Dave Delaney, Roanoke, VA

Warm-up Question

1. What are the most important qualities you look for in your friends? Sharing common interests or values? Sticking by you no matter what? Agreeing with almost everything you say? Keeping you honest by telling you when you’re being annoying or about to do something dumb? 

2. A simple choice question with no right or wrong answer: Would you rather have just a few very close friends or a lot of casual friends?

3. 3. Since the pandemic lockdown, some young people report that it has been more difficult to build good and reliable relationships that it was before. Is that true for you or not so much? 

Social (Dis)Connection

Social researchers of adolescents have been measuring the amount of time teens spend with each other in person and noticed a significant drop between 2010 and the present. Although some attribute this to the pandemic lockdown, the trend was already starting before 2020 and has not rebounded since public gatherings once again became the norm. There is a great deal of speculation about what is behind this, and it includes many social theorists who assign a fair amount of blame to the prevalence of social media and electronic communication. Others disagree, pointing instead to societal tensions and increased anxiety among the adults who are supposed to be providing guidance for growing young people. Either way, most researchers are concluding that there is a connection between this lack of personal relationships (or the substitution of screen relationships) and the dramatic rise in teen depression and identity crises. Furthermore, it is well-known (and easily confirmed by even casual conversations with teens) that the Zoom gathering platform is no substitute for being together, to the point where students will beg for in-person experiences over an online option, even if it is more time-consuming and inconvenient.  

https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/4037619-teens-are-spending-less-time-than-ever-with-friends/ 

Discussion Questions

1. Not every single American teenager is experiencing either a personal crisis of identity and meaning or starvation of relationships. What is your experience? 

2. Do you ever think about your church family as a place where stable and nurturing relationships can happen, even with those outside of your age group? What would it take for your church community to provide such an environment?

3. As sophisticated as our FaceTime and other apps are, do you find that they are effective ways of staying in touch with your friends and building relationships? Why or why not?

The Holy Trinity

Isaiah 6:1-8  

Psalm 29  

Romans 8:12-17  

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 at Lectionary Readings.

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

The Holy Trinity

The Festival of the Holy Trinity is famous for being the only Sunday in the church year that is based on a theological doctrine rather than on an event in the life of Jesus or one of the saints or apostles. And many Christians get hung up on the seeming contradiction implied by the “3-in-1, 1-in-3.” In the end, however, the story of the Trinity is the story of God’s own self and relationships. It is more story than doctrine: we believe that from all eternity, the Father and the Son have been locked together in a relationship of creative love through the sharing of their mutual Spirit. The absolute closeness between them is what makes them “one God” and even defines what it means to be God. We might even say that God *is* relationship! And this mutual love between them is so powerful that it flows over into creating all things in the universe, including us! 

Since we are made in the image of God, we too are made for the experience of relationship, first within ourselves, and then – creatively and lovingly – with others!  

With this ongoing crisis of teens’ internal struggles and drop-off of peer interactions, there is almost no time in history when we have more needed a God who embodies unity of self and love for others. Everything that God is and does points us to putting together and repairing things that are broken, uniting people that are at odds with themselves and others. The Spirit of the one God is God’s gift to us to powerfully bring this about, and since God is one and we are one with God, we can bring God’s gift of healing to the world – the small world around us, and the big world that seems so often to be in so much conflict.  

Discussion Questions

1. Go through the gospel passage and note all the words or phrases that are related to relationships: “being born,” “loved” etc. What does this tell us about the nature and the will of God? Is the word “believe” (esp. vss. 11-16) more about acknowledging facts or about entering into a relationship? 

2. Christians have argued for centuries over the meaning of John 3:16-17, the meaning of the word “saved,” and what mechanism is required for salvation to happen. Is it possible that (rather than referring so much to life after death) salvation means experiencing the repairing and restoring love of God in the here and now and sharing God’s life and love with others?

3. When Nicodemus asks his implied question about whether Jesus is for real or not, Jesus says “You must be born *anew*.” In that word, Nicodemus hears “born *again*” as in a repeat of physical human birth, when what Jesus meant was “born *from above*” or “born in a different way.” How does knowing and following Jesus bring you new life each day?

Bonus question: What about Jesus’ life and work and nature do you find confusing? What question would you most like to ask Jesus? 

 Activity Suggestions

1. As Lutherans our whole pattern of daily faith is based on believing that being “born anew” happens every day, not just once. Find a copy of Martin Luther’s Small Catechism and look at the section on Baptism, where Luther asks and answers the question “What does baptism with water signify?” by encouraging a daily dying and rising by remembrance of baptism. Also, look at Luther’s morning prayer, which begins with making of the sign of the cross in baptismal remembrance, doing so with the invocation of the Holy Trinity. Can your group commit to undertaking this practice together for each day of this coming week? 

2. God’s great love spills over to us not just for our own sakes, but the for the sake of everyone around us who needs a loving relationship. Give each member of your group a card on which to list people they know who are in need of the kind of love that only God and God’s people can give. Pledge to carry this card around all week, as a reminder that we are bearers of God’s love.

3. Listening for the Holy Spirit to share the love of the Trinity in the midst of so many other voices in our world can be extremely hard! Get a volunteer to be blindfolded in the middle of your group and have one person read from John 3 while all others just talk constantly and try to throw the blindfolded person off. Can the blindfolded person pick out the words of John 3? How do you make that distinction in daily life?

(If the group is ambitious, look at the other lessons for the day that have historically been read by Christians to understand God’s trinitarian life – Isaiah 6:1-8; Psalm 29; Romans 8:12-17) 

Closing prayer:  

God, we ask you to bring to us the powerful and healing unity that you have within yourself. Allow us to be part of your purpose to bring restoration and reconciliation to the whole world every day and let others see the peace you have given us within ourselves. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.  

Josh Kestner, Clemson, SC

Warm Up Questions

1. How often do you interact with someone who is different from you? For example, how often do you interact with someone from a different neighborhood? Someone from a different school? Someone with a different racial identity or whose primary language is one other than English?
2. Have you ever entered into a new community? Maybe you moved to a new town or started going to a new school or joined a new sports team. How did you feel? What kinds of things made you feel comfortable and welcome? What kinds of things made you feel uneasy and disoriented?

Borders and Walls

Ask anyone what they think about the US-Mexico border and odds are they’ll have an opinion to share. The border is a hot topic and it’s difficult to ignore the conversations that politicians, family members, and strangers are having about it.

There are countless beliefs about what should and should not be legal regarding immigration. And there are differing viewpoints about how to handle the crowds of people who want to become citizens – what the process should be, what to do with them while they wait, how to handle families that are split, etc.

There are no easy answers when it comes to immigration and border policies. The U.S. cannot effectively or sustainably let everyone in, but they also cannot in good faith keep everyone out. The problem with social issues like this one is that humanity often gets lost in the midst of the numbers and logistics.

Our ministry took a recent trip to the border and spent time with a local organization that facilitates programs to support the people who live there. We met folks who call the border towns home and others who are just passing through, hoping to transition from one home to another. The key was that we met actual human beings who are living with the real consequences of current immigration practices and policies.

We were blessed to walk with these strangers who graciously welcomed us into their lives. And for a few days we listened to stories. These were stories not about what should or should not happen, but instead about what is happening in their lives. These stories also included hopes of how the world should respond to properly care for the people who are caught up in the realities of immigration.

Conversations like this usually spiral into hypothetical guesses as to who or what Jesus might have voted for. A more faithful response, though, could be to open ourselves up to curiosity and care. We are called to listen deeply to the stories of the people around us and to build meaningful relationships. Then, we might finally be able to develop policies for things like immigration that are less harmful and more life-giving to the community as a whole.

Discussion Questions

1. What is the general purpose of building a wall (e.g. a wall in the middle of a home)? When are walls useful? When might they have a negative effect? What are the effects that a wall might have at the US-Mexico border?
2. Have you ever met someone from a different country? How did you interact with each other? How did you communicate? What did you do to try to get to know them?
3. Have you ever been to a foreign country? How did you feel when you were there? Did you have to speak a different language? Did you try any new foods? Did you get lost?

Festival of Pentecost

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Psalm 104:24-34, 35b

Acts 2:1-21

John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

(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

The gospel passage for this week is about the presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of Jesus’ friends and followers. After Jesus rose from the dead and spent some time with his people in person, he left to be with God. While he was no longer going to be in their midst, he promised that the Spirit would come to provide the same kind of comfort, love, and guidance in their lives that he had given them for so long.

One of the other stories we read this week is from the book of Acts. It is a portrayal of the Holy Spirit showing up in the community on Pentecost. On that day, the Spirit rushed into the room like a mighty wind and appeared like a flame on the heads of the people who were there. Next, they all started to speak. Even though they were speaking different languages, each of them could understand the other.

There are so many things that we could take from the passages this week. One of the things that sticks out is how indiscriminate the Holy Spirit is. The Spirit did not only come to a few of the people in the crowd, but it came to all of them. It didn’t matter whether or not the people were from one region or another. It didn’t matter what language they spoke. It didn’t matter how they dressed or how intelligent they were. It didn’t matter what they looked like. The Holy Spirit showed up and put on a show for them.

This is a message that we can take with us. The very first thing that the Holy Spirit did in the community was tie them together. It did not separate them into groups of bad and good, then better and best. It pulled them together into a group of equals. Everyone had a role. Everyone had a purpose. Everyone had a place.

How empowering is that? Can we let ourselves believe that we, too, have the same kind of role, purpose, and place in the world? Can we feel the different ways that the Spirit is pulling us together instead of tearing us apart?

On this Pentecost, I hope that we can all take a deep breath and allow the Spirit of God to be a part of our lives. Perhaps it’s not as dramatic and spectacular as that day when tongues of fire appeared on the heads of the believers. But we, too, can find ways that the Spirit moves in our lives and guides us to do big things in the world around us.

Discussion Questions

1. The Holy Spirit is often portrayed as a gust of wind or a breath of air. What does that feel like to you? How does that image help you to understand the Spirit’s presence in your life?
2. Who are the people in your life that you trust the most? What makes you comfortable with them? What are the ways that you like others to show you love? How do you show love to others?
3. Are there times in your life that you have found it difficult to know what you should be doing? Are there times when you’ve had a hard time knowing what was right and wrong? How do you make decisions? Do you ever pray or try to notice how the Holy Spirit is moving in your life?

Activity Suggestion

• Do you know any other languages? Look up how to say, “You are loved,” in different languages. Write them on note cards or sticky notes or something portable to the best of your ability (especially if the alphabet is not something that you’re familiar with). Carry these with you and spread them around your church building or outside in the nearby neighborhood. Perhaps someone will come across these words and be curious enough to look up what they say.
  • The point of the story today is that God’s people are not uniform. We come from different backgrounds, we subscribe to different cultures, and we speak different languages. This activity can be a good reminder to us that children of God are beautiful and diverse. It can also be a simple way to stretch outside of our familiar lives and routines and take a step towards our neighbors in a meaningful way.

Closing Prayer

God, surround us with your love and fill us with the courage and confidence to share that love with one another. Open our hands and our hearts to truly attend to the needs of our neighbors. And empower us by your Spirit to broaden the boundaries of our communities to include all of your children. Amen.

Sami Johnson, Jacksonville, NC

Warm-up Questions

Name a way that God blessed you this past week.

We’ll See

If you have a preschool aged child in your household, then it’s likely you’ve watched the recently-released episode of Bluey called “The Sign.” In the first week of its release, it was viewed 10.4 million times! Without giving too much away, the episode begins with all of the children in Bluey’s class hearing their teacher, Calypso, read a Taoist parable called “The Farmer.”

In this parable, a series of events happen to the Farmer. While the farmer’s neighbors comment on everything that happens by saying how lucky or unlucky he is, the farmer replies with only, “We’ll see.”

Most of us are like the neighbors in the parable. On the one hand, when good things happen to us, we are happy and we tend to accept them without questioning them. On the other hand, when bad things happen to us, we get angry, frustrated, or sad and we try to figure out why this thing happened. Was it our fault or someone else’s fault? We try to figure out how to make it better.

Discussion Questions

• Do you agree that people question things more when things go badly than when things go the way they hope?
• What impact does the way we perceive the good and bad things that happen to us have on how we think God works in the world?

Reflection

In our reading today, it seems that Matthias won the divine election as the 12^th apostle. It appears that God looked on his heart (Acts 1:24) and saw that Matthias was the chosen one. I imagine he was happy about how that turned out.

But what about Barnabas. How did he feel about how things went? Was he disappointed? Jealous? Did he question his worth? Or did he handle it more like the farmer? It’s impossible to know, but we can wonder.

Being passed over for something can be hard to cope with. Whether it’s a job, a part in the musical, a college application, or a spot on the team, being passed over feels like the end of something once hoped for. We might take some time to grieve that loss before finding a way to move on.

Did Barnabas have to take some time to cope with his disappointment? Did Barnabas confide in one of the other disciples about how he felt? Did he stay with the disciples or did he walk away, seeing his gifts weren’t needed?

While there’s no way to know how Barnabas felt, we do have the benefit of knowing the rest of the story. In Acts 15:22-39 we learn that Barnabas had a key role with Paul in sharing with the people of Antioch the good news that all are welcome in Christ’s church. While he was not chosen by lot to replace Judas as the 12^thapostle, his gifts were needed for this vital work for the sake of the world.

Discussion Questions

• How does looking back impact how we see God’s blessings in our lives?
• How can the benefit of knowing the story of God’s faithfulness in the past impact how we deal with disappointment and loss in the future?
• How can you be faithful to Jesus’s call to follow him right now, where you are?

Activity

1. Think of a story in your life that you’ve viewed as a loss or disappointment and rewrite it from God’s perspective, considering the good that might have come from it, or the good that you hope might come from it in the future.
2. Check in on someone you know who has experienced a recent loss or disappointment and tell them you are thinking about them and that you’re praying for them.
3. Make “thinking of you” cards for the grief group in your congregation or for someone you know who has lost someone in the last year.

Closing Prayer

O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord: Amen.

(This prayer, “The Call of Abraham,” was written by Eric Milner-White and published in 1941.)

*Editor’s Note: Due to a family emergency, our originally scheduled author for today needed to postpone their writing to a later date. Fortunately, Faith Lens has a long history of relevant content. The devotion below, originally shared in May 2018, is one of many that reflect on the assigned lectionary texts. You can always use the search bar at the top right of this page to look through our catalogue for content based on specific scriptures or specific topics.

Kris Litman-Koon, Mt. Pleasant, SC

Warm-up Question

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

Achtung Baby

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

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

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

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

Discussion Questions

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

Sixth Sunday of Easter

Acts 10:44-48

1 John 5:1-6

John 15:9-17

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

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

Gospel Reflection

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

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

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

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

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

Discussion Questions

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

Activity Suggestion

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

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

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

Closing Prayer

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

Moriah Reichert, Bloomington, IN

Warm-up Question

• Have you seen little kids trying to do grown up things? Does your family have any stories of you trying to do something before you understood what you were doing?

Before We Understand

When we’re little, we often try to model our siblings, parents, or other grown-ups around us. One of my favorite pictures from toddler years is a photo of my dad and I on the couch. My dad is reading a Star Trek book, and I’m “reading” Sandra Bonyton’s Doggies: A Counting and Barking Book.

Last week, a friend showed me a video of her niece “reading” a book. No matter that the pages were upside down and she was turning the wrong direction: she was reading it! As little kids, we attempt what the people around us do. We adopt mannerisms and we say words that we don’t really understand.

If you’ve spent time with younger family members or friends, you might notice they’re paying very close attention to you. They’re trying to figure out how to be people; they’re learning how to be in the world.

Too often in the church, I think we pretend that we know exactly how to be God’s faithful people. Often, in actuality, we look much more like toddlers reading books. In love and our best intentions, we try to be the people God wants us to be, not quite understanding it. Often we mess up and look a little silly.

But, the story in Acts of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch reminds us that God loves and celebrates our best attempts to be the people God calls us to be. God loves our best efforts, and even sends mentors and guides like Philip to help us understand more. We’re all like little children, living into the hope that as we try to follow God, we’ll be blessed like the Ethiopian Eunuch even if we don’t understand.

Discussion Questions

• Are there times when you don’t feel like you’re “doing faith right?”
• What does it mean to you to be close to someone?

Fifth Sunday After Easter

Acts 8:26-40

Psalm 22:25-31

1 John 4:7-21

John 15:1-8

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

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

Gospel Reflection

Growing things can be so difficult because it involves a lot of waiting and a lot of uncertainty. I grew up in a small farming town, and I learned from them that even with all of the advancements science has made in helping plants be stronger and grow better, farmers still have to put a lot of trust in the weather. An exceptionally wet spring or a dry June can wreak havoc on a growing season.

In the gospel lesson from today, Jesus reminds us that no matter how fickle the growing season, if we stick close with him, we’ll bear fruit. Jesus reminds us to trust in him. Even when it feels like we haven’t sprouted a new leaf or grown fruit in so so long, Jesus says to trust, and to draw close to him.

Often we hope that Jesus will make us bear fruit. We show up when that is all we can do. We end up going through the motions, just like little kids pretending to read. We might not feel it, and we might not totally understand what is happening, but all of it still counts as drawing near to Jesus. Every time we show up to do the work of ministry and loving other people, even and especially when we don’t feel like it, we are drawing close to Jesus. We are leaning into the trust that God will work in us and we will bear fruit.

 Discussion Questions

• Can you think of a time when you didn’t feel like doing something, but you showed up and eventually were glad that you had done it?
• Jesus says that we will bear fruit if we draw near to him. What does that mean to you?

Activity Suggestions

• Plan a shared Sunday School or youth group event with the youngest members of your congregation. What do they teach you about leaning into faith even when you don’t understand it?
• Journal about something that you did, even when you didn’t feel like it. You might think about a season of a sport and days when you didn’t want to show up to practice.
• Find a plant to tend yourself or as a community. Scientists are still trying to figure out if talking to your plants helps them grow, but it might (and it certainly doesn’t hurt)!

Closing Prayer

Tending God, you cherish us and nourish us. Remind us that when we show up, even if we don’t feel like it or don’t understand, you still work through us. We give you thanks for the plants that grow and mirror the work you do in us, and we give you thanks for children that teach us to love and embrace you even when we don’t fully understand. Amen.