your name. Although I can’t do this well of myself, I pray that you may make it good.’”[i] Introducti…
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We are, by the presence of the divine Spirit and our faith, adopted children of God. And thus, as adopted children of God, we move and act in the world differently because we are inspired by and drafted into God’s reign and mission of the divine revolution of love, life, and liberation.
What Now?: Children of God
“‘Dear Lord God, I wish to preach in your honor. I wish to speak about you, glorify you, praise your name. Although I can’t do this well of myself, I pray that you may make it good.’”[i] Introduction The last time we were in Romans, we were with Paul and his heart-felt confession that within him there is another law at work, the law of sin. Romans 7:15-25, describes that within the person a battle wages between desiring and acting, willing and practicing. Paul spoke of desiring to do the good but the evil, being closer at hand, that is the thing he does; it is easier because it, unlike the good, is in his flesh, it is embedded in his muscle memory, doesn’t demand change and requires less effort.
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The necessary intervention and needed disruption to help bring the outer person into alignment with the inner person is no one else but the mediator Jesus Christ of Nazareth, this man who is God. laurenrelarkin.com/2026/07/05/w...
What Now?: Simul Justus et Peccator
“‘Dear Lord God, I wish to preach in your honor. I wish to speak about you, glorify you, praise your name. Although I can’t do this well of myself, I pray that you may make it good.’”[i] Introducti…
laurenrelarkin.com
What Now?: Simul Justus et Peccator “‘Dear Lord God, I wish to preach in your honor. I wish to speak about you, glorify you, praise your name. Although I can’t do this well of myself, I pray that you may make it good.’”[i] Introduction The last two Sundays we’ve covered Paul’s argument in Romans 6…
What Now?: Simul Justus et Peccator
“‘Dear Lord God, I wish to preach in your honor. I wish to speak about you, glorify you, praise your name. Although I can’t do this well of myself, I pray that you may make it good.’”[i] Introduction The last two Sundays we’ve covered Paul’s argument in Romans 6 that leed to his prohibitions against returning to sin and the life of the old person who is persuaded by the ways of the kingdom of humanity and exhortations to the believers in Rome to pursue the reign of God, to actively present themselves for service in God’s mission of the divine revolution of love, life, and liberation.
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We are not, according to Paul, free to return to our old ways and old patterns and the patterns of the kingdom of humanity. We are enslaved to God’s righteousness made known in Christ and proclaimed and promoted by the power of the Holy Spirit. laurenrelarkin.com/2026/06/28/w...
What Now?: Liberated Unto Life and Love
“‘Dear Lord God, I wish to preach in your honor. I wish to speak about you, glorify you, praise your name. Although I can’t do this well of myself, I pray that you may make it good.’”[i] Introducti…
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We are free and liberated by faith and God’s grace revealed in Christ Jesus, this man who is God. However, we are not liberated unto autonomy or ease ; liberation from sin and death unto righteousness and life puts a “claim” on us...
What Now?: Liberated Unto Life and Love
“‘Dear Lord God, I wish to preach in your honor. I wish to speak about you, glorify you, praise your name. Although I can’t do this well of myself, I pray that you may make it good.’”[i] Introduction Last week we looked at Romans 6:1-11 and saw how Paul, using baptism and faith, demonstrates that we cannot voluntarily re-yoke ourselves to sin and the death, indifference, and captivity of the kingdom of humanity. We are grown together with Christ in both his death and, thus, his resurrection through our identification by faith with Christ (and his death thus his resurrection).
laurenrelarkin.com
I truly believe it's an honor to grade my student's work. I learn so much from their thoughtful and honest reflections and comments. It's the only time I have, too, that's one on one (especially true when I teach long distance). I *get* to dialogue with them in the margins of their work... #grateful
Paul anchors the believer’s new life not in the old life and person of the kingdom of humanity, but in the new person who is of the reign of God and who identifies (by faith) with Christ’s death and resurrection.
What Now?: New Creatures by God’s Grace
“‘Dear Lord God, I wish to preach in your honor. I wish to speak about you, glorify you, praise your name. Although I can’t do this well of myself, I pray that you may make it good.’”[i] Introduction Continuing with our journey through Romans, we find ourselves in the first half of chapter 6. Here, Paul is addressing claims coming from the Corinthian church, specifically claims that if believers sin more than God’s grace abounds more. Paul is clear here, while we are justified by faith apart from works, we must not…
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The God who made such a promise is the God who calls the dead to life and who calls into being that which isn’t; this is not a God who is bound by human legalism or the designs of superiority and nationalism .. laurenrelarkin.com/2026/06/07/w...
What Now?: Justified by Faith
“‘Dear Lord God, I wish to preach in your honor. I wish to speak about you, glorify you, praise your name. Although I can’t do this well of myself, I pray that you may make it good.’”[i] Introducti…
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Considering the gospel passage from last week on Trinity Sunday, on this morning we, the baptized, enter the teaching phase of our annual Christian pilgrimage as we are made disciples of Christ (again) by the power of the Holy Spirit and to the glory God and for the wellbeing of the neighbor.
What Now?: Justified by Faith
“‘Dear Lord God, I wish to preach in your honor. I wish to speak about you, glorify you, praise your name. Although I can’t do this well of myself, I pray that you may make it good.’”[i] Introduction Nothing makes me more excited about the lectionary than seeing Romans listed as the epistle reading. There’re a few reasons for this. First, the Letter of Paul to the Romans features significantly as one of the principle texts of Luther’s reformational insights thus is a “must read” for Protestant Christians generally and Protestant theologians specifically.
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We do not need to make up a message; we already have one and it’s revolutionary. We do not need a new law; we already have one and it is built on and from love. We do not need to keep trying to find ourselves; we are found in Christ and given new life in him.
(re)Called and (re)Commissioned
“‘Dear Lord God, I wish to preach in your honor. I wish to speak about you, glorify you, praise your name. Although I can’t do this well of myself, I pray that you may make it good.’”[i] Introduction We are all called to participate in God’s mission of the divine revolution of love, life, and liberation. Everyone who can say, by the Spirit speaking through them, “Jesus is Lord” (1 Cor 12:3-13), is commissioned by the same Spirit to represent Jesus in the world by working for the wellbeing of the neighbor to the glory of God.
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This is not an inventory by which to create some test to discern who has what “spiritual gift.” What Paul is demonstrating is where and when the divine Spirit moves and is at work for the wellbeing of the body.
Breathing into God’s Reign
“‘Dear Lord God, I wish to preach in your honor. I wish to speak about you, glorify you, praise your name. Although I can’t do this well of myself, I pray that you may make it good.’”[i] Introduction While all the events marking key and signature moments in the life and death of Christ must be equally emphasized in the life of the church, it is his ascension and thus the sending of the divine Holy Spirit that establishes and motivates the church, the body of Christ, the…
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We can’t cling to hope thinking that it will keep despair away. It won’t. Hope isn’t the antidote to despair (it’s not even a good antonym for it). Comfort is the foundation of the reversal of despair. Encouragement, too. laurenrelarkin.com/2026/05/17/a...
Anchored in God, Hope Comes
“‘Dear Lord God, I wish to preach in your honor. I wish to speak about you, glorify you, praise your name. Although I can’t do this well of myself, I pray that you may make it good.’”[i] Introducti…
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In remembering and recalling Christ and God’s work in and through Christ and what will come for those who are in Christ by faith, Peter’s audience can believe that this God is faithful to who God says God is and this is the foundation and the source of their hope.
Anchored in God, Hope Comes
“‘Dear Lord God, I wish to preach in your honor. I wish to speak about you, glorify you, praise your name. Although I can’t do this well of myself, I pray that you may make it good.’”[i] Introduction Lately, I’ve heard much about hope and our need to have it. Considering that we are immersed in socio-political events (both national and global) that are chaotic and tumultuous, this plea to the keeping and having of hope makes sense.
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The number of times I forget that I'm in my Greek keyboard is ridiculous...i feel bad for those friends and family members that actually get texts that look like this: ηευ! τηανκ υοθ!!
We—you and I—can turn the other cheek when unjust violence comes our way, enduring, as Peter exhorts, patiently by God’s grace and in faith and trust that God is who God says God is. What we cannot abide by, though, is when our neighbor is under attack laurenrelarkin.com/2026/04/26/s...
Suffering Evil to Resist Evil
“‘Dear Lord God, I wish to preach in your honor. I wish to speak about you, glorify you, praise your name. Although I can’t do this well of myself, I pray that you may make it good.’”[i] Introducti…
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And this is the point of it all: foregoing retaliation and revenge while trusting in Abba God who is the just judge, the Judge who was judged in our place.
Suffering Evil to Resist Evil
“‘Dear Lord God, I wish to preach in your honor. I wish to speak about you, glorify you, praise your name. Although I can’t do this well of myself, I pray that you may make it good.’”[i] Introduction There’s a malignant and pervasive feature of Protestant Christian social and political ethic that goes like this: faith has nothing to do with the temporal realm, preaching is never supposed to be political, and obedience for obedience’s sake is law.
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Let's GOOOOO! Let's do this, Big Blue Bear!!
This humanity—the great fluid spectrum of human expression in the world, no two substitutable and replaceable with each other—bears and shares in God’s own image and pulls apart to make space and create community so that there would never be loneliness, isolation, or alienation.
Reforging Our Divine Identity in Creation Care
On Saturday, the deacon of Nativity and I had the opportunity to lead two animal blessings at Grand Valley Horse Rescue . The first blessing (11-12) was our Episcopal Eucharist celebration in honor of St. Francis; the second (12-1) was our "sacred secular" blessing that we offer monthly on the first Sunday of the month. The homily below was offered during the Episcopal Eucharist celebration and blessing.
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God is always on the move and eager to usher us into God’s self-disclosure thus giving us plenty of opportunity for persona semper reformanda... laurenrelarkin.com/2026/04/19/p...
persona semper reformanda est
“‘Dear Lord God, I wish to preach in your honor. I wish to speak about you, glorify you, praise your name. Although I can’t do this well of myself, I pray that you may make it good.’”[i] Introducti…
laurenrelarkin.com
Peter underscores our creaturely status in the world living by faith by anchoring our liberation from death and sin in Christ’s (genuine) sacrificial ransoming of us from captious eternal fates and states.
persona semper reformanda est
“‘Dear Lord God, I wish to preach in your honor. I wish to speak about you, glorify you, praise your name. Although I can’t do this well of myself, I pray that you may make it good.’”[i] Introduction The Christian journey into God should be marked by the many deaths we walk through with Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit.
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“‘Fidele cor dat Deo gloriam .’” #MartinLuther WA 40 I, 360a,2 qtd in Sasja Emilie Mathiasen Stopa’s “Soli Deo Honor et Gloria” (175)
