Steven Alloway, Granada Hills, CA

Warm-up Question

Have you ever been in a seemingly hopeless situation, then been given a second chance?

Survivors

When a building collapses, there’s an estimated 48-hour window during which trapped victims might be rescued. More generous estimates expand that to five or six days, maximum. Beyond that, the odds of survival decrease significantly. But after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Turkey on February 6^th, rescue teams were still pulling survivors from the rubble nearly 10 days later!

One 13 year old boy, Mustafa, was trapped for 228 hours. “I have no clue how he survived,” said rescue worker Uğur Sevgin. “Because as the excavator was in operation, there was more debris falling all around… Then from the rubble, we got him out, digging him out by hand.”

Rescue worker Özer Aydinli added, “When [they] said, ‘We found a person alive,’ we thought, ‘No, they must be hallucinating.’ We couldn’t believe it. But it is a miracle. The only thing we can say is that this is a great miracle.”

Discussion Questions

• Why do you think rescue workers have been able to find these survivors so far past the 48-hour window?
• Do you think the survivors’ lives will be different going forward? How do you think Mustafa and the others will choose to live, having so narrowly escaped death?
• If you were trapped somewhere and feared there was no hope of rescue, what would you regret not doing? What’s the first thing you would do once you were rescued?

Second Sunday in Lent

Genesis 12:1-4a

Romans 4:1-5, 13-17

John 3:1-17

(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 A at Lectionary Readings.)

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

Gospel Reflection

This has to be one of the most familiar passages in the Bible. John 3:16 is one of the first verses most of us learn and we can recite it by heart. But what does it really mean? More importantly, what does it mean in the context of the rest of the passage? Well, there’s a reason why it’s become one of the core teachings of Christianity: because the stakes are life and death. 

When Nicodemus comes to Jesus, hoping to learn from him, Jesus tells him something puzzling: “You must be born again.” An old man can’t go back into his mother’s womb, can he? But Jesus clarifies that this new birth isn’t a physical one, but one of water and the Spirit. Nicodemus remains confused, but to us, the message is clear: Following Jesus means much more than just seeking guidance from a wise teacher. It means having an entirely new life.

Jesus continues the new life imagery in a different way when he references Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness. In Numbers 21, God sends venomous snakes into the Israelite camp, as punishment for their latest round of blasphemy. Many are bitten and dying.

But then God tells Moses to make a bronze snake and put it on a pole. Any of the Israelites who look at the bronze snake won’t die, but will instead be healed. In using this analogy, Jesus demonstrates the stakes  to Nicodemus. Without being born again of water and the Spirit, we will surely die.

The good news is that we don’t have to. Just as Moses lifted up a snake on a pole to save the Israelites, Jesus was also lifted up—on the cross. And if we look to the cross and believe in him, then we too can be saved from death. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”

Discussion Questions

1. Nicodemus was a Pharisee. In light of how some Pharisees viewed Jesus, what do you think it meant for Nicodemus that he went to seek guidance from Jesus? Do you think visiting him was a tough decision?
2. Part of being given new life means leaving your old life behind. What are some aspects of your old life that you need to leave in the past, in order to follow Jesus?
3. Like Mustafa and the other survivors pulled from the rubble in Turkey, how will you choose to live going forward, knowing that you too have escaped death?

Activity Suggestions

Read the story of Moses and the bronze serpent in Numbers 21:4-9. Make a list of the ways the story mirrors our salvation from sin.

Closing Prayer

Lord Jesus, help us to turn from our old lives and fully embrace our new lives in you. Grant that we may always look to the cross, so that when death comes to us, we can be assured of eternal life. Amen.

 

Session 1 — Psalm 32

“You are a hiding place for me.” —Psalm 32:7

 

Psalm 32 is a fitting way to begin the season of Lent. The season has most commonly been understood through the centuries as a time of fasting and preparation for Easter, a time when new Christians were often baptized. As early as the second century, theologian Irenaeus of Lyons wrote of a time of penance and prayer leading up to Holy Week when Christians and those seeking baptism should fast for a period of 40 days or 40 hours (the translation is unclear) while reflecting on their sin and their need for God’s grace.

The psalm for this week draws us into the emotional and spiritual experience of repentance and forgiveness. “Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven,” the psalmist writes, “whose sin is covered” (verse 1). The verses describe the internal turmoil with vivid and visceral language, such as “groaning” (verse 3). The “heavy” hand of God bears down on the psalmist, sapping their strength to keep going (verse 4). When they experience forgiveness, it is like being “surround[ed]” by gladness and finding a comforting, secure “hiding place” (verse 7).

That experience of shame and isolation lies at the heart of what sin really is and how it impacts us. The psalmist, for example, suffers in “silence,” while their body “wastes away” from the effects of what we might today call depression (verse 3). So often, we understand sin as simply disobedience. We view God as a law-giving judge who demands our compliance with specific rules. Repentance and forgiveness, then, are concerned with our confession of what we did wrong and our promise to do better next time.

The psalm, though, offers a deeper understanding of the dynamic between sin and forgiveness and between us and God. Here, sin is a visceral and painful experience of being locked out of relationships, of feeling that we cannot become our full selves. Forgiveness goes beyond merely the acceptance of an apology for wrongdoing and points toward God’s desire for true reconciliation and wholeness. The psalm recognizes how, on this side of the full reign of God, life can wound us and leave us yearning for words of welcome, comfort and love.

What the psalmist describes is the experience of stigma. The word comes from a Greek term meaning “mark” or “puncture,” which seems apt when one considers how deeply being stigmatized can cut. To be stigmatized is to be made to feel ashamed or broken because of something we have done or, more often, for who we are. This is one reason why food pantries and other hunger ministries are often underutilized by the people who need them. To be hungry, all too often, is to be stigmatized for circumstances beyond one’s control, so neighbors commonly try to deal with hunger or food insecurity on their own. The social and emotional costs of stigma are simply too high.

This stigma is reinforced often in the ways we talk about hunger. Language such as “the hungry” or “the poor” makes it seem as if a person’s whole identity is nothing more than the challenges they face. People dispensing angry rhetoric about “freeloading” or calls for “self-sufficiency” ignore the hard work people do to avoid or escape hunger or poverty — and our lack of control over the systems or events that may drive us into them.

The psalmist takes comfort in knowing that, with God, there is no stigma. In God the only “mark” we carry is being God’s children. This faith motivates the robust hunger ministries that accompany neighbors every day. Food pantries and other feeding programs may provide food, but perhaps the most important part of all our ministries may be building a community that reinforces God’s love of all rather than society’s stigmatizing of some.

The ministry of Christ the King Deaf Church in West Chester, Penn., is a testament to this faith. Christ the King provides a place of welcome, worship and fellowship for neighbors who are deaf or who have hearing limitations. Through DeafCAN!, Christ the King’s community human services program, the church reaches across six counties and into the lives of over 250 individuals and their families every year. Recognizing that inaccessibility in many communities can create significant communication barriers for people who need help to meet their basic needs, DeafCAN! provides support for deaf neighbors who are hungry, homeless, imprisoned or ill. It is the only program in Pennsylvania to provide dedicated service for immigrants and refugees who are deaf or have hearing limitations; the state of Pennsylvania used the DeafCAN! Sensory Service Provider (SSP) program as a model for its own.

Learn more about the DeafCAN! Sensory Service Provider (SSP) program by watching the video below.

With a Domestic Hunger Grant from ELCA World Hunger, DeafCAN! was able to purchase personal protective equipment so that the SSP program could continue safely. The leaders of the program are also looking ahead to establishing the first transitional housing facility for deaf people recently released from prison and, potentially, for others in need of stable housing. Through its work with deaf immigrants and refugees, DeafCAN! has also created new opportunities for support, especially through teaching English and American Sign Language classes and citizenship classes. The eastern Pennsylvania chapter of DeafCAN! performed two plays showcasing the life stories of the actors themselves in 2021.

This work is critical to confronting the stigmatization caused by prejudice and discrimination against people based on their abilities. As DeafCAN! puts it, “Being deaf can cut one off from much that the rest of us take for granted: social services, church, neighbors . . . and most cruelly, cut off from their own families.” Stigmatization and exclusion are core drivers behind the higher rates of hunger and poverty that people living with disabilities face in the United States. The inaccessibility of resources, even within many churches, makes it more difficult for all neighbors to get the support they need to thrive.

In contrast to these systems, institutions and communities set up to exclude them, Christ the King Deaf Church provides opportunities for people who are deaf to participate and lead. In fact, the Rev. Beth Lockard, co-founder of Christ the King Deaf Church along with her husband, is currently pastor of the church, and more than half the staff is deaf. Through DeafCAN!, the church and its ministry bear witness to the important role faith communities can play in ending stigma and fostering authentic hope for neighbors made vulnerable by the sins of discrimination, marginalization and stigmatization.

For generations — and too often today — people living with disabilities encounter people of faith who try to link their disability to sin, claiming, like Jesus’ disciples in John 9, that disability results from disobedience to God. Or, well-intentioned people of faith offer to pray that God will “heal” their disability, without asking first whether a neighbor who is disabled desires or even needs such “healing.” Far more important is healing the systems and communities that exclude neighbors based on their abilities. The ministry of Christ the King Deaf Church and the words of Psalm 32 teach us that God’s healing penetrates more deeply, healing the wounds caused not by the sins we commit but by the sin that is pressed upon us, the stigmatization that, perhaps like a heavy hand, “dries up” our strength (vs. 4) and pushes us to remain silent (vs. 3). The Psalm is a reminder of the sin that pervades our communities, separating us from God and one another, and leaving so many of us feeling alone.

The call to return to God during Lent – to prepare, to fast and to repent – is twofold. On the one hand, it is a way to remind ourselves that being made to feel ashamed, burdened, excluded or “cut off” is not part of God’s plan for us. On the other hand, it also opens us to recognize the many ways that we, the church, have failed to be the loving, welcoming, affirming presence God calls us to be in the world. The ministry of Christ the King Deaf Church and DeafCAN! is not a specialized, localized ministry; it is the ministry to which God calls the whole people of God – ending not just physical hunger, but the emotional, mental and spiritual hunger from which we yearn for release.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

How does Psalm 37 shape or reshape your understanding of sin?

Think of a time when you experienced someone stigmatizing or stereotyping you. How did this make you feel?

How does or how can your faith inform your encounters with people (even strangers) who are experiencing hunger and homelessness?

Consider your own context. How does your congregation, school or workplace provide a welcoming environment to people of diverse abilities? What could you be doing better, and what action steps could you take toward that end between now and Easter?

Sesión 1 — Salmo 32

“Tú eres mi refugio” —Salmo 32:7

El Salmo 32 es una manera apropiada de iniciar la temporada de Cuaresma. A lo largo de los siglos, esta temporada ha sido entendida más comúnmente como un tiempo de ayuno y preparación para la Pascua de Resurrección, una época en que a menudo se bautizaba a los nuevos cristianos. Ya en el siglo II, el teólogo Ireneo de Lyon había escrito sobre un tiempo de penitencia y oración que conduce a la Semana Santa y en el cual los cristianos y aquellos que desean ser bautizados deben ayunar por un período de 40 días o 40 horas (la traducción no es clara) a la vez que reflexionan sobre su pecado y su necesidad de la gracia de Dios.

El salmo de esta semana nos lleva a la experiencia emocional y espiritual del arrepentimiento y el perdón. “Dichoso a quien se le perdonan sus transgresiones”, escribe el salmista, “a quien se le borran sus pecados” (versículo 1). Los versículos describen la perturbación interna con un lenguaje vívido y visceral, como “gemir” (versículo 3). La mano de Dios “pesaba” sobre el salmista, debilitando su fuerza para seguir adelante (versículo 4). Cuando experimentan el perdón, es como estar “rodeados” de alegría y encontrar un “refugio” reconfortante y seguro (versículo 7).

Esa experiencia de vergüenza y aislamiento yace en el meollo de lo que realmente es el pecado y cómo nos afecta. El salmista, por ejemplo, sufre en “silencio”, mientras que su cuerpo “se consume” por los efectos de lo que hoy podríamos llamar depresión (versículo 3). Con demasiada frecuencia consideramos que el pecado es simplemente desobediencia. Vemos a Dios como un juez que da la ley y exige nuestro cumplimiento de reglas específicas. El arrepentimiento y el perdón, entonces, tienen que ver con nuestra confesión de lo que hicimos mal y nuestra promesa de hacer mejor las cosas la próxima vez.

Sin embargo, el salmo ofrece una comprensión más profunda de la dinámica entre el pecado y el perdón y entre Dios y nosotros. El pecado aquí es una experiencia visceral y dolorosa de ser excluido de relaciones, de sentir que no podemos llegar a ser completos.  El perdón va más allá de la mera aceptación de una disculpa por haber hecho el mal y apunta hacia el deseo de Dios de una verdadera reconciliación y plenitud. El salmo reconoce que, en este lado del reino pleno de Dios, la vida puede herirnos y dejarnos anhelando palabras de acogida, consuelo y amor.

Lo que el salmista describe es la experiencia del estigma. Esta palabra proviene de un término griego que significa “marca” o “punción”, que parece apropiado cuando consideramos lo profundo que ser estigmatizados puede cortarnos. Ser estigmatizado es sentirse avergonzado o estropeado por algo que hemos hecho o, más frecuentemente, por lo que somos.  Esta es una de las razones por las que las despensas de alimentos y otros ministerios de alivio del hambre a menudo son subutilizados por las personas que los necesitan. Con demasiada frecuencia, el tener hambre es ser estigmatizado por circunstancias fuera del control de la persona, por lo que comúnmente el prójimo trata de lidiar por su cuenta con el hambre o la inseguridad alimentaria. Los costos sociales y emocionales del estigma son simplemente demasiado altos.

Este estigma se refuerza a menudo en nuestras formas de hablar sobre el hambre. Palabras como “los hambrientos” o “los pobres” hacen que parezca que toda la identidad de una persona no es más que las dificultades que enfrenta. Las personas que dispensan una retórica enfadada sobre el “oportunismo” o llamados a la “autosuficiencia” ignoran el arduo trabajo que las hacen personas para evitar o escapar del hambre o la pobreza —y nuestra falta de control sobre los sistemas o eventos que pueden arrastrarnos a estas.

El salmista se consuela al saber que, con Dios, no hay estigma. En Dios, la única “marca” que llevamos es ser hijos de Dios. Esta fe motiva los robustos ministerios del hambre que acompañan al prójimo todos los días. Las despensas de alimentos y otros programas de alimentación pueden proporcionar alimentos, pero quizás la parte más importante de todos nuestros ministerios puede ser construir una comunidad que refuerce el amor de Dios por todos, en lugar de la estigmatización de algunos por parte de la sociedad.

El ministerio de Christ the King Deaf Church [Iglesia Cristo Rey para sordos] en West Chester, Pensilvania, es un testimonio de esta fe. Christ the King proporciona un lugar de acogida, adoración y compañerismo a los vecinos sordos o que tienen limitaciones auditivas. Por medio de DeafCAN!, el programa comunitario de servicios humanos de Christ the King, la iglesia llega a seis condados y a las vidas de más de 250 personas y sus familias cada año. Reconociendo que la inaccesibilidad en muchas comunidades puede crear barreras de comunicación significativas para las personas que necesitan ayuda en satisfacer sus necesidades básicas, DeafCAN! brinda apoyo a vecinos sordos que tienen hambre, no tienen hogar, están encarcelados o enfermos. Es el único programa en Pensilvania que brinda servicios dedicados a inmigrantes y refugiados sordos o con limitaciones auditivas; el estado de Pensilvania usó el Programa de Provisión de Servicios Sensoriales (SSP, por sus siglas en inglés) DeafCAN! como modelo para su propio programa.

Con una Beca Doméstica contra el Hambre de ELCA World Hunger [Hambre Mundial de la ELCA], DeafCAN! pudo comprar equipo de protección personal para que el programa SSP pudiera continuar de manera segura. Los líderes del programa también están mirando hacia el futuro con el fin de establecer la primera instalación de vivienda de transición para personas sordas recién liberadas de prisión y, potencialmente, para otras que necesitan una vivienda estable. Mediante su trabajo con inmigrantes y refugiados sordos, DeafCAN! también ha creado nuevas oportunidades de apoyo, especialmente a través de la enseñanza de inglés y del lenguaje de señas americano, y clases de ciudadanía. En 2021, el capítulo del este de Pensilvania de DeafCAN! realizó dos obras teatrales que muestran las historias de la vida de los propios actores.

Este trabajo es fundamental para enfrentar la estigmatización causada por los prejuicios y la discriminación contra las personas en función de sus capacidades. Como dice DeafCAN!, “ser sordo puede separarlo a uno de mucho de lo que el resto de nosotros damos por sentado: servicios sociales, iglesia, vecinos. . . y lo más cruel, separarlo a uno de su propia familia”. La estigmatización y la exclusión son los principales impulsores de las tasas más altas de hambre y pobreza que enfrentan las personas que viven con discapacidades en los Estados Unidos. La inaccesibilidad de los recursos, incluso dentro de muchas iglesias, hace que sea más difícil para todos los vecinos obtener el apoyo que necesitan para prosperar.

En contraste con estos sistemas, instituciones y comunidades establecidas para excluirlas, Christ the King Deaf Church ofrece oportunidades para que las personas sordas participen y lideren. De hecho, la Rvda. Beth Lockard, cofundadora de Christ the King Deaf Church junto con su esposo, es actualmente pastora de la iglesia, y más de la mitad del personal son sordos. Por medio de DeafCAN!, la iglesia y su ministerio da testimonio del importante papel que las comunidades de fe pueden jugar en acabar con el estigma y fomentar una auténtica esperanza en el prójimo que ha sido hecho vulnerable por los pecados de discriminación, marginación y estigmatización.

Durante generaciones —y con demasiada frecuencia hoy—, las personas que viven con discapacidades se encuentran con personas religiosas que intentan ligar su discapacidad con el pecado, afirmando, igual que los discípulos de Jesús en Juan 9, que la discapacidad es el resultado de la desobediencia a Dios. O personas de fe bien intencionadas ofrecen orar para que Dios “sane” su discapacidad, sin preguntar primero si un prójimo que está discapacitado desea o incluso necesita tal “curación”. Mucho más importante es sanar los sistemas y las comunidades que excluyen al prójimo en función de sus capacidades. El ministerio de Christ the King Deaf Church [Iglesia Cristo Rey para sordos] y las palabras del Salmo 32 nos enseñan que la curación de Dios penetra más profundamente, curando las heridas causadas, no por los pecados que cometemos, sino por el pecado que se nos impone, la estigmatización que, tal vez como una mano pesada, “seca” nuestras fuerzas (versículo 4) y nos empuja a permanecer en silencio (versículo 3). El Salmo es un recordatorio del pecado que impregna nuestras comunidades, separándonos de Dios y unos de otros, y dejando a muchos de nosotros sintiéndonos solos.

El llamado a volver a Dios durante la Cuaresma —a prepararse, ayunar y arrepentirse— es doble. Por un lado, es una manera de recordarnos a nosotros mismos que sentirnos avergonzados, agobiados, excluidos o “separados” no es parte del plan de Dios para nosotros. Por otro lado, también nos abre a reconocer las muchas maneras en que nosotros, la iglesia, hemos fallado en ser la presencia amorosa, acogedora y afirmativa que Dios nos llama a ser en el mundo. El ministerio de Christ the King Deaf Church y DeafCAN! no es un ministerio especializado y localizado; es el ministerio al cual Dios llama a todo el pueblo de Dios —acabar, no solo con el hambre física, sino también con el hambre emocional, mental y espiritual de la cual anhelamos la liberación.

PREGUNTAS DE REFLEXIÓN

¿Cómo moldea o remodela el Salmo 37 su comprensión del pecado?

Piense en un momento en el que experimentó que alguien lo(a) estigmatizaba o estereotipaba. ¿Cómo lo(a) hizo sentir esto?

¿Cómo orienta o puede orientar su fe sus encuentros con personas (incluso desconocidos) que están experimentando hambre y falta de vivienda?

Considere su propio contexto. ¿Cómo proporciona su congregación, escuela o lugar de trabajo un ambiente acogedor para personas de diversas capacidades? ¿Qué podría estar haciendo mejor, y qué pasos de acción podría dar hacia ese fin entre este momento y la Pascua de Resurrección?

Following are updates shared from submissions of the Lutheran Office for World Community and state public policy offices (sppos) in the ELCA Advocacy Network this month. Full list and map of sppos available.

 

U.N. | COLORADO  | MINNESOTA | OHIO | PENNSYLVANIA | TEXAS |WASHINGTON | WISCONSIN |

 

Lutheran Office for World Community (LOWC), United Nations, New York, N.Y. – ELCA.org/lowc

Christine Mangale, Director

• LWF General Secretary Advocacy Visit: The Rev. Dr. Anne Burghardt, General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), together with Mr. Isaiah Toroitich, Head of Global Advocacy, and Rev. Arni Danielsson, Head of Communications, held their first advocacy mission to the United Nations (UN) headquarters since Rev. Dr. Burghardt was appointed to lead the global communion of churches.  Colleagues from LWF and the Lutheran Office for World Community conducted high-level meetings with officials from UN agencies and Ambassadors from UN member states. These meetings included: Mr. Martin Griffiths, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (UNOCHA), H.E. Miguel Ángel Moratinos, the UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, H.E. Mr. Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine Ambassador to the UNHQ, the office of Mr. Sanjay Wijesekera, Director of Programme Group at UNICEF. Additional meetings and discussions were held with UNFPA, UN Women, Religions for Peace, World Council of Churches and Caritas. The General Secretary also preached at ELCA’s Saint Peter’s Church in Manhattan.  
• LWF COVID-19 Advocacy Report Launch: LWF implemented a multi-pronged response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including through concerted advocacy and policy engagement. A study based on a series of interviews with LWF staff and members of partner organizations was undertaken by the Joint Learning Initiative (JLI).  The report titled Until All Are Safe, No One Is Safe was launched during a hybrid event organized to coincide with the New York visit of the General Secretary. The report highlights the life-saving impact of the LWF’s Rapid Response Fund, the short and longer-term responses of churches and partners, and offers recommendations for policy makers, donors, churches and other faith actors for recovery and resilience building. 

 

Colorado

Lutheran Advocacy Ministry Colorado (LAM-CO) – lam-co.org

Peter Severson, Director

LUTHERAN DAY AT THE CAPITOL: Colorado Lutheran Day at the Capitol took place on Thursday, February 16, 2023. Our featured legislative speaker was Representative Andrew Boesenecker, a former ELCA pastor who now represents House District 53 in the Colorado legislature. He was re-elected in November 2022 and currently serves on the Transportation, Housing, and Local Government Committee;, State, Civic, Military, and Veterans Affairs Committee;, Appropriations Committee;, and Legislative Audit Committee. Rep. Boesenecker is also a member of the House Majority Leadership team, serving as House Majority Co-Whip. His legislative priorities continue to include affordable housing, gun violence prevention, single payer health care, and protecting our land, air and water. 

LEGISLATIVE SESSION CONTINUES: As the General Assembly continues its work, Lutheran Advocacy is working alongside coalition partners like the Renters’ Roundtable, the Helping Colorado Families Get Ahead coalition, and End Slavery Colorado to advance our policy agenda. You can learn more about what’s on our plate on our website, and check out all the latest bills we’re advocating on here. 

 

Minnesota

Lutheran Advocacy – Minnesota (LA-MN) – lutheranadvocacymn.org

Tammy Walhof, Director

Clean Energy/Climate: Minnesota passed 100% Carbon-free electricity by 2040, signed into law by Gov. Walz on Feb. 7. It contains important benchmarks along the way: 80% carbon-free electricity by 2030; 90% by 2035.  

Various versions of this bill have been introduced over the last several years, and Lutheran Advocacy-MN has been engaged both on this and other legislation to increase the renewable energy standard. 

Clean energy has champions in both parties. Unfortunately, the Minnesota DFL decision to pass legislation rapidly without amendments (to avoid Conference Committee negotiations) meant it was passed by strictly partisan votes in both chambers. 

 Nevertheless, we’ll take the win and continue to work with both parties on further climate legislation. 

  

Affordable Housing/Homelessness: Eviction levels have reached very high rates, a combination of the pandemic, inflation, and the severe pre-existing housing crisis that has not had enough investment, despite yearly expenditures and broad support. 

Funding for rental assistance, shelter, and other housing has moved quickly in the House, and been laid aside for possible inclusion in omnibus bills in the Senate. We are working to get it passed with bipartisan support. 

  

Sacred Tiny House Communities: Legislation is being held back until it has a good list of bipartisan co-authors. Meantime, LA-MN is working to get letters and meetings of support from across the state, emphasizing the need a) for a class of housing less than 400 sq. feet, and b) for faith communities to have the discretion to create communities on their property without local “Not in my Backyard”(NIMBY) bans. 

 

Ohio

Hunger Network Ohio (HNO) – hungernetwork.org

Deacon Nick Bates, Director

With the launch of Ohio’s budget recommendations at the end of January, Ohio’s legislative sessions are up and running at full speed. At the Hunger Network in Ohio, we are focused on Healthy School Meals for All. In partnership with Hunger Free Schools Ohio, our goal is to ensure that all Ohio students have access to school meals. Hunger in Ohio remains unacceptably high. One in six children, and as many as one in four children in certain counties, live in a household that faces hunger, yet more than one in three children that live in a food– insecure household do not qualify for school meals. These meals help to acknowledge that well-nourished minds are not only healthier, but also help children learn better. Healthy School Meals for All also eliminates school meal debt and significantly reduces the administrative work required to operate the School Nutrition Programs and improve school nutrition finances. In addition, Healthy School Meals for All reduces the stigma associated with participating in school meals, which keeps children who need school meals from participating. Ensuring kids get healthy food is a critical step on the path out of poverty and into the workforce. When you have stronger, smarter, healthier kids, you have a stronger, smarter, healthier, more economically competitive state. Ohio needs Healthy School Meals for All. You can learn more at https://hungerfreeschoolsoh.org/impact. 

Pennsylvania

Lutheran Advocacy Ministry – Pennsylvania (LAMPa) lutheranadvocacypa.org

Tracey DePasquale, Director

Hunger tops the policy agenda adopted by the Lutheran Advocacy Ministries in Pennsylvania Policy Council, as already-stressed feeding ministries brace for the elimination of emergency food assistance that totaled $2 billion in Pennsylvania in 2022. Housing/homelessness and creation care (especially climate and clean water) were named other top priorities for our work.  

LAMPa Director Tracey DePasquale, who serves on the executive team of the Pennsylvania Hunger Action Coalition, is working to organize a Legislative Lunch & Learn hosted by the legislative Hunger Caucus on Feb. 27 in the Capitol’s East Wing Rotunda.  ELCA World Hunger leaders in Pennsylvania have been tapped to make a personal invitation and attend with their lawmakers. 

DePasquale has also been working with housing and racial justice advocates in the Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod, ELCA World Hunger and the ELCA Witness in Society federal office as they prepare to honor the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with learning and advocacy on the anniversary of his death in March.  In related work, LAMPa continues to work with the federal office in a follow up to the Homeless Remembrance Blanket Project, securing invitations to members of Congress for visits to ministries with those experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity. 

LAMPa is searching for a full-time communications and advocacy engagement manager. Do you (or someone you know) have professional communications experience, a passion for justice and a call to serve God’s mission in the world — especially in the public square? Learn more here, including how to apply for this position within ELCA Witness in Society.

 

 

Texas

Texas Impact – texasimpact.org

Scott Atnip, Outreach Director

The Texas Legislature has convened for their 140 day biennial legislative session, and Texas Impact is using the first third of the session for membership events and encouraging members to build relationships with their legislative offices. The opening day of the session, Texans of faith gathered with Texas Impact, faith leaders and elected representatives for the Interfaith Service of Public Witness.

The United Women in Faith Legislative Conference sold out with over 200 participants, including many Lutherans for a three– day legislative conference and advocacy day at the Capitol. Regina Banks, Director of the Lutheran Office of Public Policy, California, was a keynote speaker and attended the event. Additional advocacy opportunities include Texas Interfaith Advocacy Days, February 19-21, and coalition advocacy days for gun reform, maternal health, LGBT equality and more.  

Texas Impact is organizing Texans of faith through Legislative Engagement Groups by district, and in issue specific teams. Courts and Ports trips to the border have also restarted to allow faith leaders to serve as court observers and learn about issues at the U.S./Mexico border.  

All of this and more is highlighted on Texas Impact’s weekly podcast, Weekly Witness, featuring elected representatives, faith leaders and advocates.

 

 

Washington

Faith Action Network (FAN) – fanwa.org

Elise DeGooyer, Director

We are halfway through the 2023 Washington State Legislative Session that will last into April. Lawmakers will focus this session on creating a two-year state budget, as well as hear from Faith Action Network(FAN) and our partners on bills related to universal school meals, housing justice, expanding the Working Families Tax Credit, assault weapons ban, healthcare for immigrants, solitary confinement, and addressing climate change. Once again, we have an ambitious Legislative Agenda that you can follow with our Bill Tracker. 

One highlight of the session so far was gathering 200+ advocates in our network on February 9 for the first in-person Interfaith Advocacy Day in Olympia in three years! Standing together on the Capitol steps was a jubilant moment in a day filled with learning, engaging, and advocating. From Bellingham to Vancouver, Port Angeles to East Wenatchee and Yakima, and all along the I-5 corridor, 207 people from 36 districts attended over 87 meetings with their legislators. 

ELCA Bishops Shelley Bryan Wee of Northwest WA Synod and Rick Jaech of Southwestern WA Synod shared reflections on how we are called by our faith traditions to learn and to act for justice. We were delighted to be visited by Rep. My-Linh Thai, first refugee member of our legislature, whose passionate message resonated with ours: that love guides her policymaking decisions as she calls on her colleagues to do what is right. Workshops on each category of our legislative agenda were expertly presented by our coalition partners and FAN leaders. Advocates caucused with others from their legislative districts and attended afternoon meetings with legislators. More photos of attendees energized by democracy in the sunshine can be found on our Facebook album. We plan to keep the momentum going through the rest of session and throughout the year!

 

 

Wisconsin

Lutheran Office for Public Policy – Wisconsin (LOPPW) loppw.org

The Rev. Cindy Crane, Director

Wednesday Noon Live: We interviewed John Johnson, ELCA Domestic Policy Director, on the Farm Bill. 

 

 

 

Partnerships and Coalitions 

At a recent South-Central Synod event, the Lutheran Office of Public Policy in Wisconsin (LOPPW) and a representative from Women of the ELCA(WELCA) co-led a workshop on social media and engaging with the news. 

LOPPW recently joined a new coalition, Wisconsin Coalition for Safe Roads, which is a broad group including secular and faith-based leaders, advocates for immigration rights, and farm groups.  The focus of the coalition is to pass legislation to allow driver’s licenses for immigrants who do not qualify for Real IDs.   

We continue to be part groups including  the Wisconsin Climate Table, where the director is part of a working group making the Wisconsin Clean Energy Plan known; Healthy School Meals for All Coalition; the Wisconsin Consortium for Anti-Sex Trafficking; and the Raise the Age Coalition, which LOPPW helped to re-unite in 2020.  Our ELCA group planning the Youth Advocacy Retreat also meets regularly. 

The Wisconsin State Budget 

We expect new energy around the driver’s license issue and returning 17-year-old youth to the juvenile justice system.  Both will likely be in the Governor’s budget but will hopefully have independent bills. 

Our interfaith advocacy day will be focused on hunger, climate, and water.  The organizers, LOPPW and Faith in Place, are consulting with our speakers from Renew Wisconsin and Clean Wisconsin to choose issues on energy and water to advocate on.  We will also choose issues related to hunger. 

After perhaps a year or more of not gathering on-site for Ash Wednesday services due to the COVID-19 pandemic, worshiping communities across a large swath of the US are dealing with or expecting severe weather that would prevent gathering on-site. This solemn observance is a treasured one in the liturgical year, a day to be gathered with one another and to have the ashen cross marked on our forehead, reminding us of the dust from which we came and to where we will return. 

Conversations on social media have begun, as fellow worship planners ask one another what they are doing when assembling for worship on-site will not be possible. Below are some ideas to consider.  

Incorporating elements of Ash Wednesday Worship into the First Sunday in Lent Ash Wednesday begins the forty-day journey to Easter, but elements of this service could begin the Sunday worship service on the first Sunday in Lent. Consider beginning the service for Lent 1 with Psalm 51 or another penitential psalm and the Invitation to Lent (Evangelical Lutheran Worship p. 252; Leaders Desk Edition, p. 617). Instead of what you had planned as an order for confession for that day, consider using the extended confession (pp. 252-253) followed by the Imposition of Ashes. 

Following the Imposition of Ashes, the service would continue with the prayer of the day for Lent 1 and then move into the Word portion of the service. It may be desired to use the Lent 1 scripture readings or a combination of Ash Wednesday or Lent 1 depending upon your context. 

Online worship options
Perhaps the best option for your assembly is to provide an online option, just as you may have done during the past few years. 

Although not essential, you may wish to find ashes, soil, or water to mark the sign of the cross on your own forehead, either during an online service, an individual meditation time or family worship at home, or at another point during the day. All three signify death and new life — the ashes from the palm branches of last year; common soil since human beings in Genesis 2 are earth creatures made of dust; and, water which in baptism joins us to the death of Christ.   

You may have access to ashes from a local congregation or by burning palms from a previous Palm Sunday service. Soil can simply be dug from the earth near where you live.  Water can be any water, perhaps from the tap in your home. 

Transferring to another time
Some assemblies might consider offering an on-site worship option at another time prior to Lent 1 if weather conditions have improved.  

Others might look to moving the observance a week later. If doing so, note that the language for the Invitation to Lent (ELW LE p. 617) would need very slight adjustment to acknowledge we have already begun the Lenten season.  

As you begin these days of Lent in many and various ways, blessings as you remember and are remembered by the God who is gracious and merciful, and abounding in steadfast love.

Dear friends,

Welcome to the season of Lent and to ELCA World Hunger’s 40 Days of Giving!

These 40 days are a season to reflect and remember, to look forward and ahead. During Lent we journey with the Hebrews in the exodus, through the temptations Jesus faced in the wilderness and to the foot of the cross on Good Friday. We remember our dependence on God and one another and reflect on the many ways we have fallen short of what God calls us to be.

These are not easy times for many of us. We know the challenges our world faces. Yet the season of Lent reminds us that God is not yet through with us or our world. Amid our own dependence on God, we know by faith that God is even now at work, drawing us
toward the resurrection and restoration of the world. ELCA World Hunger’s 40 Days of Giving invites us to be part of that
work and to bear witness to it with partners, companions, friends and neighbors.

In the sessions that follow, we will continue our journey through the psalms that began with ELCA World Hunger’s Advent study. We
will read the familiar lines of Psalm 23 and encounter the psalmist’s plaintive cries in Psalm 130. We will share the joy of Psalm 32 and
the promise of rest and security in Psalm 121. In these ancient hymns, we will encounter our spiritual ancestors, whose faith sustained them through trials and tribulations, and be inspired for the work that lies ahead of us today.

Join us this season — on your own, in a small group or with your congregation — as we encounter the psalms anew and unite in our
efforts to end hunger. Visit elca.org/40days to download or order a suite of resources to equip you on the journey.

In peace,

Ryan P. Cumming, Ph.D.
Program Director, Hunger Education

 

Grace Heimerdinger-Baake, Pearl City, IL

Warm-up Question

Have you ever had to stand against the norm to honor and respect your values? How did you handle the temptation to conform to the norm? 

Stand Firm

Students of all races at Collingswood High School in South Jersey recently protested two straight days over allegations of racism in their school. During the peaceful demonstration, students protested racial profiling, lack of inclusivity, and how their Black classmates are disproportionately disciplined. 

In a recorded statement student Abygail St. Louis shares her frustration and why it has come to protesting for equal rights for her and her classmates. She says she would rather be in the classroom. 

The superintendent of the district expressed concern over the students’ allegations and applauded the organization of a peaceful protest to share their concerns. In conversations with the students, Superintendent Fred McDowell shared that “in order for us to find a path forward, students have to be at the table” to do the work and find the solutions. 

Discussion Questions

• The students at Collingswood High School protested two straight days before steps were made to address the allegations of racism. Are we truly listening to the members of our communities who go against the norm and speak up?
• If you were a student at Collingwood High School, would you have been tempted to joined the protest or stayed in class? Why?
• The activist who helped the students organize posted on his Facebook page, “They can’t stop up. Let’s show then we not gonna be silent anymore.” In addition to racism, what other social justice issues are we being silent about? 

First Sunday of Lent

Genesis 2:15-17

Romans 5:12-19

Matthew 4:1-11

(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 A at Lectionary Readings.)

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

Gospel Reflection

Immediately following Jesus’ baptism, he is led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit. While in the wilderness, Jesus is isolated from his friends and family, fasting for forty days and nights.  Talk about a challenge of faith! During his time in the wilderness, Jesus is approached three times by a figure who temps him to stray from God’s path. 

Jesus is hungry. The tempter attempts to convince Jesus to turn the stones into bread. Jesus stands true to the scripture and responds, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God (Deuteronomy 8:3).’” 

The tempter tries again with something a little bit more difficult. He suggests that Jesus prove that he is the Son of God by jumping off a cliff.  The devil quotes Psalm 91:11-12, implying that surely God will protect Jesus by sending the angels to catch him. Jesus replies, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test (Deuteronomy 6:16).’” 

Finally, the tempter takes Jesus to a very high mountain and shows him all the kingdoms of the world. All Jesus has to do, the tempter says, is bow down to the devil, and he will rule all the kingdoms. Jesus rejects this path, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only (Deuteronomy 6:13).’” 

Perhaps the key take away from this passage is how Jesus resists temptations. In all three instances, Jesus’ answers Satan with scripture. Alone and hungry, Jesus clings to the Word of God for support and guidance.

Both the gospel lesson and the story of the students at Collingswood High School give us a glimpse of what is possible when we stand firm in our convictions.  We can speak out against the injustice our neighbors face in communities throughout the world. The walk of faith and the fight for justice are never easy, but Jesus is with us as we confront difficulties and opposition. 

Discussion Questions

• Jesus relied on Scripture to stand true during his time in the wilderness.  What Biblical passages do you rely on for support and guidance during difficult times? 
• What is the easiest part about being a Christian in your life?  What is the hardest part?

Activity Suggestion

• Create a collection of verses focused on strength, consolation, and guidance. Write each verse on a Post-It and place them on the bulletin board or wall in your space. People may take a Post-It to refer to whenever they need strength to face a challenging situation. 

Closing Prayer

Gracious God, we thank you for your guidance and how your Word offers us direction. We thank you for Jesus, who offers us inspiration when we face temptation. And we thank you for your love, which calls us to action. Help us to stand true and do hard things. Amen. 

 

Situation:

On Feb. 6 two powerful earthquakes hit Türkiye and significantly impacted neighboring Syria. The first was a magnitude 7.8 earthquake in south central Türkiye, followed hours later by a magnitude 7.5 quake in the southeastern part of the country. The two quakes have devastated Türkiye and Syria, collapsing thousands of buildings and damaging infrastructure. Over 41,000 people have been killed, with the count expected to continue rising drastically.

 

 

Response:

Lutheran Disaster Response is contributing to ACT Alliance to address the devastation from the earthquakes. There are several ACT Alliance members already active in the region that are providing immediate aid. These organizations are supplying blankets, mattresses, hot meals and hygiene kits to earthquake survivors. As needs are assessed, the organizations will establish further actions.

 

Be part of the response:

Pray
Please pray for the people in Türkiye and Syria impacted by the earthquakes. May God’s healing presence give them peace and hope in their time of need.

Give
Thanks to generous donations, Lutheran Disaster Response is able to respond quickly and effectively to disasters around the globe. Your gifts to Lutheran Disaster Response (Middle East Crisis) will be used to assist survivors of the earthquakes and other disasters in the region.

To learn more about the situation and the ELCA’s response:

• Sign up to receive Lutheran Disaster Response alerts.
• Check the Lutheran Disaster Response blog.
• Like Lutheran Disaster Response on Facebook, follow @ELCALDR on Twitter, and follow @ELCA_LDR on Instagram.
• Download the situation report and share as a PDF.

The following is cross published with permission from disciplescuim.org.

 

By the Rev. Paul S. Tché

Fullerton, California – The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) concluded a productive meeting on January 26-28, 2023, at the Disciples Ministry Center in Fullerton, California, to continue their ongoing bilateral dialogue.

The dialogue team studied together the WCC Faith and Order Commission’s theological convergent text, Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry (1984), led by Bishop Emeritus Donald J. McCoid, who served as Assistant to the Presiding Bishop and Executive for Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations of the ELCA.

The discussions focused on the shared understanding of baptism, Eucharist, and ministry and how they are biblically rooted and ecumenically influenced. The dialogue team spent time with the two heads of both communions, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton and General Minister and President Terri Hord Owens, to report the progress made in the course of dialogues for the last three years.

The Pacific Southwest Region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) hosted the meeting with great hospitality. The gathering opened with the liturgy from the 2023 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, where Rev. Belva Brown Jordan, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada, preached as a guest preacher. The meeting ended with a communion service.

The dialogue team was able to affirm their shared understanding and deepen their knowledge of each other at this meeting.

Bishop William Gafkjen, the Lutheran co-chair, reflected on this meeting as follows:

This meeting was a Spirit-led big step forward in getting to know one another and each other’s tradition with depth and dimension. We were moved beyond knowledge of the people and movements that led to the establishment of our two traditions toward more intimate familiarity with and mutual honoring of the fullness and complexity of each church’s contemporary commitments, concerns, practices, and perspectives. This was a crucial and energizing turn on this path of finding new and fruitful ways to manifest the unity that is ours in Christ for the sake of our shared participation in God’s mission of hope, healing, and reconciliation in the world.

Similarly, Rev. Dr. Robert Cornwall, the co-chair of the Disciples, shared the same sentiment in reflecting on this meeting:

Seeking Christian unity has been our Disciples’ polar star. It is in that spirit that we have entered into the conversation with the ELCA. While there are areas of difference, as we might expect, in our recent conversation making use of the Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry document, we have found many areas of affirmation and convergence that will provide a solid foundation for the journey ahead as we seek to more fully embody what it means to be the Body of Christ. Therefore, we are excited about what comes next.

The ELCA and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) look forward to their upcoming online meeting in the fall.

The ELCA and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) have a long-standing relationship and continue to work towards greater unity and cooperation in mission and ministry.

For more information about the ELCA-Disciples Bilateral Dialogue, please contact Kathryn Lohre, Executive for Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations and Theological Discernment, ELCA, at Kathryn.Lohre (at) elca.org, or Rev. Paul Tché, President of the Christian Unity and Interfaith Ministry of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), at cuim (at) disicples.org.

The Rev. Paul S. Tché, President of the Christian Unity and Interfaith Ministry of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada.

For more information visit the ELCA-Disciples Bi-lateral Dialogue page on disciplescuim.org.

A version of this piece was also cross published by Living Lutheran.

In the fall of 2021, the ELCA Worship Blog began a weekly series entitled, “Prompts for Prayers of Intercession.” Each post included a listing of prayer prompts based on current news and events, as well as a listing of upcoming commemorations and observations and additional prayer and hymn suggestions from Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW)/All Creation Sings (ACS) and ELCA resources. 

The goal of the project was to give church leaders a resource for crafting, updating, and contextualizing the weekly prayers of intercession for their worshiping communities. The prompts were intended to be a simple way to remain mindful of world events, in order to add relevant information to the “especially…” and the “Here other intercessions may be offered” invitations in the prayers of intercession published in Sundays and Seasons. 

As we continue to evaluate and evolve this weekly resource, know that we grateful for your ongoing feedback. We are especially grateful for all who responded to our survey this past November. We have learned that many of you are using the prompts to update and supplement the prayers of intercession in worship. Many of you, however, are using the prompts for a wider variety of purposes, whether praying through the list as part of your personal prayer practice, incorporating requests into prayer times at Bible studies or church meetings, or as a resource for prayer teams in your congregation. 

Beginning this Lent, the blog series will be retitled, “For What Shall We Pray?” This new title honors a more expansive understanding of the purpose of this resource. It is not merely a worship planning tool; it is a weekly invitation for individuals, groups, and congregations to remain mindful of the needs of our world, and to lift one another up in prayer. 

Each week we will offer a list of prayer prompts, a listing of upcoming observances – inside the church and beyond – and additional prayer resources from denominational worship materials. “For What Shall We Pray?” will be posted by noon each Tuesday on the ELCA Worship Blog (blogs.elca.org/worship) and linked on the ELCA Worship Facebook page.  

 We encourage you to find creative ways to use “For What Shall We Pray?” for yourself and for your communities of faith. You might: 

• “Pray the news” as part of your personal prayer practice 
• Incorporate the week’s requests in your opening or closing prayers at church council or committee meetings, or during Bible and small group studies 
• Use the post as a teaching resource or tool for reflection for confirmation class or adult forum 
• Choose items from the post as journaling prompts or focus items for meditation 
• Commit to an act of service, advocacy, or financial support based on the week’s needs 
• Celebrate a new-to-you observance with family or friends 
• Double-check the blog before leading worship (if you are a pastor or assisting minister) for last-minute additions to your congregation’s prayers 

Whether you have been using this resource or are new to it, we hope that you will find it helpful in your spiritual disciplines and your community’s worship life, as together we faithfully ponder the question, “for what shall we pray?” 

 

Pastor Melissa Bills
Melissa Bills currently serves as the Director of College Ministries and College Pastor at Luther College (Decorah, Iowa). She is a native of the Chicago suburbs, a graduate of St. Olaf College (Northfield, Minnesota) and Princeton Theological Seminary (Princeton, New Jersey), and has served congregations in the Metropolitan Chicago and Northeastern Iowa Synods.

Brian Hiortdahl, Sacramento, CA

Warm-up Question

What activity or pursuit do you stick with even though it is difficult for you to do?

Already

Dr. Maya Angelou (1928-2014) was a celebrated poet, author, teacher, filmmaker, and civil rights activist, among other roles and accomplishments. When interviewed upon being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011, Angelou reflected:  “I’m always amazed when people walk up to me and say,  “‘I’m a Christian.’ I think, ‘Already? You’ve already got it?’ I’m working at it…”

http://bingenow.com/video?vidid=1755

Discussion Questions

• What point do you think Angelou is making about being a Christian?
• Do you consider yourself a Christian? Why or why not? What does “being a Christian” mean to you?
• What aspect of Christianity are you working on … or, perhaps more accurately, how is Christ working on you?

Transfiguration of Our Lord

Exodus 24:12-18

2 Peter 1:16-21

Matthew 17:1-9

(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 A at Lectionary Readings.)

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

Gospel Reflection

Not long before they ventured up the mountain, Peter confessed for the first time that Jesus was “the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16) This insight, which Jesus credits to his Father, is now validated by the Voice from the cloud. There is further validation from the presence of two legendary witnesses, Moses and Elijah. (For more about the importance of two witnesses, see: https://blogs.elca.org/faithlens/january-8-2016-real-fake/.) The details of the scene—radiance, Moses, Elijah, cloud, mountain, voice—combine to present an overwhelming testimony to the unrivaled authority of Jesus, which will be reinforced after his resurrection (Matthew 28:18).

Why now? Immediately after Peter’s confession, Jesus states for the first time that he must suffer greatly and be killed. When Peter protests, Jesus scolds Peter, who goes from “Blessed” to “Satan” in only 6 verses! Peter’s subsequent attempt to confine Jesus, Moses, and Elijah to permanent mountaintop glory reveals that he still doesn’t get it.

Peter is experiencing what Maya Angelou talked about. Understanding, accepting, and following Jesus is not easy. He says so many difficult things. Consider:

+ Turn the other cheek … give your coat also … go the second mile (Matthew 5:39-41)

+ Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:44)

+ Do not judge (Matthew 7:1)

+ I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves (Matthew 10:16)

+ Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me (Matthew 10:37)

+ If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me (Matthew 16:24)

You get the idea:  it’s crazy hard.

Perhaps that explains why the Voice from the cloud said “listen to him!”  The Greek verb communicates continuing action: “keep listening to him!” It’s not a one-and-done; it’s an ongoing assignment and commitment. Martin Luther understood this. The first of his ninety-five theses states it clearly: “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, “Repent,” [Matt 4:17], he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.”

At this turning point in the gospel, it’s especially crucial for God to overcome Peter’s selective hearing (and ours) about what being the Messiah means, so God sets off extra fireworks to get our attention. God is making sure we all get it: keep listening to him! Don’t resist the cross. Don’t tune Jesus out when he says what we don’t want to hear. Don’t quit when it gets hard. Stick with it. Stick with him. And as you struggle along the difficult way of Jesus, keep listening to one more thing he says: “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.” (Matthew 5:12)

Discussion Questions

• What saying of Jesus is the hardest for you to accept and to live?
• What daily practice helps you to “keep listening” to Jesus?
• When have you been overwhelmed by glory? What did you learn from that amazing experience?

Activity Suggestions

• Learn more about Maya Angelou and/or other Black saints and witnesses during February (Black History Month). Groups can create a list of names, assign one name to each participant, then have each participant share a brief biography and a quote from that person.
• Read the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) and select one sentence to post in your room on Ash Wednesday (February 22). Read that sentence every day in Lent and let it work on you as you work on it.

Closing Prayer

Open our ears, Lord. We want to hear Jesus, especially when we don’t. Amen.