Catalyst Question

Describe a time when something out of your control was happening in your life. What did it feel like?

A God We Can’t Control

People often like to feel in control. Sometimes that’s for their own sinful reasons, like wanting unfair influence over others’ lives. At other times, people try to take charge because they’ve been hurt by someone they trusted.  And surely, there are things in our lives that we should control. How we treat other people, how we choose to use money, and how we spend our time are all appropriately within our control.

This week, there’s something going on in the sky that’s majestically out of our control. All across the world, all official planets within our solar system (sorry, Pluto) can be seen in a planetary parade. The best night to view across the globe is February 28th, and even five of the planets can be seen without a telescope.This astronomical wonder reveals both the expansiveness and the closeness of the heavens. Not only is it a rare and beautiful experience to witness, but it also highlights how fortunate we are. The laws of physic, far beyond our control, keep these planetary bodies in safe orbit around the sun in ways that both support and protect life on Earth. None of this is in our control, and yet it is good.

Luke 9:28-36 tells of a time when the disciples tried to control Jesus, along with Moses and Elijah. Often called The Transfiguration, because Jesus transforms in front of them, the story reveals that Jesus is beyond their control. Rather than contained in houses, or temples, instead Jesus shines brightly for all the world to see. In a voice from heavens beyond even our solar system, God affirms this independence from human control.

Yet, though we cannot control him, Jesus is good to us and good for us. Indeed, Jesus is God with us. As you read about The Transfiguration, consider these questions:

Ask Yourself

When have you tried to control something in your life and realized that, even though you couldn’t control it, it was still good for you?

Ask a Friend

How might it be good for us that God is beyond human control?

Catalyst Question

How do you define the word “mercy”?

Mercy Meant for Today

This devotion is based on The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL). A lectionary is a set of scripture readings assigned to different days throughout the year. Right now, we’re in the third year (known as Year C) of the RCL’s three-year cycle, which was assembled in 1983 by leaders of many denominations. That’s important background because, today, many congregational leaders are being accused of manipulating the biblical selections for worship to fit their own political or social agendas. If the congregation is using the Revised Common Lectionary, that’s simply not the case. These scriptures have been assigned to February 23, 2025 since before most millennials were born.

In the Gospel for this Sunday (Luke 6:27-38), Jesus speaks of many topics that challenge prevailing logic in the United States over the past month or so. In the face of political partisanship, racism, sexism, and economic oppression, Jesus says, “love your enemies.” In the face of funding cuts for programs that support the most at-risk citizens in our country, Jesus says “give to everyone who begs from you, and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again.” When these words appear on Sunday, it’s not evidence that your preacher brought an agenda into the pulpit. It’s not hinting of some conspiracy to undermine the current administration. They’re simply the words destined for this Sunday for decades.

This also includes the simple phrase from Jesus, “be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” That’s profoundly relevant today because the works of mercy that Lutherans have carried out for hundreds of years are now at risk. The move to freeze or remove congressionally-approved funding is not only legally dubious. It is at odds with Christ’s teachings. Fortunately, as the linked article indicates, Lutheran social service organizations are not backing down from this work of mercy. Instead, following the witness of Christ, they’re doubling down on the work of mercy and advocating that others do the same. Just as Jesus calls us to do.

It is dreadfully difficult to be merciful in such divisive times. Yet, remember that Jesus taught in a similar time. Rather than in relative peace, Jesus lived under Roman occupation. Jesus spoke out against religious and politic corruption. Jesus’ own faith community was divided into many factions. Though 2,000 years old, these words are very much meant for days like today. Especially now, we need mercy in all its forms–generosity, love, forgiveness, and the like. Rather than accidentally occurring or deviously manipulated, perhaps the Holy Spirit moved in 1983. Perhaps God knew, in a country with growing inequality, that we’d need the same words of mercy that spoke into similar divides in past millennia. It just might be that God knew we needed to lead with mercy in such a time as this.

Ask Yourself

What is the hardest part of Jesus teaching today for you to put into practice? Why is that?

Ask a Friend

How can we be more merciful and help others to understand the need for mercy in times like these?

Catalyst Question

Who is the most famous person you’ve met? Share the story of how it happened.

God Among Us

Luke 6:17-26 recalls a time when Jesus taught crowds about blessings and woes. It’s a striking teaching because, in it, Jesus challenged his listeners’ standard way of thinking. Are you experiencing things that people typically consider negative, like hunger, poverty, sadness, and social rejection? Soon you will experience God’s blessing. Are you experiencing wealth, popularity, satisfaction, or laughter in this current culture? Then you will be troubled by the new world that is coming with God’s reign. Not right at this moment, but change is on its way.

What’s even more striking about this is the staging.

Jesus “came down with them and stood on a level place.” In other words, Jesus taught from within the crowd rather than a place of privilege. The Creator of the Universe stood among, rather than above, its creatures. The one named Emmanuel, God with us, chose once again to be with the people in the midst of their needs.

At this halfway point of Black History Month, it’s good to remember that the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement also chose to be among the people they led and taught. Martin Luther King, Jr. didn’t just speak on Washington Mall, but also in Southern country churches. John Lewis didn’t just lead from Congress but from joined in demonstrations on public busses. Ella Baker organized at the local level to boost voter registration. So many others, from Fannie Lou Hamer to Bayard Rustin to Andrew Young and more, worked with people at their own level. These leaders reflected Christ not only because they sought the equity promised by Jesus in this Sermon on the Plain. They reflected Christ because they followed his lead and led from among the people. With that leadership model, they followed Jesus in changing the world.

Christ-like leaders don’t lord their power over subjects or make unilateral decisions without care for the impacts on the poorest among us. Christ-like leaders live life among the people and lead in ways that prepare us all for the new world of God’s reign where all share in God’s blessings. Let us look to Christ, then go and do likewise.

Ask Yourself

Name three leaders who lead like Jesus in this story and three who don’t. Who has the most power in society? Why do you think that is?

Ask a Friend

Who is a leader that you follow? How do they remind you of Jesus, if at all?

Catalyst Question

What’s your least favorite chore to do in your home? Why is that?

“In God’s Economy…

…nothing is wasted.” This quote was popularized in the 1990s by Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), an organization that supports people living with addiction to alcohol. Within that context, it addressed how even the most dire of circumstances can become a cocoon for growth. Such succinctly stated wisdom soon became contagious and spread far beyond AA. It also resonates with many stories from scripture.

Consider Luke 5:1-11. In that story, Jesus meets a few fishers at a lakeshore. They’ve had what felt like a wasted day. Lots of casting out nets and nothing to show for it, not even a handful of minnows. Yet, Jesus–who was a carpenter, not a fishermen–tells them to try one more time. That certainly seemed like a futile task; they’d been fishing this spot for hours, after all! Yet, with Jesus by their side, what seemed like a wasted day became a trophy-worthy trip to sea. Because Jesus turned their waste into abundance, people could eat their fill. In God’s company, what once seemed useless can become miraculous.

Even poop.

Of course, God’s creation shows us that what is waste to some is fertilizer to others. Anyone who grew up in the country knows the distinct smell of freshly spread livestock manure on nearby fields. Fewer probably think about the fact that bugs also poo. Fortunately, someone did. Eventually, that revelation led people like Shankar Ganapathi Shanmugam, a professor Mississippi State University, to research how bugs could be used not only to create new fertilizers, but also eat organic garbage in the process. It’s a pretty simple idea. Certain insects it food scraps. After digestion and a quick visit to the fly-sized toilet, what’s left is a new kind of plant food. This process means that what once was waste becomes quite useful.

These are certainly three very different scenarios. Yet, each also highlights something essential about God: abundant life can come from the most unexpected places. Those things that seem like futility, or failure, or simple waste to us? In God’s hands, they can become agents of abundant life.

Ask Yourself

What is one area of your life where you want to invite God to take something that feels wasted and turn it into something wonderful? Take time to pray for God’s presence and wisdom in that place.

Ask a Friend

As Christ followers, how can we work together to be creative like Professor Shanmugam to transform the world’s waste into useful tools for our neighbors?

Catalyst Question

Where have you noticed God in your everyday life?

God is Still Near

In Luke 2:22-40, we find the story of Mary and Joseph bringing Jesus to the Jerusalem temple. This act of dedication of their firstborn son was fairly common amongst Jews of the day. What was abnormal was the response. Two prophets, Simeon and Anna, each praise God for Jesus’ presence. Why celebrate this otherwise apparently normal boy? Because, by meeting Jesus in this very ordinary ritual, they encounter the extraordinary: God’s redemptive presence. God is near, and so they celebrate!

Finding the extraordinary amidst the ordinary isn’t limited only to ancient prophets or biblical stories. The Hippo Song, a classic camp tune, reminds us that “God’s fingerprints are everywhere.” Perhaps this became even more evident with the rise of Moo Deng’s popularity last year. In animals, plants, rocks, water, and everything else in the universe, creation points us to our creator.

Organizations like The Nature Conservancy work to ensure the protection of God’s creatures great and small. They bring together individuals and communities, religious and secular organizations, government and private initiatives, all to make sure the ordinary things of the Earth aren’t lost. The protection of these creations not only ensures wilderness for generations to come. It also ensures we can continue the sacred rituals God gives us through ordinary things. Baptism requires clean water. Bread and wine require healthy crops. God calls us to care for the normal things in our world; yet, through them, we also find that sacred presence that’s been there all long. 

This week, reflect on what it means that Jesus’ presentation at the temple–a very routine thing–is remembered as an exceptional moment in history. Then, think about the routine things in our world today–bugs and dirt, air and flowers, birds and fish, and of course, hippos like Moo Deng–and search for God’s fingerprints. Through them, and through us, God is still near. 

Ask Yourself

Where do you have trouble noticing God in your everyday life? Why might that be?

Ask a Friend

If God created everything, then how does our faith call us to interact with nature?