Catalyst Question

Share about a time when someone stepped in to help you face a sudden, unexpected problem.

An Urgent Answer

As wildfires continue to threaten countless people in Los Angeles, community organizations are stepping up to help. Some provide food and shelter to the newly houseless. Others assist pets separated from families in the rush to find safety. All God’s creatures, great and small, need support in times of tragedy like these. And God shows up in all sorts of ways, through local organizations like those above and through international efforts like our own Lutheran Disaster Response.

In Sunday’s reading from John 2:1-12, a very different sort of urgent need appears. It is certainly not life or death to run out of wine at a wedding reception. The only thing at risk, it seems, is the social standing of the party thrower, whose lack of resources just might disappoint the party goers.

And still Jesus steps in. Without fanfare, Jesus preserves the relationships of the attendees with the bridegroom by ensuring there’s wine to spare. Not only does Jesus turn water into wine, but into excellent wine. When Jesus offers help, even in relatively minor situations, it’s not simply adequate. It’s extravagant, extending from great to small.

These are certainly different situations, natural disasters and party supplies. Still, in the times of urgent need, God steps in because God cares about us. As followers of Christ, so too we are called to step in. Perhaps this is through a gift to Lutheran Disaster Response’s efforts to immediately address the crisis. Perhaps it’s by providing housing to someone displaced by the fires until they’re able to return home. Certainly it’s through prayer. The example of Jesus is clear: when a crisis arises, Christians are called to provide relief.

Ask Yourself

What are some different ways you could intervene to provide relief to wildfire victims or others experiencing an urgent need? Pray and ask God for the wisdom to respond faithfully.

Ask a Friend

Who is someone that provided relief to you in a time of crisis, whether minor or major? How did they show Christ to you through their support?

Catalyst Question

What do you remember of your baptism, if anything? If you aren’t baptized, or if you don’t remember yours, then share a memory of a baptism you witnessed. 

The Baptized Life

This week is President Jimmy Carter’s funeral. As people share memories, you might notice that many reflect not only on his presidency, but on what he did with life after he completed his only term as the leader of the United States of America.

There’s lots of reasons for that. Chief amongst them is that, after he left the White House, President Carter committed to continued service. This happened in his local Georgia church where he served as a Sunday school teacher. His influence helped to kickstart the housing movement that became Habitat for Humanity. He worked globally to reduce poverty and locally to inspire people of faith to live out Jesus’ compassion.

Political junkies might also know that President Carter’s single term was controversial. People remember economic turmoil at home and the the Iran-Contra Affair abroad. Fortunately, like any baptized child of God, President Carter knew two things. First, no one is perfect. Whether due to mistakes in his leadership or powers beyond his control, President Carter admitted his limitations. Second, he knew that mistakes don’t need to end your influence, even if they bring a change in the way(s) that you serve.

That’s the baptized life. We, who are not perfect, live in light of Christ’s perfection. We, who cannot save ourselves or everyone else, are saved by the grace of God.

This week, as we celebrate the Baptism of Our Lord, we read about the baptism of the only one perfect among us, Jesus (Luke 3:15-17, 21-22). Jesus submits to baptism as a sign that God, in becoming human, also accepted limitation. All of us who follow him in baptism, join in that miraculous life, death, and resurrection. Our human limitations and our sinfulness alike are not the end of our story because, in Christ, we live resurrection life.

President Carter’s legacy reminds us that, long before death, Christ invites us to participate in resurrection life. It also reminds us that, even if we don’t remember our own baptisms, we are living our baptism every day as we emulate Jesus in word and deed. May we live that life today and every day, until death comes, when we will join in that final promise of everlasting life.

Ask Yourself: When things don’t go the way you want them to, how might you remember your baptism in ways that inspire new ways of living more abundant life? 

Ask a Friend: Who is someone you witnessed live a resurrection life? It could be a personal connection, a public figure, or even fictional character. 

Catalyst Question

What constellations, comets, or other celestial objects can you identify?

Signs in the Skies

Happy New Year! Last year, many in the United States experienced a total solar eclipse. As this article details, 2025 forecasts a number of different events involving the sun, moon, stars, comets, and more.

We’re not the only ones who look to the heavens with interest. In today’s Gospel reading from Matthew 2:1-12, Magi from Persia follow heavenly body to Bethlehem and visit Jesus. Magi were priests and scholars who looked to the stars for divine wisdom. They asked questions about anything from the best time to plant and harvest crops to whether a natural disaster might visit their region. Magi sought the sacred in the stars. While Lutherans don’t typically look to the stars in exactly the same way, we do look to the heavens because we believe they reveal God’s wisdom and might.

This Sunday, we celebrate The Epiphany of Our Lord. The word epiphany means “reveal.” This festival celebrates that, in Jesus, God is revealed to all people. Jesus is not just for the polite, religiously acceptable people, but for the people who look for God in ways that seem strange to others. Jesus is not just for the insiders, but for the outsiders. In Jesus, God is revealed to all nations, all peoples, all sorts of all of us.

This year, as you look to the sky, remember that many other people will be looking at the same stars, the same comets, the same sun and moon. They might be very different from you, but the God in Bethlehem’s manger came for them, too.

Ask Yourself: Epiphany reveals that God for everyone. Who is it hardest for you to believe Jesus is here for? Why is that?

Ask a Friend: When you look to the stars, what do you learn about God?

Catalyst Question

When you think of words like “education” or “school,” what comes to mind?

Witnessing a New Era

Merry Christmas!

Now, you might be thinking, “How was Jesus forn was just a few days ago, and now already he’s a 12-year-old?!” Rather than a mutant-like growth pattern, a la Marvel’s X-Men, this is simply a reflection of how little scriptural material addresses Christ’s childhood.

Even so, it’s remarkable how normal this childhood appears. In Luke 2:41-42, we find Jesus in school. Not exactly like the middle school that today’s 12-year-olds attend, but a school quite common for the day: religious instruction. At the temple, Jesus learns from the teachers, probably rabbis with the possibility of priests chiming in as well. He both listens and asks questions.

One fascinating thing about this story is that, apparently, the adults welcome Jesus as a student. They gave Jesus the gift of time. Jesus finds welcome and support amongst his elders as he seeks to grow. Today, we might call that mentorship. It sounds like this article, which describes how having mentors increases the likelihood of success among adolescents as they grow intellectually, socially, and psychologically. Similarly, research from the Springtide Institute found that an interested adult in an adolescent’s faith life led to a more robust spiritual experience for the young person.

This Christmas (and don’t forget, Christmas lasts for 12 whole days), give the gift of time to someone younger than yourself. To mentor someone can be as simple as knowing their name, taking an interest in their life, sharing your passions, and taking their questions seriously. It made a difference in Jesus’ life and can make a difference for people today, too.

Ask Yourself: Who is someone older than me that took an interest in my life? Take a moment to reach out to that person and thank them for the impact they made.

Ask a Friend: Jesus, our greatest teacher, took the time to learn. How can we help one another stay humble enough to learn as we grow in our own callings?

Catalyst Question

How do you define success?

Witnessing a New Era

This week, a new era in began in college sports: a twelve team playoff to name the national champion in collegiate football. For many years–in fact, for more than a century–champions were determined through voting of either coaches or media professionals. In 2014, a four team playoff format began. This week, this playoff expanded to include twelve contenders, with teams from Indiana University and the University of Notre Dame inaugurating this new era.

With more games, there will be more fans who witness the plays on the field, and likely more who will watch on television as well. Given the size of these stadiums, hundreds of thousands of people will experience this first playoff in person, and millions more at home. At the end of the whole process, we’ll witness one winner amongst the field of 134 contenders.

It’s odd that this new method of crowing a champion begins during Advent. Advent is also a new era of victory, but one where God prioritizes a very different sort of success. As we hear in this Sunday’s reading from Luke 1:399-55, God isn’t interested in crowing one winner. Mary’s song reminds all who hear, or read, that God lifts up the lowly, that all might become winners. Rather than a playoff to crown one true champion, Jesus arrives in Bethlehem to share divine success with all who play the game of life.

It’s interesting that, rather than a stadium full of adoring fans, God arrives among us through a backwater town. Born into a feeding trough, there was no live stream to witness Christ’s arrival. Especially because Jesus is God’s victory for all people.

In Advent, we await the successful culmination of Emmanuel with God’s arrival among us in Jesus. Jesus is the victorious presence of God in Christ. This divine arrival, which successfully brings divine blessing to all creation, is starkly juxtaposed this week with a very different kind of winning.

Let’s remember, as we approach the manger this week, that Mary reminds us God’s success is defined in profoundly different ways than our own. There is no tournament to God’s blessing, for in Bethlehem, God chooses to bless us all.

Ask Yourself: How can I encourage others with the Christmas reminder that there is no competition needed to earn God’s blessing?

Ask a Friend: Who are the “lowly” people, mentioned by Mary, who God lifts up? Who are those that the world looks at as losers but God welcomes into the winners’ circle?

Finally, this is the last week to take this survey and give your feedback about Faith Lens as we determine the format for the next season of this resource!