Today’s post is by Amanda Highben who serves as Pastor at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Dublin, Ohio.

Mothering God, you gave me birth

in the bright morning of this world.

Creator, source of ev’ry breath,

you are my rain, my wind, my sun.

–  “Mothering God, you gave me birth,” Evangelical Lutheran Worship, #735

When I gave birth to our daughter Cecilia, I was still in seminary and serving as the youth director at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Zanesville, Ohio. Needless to say, it was a full and challenging time as my husband Zeb and I balanced our jobs, my education, and our halting, on-the-job education in parenting. One of the clearest things I remember is the exhaustion. In the first months of Ceci’s life, I was convinced I’d never sleep again.

Thankfully, our St. John’s community was a great source of strength and support for us. The parishioners delighted in Cecilia’s birth and helped us in countless ways, from simply holding her during worship to bringing us meals and offering to babysit. The congregation nurtured us through this time of transition and we will be forever thankful for such a gift.

Still, St. John’s is not unique in this regard. Many churches do a wonderful job of welcoming and supporting families. As Mother’s Day nears, congregations are once again preparing to bless and honor the mothers in their midst. Because I’ve served five different churches, I’ve seen mothers recognized in worship in various ways. I have even heard entire sermons devoted to Mother’s Day, though there is nothing in the lessons to warrant such preaching.

It is critical to be aware that Mother’s Day is not joyful for everyone. Remember the diverse and complex life stories of your people—The couples struggling with infertility. The children and adults whose mothers have died tragically. Those who have been hurt by or have strained relationships with their mothers. Women who cannot or chose not to have children, but have been endlessly told by contemporary culture that only motherhood can truly fulfill them. Families with two fathers. Women struggling with post-partum depression. All of this is complicated by our cultural determination to “romanticize” motherhood, which makes it difficult for mothers to talk openly about their challenges without feeling ashamed. In other words, if we fail to be thoughtful in our worship planning, a variety of women, men, and children might feel hurt or excluded when we intend exactly the opposite.

Yet: The commandments tell us to honor our parents, and the desire to bless mothers is good and Christ-like. It is an impulse that springs from a place of love. If we ignore it altogether in worship on the grounds that it is a secular holiday and not part of our liturgical calendar, then we risk conveying the implicit message that reasons for celebration in people’s everyday lives don’t matter to the church; we risk conveying the harmful belief that the Christian faith is disconnected from the world beyond our sanctuary walls.

This year, then, as we celebrate Christ’s resurrection on the seventh Sunday of Easter consider how your congregation might recognize mothers in ways that are sensitive, inclusive, and faithful to your context. Perhaps this means focusing more on the act of mothering, or lifting up Biblical images of our mothering God (see Isaiah 49.14-16 and 66:13, or Luke 13:34). The petition for mothers in the Prayers of Intercession is also appropriate and poignant (Sundays and Seasons, Sunday May 13, 2018). Above all, pray that everyone who gathers for worship on this day will encounter Jesus’ unfailing, all-embracing love.

Kris Litman-Koon, Isle of Palm, SC

 Warm-up Question

Think of someone who is not a member of your immediate family yet who has influenced who you are today. How did they do this? How would you describe their style of influence? (e.g. nurturing, stern, disciplined, laissez faire, hovering, etc.)

Achtung Baby

I am the father of 18-month old twin girls. That means my life has changed significantly in the last two years, and one aspect of my life that has shifted course is the content of what I read. Our home now has an entire shelf of books (if they were not strewn about the house) that discuss how parents can survive the stages from embryo through toddler. Then there is another shelf of books (likewise scattered) that say in summary, “So you have twins? Scrap everything the other books say.”

Any healthy parent desires to raise a child or children in the best way possible. Yet, there are many opinions and studies on what the best method is, and there is no definitive answer. That doesn’t stop people from publishing their theories, nor does it stop parents from clicking on links to read a new insight. (That new insight is usually a snippet from a newly released book that the publisher hopes will be added to the disheveled bookshelves of parents.)

One of the links I recently clicked took me to an article on NBC’s website (goo.gl/9iPtzv) about a German method of raising children called Selbständigkeit (have fun pronouncing it). The translation is “self-reliance.” The first takeaway of the article is that parents shouldn’t intervene in every dispute between children; by the time children are four-years old, they can possess the vocabulary and the skills to work out their own disagreements. Of course intervention is necessary if violence is erupting, however this philosophy inherently critiques the parental methods of always interceding whenever a child has a dispute with another child.

I’m certain this method expects that a lot of work has already been done in the first three years of the child’s life. Namely, the parent has talked with the child about the benefits of getting along, modeled how to build understanding and consensus, and taught the methods to establish a mutually beneficial ceasefire. Once the child has a grasp of those skills, the parent should allow the child to use them, even if the parent thinks it would be more efficient to intervene. The point is that the parent will not always be present to settle things and force the children to hold hands, so the child needs to develop the skills to resolve their own conflicts.

Discussion Questions

• Does this method of allowing children to settle their own disputes appeal to you? Why or why not?
• Have you had an experience when you had to settle your own dispute?
• Have you had an experience when a dispute needed a third party to settle it?

Sixth Sunday of Easter

Acts 10:44-48

1 John 5:1-6

John 15:9-17

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year B at Lectionary Readings

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

Today’s gospel passage comes from Jesus’ final discourse with his disciples before his crucifixion. This passage is actually the continuation of last week’s teaching that Jesus is the vine and his disciples are the branches. So this passage is the application of that image to the church’s way of life.

If you didn’t keep count, the word love (agape) is used nine times in this passage. Also, the word friends (philoi) is used three times. However, our English word for “friend” does not fully suit what Jesus was saying, because the word philoi also derives from another word meaning love. Although it is not commonly used in English, the word “beloveds” is the best translation of philoi. These are people outside of the family who are loved as much as family. That means Jesus uses our word “love” a total of twelve times in the passage, both to name the act of loving and to name his disciples. This re-emphasizes what he said in verse 9, that he loves his disciples to the same extent that the Father loves him. The love he has for his beloveds is witnessed in his handing himself over to death for us (v13). All of this is an immensely powerful statement, but his point doesn’t end there. There are ramifications to this enormous and infinite love that Jesus has for his disciples.

When we reach verse 17, Jesus says he gives us “these commands so that you may love one another.” What are his commands? He commands that we abide in his love (v9), that we love one another (v12), and bear fruit (v16). Bearing fruit is commonly understood as the love that is generated when a Christian community finds its identity in Jesus alone (the vine) and they live a life of kinship and concord (the branches). So verse 17 can be understood as saying, “I am telling you to love one another so that you may love one another.” That sounds a little weird, but it can be paraphrased; “If you can’t figure out how to love one another, do it.”

Love is hard, and it takes a lot of work. It is not easy to love when we instinctively want things our way and other people want things their way. This happens everywhere in the world, including in the church. Even if you haven’t seen it in your congregation, people there have butted heads in the past, and people there will butt heads again in the future.

What is supposed to make the church different is this: Christ is our source (the vine), and we are to abide in his enormous and infinite love. The vine mysteriously joins us together as one to be his indistinguishable branches who bear the fruit of our communal love. Inasmuch as the Father loves the Son, and the Son loves us, so are we to love one another (v9). In this final discourse before his crucifixion, Jesus was telling his disciples (including us) that he won’t always be physically present to settle our disputes. We are going to have to work things out, and the method to do that is by abiding together in his love.

Discussion Questions

• Can you name any beloveds in your life?
• Are you challenged by Christ’s command that we love fellow disciples to the same extent of God’s love for us?
• When we live by this standard, how are disputes within the church different than disputes outside the church?

Activity Suggestion

Divide into groups of three people each (if you must, two people each). Each group will make a line, with the person in the middle holding a hand of each person next to them. Do not let go of hands. Attempt as a group to perform these common tasks:

• Untie and retie the shoes of the people in the group.
• Fold a paper airplane.
• Blow up and tie off a balloon.
• Stacking and unstacking chairs.
• Any other common tasks suitable for your space.

Processing: What was it like to do these common tasks as a group? Did your group have any disputes? Did your physical place in the group (left, center, right) impact your experience? What were the hardest and easiest tasks for you? How is this activity like the image of the vine and the branches? How does this activity connect to Christ’s command to love one another as he loves us?

Closing Prayer

Triune God, you freely share the fullness of your love with your people. Help us to not only be mindful of your infinite love, but to apply that love to our interactions with others. When we have disputes, help us to see others as you see them. Give us a full measure of your compassion and understanding, so that together we may fully abide in your love. Amen.

By Laura Heller, Minister of Word and Service and Creation Care Ministry Coordinator for the Delaware-Maryland Synod.

Our symbiotic relationship with trees is no accident. It is the way in which God designed creation. As we expel carbon dioxide, the trees absorb it and, in return, provide us with oxygen, which is crucial for our existence. But that is not the only benefit of trees, sometimes referred to as “God’s cure all.”

Consider these facts:

• One hundred trees remove 53 tons of carbon dioxide and 430 pounds of other air pollutants per year. (S. Forest Service)
• The planting of trees means improved water quality, resulting in less runoff and erosion. This allows more recharging of the ground water supply. Wooded areas help prevent the transport of sediment and chemicals into streams. (S. Forest Service)
• The net cooling effect of a young, healthy tree is equivalent to ten room-size air conditioners operating 20 hours a day. (S. Department of Agriculture)
• If you plant a tree today on the west side of your home, in 5 years your energy bills should be 3% less. In 15 years the savings will be nearly 12%. ( E. Greg McPherson, Center for Urban Forest Research)
• Trees create an ecosystem to provide habitat and food for birds, animals and people. Wildlife use trees for food, shelter, nesting and mating. These habitats support the incredible variety of living things on the planet.
• In laboratory research, visual exposure to settings with trees has produced significant recovery from stress within five minutes, as indicated by changes in blood pressure and muscle tension. ( Roger S. Ulrich Texas A&M University)

But we are removing trees from our planet at an alarming rate. According to the World Wildlife Fund, globally we are losing 18.7 million acres of forests annually, equivalent to 27 soccer fields every minute. Maryland alone lost 14,488 acres of forest to development over the past eight years, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. According to Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake, “Since 2013, the faith community in Maryland has planted over 13,000 trees at their churches, synagogues and temples. However, for every 1 acre of forest planted by the faith community, Maryland lost 40 acres to development. Society cannot keep up with this pace of forest decimation without dire consequences.”

Forest Conservation Act amendments were introduced in Maryland during the 2018 legislative session to retain existing forests and mitigate forest loss. Under the bill, the definition of a priority forest would be broadened and developers would be required to replant trees they remove at a 1:1 ratio if they were in a priority forest area. Unfortunately, the bill did not pass this year, but a coalition of conservation groups and faith groups will fight to pass it next year.

While the Delaware-Maryland Synod Creation Care Ministry continues to advocate for this legislation, we have also been active in planting trees throughout our Synod. We received outreach grant funding from the Chesapeake Bay Trust in 2017 and 2018 to plant at least 500 trees in church properties, camps, schools and retirement communities. To date, more than 300 trees have been planted and numerous outreach workshops have been held to share the message about the importance of trees in caring for God’s creation.

Even Martin Luther, in his time, recognized the importance of our relationship with God through creation and he is quoted as saying, “God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars” and “Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree today.”

From 2011 to 2015, the ELCA Malaria Campaign raised both awareness about malaria and gifts to support companion churches and partners in fourteen countries to combat this disease. These gifts continue to support projects in countries faced with the daunting challenges posed by malaria. This World Malaria Day, we celebrate this important work that continues through the ELCA’s companion churches. As we commemorate World Malaria Day this year, we do so with firm resolve to keep up this important work. According to the World Health Organization, there were 216 million estimated cases of malaria in 2016 (the most recent year data is available.) This is a significant decrease from the 237 million cases WHO estimated for 2010, which enlivens hope that we can reduce vulnerability to this disease. Yet, we also know that progress has slowed. The 2016 estimates represent an increase from 2015, when WHO reported 211 million cases.

 Clearly, there is more to be done. But ELCA World Hunger, our partners, and our companions also celebrate the progress that has been made and the impact this work has had in communities. Below are updates from some of the countries where malaria work continues. For more on the malaria programs in Zimbabwe from ELCA staffmember David Mills, see this post.

Malawi

Income generation and savings is a key part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malawi’s work, as well. In 2017, their village savings and loan programs reached more than 2,100 members, who collectively saved nearly $167,000 dollars. These savings have helped the participants—88 percent of whom are women—gain increased access to health services, loans, and education while improving the overall food security of their households. The members were also able to make improvements to their homes and purchase assets that will help them generate income. All of these results will help them be more resilient to malaria outbreaks.

Namibia

Community members clear tall grass at Engela Hospital.

To reduce the population of mosquitos that carry the malaria parasite, removing brush and tall grasses that would allow standing water to collect near homes is critical. In Ruacana, 349 people from seven villages came together with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN) to implement a major cleaning campaign to reduce the risk of malaria. The Regional Councillors’ office helped by providing transportation for the large group. More than 100 participants joined in two other cleaning campaigns in Okongo and Engela districts, especially targeting the area around the hospitals in those communities.

Education about spraying continues to be a key priority for the ELCIN. When participants in their malaria program in Zambezi reported that many people refused to allow sprayer operators into their homes, the church began an intensive awareness campaign and hosted workshops with community leaders. With the knowledge they gained and the trust that was built in the workshops, the community leaders became active advocates for indoor spraying, assisting the program leads and offering support to sprayer operators. The ELCIN now reports that 89% of the homes in Zambezi have participated in indoor spraying, a key best practice in reducing the risk of malaria.

Zimbabwe

Malaria is a disease of poverty. On the one hand, the disease itself contributes to high rates of poverty because of lost productivity, lost wages due to illness or death, lower school attendance, and increased health care costs. On the other hand, poverty can also make a community more vulnerable to malaria by decreasing the availability of social services, including health care and prevention education.

This is why income-generating activities are a key part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe’s (ELCZ) response to malaria. In Hwange and Gokwe districts, community members took time to celebrate the hard work of people involved in the ELCZ’s livelihoods projects. In Gokwe, groups participated in field days at a local level, showcasing a variety of products, including organic honey, organic milled small grains, protein-rich nuts, sun-dried vegetables, and soups. Some of the products were collected and exhibited at a district-wide field day. The exhibit of products won an award for best exhibit in the social services category. More than just celebrating the work of the groups, the exhibits gave them an important opportunity for feedback on product quality and branding.

In Hwange, the ELCZ held a field day where groups could come together and share experiences and best practices. Groups also had the chance to showcase the products they had developed. The group members helped make the field day a successful celebration, mobilizing resources for food and prizes for the presenters.

The ELCZ’s work has made a tremendous impact on individuals and communities. Gogo Lucy Mloyi, a 60-year-old widow in Mfelandawonye, has been a member of a village savings and loan group since 2013. The group has been a blessing for Gogo Mloyi as she works to raise chickens for eggs and meat. Through her hard work and the support she has, Gogo Mloyi was able to build a six-room house, with rooms to rent for added income. She was also able to get electricity in her house to run a deep freezer where she keeps her chickens before they are sold. With the support from the village savings and loan group, Gogo Mloyi is able to meet her needs in her new home.

Gogo Lucy Mloyi

It is easy to think of malaria prevention as simply providing mosquito nets for prevention and medicine to those who have fallen ill. I have to confess, I’ve lived in Africa and had malaria on three different occasions, and frankly, my thinking about how to effectively combat the parasite is still so often stuck in this familiar pattern.

And then I visited Burure, Zimbabwe.

Burure is located in the Gokwe Region of Zimbabwe, bordered by rivers which are notoriously difficult to cross during the rainy season. It is an area that has been plagued by outbreaks of malaria in the past. It is, without question, one of the most remote areas served by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe (ELCZ).

Jairos Charedzera

During my visit, I had the opportunity to visit the ELCA World Hunger-supported and ELCZ-operated Burure Primary and Secondary Schools and the Burure Gokwe Clinic – institutions which provide the opportunity for education and health care to a catchment area of approximately 10,000 people. I also had the privilege of meeting with Jairos Charedzera, a Village Health Worker supported by the ELCA Malaria Campaign.  With a contagiously enthusiastic and upbeat demeanor (even in the hottest part of the day), Jairos explained to me how he teaches malaria prevention and control in Burure and the surrounding villages and acts as a “trainer of trainers” for income-generating savings groups in each of these villages. Before introducing me to the savings groups, Jairos began his presentation with this simple yet profound truth:

“Health and income that reduces poverty must never be separated. When a household’s income rises, so does the likelihood of good health.”

Each of the village savings and loan groups greeted us with their own unique song and dance before telling us how their group works and displaying the fruits of their labor. In each of the groups, the members (all women) contribute a certain amount of money each month. That money is pooled together to invest in income-generating activities. The profits of these activities are then used to provide things like goats, hens, pots, pans, mosquito nets or other necessities for each member of the group and their households.

The group in this photo consisted of seven women who pooled their resources together to plant and nurture a nutritional garden, growing squashes, groundnuts, greens, and spices. They also harvested honey from beehives they had built and maintained.

After the group gave their presentation (and, being most persuasive in their sales pitch, successfully sold us nearly all of the produce pictured), I asked the leader of the group about the meaning of the song they had greeted us with. Her answer:

“Our song says that we will put into practice what we learn from one another.”

I learned anew in Burure that there is a more powerful method for undoing the devastating effects of malaria in communities than simply distributing mosquito nets and medicine – that method is giving the power back to the women.

Strong women are directly at the center of Burure’s journey toward a future of hope and possibility, freed from the shackles of preventable diseases like malaria. When women gain access to income, the whole community benefits. The profits go toward household necessities that make the cooking of nutritional food easier and to needs like mosquito nets (which they can purchase with pride and at a fairer price because they negotiate as a group), school fees for their children, and paying for medical care that mitigates the impact of easily treatable diseases like malaria. All are cared for, and no one is left behind.

Leaving Burure, we travelled hundreds of miles to visit four different hospitals in Zimbabwe. At each one, we left them with a gift of produce we received from the savings and loan group in Burure. The produce that was grown and harvested by these resilient women was used to feed sick people across their country.

When women are given power, the blessings cannot be contained, traversing mountains, valleys, and every barrier. When women are given power, malaria doesn’t stand a chance.

David Mills is the program director for budget and operations for the Diakonia team in ELCA’s Global Mission unit. Diakonia works with the ELCA’s companion churches and international partners with projects supported by ELCA World Hunger and Lutheran Disaster Response.

By Laura Heller, Minister of Word and Service and Creation Care Ministry Coordinator for the Delaware-Maryland Synod.

Many different sources of pollutants such as pesticides, herbicides, excess nitrogen from fertilizers, industrial wastewater, and sewage continue to impact our supply of fresh water. One of the more insidious pollutants is lead. Lead can enter drinking water when service pipes that contain lead corrode, especially where the water has high acidity or low mineral content that corrodes pipes and fixtures.

Young children, infants, and fetuses are particularly vulnerable to lead because the physical and behavioral effects of lead occur at lower exposure levels in children than in adults per the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). A dose of lead that would have little effect on an adult can have a significant effect on a child. In children, low levels of exposure have been linked to damage to the central and peripheral nervous system, learning disabilities, shorter stature, impaired hearing, and impaired formation and function of blood cells. (See https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/lead/health.html.)

Up to ten million homes across the country get water through lead pipes – called lead service lines – that connect the main drinking water line in the street to our homes. Corrosion control can help manage the risk of lead in water, but the only effective long-term fix is getting rid of the lead pipes. We need a strategy that addresses the root causes of lead exposure before a crisis hits, not after it.

The serious problems with lead in drinking water were highlighted recently when Flint, MI, changed its water source from treated Detroit Water and Sewerage Department water (sourced from Lake Huron and the Detroit River) to the Flint River. Officials failed to apply corrosion inhibitors to the water and as a result, there was a series of problems that culminated with lead contamination, creating a serious public health disaster. The Flint River water that was treated improperly caused lead from aging pipes to leach into the water supply, leading to extremely elevated levels of lead. Between 6,000 and 12,000 children were likely exposed to this drinking water.

According to the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) the solution for removing lead in drinking water in our aging cities will take time, but we need to move as quickly as possible to replace outdated infrastructure:

• Accelerate replacement. As a nation, we need to remove the single largest source of lead in our water. Replacement of the entire lead service line must be an essential part of the solution, rather than a last resort. Water utilities, public health, environmental, and consumer organizations must collaborate to develop the programs communities need to drive service line removal.
• Make replacement affordable. Replacing lead service lines can be cost-prohibitive, especially for families who own their home and find they have lead pipes. A cooperative, community-based approach is needed to identify lead service lines and help finance removal.
• Update drinking water regulations. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) needs to overhaul portions of the Safe Drinking Water Act related to lead in drinking water. EPA also must finalize a risk-based household action level for lead in drinking water to help guide people as they decide on a course of action.
• Improve oversight of suppliers. Federal, state and local entities must also improve oversight to make sure utilities that supply water comply with the law.
• Disclose hazards earlier. When people buy or rent a home, they need to be told clearly and definitively about any lead pipes so that they can factor replacement costs into their decision making.

We need to make drinking water safe for all our neighbors, especially our youngest neighbors.

Tuhina Rasche, San Carlos, CA

Warm-up Question

• Who are the people that connect you to community?
• What are the feelings and emotions that keep you connected to people within a community?

Grow Up and Grow Out

I’ve moved around the United States a few times, but the hardest move of all was the first one. I grew up in the same house and went to elementary, middle, and most of high school with a lot of the same people, many of them my bffs (best friends forever). Then the move happened. It came between my junior and senior years of high school. I moved from a suburb just outside of Denver, Colorado to a place that was completely different: rural South Carolina. I moved to a town called Walhalla, which was covered in a vine called kudzu (Learn more about kudzu in the United States at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kudzu_in_the_United_States). I was the new kid in school my senior year of high school. I repeatedly thought to myself, “My senior year wasn’t supposed to happen this way! I should be with my friends in Denver enjoying all the things we’re supposed to do together: run for student council, go to football games, go to our last dances, talk about what colleges we’re planning to attend, and graduate.”

That last year of high school in rural South Carolina wasn’t a total bust, though. I made new friends who supported me during a really weird and awkward transition. Sure, a lot of the people I met that senior year of high school in South Carolina grew up in the local town. They had their own bffs and cliques they were a part of from elementary school to middle school to high school. They were also looking forward to their last year of high school with similar activities and milestones. I became a part of an unexpected community. It also took risk; I was terrified of being the new kid and making new friends, and those at my new school had to take a chance on getting to know and maybe even befriend the new kid.

I was also grateful for my friends back in Denver. In an age before social media and mobile phones, we did some really ancient practices: we mailed each other letters and we called one another on the phone. Just because I moved across the country didn’t mean my friends back home forgot about me; we reached out to one another across a few thousand miles to support one another in student council elections, writing for the school paper, trying to figure out who would be our dates to the next dance, where we were planning to attend college, and our plans between high school graduation and the beginning of a new adventure.

I’m years out of high school and a lot has changed. So many of my friends have moved away from their childhood homes, and at the same time, I also have friends who don’t have plans to move. I also don’t have the exact same friend group from my last year of high school. While I still have some of the same friends, there have been the realities of time, distance, and broken relationships that have concluded some friendships. With growth comes some change; it’s a lot like pruning a vine.

As I think about my communities of friends, both in Denver, Colorado and rural South Carolina, I’m reminded that even though moving away from home was hard, my friends from home and I were able to support one another. I also made new friends in South Carolina. This reminded me of the nature of vines; they don’t stay in the same place. Vines grow up, but then they grow out. Branches then grow off of the vine. Even though branches grow out into different areas, they are still connected to one another through the vine. This is also the nature of being followers of Christ; we are in community with one another, reminding one another of not just who we are, but whose we are. We are in community to love one another, care for one another, and support one another. In this love, care, and support for one another we are tied together by who we are in our baptisms. The vine is Jesus Christ, who loves us, cares for us, and supports us wherever we go and in whatever we do.

Discussion Questions

• Who has been your friend for the longest amount of time? What keeps you connected to the person you’ve known the longest? Who is your most recent friend? What brought you into a friendship with this person?
• Read the link about kudzu in the United States. Why do you think kudzu grew so well in a place that wasn’t its original home?
• What is the hardest thing about moving from one place to another? What are ways that you can maintain connections from one place and also build connections in a new location?

Fifth Sunday of Easter

Acts 8:26-40

1 John 4:7-21

John 15:1-8

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year B at Lectionary Readings

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

Images of plant life show up in each of the Gospels.  From seeds to trees to weeds, the imagery of plants in the Gospels is a way to talk about abundant life (or lack thereof). Today’s Gospel talks about not just vines, but also vine growers and branches. We are called into new and abundant life, being in relationship with God and one another, which is illustrated in the intertwined relationship between the vine grower, the vine, the branches, and the fruits of the vine.

Christians are called to be in many relationships, the primary one being with God. That relationship is made known in our baptisms, where we are claimed by God who loves us, marked with the cross of Christ, and sealed by the Holy Spirit. Even in times of doubt, God always wants to be in relationship with us. We are also called to be in relationship with one another. Baptisms usually happen in Christian community; we aren’t expected to go alone on our faith journeys. When we’re baptized, the community around us makes promises before God and one another to support us and pray for us. Being Christian means that our lives are tied together with everyone throughout the church, be it our friend, the new kid, or that person that we do not like so much.

The word “abide” appears multiple times in today’s Gospel reading, to the point that it’s confusing. “Abiding” is all about  the importance of  relationships.  God’s desire to be in relationship with us is shown in the person of Jesus walking and talking in the world, and also in God’s presence with each of us in Holy Communion and in our baptisms.

The vine grower is God, the vine is Jesus, and the branches represent how we can be in a relationship with God, Jesus, and fellow siblings in the faith. Some branches directly interact with others, while some branches, connected to the vine, are physically separated from one another. Just like plants, communities and relationships need care to grow and flourish. Sometimes branches need to be pruned for the vine to grow and bear more fruit; sometimes relationships with our siblings in Christ also have life cycles. Some can last for a lifetime, and some can last for just a season. What remains constant is Christ the vine and God the vine grower,  reaching out to us through Holy Communion, Baptism, and the relationships we have with one another.

Discussion Questions

• Abiding appears multiple times in today’s Gospel lesson. What does the word “abiding” mean to you? How do you see abiding lived out in your faith community? Where could you see more abiding taking place in your faith community?
• Being in community is an important part of Christian identity. Being a follower of Christ is dependent upon multiple relationships: God’s relationship with Jesus, God’s relationship with you, your relationship with God, and relationships between siblings in the faith. That is a lot of relationships. Who are the people that keep you connected to your faith community, and what are they ways they keep you connected? How do you connect with others in your community?

Activity Suggestions

• Plant a small garden together, either in an open area of land or in small containers. Consider then how to care for the plants within the garden. Who will water the seedlings? Will you need plant food or fertilizer? If so, who will take on that task? If the plants need a trim, who will do that? Talk about how the plants change and grow. Also talk about how the community is (or isn’t) working together to make sure the garden flourishes.
• How is your faith community connected to the outside world? Is there participation in local, state, national, and international connections? Take an opportunity to reflect on the connectedness of your faith community. Are there gaps where your faith community can participate? If so, how could your faith community further participate in being connected to the greater world?
• Find a pad of green sticky notes. Have each person write a prayer on the sticky note (but no names), and stick the note to the wall. After everyone has written one prayer on one sticky note, look at each note on the wall and pray for one another. Take home a sticky note that is not your own and continue to pray for that person throughout the week.

Closing Prayer

Gracious God, thank you for being the vine to our branches. Thank you for connecting us to one another through your Son, Jesus Christ. In these connections, remind us to reach out to one another as you always reach out to us. Amen.

Today’s post is by Rev. Amy E. Reumann, Director of Advocacy for the ELCA.

The Feast of Pentecost starts with a blast of fast rushing wind. The season itself can seem to go on forever. Entering my first parish call, a colleague warned me about “the dog days of Pentecost.” They theorized that the kind of lethargy that can accompany the heat of summer would affect our worship and ministry, too.

By mid-season, I understood. At the time I was preaching through several weeks of Gospel texts about Jesus as the bread of life. I was running out of things to say about what seemed to be a lectionary stuck on repeat. The organist left for an extended vacation without a substitute, leaving a cassette tape on which she had recorded the service music. Nobody sang along when I pushed the button. On Sundays the church was too hot, worshippers too few, energy was low and the season ahead seemed to stretch on forever.

The long distance run of the Sundays after Pentecost means we may gather to worship even when we don’t always feel like it. We persevere even when enthusiasm is running low and grace may not seem so amazing. It is ordinary time, far from the mountaintop experience of festival days, bringing us down to encounter God in the flow of daily life.

Engaging in advocacy can also require the same, long haul persistence. An advocacy colleague once shared the good news that her organization had helped pass the Dream Act in her state, offering educational opportunities to undocumented students. We were just starting to work on a similar bill and I wanted to know how they had done it, hoping for a magic solution. “It took ten years, you know,” she said. “You have to be committed to keep going, even when there is no end in sight.” Advocacy is slow work. There are more defeats and repetitious labor than wins. It means showing up and persevering during a long season, even when you feel stuck and like you are not going anywhere.

Advocacy’s scriptural foundations tend to rely on Jesus’ concern for the poor, the call of the prophets to justice or the actions of the early church. I think we are missing a vital connection by not looking more to the Festival of Pentecost, too. The Acts of the Apostles account begins with the Holy Spirit descending to loosen tongues of people from all corners of the earth. The presence of the Spirit unleashes testimony to the risen Christ. It reminds us, in our day, that there are many ways to let loose with our own witness to Jesus, including in unexpected ways and places.

Advocacy, too, is an untying of tongues. It is spirit-inspired testimony to the God who justifies, who in turn sets us free to do justice. We advocate with and for our neighbors and the rest of Creation to preserve their dignity and protect their integrity. Faith-rooted advocacy is witness to our faith by proclaiming solidarity with the suffering of Christ’s body in the world and witnessing to God’s resurrection hope for a world transformed. This is evangelism and proclamation of the good news, just as surely as knocking on doors. Only this advocacy may take place at a town council meeting, a school board session or in the halls of the U.S. Capitol.

We don’t often connect advocacy with the worship during these Sundays after Pentecost. But this ordinary time is chock full of texts in which Jesus upends social customs and the social order to eat with outcasts, touch lepers, heal the sick and show compassion to those who are poor.  Ordinary time reveals ordinary ways we can show solidarity with the people with whom Jesus spent most of his earthly ministry. And it brings fresh opportunities to heed God’s call for responding to hunger and injustice with witness to the God of justice. With the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit, of course.

How might you practice advocacy as persistence, presence and proclamation in service to the One who sends the Paraclete, the Advocate, to be present with us?

By Laura Heller, Minister of Word and Service and Creation Care Ministry Coordinator for the Delaware-Maryland Synod.

“In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” (Mark 1:9-11, NRSV).

Reflecting on our history, we see how water was created to cleanse and give life. In the very beginning of creation, the Spirit of God breathed on the waters of the earth (Gen 1:2). The waters of the great flood marked a cleansing of sin and the possibility of a new beginning (Gen 6:13). The Israelites passed through the Red Sea and were delivered from slavery into freedom (Exo 14:22). Jesus was baptized by John in the waters of the Jordan and was anointed with the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:9-10).

In baptism, we “pass through water.” This movement is a sign of our participation in the death of Christ and his emergence into new life: new life freed from the power of evil; new life in which the power of God’s life and love prevail.

It is very fitting that water is the element used in baptism because it is the STUFF of LIFE. It is vital to our existence just as our relationship with God is vital to our existence. The human body is more than 60 percent water. We need water to exist: we can live for 3 weeks without food, but only 3 days without water.

Earth is known as the watery planet: over 70% of  the largest habitat for life. This seeming abundance of water can make it easy to think that it will always be plentiful. However, freshwater—the stuff we drink, bathe in, irrigate our farm fields with—is incredibly scarce. Only 3% of the world’s water is fresh water, and two-thirds of that is tucked away in frozen glaciers or otherwise unavailable for our use. That leaves only 1% of the world’s water available for human consumptive uses.

Many of the water systems that keep ecosystems thriving and feed the growing human population have become stressed. Rivers, lakes and aquifers are drying up or becoming too polluted to use. More than half the world’s wetlands have disappeared. Agriculture – particularly the industry of raising animals for food – consumes more water than any other source and wastes much of that through inefficiencies. Climate change is altering patterns of weather and water around the world, causing shortages and droughts in some areas and floods in others.

At the current consumption rate, this situation will only get worse. By 2025, two-thirds of the world’s population may face water shortages. And ecosystems around the world will suffer even more.

As the church, we need to demonstrate leadership in sharing the message about caring for the sacred gift of water. As ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton points out in her Earth Day Statement:

“In grateful response to God’s grace in Jesus Christ, this church carries out its responsibility for the well-being of society and the environment. Our ‘concern for the environment’ is shaped by the Word of God spoken in creation, the Love of God hanging on a cross, the Breath of God daily renewing the face of the earth. Our concern is, then, propelled by hope and guided by principles of justice. We find our hope in the promise of God’s own faithfulness to everything God has made. We seek justice for all of creation in concert with God’s creative and renewing power.”

When I was a kid I thought of Jesus as my personal superhero.  My maternal grandmother Emogene gave me a children’s bible—filled with colorful pictures depicting the works of Jesus. I loved that book and the promise that it held.   I likened its gospel message to a comic book filled with villains, action, and Jesus as the Saviour with the mysterious powers. He walked on water, fed the masses, healed the sick, and stood up to the bullies. And the most exciting part of the Good News message was that I too could grow up to be just like Him.  for Jesus said, “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these,… .” (John 14:12 NRSV).

It was Jesus, along with the Super Friends, Davey and Goliath that were all part of part of my imaginative childhood faith formation that good and God could conquer evil. This was the 1970s and unfortunately, Saturday morning cartoons didn’t feature many examples of racial diversity.  However, I enjoyed Davey and Goliath because 1)  he was Lutheran and 2) he had friendships with Jonathan Reed and Cisco both people of color. The mission of the all-white main cast of Super Friends ( Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman, Robin and Aquaman), each with their unique powers, was to fight injustice, to right that which was wrong and to serve all humankind. Who wouldn’t want friends like these?

This week, Starbucks the American coffee company chain was pulled into the national spotlight, when a store manager in the Center City section of Philadelphia, refused restroom access to a black man because he hadn’t made a purchase.  Starbucks store guests, Donte Robinson and Rashon Nelson both 23-year-old black males arrived at the Starbucks for a professional business meeting with a local real estate developer Andrew Yaffe.   After denying access to the restroom, the store manager called 911. Police officers responded by arresting the two men for trespassing and escorting them away in handcuffs. The treatment of the two men ignited protests and a sit-in at the establishment. Subsequently, the charges against the men were dropped; the manager was removed as an employee from the location; an apology was issued from the Philadelphia Police Commissioner and a personal apology from Starbuck’s CEO Kevin Johnson; followed by a commitment to educate its employees on implicit racial-bias across 8,000 stores. Implicit racial bias refers to the attitudes or stereotypes that affect understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner.  The goal of the training is to promote conscious inclusion and prevent discrimination within and across the organization.

At the heart of this story for me is Melissa DePino—a 50 years old white female that videoed and posted the incident on Twitter. Although the story isn’t about Melissa DePino –it is about what she did in the moment. DePino wasn’t just a bystander while two people of color were handcuffed and humiliated –she used her very human powers to be an upstander. To view the video click pic.twitter.com/0U4Pzs55Ci.

@Starbucks The police were called because these men hadn’t ordered anything. They were waiting for a friend to show up, who did as they were taken out in handcuffs for doing nothing. All the other white ppl are wondering why it’s never happened to us when we do the same thing. pic.twitter.com/0U4Pzs55Ci

— Melissa DePino (@missydepino) April 12, 2018

Melissa DePino is my shero (female hero) of the week — because more than likely by this time next week another story of racism will make headline news. DePino used her white privilege to expose the unfair discriminatory treatment people of color face on a regular basis; she held Starbucks accountable for their actions  by exposing the situation and she named her own experience of white privilege.   Her post revealed the pervasive reality of racism and white culture. In the curriculum, Transforming White Privilege: A 21^st Century Leadership Capacity (an online resource developed by a grant from the Kellogg Foundation) white culture is defined as the dominant, unquestioned standards of behavior and ways of functioning embodied by the vast majority of institutions in the United States. White culture defines who looks professional, who is a threat to society and to whom the rules apply.

What if people of color had more white super friends like Melissa DePino?  White leaders that activate their powers whenever they see a person of color in distress because of the evil actions of racism. White leaders willing to put their whole bodies on the line for racial justice. No one can say for sure what could have happened to Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson if there wasn’t a video of this incident.  However, the historical and daily realities of black and brown people that find themselves accused, abused and  dehumanized by a society that devalues them is real.  The problem of racism in America will not go away with a day of training of 175,000 employees of Starbucks but it is a start.  Melissa DePino’s actions should serve as a reminder to all of us that believe in justice that we too are superheroes. Every day we can show up as transformers for racial justice following the example of Jesus the “Holy Disruptor” by speaking up when we see or hear something; informing our networks through social media; showing up in support with others at public actions, rallies and marches, holding institutions accountable and by voting for elected officials that work for equity and inclusion for all of us.

Judith Roberts serves as the ELCA Program Director for Racial Justice. She is mom to Julian Barlow. Lover of good vegan eats, Zumba and documentary films.

The Transforming White Privilege: A 21st Century Leadership Capacity curriculum  is available for purchase for $250 for the ELCA visit: https://www.racialequitytools.org/module/overview/transforming-white-privilege.