Maggie Falenschek, Saint Peter, MN

Warm-up Question

• What are two or three things you are really good at?
• Describe your personality: Are you funny? Kind? Compassionate? Assertive? Quiet? If you’re having trouble thinking of this on your own, ask a family member or a friend to help describe you!
• What is an issue of injustice that you are passionate about?

Sacred Vocations

Have you ever heard the word vocation before? Sometimes when we hear this word we think of someone’s particular job or career, but it’s really much bigger than that! Sometimes it helps to think about vocation as your unique calling. God has created each of us with strengths and gifts— things that we are good at.  In the same way, we each have different things we are passionate or care deeply about. Maybe it’s an issue of injustice that you see in your community. Perhaps it is something that you just love to do! When we combine our gifts and skills with the things we are passionate about, we may find our calling, our vocation. 

We each have multiple vocations. We have vocations in our families: to be a child, parent, family friend, or guardian. In our daily lives we might have a have vocation to be a student, scientist, athlete, or grounds keeper. These vocations may change throughout our lives, but all Christians share a special baptismal vocation to use our gifts and passions in service to our neighbor and world. When we live into our vocations, we receive a greater sense of meaning and purpose for our lives. 

Discussion Questions

• What gives you a sense of meaning and purpose?
• Think back to our warm-up discussion. How can you combine the things that you’re passionate about with your gifts and skills in order serve your neighbor?

Fourth Sunday of Easter

Acts 4:5-12

1 John 3:16-24

John 10:11-18

(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

Like us, Jesus had many vocations. He was a son, friend, and teacher. Jesus used the gifts of God and the movement of the Holy Spirit in his life for the betterment of the world.  He brought those cast aside into community, healed the sick and hurt, and, ultimately, brought new life from death. 

In our gospel reading for today, we hear about Jesus’ vocation as the Good Shepherd. There are things that any “good” shepherd does: tending to the sheep, keeping them safe from danger, bringing them to better pastures to eat.  But this story speaks of Jesus as a shepherd who does more than just care for his flock’s basic needs. Jesus knows each of his flock by name; he seeks out those on the margins of the pasture and brings them back. Jesus lays down his life, risking everything for his flock. Even a “good” shepherd wouldn’t take that risk, but Jesus did. God did.

Jesus’ vocation as the Good Shepherd helps us to better understand God’s deep love and care for us, God’s flock. Through Jesus, God went through the depths of human life for us. Through Jesus, God was vulnerable. Because the thought of even one beloved child being lost or alone was too much to bear, God risked everything so that we experience healing, togetherness, and new life. God loves us too much to leave us behind.

It is sometimes intimidating to think of our vocation, or calling, as followers of Jesus.  The invitation to care for our hurting world is overwhelming and we may feel utterly un-equipped to do so. There will be times when we surely do not live up to this vocation or the other callings in our lives. We may stumble, feel lost, or fail. But remember this: There is no failure, mistake, hurt, regret, or burden which can ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Good Shepherd. 

Discussion Questions

• Can you think of other stories or words that describe Jesus’ vocation?
• How do you react when you feel intimidated or overwhelmed? How can Jesus shepherd you through those times? 
• Divide a sheet of paper down the middle. On one side, list all of your strengths, skills, gifts, and resources. On the other side, list needs you see in your church or community. Is there a way that your skills, passions, and resources could meet a need in your community?

Activity Suggestions

• Listen to the song “You Were Born” by Cloud Cult. Print out the lyrics and highlight the lines that stick out to you or connect to what you’ve learned about vocation.
• Take the Via Character Strengths survey online. Did any of the strengths in your report surprise you? How do they fit into your vocations?
• Read through the Holy Baptism (page 227) or Affirmation of Baptism (page 234) liturgies in Evangelical Lutheran Worship. Circle all of the parts that are vocations or callings for us as followers of Jesus. 

Closing Prayer

God, you call us into many sacred vocations. Guide us as we use our gifts and skills to make our community and world a more kind, just, and loving place. When we get overwhelmed or feel intimidated by this great call, remind us that you are our Good Shepherd and that there is nothing that could separate us from your love. Amen. 

 

 

St. Matthew Trinity Lutheran Church’s Lunchtime Ministry offers a warm meal, hospitality and community to neighbors in Hoboken, New Jersey. This important work is supported in part by a Domestic Hunger Grant from ELCA World Hunger. Stanley Enzweiler is the Program Manager of St. Matthew Trinity’s Lunchtime Ministry and has worked with the ministry since 2016. In this post, Stanley reflects on the uncertainty and stress the community faced in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic – and on the hope, hard work and perseverance that has kept Lunchtime Ministry going. You can read a previous post from Stanley here.

March 16th, 2020, I didn’t want to open the door. The guests, I knew, were crowded outside, ready to rush in, grab a seat, and line up for coffee. They were expecting a long, leisurely morning with steaming cups of soup served to their tables by volunteers who knew their names. At Lunchtime Ministry (LTM), a soup kitchen/drop-in center in the heart of Hoboken, New Jersey, everything is free: the coffee, the wifi, the laughter, and the community. Today, all that was about to change.

I unlocked the door. “Hang on, everyone,” I said. “You have to come in one at a time. Wash your hands, and then I will give you a bagged lunch. We’re serving everything to go.”

For years, LTM had been a pillar of stability in people’s lives. We were open every Monday to Thursday, holidays and blizzards be darned. Some of our guests had gone through the same routine every day for years.

But that weekend in March 2020, the country had shut down around us. A new world had arrived. The virus could be anywhere.  Masks were not yet required, and people argued about whether gloves did any good. Instead of saying “Goodbye,” we told each other to “Stay safe.”

LTM was shutting down too. Our priority was keeping each other healthy—but avoiding COVID was just part of the picture. It was cold outside, and our guests had nowhere to go.  Some of them stopped coming to LTM, and I still don’t know where they ended up.  One woman sat down on the floor in front of the coffee machine and refused to leave.

We worked with the Hoboken Shelter and the local welfare office to lodge some of our older and less healthy guests in hotel rooms. As much as this helped space out our homeless population, several of our hotel guests continued to come to LTM every morning. That’s how much our community mattered.

As the summer went by, we borrowed an idea pioneered by some restaurants in Hoboken and opened up our own strEATery: outdoor tables and chairs where guests could sit together and enjoy to-go food. This gave us back a taste of the community we had missed so much. In Autumn, we began reopening for volunteers and asking our community to donate hot dishes, which we served in to-go cups.  And when temperatures dropped, we opened back up inside. We have limited our capacity in accordance with statewide regulations, and we have continued to enforce hand-washing, masks, and social distancing. Of course, it is much more work serving people inside than providing food to go, but having our community back has been worth it.

We have worked closely with other local services, including the Hoboken Shelter, the city’s food pantries, and the county’s clinics. We have provided our guests, volunteers, and community members with onsite flu shots, health screenings, and, this spring, over 150 COVID-19 vaccines. Individuals, schools, restaurants and spas from across the country have overwhelmed us with their support, donating food, hygiene items and money; spreading the word about LTM; and providing moral support. At least once a week, I hear from a former volunteer who wants to say hello and see how they can help.

 

This has been a year like no other. We are not used to thinking on our feet and changing things up at LTM, especially not when lives hang in the balance. But everyone has had to adapt this year, and through it all, LTM has continued to be there for our guests. We have provided as many services as we can while keeping our population healthy.

Who knows what the next steps will be?  Regardless, we’ll take them.

God’s work through the guests, volunteers and community members at LTM still continues – and continues to thrive! As of April 2021, over 500 vaccines have been distributed through LTM and its partners. With more community members protected, LTM has been able to offer more events at its site, including screenings for HIV, blood pressure, and glucose levels, haircuts for guests, assistance signing up for health insurance and housing, and fundraisers to keep the ministry going.

 

 

By Rev. Protopresbyter Nicolas Kazarian

The Department of Inter-Orthodox, Ecumenical, and Interfaith Relations of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America welcomes the opportunity to share its Greening the Parish Resource Page with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Designed for both the parish and home, this page provides resource material for navigating and fulfilling our vocation as stewards of creation and working towards greening our churches together on a personal level.

Especially featured are the ecological initiatives and activities of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, renowned as “The Green Patriarch” for his proclamation of “the primacy of spiritual values in determining environmental ethics and action.” Included are the September 1st Encyclicals for the Feast of the Indiction (beginning of the ecclesiastical new year) and Day of Prayer for the Protection of the Natural Environment, along with His All-Holiness’s works in global environment advocacy and action such as the Halki Summits.

Exploring a variety of practical and theological perspectives regarding environmentalism, the Creation Care Toolkit consists of Creation Care resources along with the Greening the Parish webinar series and manuals. Additionally, a variety of Orthodox perspectives are featured on the webpage including youth initiatives, books, and films along with a diverse resource section featuring the works of various Christian traditions, organizations, environmentalists, and academics.

“Defining environmentalism as a spiritual responsibility,” Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has explained “Our sin toward the world, or the spiritual root of all our pollution, lies in our refusal to view life and the world as a sacrament of thanksgiving, and as a gift of constant communion with God on a global scale.”

As we continue to cultivate this green ministry, the Department will begin publishing its “How-To” video series featuring lessons and practical guides on creation care and sustainability on Earth Day (April 22). We welcome this opportunity to partake in the protection of the natural environment as a chance to bear witness to our ecumenical desire to be one.

The webpage and additional information may be found here.

 

Rev. Protopresbyter Nicolas Kazarian serves as Ecumenical Officer and Director of the Department on Inter-Orthodox, Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations. He is also the parish priest of St. Eleftherios Greek Orthodox Church in Manhattan.

 

We know that ending hunger will take more than food. Addressing climate change is a critical step in this work. That’s why ELCA World Hunger is excited to share a new opportunity from Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary’s Center for Climate Justice and Faith. The Center’s work focuses on helping leaders learn about sustainability, caring for creation and working for justice so that all can enjoy the abundance of God’s creation.

This Center’s new Certificate in Climate Justice and Faith offers a cohort-based, online trans-continental curriculum which empowers participants to cultivate moral, spiritual, and practical power for leadership in the work of climate justice in communities of faith and in collaboration with others.  Topics covered include theology, ethics, and spirituality; climate change knowledge; and social change practices that connect ecological well-being with racial, economic, and gender justice.

Lay and rostered leaders throughout the Lutheran World Federation communion and from other faith traditions are invited to complete an interest form if you are curious to know more about this inaugural, non-degree learning program scheduled for September 2021 – May 2022.  Long-term collaboration and networking are expected to endure well beyond certificate completion date.

Applications are now open and will be accepted until June 15, 2021. To apply or to learn more, visit https://www.plts.edu/programs/certificates/certificate-in-climate-justice-and-faith.html.

 

 

 

by guest blogger Thomas Cunniff, ELCA General Counsel

Legislative moment

Congress is currently considering two competing bills which would codify civil rights for LGBTQ+ individuals in the United States, the Equality Act (H.R. 5) and the Fairness for All Act (H.R. 5331). The Equality Act has passed the House of Representatives and is now being considered by the Senate. One of the most significant points of dispute is how the two bills would treat religious objections. The Fairness for All Act would provide robust protection for religious objections, at the potential expense of weakening the civil rights of LGBTQ+ individuals. In contrast, the Equality Act would reduce protection for religious objections by exempting the Equality Act from the provisions of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The debate between these bills has set up a false choice between equal rights and religious freedom.

 

ELCA Priorities

The ELCA supports equal rights for our LGBTQ+ siblings. The ELCA’s social statement Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust (2009) states that the “dignity of the human being reflects God’s deep love and stands against all forms of violence, discrimination, and injustice” [page 5]. As a result, the ELCA “opposes all forms of verbal or physical harassment and assault based on sexual orientation. It supports legislation and policies to protect civil rights and to prohibit discrimination in housing, employment, and public services” [page 19].

At the same time, the ELCA supports the religious freedom and independence acknowledged in both the free exercise clause and the establishment clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. These clauses work together, not at cross-purposes, to protect the freedom of believers and non-believers alike from oppression and forced indoctrination. As stated in the ELCA social message on “Human Rights” (2017), the ELCA will “advocate for the U.S. government to protect and promote the equal rights of all people, as enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights” [page 12]. When the Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment did not protect the rights of Indigenous citizens to use peyote sacramentally, the ELCA joined with its full communion partners and many others across the political spectrum to support the adoption of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). RFRA requires that federal laws which substantially burden religious freedom be narrowly tailored to a compelling governmental interest.

Equal rights and religious freedom must coexist. Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust both expressly endorsed the extension of civil rights laws to our LGBTQ+ siblings [page 19] and recognized that people could disagree about Scripture and come to one of four different conclusions regarding same-gender marriage with conviction and integrity [pages 19-21]. Accordingly, it encouraged “all people to live out their faith in the local and global community of the baptized with profound respect for the conscience-bound belief of the neighbor” [page 21].

 

Ongoing commitment to a fair solution

We urge the adoption of legislation that ensures the full rights of LGBTQ+ persons without infringing on religious liberty or permitting improper government interference in the ecclesiastical activities of religious organizations. Blanket exemptions for anyone claiming a religious motive are too broad and would eviscerate necessary civil rights protections for historically marginalized groups. Not providing space in which dissenting religious groups can practice their beliefs free from government interference, however, would gravely damage freedom of conscience. Moreover, fully exempting statutes from RFRA sets a dangerous precedent of permitting the government to forcibly impose the views of the majority on minority religions, a precedent which could easily be weaponized by a future Congress and President. For these reasons, the ELCA is committed to continue working with others, including full communion partners, to find a solution that fully protects the civil rights of our LGBTQ+ siblings while at the same time protecting the free exercise and conscience rights of religious objectors.

Bob Chell, Sioux Falls, SD

Warm-up Questions

• Do you believe in demons? ghosts?
• Have you seen or experienced an encounter with a demon or a ghost?
• Is there a world we cannot see?

Seeing the Other

First, some of their names:  John Williams, Michael Brown, Elijah McClain, Robert Long, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Dylann Roof, Delaina Ashley Yaun, Hyun Jung Grant, Darren Wilson.  They were police officers and emergency room techs, artists and business owners, hard working and hardly working. Though DNA would almost certainly reveal all as multiracial they identified as African American, White, Native American and Asian American. Shooters and victims.  Law breakers and law enforcement. Their stories unique, yet eerily similar.

We are weary of their stories, their sameness, their sadness. We want to celebrate Easter but looking for Jesus in our broken world seems futile. The gospel challenges us to look harder.

Discussion Questions

• Each time a person of color is shot by a police officer, it’s a unique, one time situation, yet they are weirdly similar, and happen again and again. Why?
• Who or what is responsible for shootings which seem unjustified?  The officer who shoots?  Systematic racism?  Irrational  fear?  Poor judgement?  Lack of  training for those charged with a very difficult job?   What other possible causes can you come up with?
• Is the underlying cause unique or part of a troubling pattern?

Third Sunday of Easter

Acts 3:12-19

1 John 3:1-7

Luke 24:36b-48

(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

The disciples think they are seeing a ghost, a supernatural being of some kind. To ease their anxiety Jesus asks for food so that, seeing him eat, they will see him as  their friend and not an apparition.

“The only way I can describe it, it looks like a demon.” Those were the words of Darren Wilson, the police officer in Ferguson, Missouri who shot a young African American man, Michael Brown. “It looked like a demon,. So, Wilson said, “I shoot a series of shots. I don’t know how many I shot, I just know I shot it.”   Not “him”, not “Michael”, not “a man”, a “person”, a “teen”, Darren, the man.  Wilson said he shot “it.”

Set aside the question of guilt and innocence, right and wrong for a moment to consider the nature of what transpired.  For some reason—denial, racism, PTSD, training, or lack of training— police officer Darren Wilson did not see Michael Brown. He did not a person, but a demon, not Michael, but an “it.”

I spent the last four years of my career as a pastor working with ghosts, some would say demons. Like Michael Brown, they are each “other” or “it,”something unlike you and I. Some were called monsters or demons.  They were all inmate, prisoner, or con. Ghosts in khaki who walked the tiers of the South Dakota State Penitentiary.  They were stripped of their humanity by the system which knew them only by their inmate number or their crime. In becoming inmates they ceased to be men and became “other.” Other than human, like Michael Brown, they became other than like me.

The disciples  are“startled and terrified”, “disbelieving and …wondering.”  They watch as ghost becomes man, becomes human, becomes Jesus, the friend and brother  they lost only days before.

________________

It’s a mystery. I watched every Thursday night for four years as 12-15 visitors joined 100 inmates in the chapel of the penitentiary.  It is jarring and anxiety producing to enter a prison, to be asked over and over again about cell phones and pocket knifes, tobacco and watches, chewing gum and shooting guns. Then the door to the sally port opens so you can enter. As the electronic gate slides shut behind you, you know what a sally port is without being told, a gate closed behind you, another closed in front of you. Then the same questions.

The gate before you slides open…through the lobby…up two flights of steps…another gate…more stairs and doors…and finally into the upper room, the chapel.  You enter a world unlike that which you just transversed. The smiling men, some bearded or tattooed, some your own age or younger. Others are your dad’s age, or your grandfather’s. You remember, some came to this place at age 14. Which ones?

The men join in the opening hymn, “I saw the light.” They are all singing, not only singing but singing the way you do in a car on the way to the lake with friends, full volume and deep feeling. 

The service is much the same as in your congregation, other than that singing, of course. At least until the Passing of the Peace. Then it’s pandemonium, everyone on their feet, moving around the room and greeting visitors and inmates alike.  You realize, at some point, you have forgotten to be scared and are having fun, as the inmates greet you and thank you for remembering them. 

Why do they thank you for remember them?  “It’s because most are not remembered,” the pastor tells you. Most of the men won’t have a conversation with someone from outside the walls who isn’t paid to be there until next week’s worship. It is a different world.  Prisons are full of ghosts, ghosts in khaki …until they walk through the door to the chapel.   Then 34816 is transformed into Robert who you saw baptized. 74869 is David, a beloved child of God. 28482 is John, he’s in the choir.

One of the miracles and mysteries of St. Dysmas* (The ELCA congregations located behind the walls  of the South Dakota State Penitentiary) is a first time visitor’s realization, “they’re just like us!”  They ARE us. We are ‘us.’ There is only one us, one kind of people, lots of variety but we are all alike when it’s all said and done. None of us is defined by the worst thing we’ve ever done.  Everyone who comes through the sally port the first time, inmates and officers, visitors and pastors, imagine they are different from them. Whoever they imagine the them to be.

________________

In the seven Sundays of Easter Jesus repeatedly appears to disciples who fail to recognize him, who are filled with fear and confusion, with joy and disbelieving.  What can you glean from Jesus’ appearance to his disciples? 

You are not a ghost, a child of a broken home, an irritant to your family, or a hopeless case. You are a beloved child of God.   God has had an eye on you from before the beginning.  God loves you and will never stop loving you—even if you dress in khaki one day.

God knows and God loves you, period.  You may not feel lovable,  and the truth is that sometimes we aren’t very loving to each other, or even to ourselves.  But God sees through all that. God knows us and God  loves us.

Jesus came to forgive. Jesus came to heal. Jesus came to raise us up from the deadness of our battered and broken lives, to breathe life into our despair.  Just as Jesus gathered broken people to become his disciples, God calls to you and speaks the same blessing, “Peace be with you.”

Discussion Questions

• When have you been seen as “other.” How did it feel? Has anyone first seen you as other and come to know you as a person? 
• Have you heard or seen people acting or implying as if other people we somehow “less than” or “other?” Did you say or do anything? Why or why not? Do you wish you had responded differently?

Activity Suggestions

This week watch for times of “othering”—in your home, at school, in church and with your friends.  How Does Jesus appearance to his disciples encourage you to respond?

Closing Prayer 

Jesus, help us to recognize those unlike ourselves as sisters and brothers. Break down our hesitancy and awkwardness in unfamiliar situations.  Inspire us to make connections and build bridges when your people are divided. Amen. 

In the Easter season our “Alleluias” are bold. Many of the hymns and songs chosen for Easter have a majestic and joyful quality to them. Bells, brass, and drums often enhance organ, piano, or guitar. Yet we know that even though we are a resurrection people, we can’t always shout our praise or exude joy. “Christ has risen while earth slumbers,” a new hymn in All Creation Sings, announces the promise of resurrection while acknowledging the complexity of human experience. In the words of stanza three: 

Christ has risen to companion former friends who fear the night,
sensing loss and limitation where their faith had once burned bright.
They bemoan what is no longer, they expect no hopeful sign
till Christ ends their conversation, breaking bread and sharing wine. (ACS #938)

Drawing on imagery from the Emmaus story in Luke’s gospel, Christ comes among us as he did to those confused, fearful, and grieving disciples. This hymn’s author, John Bell of the Iona Community, is a Scottish Presbyterian pastor who writes and leads songs that often challenge our understanding and experience. He has written several books and articles about why and how we sing in community and how song shapes our witness in the world. You might enjoy listening to this 2019 interview with Bell in which he talks about some other songs of his in both ELW and ACS as well as core beliefs that shape his ministry. 

Bell’s text written in the late 1980s is paired in All Creation Sings with the tune ST.HELENA. The tune by Calvin Hampton (1938–1984) was published in 1977 without a text. It was first associated with “There’s a wideness in God’s mercy” (ELW #587). The Advent hymn “Unexpected and mysterious” was written by Jeannette Lindholm especially for this tune (ELW #258). Like both of those texts, the editors of ACS sensed that the melodic spaciousness of ST.HELENA paired well with the sense of breadth and transformation in Bell’s text. 

In the 2019 interview noted above, John Bell remarked: “The church at its best has a pastoral song which relates the pain of people as well as the joy of people.” “Christ has risen” includes the words “Christ has risen and forever lives to challenge and to change all whose lives are messed or mangled, all who find religion strange” (st. 4). Perhaps this is the only hymn we’ll encounter with the word “mangled,” but it is an honest, direct descriptor of so much of what we experience. 

Into both our joy and our pain, into our messes and challenges, Christ’s new life flows. Especially in this Easter when the pain, grief, and isolation of this year are ever palpable, this new hymn can renew our trust in the One whose Spirit dwells among us always. 

Christ is risen, Christ is present making us what he has been:
evidence of transformation in which God is known and seen. (st. 4) 

To learn more about All Creation sings, visit www.augsburgfortress.org/AllCreationSings.

Christ Has Risen While Earth Slumbers
Text: John L. Bell, b. 1949
Music: Calvin Hampton, 1938–1984
Text © 1988 WGRG, Iona Community, admin. GIA Publications, Inc.
Music © 1977 GIA Publications, Inc.
Permission required for further use. 

Image: Sundays and Seasons

CeCee Mills, Greensboro, NC

Warm-up Questions

• What is your greatest motivation?
• What gets you going in the morning or through a challenge?
• What gives you the greatest energy?

Finding Hope

A year ago, we were all adjusting to an interruption. We expected that things would soon go back to normal. None of us imagined the loss of so many big milestones in the lives of students across the country. In-person school went away. Spring break went away. Proms went away. Graduations went away. Sports went away. So much that was a part of everyday life just went away.

The pandemic hit us so fast and so hard, we were initially just waiting for it to go away. But it did not go away. It still has not gone away.

The way we will get through the rest of the pandemic is by looking for the glimpses of hope. I search for evidence of God’s resilience and love. It helps me. Hearing about acts of kindness, seeing God’s creation, noticing small miracles, and marking progress of any kind are beacons of hope and light for me. Sometimes it is a random picture of a puppy or a powerful scripture.  Maybe it’s an inspiring quote or the voice of a friend. I thank God for these daily reminders of God’s wonderful abiding presence.

Discussion Questions

• What new habits have you or your friends began to help deal with life in a pandemic?
• How can you create new habits to help you see God’s presence every day?

Second Sunday of Easter

Acts 4:32-35

1 John 1:1—2:2

John 20:19-31

(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

In the Gospel reading, we see the new reality the disciples face with Jesus’ absence. They are afraid and in hiding. The life that took them to strange lands with a teacher who performed miracles and spoke with true authority is over. Like us in this pandemic, they hope this scary time will end. The disciples hope that those who killed Jesus are not looking for them anymore. They want to stop feeling anxious everyday and worried about dying. They want their Rabbi back.

Then Jesus comes into their midst and lets them explore his wounds. Jesus relates to his disciples through the evidence of his suffering – it is their confirmation that he is the risen Christ. He breathes on them and gives them a new dose of hope. They do not return to the life they had with Jesus or the life they had before following him – they enter a new season. It is a post-resurrection season where they continue God’s mission without Jesus’ physical presence.

They have to let go of the yearning to go backwards and look at what lies ahead. It must have been amazingly hard to let go. It must have been amazingly wonderful to see Jesus again and witness the signs. It must have felt like confirmation of their call to be disciples. Jesus gives them the hope they need to complete their journey.

Jesus still does that for us. He fully recognizes the likelihood that we will hide our faith if we think it will offend or attract unwanted attention. He knows this and allows us seasons like Lent to focus on the wounds of Christ, so that we understand the cost. Yet that season is followed by the resurrection joy of Easter, which reminds us that by those stripes we were healed for a new day. We journey into the future, fully aware of the shadows, but expecting the illuminating light. We know God knows our questions and doubts. 

Jesus acknowledges the disciples fears as he accommodates Thomas’ need to touch the wound. And God knows your questions and doubts. They do not surprise God because God knows the full story. God knows the hope you need to keep you on your journey.

Discussion Questions

• How does God confirm who God is with you? Is it a song? Or a feeling? Is it by words or images?
• Once you get that confirmation, how can you share that experience with others?
• How can you help others to see how God provides confirmation for them?

Activity Suggestion

Pay attention to how you experience, witness, or feel hope during this pandemic in the next week. Share that hope with two people who are close to you and one who is not so close. Begin to imagine why God keeps you hopeful. How do you see God using you at this time to share the hope of Christ? Create a tangible object or picture that can be a reminder of the hope God provides. Put it in a place that is most helpful for you to see it and be reminded.

Closing Prayer

Dear God, you are so patient with us, even when we have lost patience ourselves. Thank you for abiding with us at all times and giving us hope in you. Help us be aware of the ways you reveal yourself and the ways you are present with us. Help us to share that with others. Amen

 

An increase in unaccompanied children and asylum-seekers arriving at the U.S. border with Mexico has given rise to claims of a crisis. Individuals, families and children seeking protection are no crisis — the crisis is the circumstances they are fleeing and the moral challenge of safe welcome. To offer hope and hospitality to the sojourner in this season of Easter is to bear witness to the suffering that affects the lives of so many. Through acts of love and service, the ELCA, with its strategy of Accompanying Migrant Minors with Protection, Advocacy, Representation and Opportunities (AMMPARO), continues to support migrants and advocate for just and compassionate solutions.

 

WHAT IS HAPPENING AT THE BORDER?

In recent weeks, growing insecurity has driven more families and children to the border. Not that long ago, Central America was hit with back-to-back hurricanes that caused widespread destruction and massive internal displacement. The World Food Programme estimates that nearly 8 million people in Central America are chronically hungry because of climate-driven events compounded by the pandemic. Targeted violence and crime, gender-based violence, corruption and state repression are additional factors forcing people to leave their homes. Unless these deeper issues are addressed, people will continue to migrate.

 

To put the situation in context: border encounters have been rising for months despite punitive measures put in place to discourage migration at the start of the pandemic. Between April and December 2020, total apprehension of single adults increased, as did those of family units and unaccompanied children, although by smaller margins. It’s still the case that the majority of people are expelled — most under Title 42, a rule invoked by the Trump administration to expel virtually all border arrivals. This policy has disproportionately impacted Black migrants from African and Caribbean countries. Migration also ebbs and flows — shifts that are based on the time of year and season. It is true that the release of unaccompanied children and a portion of families encountered at the U.S.-Mexico border have increased, but the emergency here stems from the practical challenge of moving migrants quickly through an infrastructure that has been decimated over the years and made even worse now by capacity issues due to the pandemic. The Biden administration policy is to accept unaccompanied children under age 18, which is how so many children have entered the care of the government while they wait to be reunited with their parents or a sponsor. Shelters have struggled to keep up with the new arrivals.

 

No event or escalation of need warrants calling migrants a crisis. Neither is scapegoating migrants an acceptable message. No significant rise in the spread of COVID-19 has been attributed to recent arrivals.

 

HOW CAN THE SITUATION IMPROVE?

The United States can protect people seeking safety and also safeguard public health. Rebuilding capacity to humanely welcome and process asylum-seekers and unaccompanied children will take time. With time and resources, the pressure should gradually improve, but long-lasting solutions are also needed to address the root causes of migration as well as the impractical aspects of the U.S. immigration system that hamper family reunification and access to asylum. More unaccompanied children arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border in February 2020 than in any other February on record. (The highest number ever recorded was in May 2019). In the last few years, and especially during the pandemic, the systems of protection available to vulnerable migrants such as children have eroded badly. Any moral path forward must envision a system that humanely welcomes and processes asylum-seekers and unaccompanied children.

 

HOW IS THE ELCA RESPONDING?

Our congregations and companions are already responding to the needs of families and children after they have crossed the Mexican border into the United States and been released by border authorities. Churches and synods participating in the ELCA’s AMMPARO strategy work to address the critical needs of recently arrived children and families alongside direct-service providers, immigrant organizations and other secular and interfaith partners. This is a whole-church, whole-society mobilization of resources, compassion and expertise to ensure that migrants are treated humanely and granted amparo — refuge.

 

This witness is complemented by ELCA advocacy efforts that center on protecting the right to seek asylum and apply for refugee status in the face of unprecedented global need. Dubious policies enacted to restrict immigration to the United States conflict with its domestic and international obligations. Any obstacle to a person lawfully seeking protection must be reconsidered. The ELCA advocates for laws that vigorously protect unaccompanied children and families, asylum-seekers and refugees.

 

BE PART OF THE SOLUTION

This toolkit from the Interfaith Immigration Coalition (IIC) summarizes recent actions and events that people of faith can learn about and join to help respond to the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border. You can stay informed by visiting the AMMPARO Facebook page, where developments at the border are closely monitored by AMMPARO. Building awareness of the plight of migrants, especially those who are Black, Indigenous, LGBTQIA+, disabled, women or unaccompanied children, can counter the stigmatization and discrimination that permeate the public consciousness.

 

The ELCA social statement For Peace in God’s World (1995) states: “Faith in the crucified and risen Lord strengthens us to persist even when God seems absent in a violent and unjust world, and when weariness and hopelessness threaten to overwhelm us.” We pray that God’s grace and everlasting love will wash over the weary migrant and give us the guidance and wisdom to restore hope at the border.

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