Faith Lens is pausing its weekly article rhythm for the summer. However, be on the lookout for three new resources we hope will be useful:

• A pre-summer trip reflection to help prepare groups for a trip, released in June
• A post-summer trip reflection to help process the experience, released in July
• A special article on The Gathering to help groups begin thinking about this life-changing opportunity, released in August

If you are looking for an accessible devotion for yourself, teens, and/or young adults this summer, check out d365.org! It is a year-round daily devotion available on the web and in a free-to-download, user-friendly app. The ELCA is now a partner in this ecumenical resource!

Lastly, thanks to all our writers who produced thoughtful, meaningful articles throughout the year. Most of all, thanks to you, the readers, users, and supporters of this blog. I pray it has been, and continues to be, a faithful tool in whatever way you engage with it.

With gratitude,

Rev. Cogan Blackmon
Editor

Prepare:

The Gospel of John has some of the most dense “theological language” of the Gospels. Not that the others aren’t also deeply engaged in God-talk (theo-logos → God-words → theology!), but the author of John goes to great lengths to clarify “a but not b, and c because d”. They are reflecting on the theological developments of the early church and deliberately educating their audience through passages like today’s. 

Today’s text invites us to think about what Jesus wants for his disciples as he prays for them (and us!). Are we meant to believe that Heaven is “up there” somewhere? What does Jesus mean when he talks about “eternal life”? Is all of this church stuff just about what happens after we die? Maybe these kinds of questions are familiar to you. For folks  unfamiliar with Christianity, it’s easy to think that “believing in Jesus so we go to heaven when we die” is the whole point of Jesus’ life, ministry, death, and resurrection. This prayer helps expand our perspective,  providing a broader view of what Jesus hopes and intends for his disciples.

Opening Exercise:

Read Psalm 8 aloud together. What stands out to you from this poem? 

I especially love verses 3 and 4; have you ever looked up at the stars so long that your brain recognizes that you’re staring into a three-dimensional space and not just a flat starfield? (and you become immediately aware that gravity is holding you to the planet…) If not, I hope you get the opportunity one day!

• What places or spaces in your life give you a feeling of being very, very small compared to something very, very big?
• What about the opposite? When do you feel very, very big compared to something very, very small?

Text Read Aloud:

John 17:1-11

Look Up

I was six years old the first time I took a flight. The moment the plane crossed to the upper side of the cloud cover, I looked out the window and said “Wow! We’re in Heaven!” My little brother leaned over excitedly, peered out the window and asked, “Where’s Grandma?”. (Needless to say, we didn’t see her.)

We all have ideas about what words like “heaven” and “eternal life” mean; we should pay attention to what Jesus actually says about them. 

The author of the Gospel of John and the characters within have a very different understanding of the cosmos than modern readers do. They lived more than twelve centuries before Copernicus pointed out that the Earth isn’t the center of the Universe, and even further back in time from any of our modern observations of black holes, the Big Bang, multiverse theory… It is almost impossible to imagine how different their understanding of the physical world is from our own.

So when Jesus “looked up to heaven” in verse 1, do we need to believe that “heaven” is “up there” somewhere? I don’t pretend to know what Jesus of Nazareth believed about those things. However, I think it’s fair to say that wondering about the physical location of a heavenly realm is not the part of the story that Jesus really wants us to focus on. 

Eternal Life Jesus

Jesus prays for his disciples, and we should pay attention to what he prays for: knowledge and unity. In Verse 3, Jesus defines what “eternal life” is: knowing that God is the true God and Jesus Christ is the one whom God has sent. At the beginning of the Gospel, John describes Jesus as the Word of God: Jesus is what God is communicating to the world. Jesus is God’s message. Not just a messenger, but the message itself. All these things are the message of God: the way Jesus treats people, the way he interacts with the world around him, the things he advocates for, what he says he’s about (such as Luke 4:16-21, Matthew 25:31-46, etc.), the ultimate integrity to the message that led to his death, and his resurrection. Knowing the life of Jesus is the stuff of eternal life for us. It will connect us to God and to each other.

Eternal life is for living now! Knowing that Jesus is the Word of God invites us to focus us on living the way he does, empowered by the Spirit, lifting our heads to see a horizon beyond our own lives. We are invited into what God is doing in the world! Nobody else can play our part for us. Perhaps a good way of thinking about taking up God’s invitation is that we will live “the kind of life that death can’t destroy” or “the kind of life that is eternal”. Jesus talks about it as “the kingdom of Heaven” and says that it’s a reality right now. It’s about a different quality of life, not just an extension of it into infinite old age. 

Reflective Questions:

1. How do you understand what Jesus says in verse three? Is this a different definition of eternal life than you’re used to?
2. Maybe this study has offered you an opportunity to re-frame a belief you hold. How does that feel? Does it feel ok? Not ok? What’s different?
3. Can you think of people who have lived “life that death can’t destroy”? Make a list of them. What do they have in common? What kind of things made their life so compelling?
4. Jesus is the Word of God; what is God saying to you today?

Closing Activity:

Listen to “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus”

1. “From our fears and sins release us” 
   • What fears hold you back in life?
     What sins can you confess to Jesus and lay aside?
2. “By thine own eternal Spirit rule in all our hearts alone”
   • What can you do today to strengthen the community around you?
     What unity can you be part of creating? This doesn’t mean everyone has to be the same: let the harmonies of the song inspire you! Sing your part, let others sing theirs.

Final Prayer:

Take a deep breath and exhale.

Holy One, thank you for showing yourself in the life of Jesus Christ. Help us to know you better and follow you more closely. Shine a light in our life, into the shadows that hide the things we don’t want to look at. 

Silence

Thank you for loving us as we are; help us to hear your voice more clearly and trust where you’re leading us.
In Christ’s name. Amen

Bio:

Rev. Rory Chambers is the Pastor for Youth and Young Adults at The First Presbyterian Church of Dutch Neck, NJ. Rory is Australian, and looks for any excuse to share a meal with people. If he’s not at home with his family, you’ll find him leading karaoke at a pub with his neighbors.

Prepare:

The Gospel of John has a very different character than the other three Gospels (Mark, Matthew, and Luke, which are called “the Synoptic Gospels”). Whereas the Synoptic Gospels tell many similar stories about the life and ministry of Jesus, John emphasizes the mystic spirituality of Jesus’ life and mission. Together all four Gospels combine into a wonderful overlapping kaleidoscopic vision of Christ. The author of John especially wants their audience to understand that Jesus is God, and (for better or worse) they go about it with very circuitous, and sometimes confusing, language. Remember that this text is from an ancient spiritual document; it’s okay that it’s confusing to us sometimes! 

In today’s text, Jesus is speaking to his disciples in the upper room on the night before his crucifixion. This is part of what’s called his “farewell discourses”. Think of it as Jesus saying goodbye to his friends, and they’re saying, “no, don’t go!” He’s comforting, preparing, and instructing them for what happens next. In this passage, Jesus promises that the Spirit of God will be with them. He reassures them with ways to know that even after he’s gone, they are still part of what God is doing in the world. 

Opening Exercise:

• Think about people that you love, people who you are in regular, close relationships with. It might be family, roommates, friends, etc. List three of them specifically.
• What things do you do for them that you wouldn’t normally do for a stranger?
• Do you have to do those things, or do you choose to? 
• What changes about your relationship when you do these things (or don’t do them)?

Text Read Aloud:

John 14:15-21

Ordinary, Household Acts of Love

I don’t think anyone really likes being told what to do, do you? (seriously, do you?)

Even worse is when someone tries to leverage you by saying things like “if you really loved me, you’d [fill in the blank]” It’s bad enough they’re telling you to do something you maybe didn’t want to do, without them adding an extra layer of manipulation to it. I hope that this is a scenario you’ve only seen play out in movies and you’re not actually having to navigate your own Mean Girls/Regina George situation.

Without context, this text from John 14 might sound like Jesus is being manipulative. But when Jesus says “if you love me…”, he means it in a very different way. God’s love isn’t needy or insecure, it’s the opposite! The love of God is secure and giving; it builds us up, supports us, encourages us, and is absolutely steadfast. God’s love is the foundation of all creation; it is our source, our origin, our road, and our destination. 

Knowing that, it’s better to read the start of this passage basically as the inverse of how Regina George says it: Jesus is saying “if YOU want to be sure that you love me, you’ll know it because you’ll be keeping my commandments.” How do we know we love people around us? We feel it, and we help out – around the house, we take care of our responsibilities, we pick them up from the airport, we help them move, we share meals, we make them food, we look after them when they’re sick, etc. That’s the stuff of loving relationships that we can look to and be confident that we’re doing our part. 

Ordinary, Household Acts of Love

Jesus is comforting his disciples here who are terrified because they know that he’s about to be taken away from them. They’ve been with him for years, and they’re scared about life without him. Jesus is saying: “it’s going to be ok, and you’ll know that it’s ok because when you follow my commandments, you’ll experience the love and presence of God.”

Do you remember the story about the lawyer who asked Jesus what the greatest commandment is? Jesus said: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matt. 22:34-40) That story doesn’t appear in John’s Gospel, but Jesus says something similar just before today’s passage; in chapter 13, he says “34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

When we love someone, it’s so much easier to let our lives be interrupted by them. It’s like we don’t even need to be told what to do; acts of love just flow out of us. Jesus calls us to extend that to not just our friends, but to all our neighbors, and even our enemies. That’s how we’ll experience the presence of God.

Reflective Questions:

1. The presence of God can be hard to “get” if you’re not sure what to pay attention to. It’s like recognising an ingredient in a recipe: once it’s pointed out to you, you’ll taste it. You’ll probably start to notice it everywhere, actually. Jesus says that when we obey his commandments (i.e. love), we’ll experience the presence of God. Do you have a story about that?
2. You might have heard about some US legislators wanting to put the 10 Commandments up in schools. Without getting into the weeds of whether that’s a good idea or not, how do you think the conversation around this idea might be different if it were these “greatest commandments” instead?
3. “Everybody wants a revolution, but nobody wants to do the dishes.” This quote is varyingly attributed to Dorothy Day and/or Tish Harrison Warren. What does it mean to you?

Closing Activity:

1. The greatest commandment from Matthew 22 has three parts: Love God, Love your neighbor, Love yourself. In John 14:15-21, Jesus says that when we do this, we’ll experience the presence of God.
   1. Make a dot point list of three things you can do to obey each part of this commandment. Think about things you can do today, and things that have a longer-term scope.
   2. What stands out to you on these lists? 
   3. What parts are easy? Which parts are difficult? 
   4. Which one will you start with immediately?
2. Listen to or sing a hymn together, “They Will Know We are Christians By Our Love”

Final Prayer:

(take a deep breath and exhale)

Holy One, we trust that you tell us the truth. Loving people can be really hard; loving ourselves can be even harder sometimes. You know this; and we trust that you will help us. We want to know you better and follow you more closely. We trust that when you say you’ll fill us with your Spirit, you’ll do it. So, help us love one another, help us love ourselves, and help us love you; help us recognize you in the midst of it all. 

Thank you for loving us, and thank you for making your home with us.

In Christ’s name, Amen. 

Bio:

Rev. Rory Chambers is the Pastor for Youth and Young Adults at The First Presbyterian Church of Dutch Neck, NJ. Rory is Australian, and looks for any excuse to share a meal with people. If he’s not at home with his family, you’ll find him leading karaoke at a pub with his neighbors.

Prepare:

John 14 is a part of a longer section of John that Bible scholars call the farewell discourse. Jesus and his disciples are at the Last Supper. Jesus is trying to prepare them for life without him. We hear in John 13:1 that, “Having loved his own who were in the world, he (Jesus) loved them to the end.” And what does Jesus’ love look like?

It looks like Jesus taking a towel and washing his disciples’ feet, teaching them how to be servant leaders. It is Jesus giving them a new commandment: love one another. This is what Jesus’ love looks like.

After washing their feet, Jesus tries to prepare the disciples for the hard things that are ahead: Judas’ betrayal, Peter’s denial, and Jesus’ death. These were hard events for the disciples to comprehend. Into their fear and confusion, Jesus speaks words of compassion. Jesus assures the disciples that they will be with him again. In beautiful words of comfort, Jesus tells his disciples, “do not let your hearts be troubled.” He then assures the disciples that there will be a place for them in the Father’s house. When the disciples seem anxious about finding the way, Jesus assures them if they know Jesus, they know the way.

Opening Exercise: 

We grow when we visit new places. We learn when we visit significant places from the past. And we all need places where we feel comfortable and safe. Take some time to talk together about the importance of places. Here are some questions to guide your conversation:

• What is your favorite place you have visited? What place do you dream about visiting?
• What is your favorite room in your house? Why?
• What place do you feel most comfortable? Most yourself?
• If someone were to prepare the perfect place for you, what would it look like?

Text Read Aloud:

John 14:1-14

Prepare a Place For You

On Saturday night, news broke that the President, First Lady, and many others were rushed out of the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner because of gunfire. While it is a relief no one was seriously injured, our hearts are so weary of gun violence. This epidemic of gun violence seems unending. We are also left wondering how this happened. Should there have been more safety measures in place with so many important people gathered together? Many of us may be holding an even bigger question, is there any place that is truly safe?

When we turn to our reading from John, we see that the disciples have found a safe

Duccio di Buoninsegna, Christ Taking Leave of the Apostles, ca. 1308–1311. Public domain. Via Wikimedia Commons.

place in following Jesus. Not that following Jesus is a safe occupation. The disciples have faced ridicule, left their homes, upset the Jewish authorities, and angered the oppressive Roman government. There is nothing safe about being Jesus’ disciples, but it is clear that the disciples have felt safe at Jesus’ side. 

Now Jesus is telling them this is all going to change. Jesus is leaving them. Where will they find their safety without Jesus? Jesus knows he is leaving the disciples to a risky calling. Spreading the news of Jesus will take the disciples to many dangerous places. They will face persecution and death. To prepare them for all they will face, Jesus gives them words of comfort and hope. He proclaims that the disciples do not need to be troubled, because Jesus will prepare a place for them in the Father’s house. Their immediate future will be scary, but they can hold onto the hope that Jesus will be with them. Their story will end in the place that Jesus had prepared for them. In times that are scary and uncertain for us, we hold the same promises.

Prepare a Place For You

In times of worry and fear, the words, “Do not let your hearts be troubled” can seem trite. Of course the disciples’ hearts will be troubled when Jesus is crucified. And of course our hearts are troubled when we face fear, pain, and loss. A big part of being human is facing grief and losing things and people we love. When Jesus says do not let your hearts be troubled, he is not saying that we should not feel pain and loss. Instead, he is saying, in the midst of pain and loss, we can hold onto something bigger. Hope. The sure and certain hope that our future lies with Jesus.

Verse 14:2 has been translated many different ways. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places, rooms, mansions, abodes, resting places. These different translations help us imagine what the place Jesus has prepared for us may be like. In the end, whether it is a small abode or elaborate mansion, what will matter is that Jesus has brought us home and we are safe at Jesus’ side. 

Reflective Questions:

• What comfort does Jesus offer his disciples in this section from John?
• Look up different translations of John 14:2. Which word do you think best fits the description of the Father’s house? Why do you relate to this image?
• Who has spoken comforting words to you in hard times?
• Where do you find comfort when you are afraid?

Closing Activity:

Reflect on ways your group is a safe place for those who attend. Are there rules you follow when you are together? Are there changes that need to be made? Make a poster or covenant sharing what makes this group safe and have all the members sign it.

Final Prayer

Dear Jesus, 

We give you thanks that you are always with us and we find safety in your presence. Help us to be safe places for all our neighbors and to work to make this world a safer place. Amen.

Bio

Amy Martinell serves as the Associate Pastor of Congregational Care at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls, SD. Amy shares her life with her husband, three kids, a disinterested cat, and a disobedient beagle. She loves reading, baking, and swimming.

Prepare

Each year in the Easter season, we venture into Acts, a book of the Bible I like to talk about as “Jesus is risen, now what?” And what we learn through Acts, about what it means to be people of faith, is much different than what the world often tells us marks a faithful life. So often we hear on the news or from others in the world that Christians act, dress, and talk a certain way, or in more recent weeks we’ve been told that Christians need a war to follow God. But we don’t find any of those things in Acts. In Acts, we find a community that is desperate for survival, at odds with empire, and who have no idea how they are going to survive.

When this text tells us that everyone gave what they had and nobody was in need, we see them acting much more like a family than how we often think about churches. The people of this early church relied on one another to survive, not because of who they were or where they came from. Rather, because following Christ required it. We know from later on in Acts that this type of community didn’t last very long. However, for a brief time, their gathering as people who believed in the resurrection of Christ allowed them to overcome the challenges that come with being a Christian community. 

We’re talking about Awe today. The text says it was the awe and reverence that the early followers had for Jesus and the signs and wonders the apostles were still performing, that built that community. Which is to say, Christ’s presence built the community, not human strength, kindness, or pleasantries. We don’t know exactly what these signs and wonders were that were spreading the gospel, yet I have to imagine they were a continuation of Jesus’ ministry: sitting with people, loving them despite their failings, calling out cultural wrongs, performing miracles. All signs and wonders that many churches continue to do today, though not often the ones that make the news. 

Opening Exercise

Awe is a feeling of wonder, respect, and admiration mixed with joy and fear in response to something vast and

“Earthset” captured on Flight Day 6 of the Artemis 2 mission to the moon. (Image credit: NASA)

powerful.

Share about a time you remember experiencing awe. Find a photo that attempts to capture either what gave you awe (the mountains) or the feeling (celebrating a sports victory). 

• What commonalities do you find between your photos? 

Note: Nowadays, I ask our youth to use their phones to find a photo, with a device or two on standby in case someone doesn’t have one. In the past, I would have printed a set of “awe” photos for students to pick from.

Read the Text

Acts 2:42-47

Awe and Belonging

When I think about the book of Acts, the first thing I think of is a community that shared everything so that no one was in need.  This verse has stuck with me in a way that many Bible verses don’t. I suspect it’s because it’s so incomprehensible to me. I’ve known incredibly generous people who give their time and money to help others in need. I have even given money and time on my own, but I have never been a part of a community where everybody had their needs filled. I mean that in a physical sense, but this verse could just as easily apply to emotional safety, friendship, hobbies, academic support, and love.

A community where nobody is in need would certainly be awe-inspiring to me. What’s striking is that, for this community in Acts, Awe comes first. We read that the people were filled with awe after Jesus’ resurrection and before a community formed where everyone had what they needed. Awe came first. Awe at what? At the presence of God. 

While Jesus was in heaven, his followers continued his ministry. People were perceptive enough to notice the Jesus-like work in their midst. Then they were bold enough to claim it. This community existed because people were dwelling together with God. Today, we often talk about God, but this wasn’t about opinions, education, or even the Bible. This was a community of people who had experienced God’s grace and trusted one another when they shared their experiences. It was holy in a really simple way.

Awe and Belonging

If we were to continue reading Acts, we know that this community without need does not last. It makes me wonder if it’s the Awe fading away into the background that leads to the dissolution of the community. Being in awe of Jesus, or God’s power, or the Holy Spirit’s guidance, changes what it means to be a person of faith in our world. We are not starting each day looking for a way to serve. We’re simply starting each day asking God to show us awe. We no longer have a to-do list so much as we are tasked with looking for where God shows up in mysterious and powerful ways. Perhaps being a follower of Christ starts with the expectation that God is already doing something wonderful. Our role is to notice it.

Reflection Questions

• What does the text say caused the awe the community experienced? What do we think those wonders and signs were?

• Do you know any extremely generous people? Have you ever asked them why they give so much?

• When you have experienced awe, what did you want to do next?

• Where do we look to find God doing something wonderful out in the world?

Closing Activity 

• Make a list of things, or types of things, that inspire awe. (Ex. Nature, someone sharing something deep, a good dessert)
• Send your group to find something that deserves awe and wonder and bring it back to your space.
• Share with a partner what was awe inspiring about what you brought back.

Closing Prayer

Holy One, you created a world more marvelous than we can even know. Lead us into awe this week, spark wonder in our minds and reverence in our hearts. Guide us into community through a deep appreciation of your majesty. Amen.

Bio

Lindsay Batesmith is the pastor of Rejoice Lutheran Church in Erie, CO. She is consistently in awe of the power of vulnerability to connect us to each other and invite the Holy Spirit to transform lives. When not at Church or her favorite coffee shop, Lindsay is usually playing with her dog, Echo, or watching the Great British Bakeoff with her wife, Tillie.